"come Ashton~ I am waiting~"
"who is it?!"
Ashton jolted from his bed and asked loudly. He immediately grabs a sword from his dimension ring and looked around vigilantly.
But after sometime he didn't see anyone he lowered his sword but he was still alert, looking for any trespasser.
"come Ashton~ I am waiting for your arrival~ come to Abandoned Temple~"
"who is it!? that dare to infiltrate CrimsonHeart Prince's room! Show yourself I said!"
After waiting for a minute or two he didn't get any response he retracted his sword and immediately called his shadow guard.
"Eren!"
"Yes! my Prince what are your orders"
As soon as Ashton called for Eren a man emerged from Ashton's behind and asked respectfully. The aura of this man is undetectable as if he was just an ordinary person but if you think he is your typical passer-by then you are clearly mistaken because he is a Sovereign rank powerhouse.
Eren is a commoner who has been working for Crimsonheart House since he was 8 years old and has absolute loyalty to Ashton. Yeah you are right, he is loyal towards Ashton not his father Duke Crimsonheart because he is a shadow.
Shadows are special from ordinary guards and servants. Anyone who decides to be a shadow for someone means that he or she gave his/her life in the hand of the said person. So that is why he is absolutely loyal towards Ashton.
You maybe thinking that he became Ashton's shadow due to his father but no Eren willingly decided to be Ashton's shadow without even his father's order.
Even the Duke was surprised that the arrogant and prideful Eren would give his life in the hands of a child even if that said child was his son.
It was due to a certain incident that led him to become Ashton's shadow.
5 years ago*
When Ashton was only five years old and didn't want to attend his classes he decided to hide in his family garden. At that time Eren had returned from a dangerous mission and was recuperating, so Duke Crimsonheart ordered him to be Ashton's secret guard in the meantime.
When Ashton was hiding he sensed someone was watching him from somewhere so he shot an arrow instantly towards Eren. Eren was astonished by this sudden attack.
You have to know that now even a Transcended Rank would have a hard time to notice Eren if he decided to mask his presence.
Although at that time he was not in his best condition and was not deliberately hiding it doesn't mean that a child who didn't even started his mana sensing to detect him.
And the speed and precision of the attack was enough to kill an Awakening rank and to seriously injure even an Evolution rank.
Eren was surprised at that time but decided to stay hidden. He was looking at the kid who detected him despite being an unawaken but still managed to sense his presence and looking at his direction fearlessly made him respect Ashton from the bottom of his heart.
For the first time in his life Eren wanted to follow someone, because he wanted to see how far this prideful prince would be able to reach.
Ashton was retreating while still pointing his arrow towards Eren. That courage, decisiveness and fearlessness shifted Eren's loyalty from Crimsonheart House to only Ashton.
Soon Ashton was caught by his teacher and was about to get an earful but Eren stopped him.
When Eren came out of the shadows, the archery teacher was surprised that he didn't even notice someone was there and he couldn't help but fear as this was the most fatal mistake an archer can make to not notice the presence of the enemy.
Ashton who saw Eren asked him arrogantly because he knew that Eren couldn't do anything to harm him.
"who are you? And why were you still hiding earlier when this prince called you earlier?"
Everyone was surprised by the kid's behaviour to not be scared even in this kind of situation when your life can end in a moment's breath.
Eren who was surprised at first replied respectfully.
"My name is Eren, Young prince, and I was assigned to be one of your secret guards. I was hiding to protect you."
"well, since you are not an enemy I will not report this to my father. But if I call you in the future you must not neglect my orders. Although I was taught to be kind to my servants it doesn't mean that you would not follow my orders because a servant who doesn't listen to his master's orders shall not live."
Ashton replied sternly and asked Eren about his intentions.
"So, Eren now tell me if you have anything to say. Or you may go back to your duties."
"Young prince if I may be presumptuous enough I would like to make a bold request to you."
"What it is?"
"I want to be Prince-sama's Shadow."
"You know what are you asking, right?"
"Yes! I know what I am asking for. Please give me just one chance I will definitely meet Prince-sama's expectations."
There's no way that Ashton didn't know what being a shadow meant. Ashton has been educated about various things since he was 3 years old, whether it's about general knowledge like history, politics, diplomacy, etc. or special knowledge like shadows, monster hunting, assassination, etc.
Ashton has always been a gifted child, so his parents tried their best to provide him excellent knowledge that will make him into one of the future powerhouse.
"Alright tell me about yourself and your qualifications which you are so confident about that you dare to ask to become this Prince's shadow."
Ashton asked Eren as he was also curious about Eren's abilities. Because the moment Ashton saw Eren he knew that Eren was a prideful man who may break but would not bend to anyone.
"I am Eren, a Sovereign rank assassin, serving Crimsonheart House for more than 2 decades. I have assassinated 7 Transcended Rank powerhouse, 67 Sovereign Ranks, 724 Domain Ranks, and uncountable Half-Domain or below ranks. I am confident If I tried to hide even a middle rank Transcended Rank would not be able to sense me. And I am sure to guarantee your safety even in the face of a Transcended Rank."