Chapter 349: Dynamic Between the Daughters of the Night

Kai didn’t think much about what Mallory said back then.

Every Child of the Night wanted to hoard the night’s attention, or perhaps even the Goddess’ attention most of all. Friction between them was bound to happen. And that was precisely why Kai had not thought much of it when Mallory mentioned the quarrels between sisters.

Even in a normal family dynamic, siblings would always clash one way or another.

It was simply unavoidable.

But Kai wasn’t expecting it to be like this.

[Quest: Enter the Second Daughter’s Domain — Completed!]

A notification flashed into Kai’s field of vision along with the rewards, but he did not spare a glance. His eyes were fixated on Mallory, checking whether she was only teasing him. But her expression remained straight, steadfast.

No lie on it, which only made Kai sucked in a cold breath through his mouth.

"At war...?" Kai repeated.

He was taken aback at first, but as he thought about it more, a war might also be unavoidable.

Yes—in a normal family dynamic, there would be quarrels. But quarrels could escalate. Some siblings cut their ties completely. And considering the Children of the Night, or the Daughters of the Night to be exact, probably lived for a long time, a war seemed to also be inevitable.

"Do you remember the light where we first met?" Mallory asked.

She was already focusing back on the map again, pointing at a peculiar spot on it.

"I remember." Kai nodded.

"Well, it appeared close to the central land of the House of Night, and it decimated a precious Nightborn under Gloria." Mallory highlighted a spot on the map with an amber dot, near the very center. "And unsurprisingly, Gloria was furious. She accused those closest to her, me and Skotessa, but mainly Skotessa."

"From how you phrased it back then, I thought it was the Final Night’s doings," Kai said.

Back then, he remembered Mallory saying that the Goddess would take care of it.

So, he thought it had something to do with the Goddess.

But it didn’t seem to be the case—in fact, it seemed nobody knew where the light came from.

"I thought so too. I assumed the Final Night was the one behind that light, so Gloria was quite foolish to accuse Skotessa and me. But after our encounter," She pointed at Kai with her index finger and then back to her again. "I decided to look into it and found—that it wasn’t the Final Night’s doing at all."

Her eyes narrowed, a flicker of trouble passing through them.

It was quite unnerving to see a Daughter of the Night to be troubled in the House of Night.

"It appeared out of nowhere," She continued—and then paused. Her eyes were still staring at the map, but she was looking through it. "And since the Final Night never reacted, it’s possible this was a deliberate attack meant to decimate Gloria’s Nightborn."

Kai listened attentively, and then a question popped into his mind.

Just earlier, he had wondered why Mallory referred to the Goddess as the Final Night.

Added to what she was saying now, Kai realized that he knew nothing about the Goddess.

Other than her kind and motherly nature, he knew nothing, and he wanted to know.

"Does..." Kai hesitated—but went through with it anyway. "Does the Final Night allow a fierce altercation like this between her children?"

"Hm? How long have you hidden yourself from the night?" Mallory asked, turning to look at him with a clear frown on her face. She found this question odd. "How did you not know the answer to that question?"

"Err—I’m far older than you."

"Even if you are, you’re not completely detached from the night."

"I tried to keep to myself."

Mallory looked at Kai with suspicion in her gaze.

She remained silent for a long moment—long enough for sweat to soak Kai’s back, and regret to coil in his chest. But at last, she looked away again. "The Final Night permits us to fight, so long as we don’t cause too much chaos within the House of Night. Among the countless wars we’ve waged, she has intervened only a handful of times."

Countless...? Did she say countless wars?

Kai’s eyes widened, though he quickly recovered lest Mallory find his reaction odd again.

He thought a war was still something great, but it seemed it was normal.

So that’s why it hated me.

For a second, Kai looked down and forced out a sheepish smile.

He recalled the Ending of Impersonation’s last words, and now understood it.

It seemed the Daughters of the Night had waged war against one another so many times that it had become a normal occurrence here. It wouldn’t even be a stretch to call them warmongers at this point.

And when they clashed, their Nightborns clashed with them.

A violent ripple then expanded outward across the entire House of Night.

Nightborns that had no association would get dragged into the war or harmed because of it.

Not to mention, there was a high chance that the Daughters of the Night shared the Goddess’ stance when it came to the Nightborns. To them, the Nightborns were nothing more than tools created to serve and obey.

Just that—nothing more or less.

Naturally, the Ending of Impersonation worried that Kai would be the same.

Regardless of whether he was a new Child of the Night, he would eventually be like them.

