Chapter 229 - Trust

[Flasback continued - ]

When Shadow returned to Emily's dorm room, all that he found was pitch darkness and silence. But again, it was already past midnight. The girl was probably fast asleep after the long tiring day.

Even though it was currently holiday, Emily still had to find a chance to experience any sort of rest. She still needed to wake up early to train her body. Then she needed to spend hours working on her elemental powers and spell casting. After that, she had to spend some time with her friends with whom she had partnered up to open a business, and lastly, she had her webcomic to focus on. 

He wanted to go straight to his room and rest for a while since he too had a rough day while searching for clues to find the Spirit Ball. Thirteen hundred years ago when he gave it away to a Serpent shifter, he had no idea that there would be a day when he would need to search for that item that used to be useless for him.

If he had known, he would have kept it hidden in his possession and had cherished it like the rare treasure that it truly was.

Even though for someone like him that Spirit Ball was really a useless item, but for his Princess, that ball could become a game-changer. 

Since she was not introduced to the magical elements from an early age, her body wasn't prepared at all for the immense power that the elements held. Unless she had a vessel inside her body that could observe the extra powers of these elements, it would be impossible for her body to stand the torture.

That's why the Spirit Ball was the best item to be used for this purpose. A small crystal ball forged from the spiritual power and held the ability to keep the purest essence of all the rest of the five elements, there could not be a better treasure than it that could help Emily.

Besides, if used correctly then the essence of elemental powers stored inside the Spirit Ball would be able to mix with her elemental powers and would purify it, making it even more powerful than regular elemental power.

Shadow was so lost in his thoughts that he did not even realize that instead of his own bedroom, he was standing outside Emily's bedroom. His body seemed to have its own mind and he was unable to deny that he wanted to see the girl once before taking a break.

As his hands turned the doorknob, his ears registered the faintest movements from inside the bedroom. A frown appeared on his face as he let his powers out, searching the area only to feel the power of Spirit Ball coming from inside the bedroom.

Without wasting another second, he immediately entered the room and found it filled with darkness. He was about to switch on the lights with a spell when he once again heard the movements on the bed.

"Shadow..."

Emily's voice was low and gruff. But what made his heart falter was the sadness in it as she called out his name.

The room was suddenly filled with a dim light as she switched on the bedside lamp and the first thing that he noticed was her damp eyes and the pain that she was trying to hide from him.

Within a blink of an eye, he was sitting beside her in the bed as he inspected her body with his powers to see if she was hurt. However, she was perfectly fine. Not understanding exactly what was wrong, he decided to ask, "Princess, what happened? Are you alright? Is something wrong?" 

He watched as the girl shook her head in denial while trying her best to smile but failing poorly. She drew her hands from under the covers before she placed something cold in his right hand. When she drew her hand away, his gaze landed on the familiar sight of the Spirit Ball.

"This..." He wanted to ask her where did she found the ball but she already started explaining.

"Someone from the Coral Court came to see me today. In exchange for this treasure, they asked me to stop you from hurting their people." 

A frown appeared on Shadow's face when he heard those words. When did he ever harm someone from the Coral Court? Did someone come to throw mud at him behind his back?

"Wait! Did that person hurt you? Is that why you are upset?" He asked hurriedly. He was more worried about his princess than people ruining his image.

He watched as the girl once again shook her head in denial. The more silent she was, the heavier his heart was becoming with every passing second.

"Princess, what are you not telling me? What happened after I left?" He asked again as he placed the Spirit Ball beside her on the bed before taking both of her small hands in his big ones.

The girl was silent for the next few minutes as she looked right into his eyes. It was like she was searching for something. 

"Shadow... don't you trust me?" 

Her sudden question that came out of the blue took him by surprise. It was the last thing he was expecting her to ask and the fact that her voice quivered as she voiced the question, made his heart hurt inside his chest.

"Why would you even ask that, Princess? Of course, I trust you. I trust you more than anyone else in my life at the moment."

Emily could hear the sincerity in his voice and it made her heart relax a little. "Then why did you never told me about your relation with the Shadow Court?" 

Looking at his shocked face, it was clear that just like her previous question, he was not expecting this question either. But what surprised her was the genuine smile that broke onto his lips as he tightened his hold on her hands.

"I didn't mention anything about my true identity because it almost means nothing to me. The true me is the one sitting in front of you and not the one known by others. But if that's what you want to know then I'll tell you everything."