Evolution of the Ruined Heir

Capítulo 380: Sleep

‘He’s asking me what I want.’

These were Mamush’s unsaid words.

Malakai calmly met the large man’s eyes. He lifted his glass of water and drank.

“Pardon me if I’m prying, Ninth Vein, but is it true what they say? That you were put in charge of investigating the disappearances within the group?”

Malakai’s gaze shifted to the second son again. Dune.

From what he’d seen, the young man was barely in his early twenties. A quick scan was all Malakai needed to tell he was in the synergy stage.

‘Early stage.’

Dune seemed pleasant enough, but Malakai’s instincts had never failed him before.

‘He’s pretending.’

“Yes.”

“Wow! To be put in charge of such an important investigation at such a young age, that’s incredible.”

“…”

“Have you… if I may ask, made any headway in the investigation?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“Her—”

“I’m sure the Ninth Vein would like to enjoy his meal in silence, Dune.”

Onilia cut in smoothly, giving her son a look.

“Ah! I apologize for forgetting myself.”

“It’s fine.”

Dinner continued in silence after that. And finally, Malakai’s observations began to bear fruit.

‘They’re all guarded… except her.’

He glanced at the third daughter, Donna, if he remembered correctly.

Aside from her, the others were cautious, used to the art of lies and deceit.

The first daughter also remained silent, completely ignoring his presence and focusing solely on her meal.

But the third daughter was different. Her eyes were glued to her food, but she still threw glances his way, and when he turned to look, she’d look away, blushing.

‘She likes you!’ Valentine said.

‘Why do you sound excited?’

‘Because I didn’t think it was possible! You literally give out a do-not-talk-to-me-or-I’ll-kill-you aura that I’ve always feared you’d end up alone.’

‘…’

It was then that Mamush and his wife exchanged a glance, and the former gave a subtle nod.

“…speaking of fans,” Mamush said with a grin, “my second daughter here, Donna, has been quite the admirer of the Ninth Vein as well.”

“D-dad!”

“What is it, Donna? Come now, don’t be shy. I’m sure the Ninth Vein would love to hear about your little obsession.”

“D-dad!” Donna screamed, her face turning bright red, prompting Mamush to burst into laughter.

“Ah, don’t mind my precious daughter,” he said between chuckles. “She’s a very shy one, just like her mother when I first met her.”

Donna turned to find Malakai watching her. The moment their eyes met, she flinched and looked down.

“Is it true?”

Her eyes widened. ‘I-is he talking to me?’

She looked up again, only to see Malakai still staring at her.

“The Ninth Vein asked you a question, honey,” Onilia said gently.

Donna froze, realizing she was supposed to respond.

“Y-yes, Ninth Vein,” she stammered in a barely audible tone.

“Come on, honey,” Mamush said with a teasing smile. “I seem to remember you admiring how he fought.” He turned toward Malakai. “She also participated in the hunt with you, you know. Witnessed you fight firsthand and wouldn’t stop trying to copy your moves afterward.”

“D-dad!”

“Hmm,” Malakai set down his glass. “Then maybe I could instruct you sometime, if you don’t mind.”

Mamush and Onilia exchanged another glance and smiled knowingly.

“R-really?” Donna blinked in surprise.

“Yes.”

Malakai’s expression remained as calm as it had been since he entered, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking. Still, Donna felt a faint blush creeping across her cheeks.

“Oh, that’s truly thoughtful of you, Ninth Vein,” Onilia said. “I’m sure Donna would appreciate that.”

“…t-thank you,” Donna whispered.

Malakai merely nodded and continued his meal.

Though the food was clearly of high quality, he still found himself craving Renlo’s cooking.

When dinner finally came to an end, Mamush and his wife turned toward Octavia.

“We hope dinner was to your liking, Tenth Vein.”

Octavia merely scoffed, shot Malakai a glare, and stood up before leaving the room.

After offering his thanks, Malakai also rose and left, with Renlo following close behind.

“M-Malakai, are you alright?” Renlo asked worriedly the moment they were alone.

Malakai didn’t respond immediately. Only when they reached their room did he finally turn to face him.

“What do you mean?”

Renlo blinked, confused by the calm in his tone. He didn’t realize that, even now, Malakai had surrounded them in a thin layer of vita, so subtle that it blended perfectly with the air itself. No sound could escape it.

“I mean… you literally just asked a girl out on a date? Or was I just daydreaming…”

“Of course you weren’t dreaming. It’s for the investigation.”

“The… investigation?”

“Yes.”

Renlo scratched his head, unsure.

“Em… how?”

“The rest of them are guarded and used to mind games. It’s hard to get information from people like that. But it’s easy with Donna.”

“Ah!” Renlo gasped and laughed. “Sometimes I forget how smart you are. I still can’t believe we’re the same age.”

“You just need to start using your brain.”

‘Damn, too much.’ Valentine said.

Renlo cleared his throat then nodded seriously.

“Thank you for the lesson! I’ll learn well.”

Malakai sighed as he saw Renlo’s resolute reaction.

‘Now I’m feeling bad.’

Afterwards, Renlo insisted on sleeping in the same room with Malakai. Though this wasn’t necessarily an enemy base, Renlo wasn’t taking any chances.

Malakai was forced to accept, which ended in his current predicament.

‘Should I just stab him?’

Renlo slept like he owned the whole mansion. One arm was draped over Malakai’s chest, the other hanging off the edge like he was trying to touch the floor in his dreams.

His leg was ON Malakai like a territorial cat. And the snoring…

He sounded like a choking boar.

Malakai had never felt such a stronger urge to kill.

‘Come on, he’s just sleeping!’ Valentine said, ‘if you think about it, he’s very cute.’

Malakai stared at Renlo. Renlo’s mouth was wide open, tongue hanging out. His chubby cheeks wobbled with every snore.

‘There’s nothing “cute” about this.’

‘You’re just a hater. He’s very cute!’

‘Yeah, whatever.’

Malakai exhaled, lifted Renlo’s arm and leg off him one after the other, and slid out of the bed.

‘I’ll just sleep on the couch.’

He walked a few steps, then stopped, turning back with narrowed eyes.

‘I’ll take this.’

He yanked the blanket and pillow off Renlo. Instantly, Renlo curled up into a ball, shivering dramatically.

‘Payback.’

‘Hater.’

Malakai ignored Valentine and made his way to the couch. He wrapped himself up, exhaled, shut his eyes, and let sleep take him.

…

By morning, Malakai opened his eyes, only to freeze in disbelief.

Renlo was right there beside him on the couch.

Half on him. Blanket stolen again. One hand clutched around Malakai’s waist, one leg thrown over him.

‘What the hell is… this?’

Renlo snored peacefully on his chest.

‘I’m going to kill him.’

Em, not so sure what to say. The truth is, I’ve been battling with writing two novels simultaneously for a while now, but I’ve not decided what I’ll do, which is the reason for the radio silence. After my break, I adopted a new style of writing, which requires heavy planning. Unfortunately, what this means is that writing have never been more time consuming. Believe me when I say, not updating EV hurts me both financially and emotionally. I’m not happy, and am truly sorry for the lack of upload despite your support and investments so far.

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