"Oh? What is it? Did something happen?" Eunbin bombarded Mordret with questions about her new friend.
Mordret shook his head and moved to the reflection of the mirror on her wall, which Eunbin and Howl walked up to.
"No, no, nothing like that!" His smile widened.
"Where the hell have you been anyway?" Howl questioned.
"Here and there, being a family man, a cook, a librarian, I tried talking to our dear Sunless earlier at his Emporium just after Princess Deathsinger visited, but he was too busy chatting with customers and helping his new pretty assistant." The Prince of Nothing smiled.
"Well, Mordy, stop dodging the question and spit it out! What is it about Master Sunless? And quit smiling so goddamn much, it's creepy as hell!" Howl scowled at him.
"Now that truly hurts my feelings, Princess Lonesome Howl. And please, I told you not to call me by that abomination of a nickname; it is humiliating." He frowned, pretending to pout, and even though he was Howl's reflection, it still sent a shiver down Eunbin's spine.
"What feelings? The ones you pretend to have?" Howl snorted.
"But if you genuinely want to know that badly, I will tell you."He suddenly smiled again, disregarding her questions.
"Master Sunless is Lord Shadow, and his transformation is having multiple bodies." He told them with a polite smile.
Eunbin's chamber was silent for a long moment.
Until Howl began laughing at his face, Eunbin couldn't help but laugh as well.
They watched his smile tighten the more they laughed. After a few minutes of laughing, the rest of Eunbin's sisters, including the ascended ones, entered the room because of what they heard from Mordret and joined in.
The only ones who weren't laughing were Silent, who remained sullen, taking the claim seriously, and Shan, who calmly stood there the entire duration.
Eventually, after a long while, they stopped laughing and stared at the mirror again.
"Sure, he is, and I'm the Beast Goddess. Do you have any other ridiculous statements or anything to lie about?" Moonveil Questioned.
"Me? Lie? Why, how dare you accuse me of such a thing! I would never do that." Mordret scoffed.
"You-." She began.
"Let us at least hear him out first. There is no need to mock him." Shan calmly interrupted.
"Sister, can you blame us? He says that the pretty boy Master Sunless, our purveyor and your Blood sisters' purveyor, the young man who makes pancakes and memories for a living, is The Lord of Shadows!" Howl pointed out.
"Yes, he is a flower boy through and through. The young man looks like he can't hold a sword properly. Opposite of Lord Shadow, who is extremely ruthless." Veil nodded.
"I could teach him." Rev moved closer.
Everyone immediately shook their heads. "You would break Master Sunless, Rev. Silent, you would eat him alive, so that's a no. Veil, you could teach him." Shan suggested.
"I wouldn't mind that at all. I will make sure Master Sunless learns every move." Veil smiled.
"Is that so? I'll watch you to ensure that you do only that." Eunbin frowned. She wouldn't have her sisters scare off the man nor seduce him!
"It would be most suitable for Lord Shadow to teach Master Sunless, as they both have shadow-related aspects. Of course, we must be there to watch and ensure Lord Shadow does not kill him." Shan finalized.
They all nodded, agreeing with her.
Most of them did at least.
"He served in Antarctica, so he likely already knows how to fight. He is probably deadlier than he looks, and we are proof that looks are always deceiving, aren't we, sisters? Master Sunless could be hiding many things under that apron." Silent spoke out.
"Oh my, indeed, he could be hiding a lot under there. It seems like you want a piece of him, too, huh? I can't say I blame you, Silent. I mean, you've seen him, he's an entire meal waiting to be gobbled up!" Howl smiled wolfishly at Silent's last sentence.
"No one will be eating anyone, and certainly not my friend." Eunbin forced a smile.
"Oh! So he's your "friend" instead of an acquaintance, huh? There's an improvement! So if he's just your friend, you wouldn't mind if I stole him, right, Bin?" Howl smiled mischievously.
Eunbin ignored her boisterous sister's provocation and focused on her sullen sister, who was currently gazing murderously at their loud sibling.
"That is not what I meant, Howl, and you know it. He's not my type anyway, Master Sunless is too much of a soft boy and short. He'd be more of a boy toy than anything to me." Silent said through gritted teeth and glaring daggers at their tall sister.
"Whatever, more for me." Howl shrugged carelessly, getting a smack to the head from Veil.
"That is Bin's boyfriend you're openly lusting over, stop it." Veil scolded.
"Weren't you just saying you would teach him every 'move' Veil?" Howl pointed a finger at her.
"I don't know what you're talking about, wolf girl." Veil shook her head.
"You damn liar!" Howl scowled.
Ignoring their bickering, Revel turned to Hel.