And it was precisely why the Ending of Impersonation would rather try killing him now while he was still weak and helpless. Kai understood the logic—but still shook his head. Peace would never exist without war—history taught us that. It should’ve gotten closer to me instead.

He shook his head.

It was a shame that the Ending of Impersonation took the forceful route.

Had it befriended Kai and started persuading him to care about Nightborns, then things might have ended up well for it and the other Nightborns. But since it decided to kill Kai, then it was bound for a bad fate.

"Besides, the Final Night is cold and dismissive. She didn’t really care about us."

"Hm?"

Kai’s brows furrowed together.

From his perspective, the Goddess was the kindest and also the most motherly. She hummed a tune for him to ease his mind, fretted over him whenever he endured something great in the waking world, and even made him feel special by gifting him something to mark every single milestone he reached.

She was anything but cold and dismissive.

Am I the favourite child? No way, right? I’m the odd one since I’m the only son.

Mistaking his surprise for pity, Mallory’s curled into a weak smile.

It seemed the Goddess’ coldness was making her feel melancholy.

Realizing that the air was becoming gloomy, Kai quickly cleared his throat to ease it.

"So, your condition... It’s because of your sisters?" He asked.

"Something like that." Mallory nodded.

"If that’s the case, why don’t you rest? Why did you call for me?"

"I... I wanted to meet you. I wanted to see your eyes."

Mallory turned and stared him in the eyes. She had always been fascinated by his eyes that somehow seemed to be darker than the House of Night. Staring into them was calming, or at least it seemed that way for her.

Like watching a video of nature before sleeping.

Kai was taken aback by her answer.

And he became flustered when Mallory kept staring at him without any hint of shyness.

Keeping his composure was hard, but he kept it he did.

"In any case, I remembered you don’t want the hassle of going against your sisters," Kai said, vividly recalling that Mallory wanted nothing to do with her sisters. It wasn’t worth it. "Why did you suddenly decide to get involved?"

Mallory’s eyes flickered with unfiltered excitement.

It was as if she was waiting for him to ask exactly that question.

And that put Kai on guard.

"Because I thought you wanted me to."

"How come?"

"You said that since my territory had always been between them, my sisters were lucky that I didn’t take advantage of that. I thought that was your way of saying that you want me to use my leverage before considering opening up to me."

Kai’s eyes widened slightly.

He did remember saying that, but he said that on a whim. No intention behind it at all.

Especially not an intent to hint to her to get involved.

I really need to watch what I say to her—otherwise, she’ll start drawing her own conclusions.

Before Kai could even respond, Mallory already took a step closer to him.

She stood only a step away from him, leaning forward close to his chest—and looked up into his eyes with a demanding gaze. "I’ve done this much for you, so when are you going to give up and be mine already?"

"W-What are you saying?" Kai leaned back instinctively, but he quickly recovered.

"When are you going to tell me your name? I want the Hate Ending. I want you."

"W-We’re moving too fast, no?"

"Too fast? I’ve already taken it slow. Don’t compare my patience with yours, old man."

"But still..."

"I promise I’ll treat you well." Mallory pressed further, her voice insistent. "I’ll give you a huge plot for your house—no, better. You can live in my temple. I’ll shower you with attention. You can trust me. No need to hesitate anymore."

Kai smiled awkwardly from behind his mind.

He wasn’t expecting to be cornered like this.

Why does this feel like I’m being courted? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this.

"Please, you can trust me."

"Err—"

"I really want you."

"..."

Kai was fretting about how he could decline Mallory this time without angering her.

He couldn’t give any name, so he must push back.

Fortunately, as Mallory was about to say something more, he was saved.

Rumble—!

Out of nowhere—the entire domain shuddered as though an earthquake had torn through it, catching them both off guard. Distant roars rolled across the air, and the Nightborns scattered in the distance seemed to sense something.

Even Mallory’s face darkened suddenly.

Something was wrong.

"What is it?" Kai asked, gulping slightly at the thought of another Daughter of the Night.

If a battle happened here right now, then he would undoubtedly get dragged.

And with his current strength, he would most likely die from being exposed to their powers.

"It’s Skotessa." Mallory spun around and headed for the temple’s exit, moving to confront her sister. "Beyond the war, there’s something else. It seems I have a new sister—and Skotessa is accusing me of hiding her. My silence all this time, and now this sudden move—she thinks it’s proof."

Kai’s body shuddered at what he said.

Shit... Did they sense what happened earlier?