Latina's quick movements were unexpected, even for Natalie, who had known her since she was barely able to walk. Shin's revelation was too much for her poor heart to bear. Latina respected Shin, adored him and adulated him almost. He was the Prince of Water, the eternal shining knight that was sent to bring down the darkness and to bring her out from the shithole that she was in. However, Shin was also the man who killed Latina's father. How was she supposed to react?
Swear to avenge her father? The protection detail around Shin would never let that happen. Forgive her father's murderer? Latina wasn't nearly as composed or mature enough to even fathom that possibility. So, what could she do?
Nothing…
That was her conclusion. Running away was a good start. Latina wanted nothing to do with Shin anymore. She needed to find a place to settle and compose herself, preferably in a place where Shin couldn't reach. It was an innocent and naive mindset, but what else could she do? Latina was a thirteen-year-old in a foreign land, with no support to back her up. She had Natalie, the one person who cared for her, but even the seasoned mercenary was subjected to the whims of the Himmel Empire and the Alliance, who were deeply tied with Shin.
"Young hero Shin..." Natalie closed her eyes. She didn't want to believe it. Star Face was a good friend of hers. They shared drinks together and fought on the battlefield multiple times. They may not be related by blood, but their bonds were thicker than any brother-sister relationship. Her eyes began to sweat as she desperately tried to hold back her wrath. No matter what, Shin was an influential figure in the Himmel Empire. Natalie couldn't bear the consequences of crossing him. "Is it true?"
"Senior Natalie, I..."
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!"
Natalie thought that she was calm, but it was hard. Standing next to the person who killed a man, she considered her friend and the father of her most precious protege. She wanted to place both her hands around Shin's neck, but Kanari and her butler, Claudia, were staring her down.
"I'm sorry… I..."
"No, I understand." Shin sat still, not moving a single muscle. He deserved all the reprimand that Natalie and Latina had. If he were standing next to Junius, who had murdered Ariel, Lily and Linus right before his eyes, Shin would possibly react more negatively. Nonetheless, that didn't stop his heart from sinking. He wasn't used to being the bad guy. Many people hated him, but they were mostly just jealous of his talents and position. Additionally, there wasn't any legitimate reason for someone to burn with rage when it comes to Shin.
This matter, on the other hand, was a completely different ballpark. Shin killed Latina's father, murdered Natalie's friend. They had every right to seethe from their teeth and ready their arms to get revenge. It was something that Shin couldn't stand.
"Please… I..." The last few words couldn't roll out his tongue. I had to kill him. He was part of the Black Masks. Star Face was colluding with the villains. All those were undeniable facts, but the underlying truth still remained. Shin was the one who killed Star Face and his companion, Cyphia. So what if Star Face was terrible? Shin still killed him.
Natalie asked why... She wondered why... She wondered why... Why was it Shin who killed Star Face? And she couldn't come up with an answer. So, just like Latina before her, Natalie did the only thing that she could do.
"Excuse me."
She ran away. Natalie was a veteran. She had embraced comrades as they breathed their last and she kissed death on the nose multiple times while on missions. However, she had never had to cope with the death of a friend without having the ability to scream at his killer. Natalie could curse privately. She could pray to the heavens that Shin would get his own form of retribution. But she couldn't scold him out in public, right at his face. In fact, due to Shin's lofty position, Natalie might have to bend down to him and praise the youth like everyone else. It was a thought that she couldn't stand. So, she could barely imagine what was going through Latina's head.
Shin's eyelids twitched rapidly. No one stopped Natalie from running out of the verdant garden in chase of her pupil, and no one would. The young man, who was still stuck in a wheelchair, tapped his two fingers on the armrest, as his chest started to hurt. It felt like a bottomless void had opened up, and nothing could ever fill it up.
What could he say? What should he say? How was he going to interact with the two ladies in the future? He killed Star Face… He killed Star Face…
Shin felt his two hands turn heavy. Rotating his palms, Shin started to see visions of fresh crimson liquid staining his two hands. The memories of all the dead men and women he massacred began to emerge in his mind. Craig and Susan. The two Vaishyas that he had pierced the Spear of Visam through and left to die were the first to come to mind. Their petrified faces, ashen white dyed with mossy green poison. They weren't even an afterthought for Shin. He killed them and immediately went on to combat the rest in their fight.
What if they were like Star Face? What if Craig and Susan had children hiding deep somewhere and they won't have the chance to meet their parents anymore? What if… Shin caused another Latina to become orphaned?
Not just them. Winfred from Huuring City. Shin killed him too. Winfred tried to murder them and rape Kanari. He deserved to die. But what if he had a child as well? Was there yet another Latina? Slowly, all of the faces that Shin had killed throughout his time started to surface. They say after the first kill, the job gets easier. And to a certain extent, it did. Shin didn't feel the same amount of guilt when killing another person. However, nothing gets bottled up forever.
Like an opened floodgate, all of their faces. Their expressions as they died. The look of horror they shot Shin. Some had begged for their lives, while others just accepted death willingly. However, Shin still killed them all without mercy. He killed, no he murdered them all. Shin thought that he was merciful by giving them a quick death, but honestly, what was merciful about death at all?
Some of the people he killed were unidentifiable, due to the Black Masks that hid their faces. Still, the toll of their death continued to weigh on Shin's weak hands. What if they had families? What if they had friends that couldn't bear to see them go? Shin didn't even bury half of those he killed, perhaps more since the majority of them were Black Masks who self-detonated or Dalits that had lost their minds.
