### Chapter 402: The Naughty Little Kitten
Hani rushed home well before darkness set in.
As she was about to head to her room, she conveniently bumped into her father, the patriarch of the Kailei Family, Beiji Kailei.
Seeing Hani’s flustered state, Beiji frowned and barked, “What are you doing? What’s gotten into you?”
Hani nearly jumped out of her skin at his tone. She timidly lifted her head, only to quickly lower it again, “F-Father.”
“Where have you been?”
“I-I wasn’t doing anything…”
“Not doing anything? If you weren’t, you’d be at home behaving yourself! What a disgrace!”
“Y-Yes! I promise I’ll behave from now on!”
Beiji sighed and waved his hand for her to go.
To be honest, he wasn’t particularly thrilled to see this daughter of his—she was an embarrassment.
As a member of the Kailei Family, she hadn’t even fully transformed into human form. Her talents were about as useful as a soggy piece of bread.
With such abysmal skills, it was no wonder she was practically a laughingstock.
What made it worse was that she wandered outside all day, clearly up to no good.
He was on the verge of washing his hands of her completely.
However, just as Hani passed by, a sudden twitch of his nose caught his attention.
What was that smell? bl**d?
He shot a look back at Hani and hardened his expression again.
Once past her father’s interrogation, Hani rushed to her room and locked the door.
She didn’t eat, didn’t do anything—just waited.
Just one more day until dawn, and everything would be fine.
The corpse would surely be eaten by a big beast. Even if some remains were left, who would know what it was? Besides, no one really ventured that far.
Sure, the rules here were strict about m*rder—severe punishments awaited.
But if it’s just a nobody, who cares?
People occasionally went out and ended up as a snack themselves.
As night fully descended, Hani’s nerves began to settle.
It was no big deal; it was just a dead little kitten. She was still the noble lady of the Kailei Family.
Even if this home made her uncomfortable, even a bit repulsive, it meant she got to enjoy certain privileges outside.
Just as she convinced herself everything was okay, there was a knock at her door.
“Miss, someone has delivered a letter for you.”
“A letter?” Hani opened the door, took it, and glanced at it. “Who sent it?”
“A mysterious person hiding their identity, but they seem quite important.”
“Alright, I got it. You can go now.”
Hani closed the door, examining the envelope from all angles.
This was definitely not your average letter.
Finally, she opened it.
The next moment, her eyes went wide.
Wha…what?!
Someone saw it?!
If this got out, she was from the upper clan—while her life wouldn’t be forfeit, she would be marked with an indelible stigma, stripped of her status, and relegated to the lowest rank of the lower clan.
Even if her family helped minimize the fallout, her own situation would still be terrible.
The only difference would be how much her family’s reputation took a hit.
She knew about this kind of thing—she’d even seen it happen.
Her mind was in a whirl, heart racing.
After pacing back and forth for quite a while, she finally came to a conclusion.
Since they had sent the letter, it meant there was still room for negotiation.
In any case, this matter couldn’t be made public.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down.
Then she put on a black outfit, opened the door, and quietly slipped out.
The next day, just as dawn broke.
Hani crawled out from a corner of the fence, while a few others expertly vaulted over.
“Hani, did someone really see you?!”
“Shut it! I’m seriously losing my mind! I wouldn’t be looking for you if there was no trouble! Just stay behind me—I’ll handle this myself!”
These idiots were too much!
If the letter hadn’t specifically mentioned bringing everyone involved at the time, she wouldn’t have wanted to be associated with them at all.
They were the reason the kitten ended up dead; she was just caught up in their mess.
Fuming, Hani glanced around, eventually kicking one guy squarely in the rear.
“Useless!”
The guy blinked, quickly nodded with a forced smile, “Yes, whatever you say, Hani!”
And they were supposed to be stronger than her—what a joke!
They arrived at the location mentioned in the letter, a secluded spot surrounded by thick bushes and trees.
At that moment, a figure in a black robe was waiting for them.
Hani thought for a moment about their surroundings; this was territory belonging to one of the five major families, the Beryl Family.
She spoke up directly, “Are you with the Beryl Family?”
The figure, none other than Kaise, replied in a steady voice, “Who I am isn’t important. What matters is you’ve got yourself into big trouble.”
Her tone was calm and confident, as if she had all the leverage in the world.
The others had already been warned by Hani to keep quiet, but hearing that this sounded like an exchange between two powerful families made them shrink back even further.
Hani frowned and asked, “What do you want?”
Kaise ignored her and instead asked, “Did you bring the stuff?”
“Here, take it.”
Hani gestured for one of her companions to toss a bag over.
However, just as Kaise reached out for it, she stopped and let the bag drop to the ground.
Hani raised an eyebrow, “What’s the meaning of this?”
“Oh, nothing, just leave it there.”
She acted as if Hani wasn’t even worth her time and then lifted her chin, “That ring you’re wearing looks nice; toss it over too.”
Hani glanced at the ruby ring on her finger, thought it over, then decided to toss it over as well.
In that instant, Kaise’s gaze sharpened, and she lowered her voice to an extreme murmur, “Lady Riya! Please catch this!”
Yuliya, watching from a distance, stifled a giggle.
This kid’s got talent—she picked up the act so quickly in just one night!
Although Yuliya had taught her well, a little praise for a good student never hurt.
If Yuliya were handling this, it would be resolved in a jiffy, but she wanted Kaise to figure it out herself, and Kaise was eager to prove herself.
Next, the ring vanished from mid-air.
Kaise sighed in relief while everyone’s eyes widened in disbelief.
It disappeared?!
Was that the mysterious person’s doing?!
So powerful!
Even Hani felt a tremor of apprehension.
Then Kaise suddenly tilted her head, “Let me think of what else needs to be done…how about you all slap yourselves five times? If you can’t do it, you can slap each other.”
“What!!” Hani’s anger shot up in an instant. “What did you just say! Are you insulting me?!”
“Of course I’m insulting you. You’re utterly pathetic. Isn’t that the truth?”
“I…”
“If you don’t do it, I will. I’ll count to three. One.”
Everyone exchanged nervous glances.
“Two!”
“…”
“Three!”
“Wait! We’ll do it ourselves! Okay, okay!”
“Hani…we…”
“Useless!” Hani snapped. “Do it yourselves!”
Her logic was simple: she didn’t want to provoke this mysterious figure, just wanted the issue resolved.
She had to maintain her status. Everything else was secondary.
Embarrassed? Of course, they were embarrassing! If they weren’t, would she be mingling with these idiots?
The next moment, Hani slapped herself.
Seeing this, the others quickly followed suit.
