[COMPLETED] TBATE | SHADOW MONARCH

Chapter 71

I'm posting some chapters ahead of time on my discord server: https://discord.gg/r2VSvS5kaH
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With a click, the door behind Ashborn closed as he left the room he was in with his family. His ears still picked up the sounds coming from it, no matter how hard he tried to ignore them. Ash's heart was aching hearing the cries of his family, especially from his mother. She was wailing, and her voice was filled with pain. Adding to that, the rest of the family was crying... it wasn't relaxing, there was nothing good so far.

He'd liked to leave the room more energized, but this forced him to leave in the grimmest mood he could possibly have. There was no one to help him out with the bad mood, but Elijah, who was waiting outside of the room for the Leywin family, could try and cheer him up.

He may not have heard about what Ash talked about inside, but his expression was enough to tell Elijah how alarming the conversation was. He leaned with his back on the wall next to Ashborn,

"Ash, I haven't had a chance to apologize to you. I'm sorry that I couldn't help out in the academy before. I was knocked out before I knew it."

"You are still at it, Elijah? Least of everyone else I expected you to grieve over this. You were an adventurer and should've known that sometimes not everything goes as planned. Sometimes you just aren't powerful enough to do something; If you want to blame someone, blame me. I was the one who was not able to protect his family."

"But you shouldn't be the only one doing dirty work!"

These words caused something in Ashborn to spark. Only if Elijah knew of his past, he wouldn't have said this. Didn't he already pass down a job he had to do to his successor? Instead of doing it himself, he chose the cowardly path of just giving away his strength. Yes, he was tired of everything, but this didn't change the case. Ash didn't fight his arch-enemy.

"No, you are wrong. It must be me since I can't get anyone else to fix something I'm at fault for. Although I'm thankful for standing up for me, Elijah. Art really got a good friend for himself." Ashborn tapped with his hand on Elijah's shoulder.

"I'll be counting on you to take care of this place. How they say... you are now a man and a woman of this house."

"I don't think that's how it is."

"Well, too bad." said Ashborn at last, as he fell down in his own shadow, leaving the young boy with mixed feelings.

While still in his shadows, the shadow monarch decided to pay a last visit to Tessia and Virion. This decision was influenced by his brother, who was definitely absent, but everything was connected to him.

The Eraliths, by the way, were taking care of Caera. Since his army would be too busy to even care about protecting others, it was just for the better to leave the navy-haired girl in good hands. Ash had a certain level of trust toward Virion and Tessia, and they were a better option than his own family.

Ash emerged from the kingly furnished room alone. His presence was unnoticed at the beginning, but the light breeze that followed his appearance was felt by both Eraliths.

"Brat?"

"Ashy?"

"Yes, I suppose my nicknames are still in place. Even though you've seen what I am capable of. Good thing, you haven't changed your mind about me."

Virion felt extremely weird. The manner in which this boy talked had changed vastly from their previous meeting. He couldn't understand the reason for this, but it was creeping into his consciousness greatly. Tessia, fortunately, hadn't noticed this.