'I shall curse you, brat! Even in death, I will continue to haunt your dreams! Remember these names, Cyphia Dandrea and Garland Mull!!! These are the names of the ones you murdered today!!!'
Those were the final words of Star Face, Latina's father. Shin couldn't even bear to repeat those words back to the poor little girl, who was wholly innocent in this entire ordeal. Shin told Latina that he was responsible for her father's death, but there was no way that he was going to tell her Star Face's final words.
Death… Death… Death… Death was nothing but… A toll for the living.
Shin no longer could bear the psychological burden on his two arms. There was nothing sane about his killings. He thought that they were just, but they weren't. Eventually, the lush garden turned blur, and his head started to drop. The worried voices of Kanari and Claudia could be heard, but they were slowly being silenced. It was mortifying. Reality that is. So… Shin retreated to the world of dreams.
❖❖❖
Four hours had passed since Latina and Natalie stormed out of Lady Seph's abode. The late afternoon turned into a dark blanket of sky. The moon was a crescent, thin and sharp as a blade of a knife. The howling of the rapid mountain winds pushed the glass windows of the mansion, shaking the narrow openings, creating a horrible atmosphere for one to catch some shut-eye.
Nonetheless, Shin still slept. Laid still on his comfy bed, Shin barely moved a muscle after passing out in the gardens. Dozens of prominent men and women gathered in the vast mansion, the moment they heard the news. The Prince of Water, the hero that sacrificed his own body to take down a Payirci, had actually passed out once again? Many members of High Society rushed back to Lady Seph's abode with gifts, but the majority were weeded out by the Spirit Venerate herself. Shin had no need for fair-weather acquaintances.
"Is he still sleeping?" Principal Erudito asked. He was one of the few that were allowed to pass through the gates of the mansion.
"Yes… Yes, he is," replied Kanari. She was the only one who was present when the young man fainted and had been nursing him ever since. After giving her hourly report, Kanari would return to Shin's bedside. "He hasn't reacted once to my calls. Lady Seph said that there's nothing wrong with his body, so it must be solely psychological. There's nothing that we can do."
Ale mugs slammed on the table as the dozens of esteemed cultivators cursed their helplessness. They had gathered here with gifts to nourish the body, but who could have guessed that Shin suffered a blow to the soul. There wasn't any chicken soup that could heal that. Only the man himself could heal his wretched mind.
"..." Meijing Bingying and the members from the Lantis Republic remained silent. Just like Kanari and Lady Seph, they wanted to be there for the youth, assisting him in any health-related issues. Shin was a talent with the Mark of the Celestial Dragon and a potential Spirit Saint in the making. Nothing bad must come of the boy.
"You said that the cause of his coma is two mercenaries?" Bingying tapped her feet, ready to vent out at the ladies that caused her brother that much pain.
"Please do not do anything to them." Kanari saw the dangerous glint in Bingying's eyes and immediately went into damage control. "They're innocent… What happened to Shin is just… Pure bad luck. If you harm them, Shin would never forgive you. No, he might even sustain an even larger blow." Finding out that he had killed Latina's father was already a life-altering punch to the gut. If Shin found out that his friends had targeted Latina to get revenge for him… Just thinking about the consequences gave Kanari the shivers.
"... Fine, I'll abstain." Bingying raised both her hands up in surrender. Everyone here had Shin's best interests in mind. There was no need to overtly argue.
Kanari watched as the Pearl in the East bite on her long fingernails. She's nervous, Kanari thought. Just like herself, Bingying cared deeply for Shin. In the four years they spent together, the Witch of the South and the Pearl in the East didn't get along much. Kanari saw Bingying as a person that had come to take Shin away, and that wasn't disputable. When their term as students of Imperius Academy came to an end, Shin would be leaving with Bingying to the Lantis Republic for five long years. It was a time that Kanari dreaded. However, now that Shin had proposed that they went together, the young maiden's mindset did a one-eighty turn.
"Senior Bingying… I do have something to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"I think… Shin should move to the Lantis Republic after he's recovered from his wounds."
Kanari dropped the bombshell that stunned everyone in the audience hall. The orphans, Principal Erudito, the seven young heroes and even the members of the Lantis Republic. Only Lady Seph, who sat quietly on the middle seat of the chambers, watched on with sparkling interest.
"What makes you say that?"
"Before he collapsed… Shin told me that he had the idea to leave." Kanari was brutally honest. "Shin told me that he wanted to grow, and staying in the Himmel Empire has stagnated that growth. He wanted to become strong enough to face Spirit Lords and Kings. He wanted to become more powerful than anyone in his generation. Also..." The young maiden gulped twice. "I think that it's good for him to have a new place to rebuild his life."
"..." The room went silent. Though everyone didn't know the details, they did know that Shin's life had been tragic in the Himmel Empire.
"There are so many bad memories in the Himmel Empire for Shin. Moving to a new place might help reset his life and give him a more conducive place to develop." That was Kanari's true feelings.
"That's really big of you..." For the first time, Bingying walked towards Kanari and gave her a firm embrace. The two great beauties had never interacted in this manner before. "I know how much you like him, and I know about… Your relationship. So, it's courageous of you to give him up for the greater good."
"Give him up? What are you talking about?" Kanari pushed the sky-blue haired beauty away, wrinkling her forehead in the process. Likewise, everyone else in the chambers shared the same confused expression. After two seconds, Kanari understood that there had been some sort of misunderstanding, so she smiled.
"Ah, I should have started out with this… I'm coming with him to the Lantis Republic."
✵✵✵
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