"So that's where you went earlier?" Revel asked.
"Yup! Gods, Master Sunless, he's so pretty! Even if he is Lord Shadow, who cares? If what Mordret said is true, he has several bodies too!" Hel beamed.
"Yes, it would be a huge problem if he turned on us, " Rev. nodded.
"Indeed, he could, so if he ever does, leave him to me, sisters don't worry, however many there are of him, I can take all of them." Hel smiled.
"In a fight, right?" Rev raised an eyebrow.
"…."
"Hel, in a fight, right?" Rev asked again.
"Hm? Oh! Yes! A fight, too, I mean yes, only a fight, nothing else." She sputtered without missing a beat.
"He is only a friend, nothing more, nothing less." Eunbin pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a sigh.
"For now." Hel teased.
"I'll give you a year, Bin, before I swoop him off his feet." Howl wiggled her eyebrows.
Eunbin shook her head at her sister's teasing.
It was pointless to sway what they thought her relationship was with Master Sunless. All her siblings, except Silent, teased her whenever they could.
Even Shan joined in once!
Speaking of their eldest.
Bringing them back to the primary matter, their oldest sister began speaking again.
"Regardless of whether or not he can, it would be helpful for him to face human opponents, wouldn't it? After all, one can only learn so much from fighting nightmare creatures." Shan countered Silent's argument.
"Yes, you're right." Silent begrudgingly agreed.
"Then it's settled." Shan sat down on Eunbin's bed.
"Back to the topic at hand. They also met each other outside of the palace!" Howl pointed out another flaw in Mordret's claim.
"Yes, sister! Do you realize how ridiculous this sounds, Mister?" One of her sisters, Rhaspody, also pointed out while nodding to a nonexistent tune.
"Like I said before, you saw his transformation; he has multiple bodies, similar to your mother and me." Mordret shrugged.
"You don't think it's strange how Master Sunless shows up in Raven Heart and Lord Shadow makes himself known just a few weeks later?" He tilted his head.
"No, I don't." Howl shook her head.
"Alright. It'll be much more entertaining when you find out for yourselves anyway!" With that, he smiled, and Howl's reflection mimicked her movements again.
"Goddamn creep." Howl shivered.
"Yes, agreed, he is a weirdo who knows no moral boundaries and also has hate for his father with foundries." Their sister rolled her eyes.
Rhapsody's flaw was interesting because it did not prohibit her from doing anything or affect her mental state.
At least not severely, it was a nuisance at best. That was common among the awakened, but that was not what made it intriguing.
No matter what Rhapsody said, their sister had to speak in rhymes.
One of their other Sisters had the flaw of only being able to tell bad jokes, much like Saint Jest.
At least that's what everyone assumed the older man's flaw was; it would make sense, considering how much he made terrible jokes when they were friends with Princess Morgan in their youth.
Eunbin would never admit it, but she always found them funny, no matter how terrible the jokes were.
But she digressed; this was no time for reminiscing.
"I believe him." Silent spoke up.
"Really? You believe that lunatic?" Veil asked with wide eyes.
"Yes, I always figured Master Sunless was hiding something. He told Seishan he was a scout. How do we know he wasn't lying about that?" Silent frowned.
"Everyone is entitled to their secrets, sister. We shouldn't go prying into them." Shan pointed out.
"Is that so? What will you do if he is a spy for Clan Valor, plans to cross us, or cahoots with the Lord of Shadows plotting our demise?" Silent stood up and continued.
"He could be playing the long game." She theorized.
"Lord Shadow may be powerful and arrogant, but I highly doubt that even someone like him is foolish or mad enough to do such a thing." Shan countered.
"He already lives in a death zone, Shan! What makes you think he isn't crazy enough to do something like that? Need I remind you of what the Prince of Nothing pulled during Antarctica!" Revel raised her voice.
"No, you don't. That could have cost us a lot, but it didn't. While you may not like him, you must remember that we are allies with Lord Shadow, and he will continue to be our ally until the young man proves otherwise." Shan's voice remained in the same tone the entire time.
"You can't just-"
"This is the first time in years that I have seen all my daughters in one place, and here I find two of my children arguing about a man no less." A soothing voice suddenly spoke, interrupting their argument.
Eunbin and her sisters turned to see their mother standing in the doorway of her chambers with a faint frown on her beautiful face.
"Mother, I-" Veil began to speak.
"I heard everything; there is no need to explain it to me, child." Mother cut her sister off, moved closer into the room, and shut the doors behind her.
"One of you will go get Master Sunless and bring him to train with the Lord of Shadows while the rest of you stay here and discuss another topic with me, like we used to." Their mother sat on Eunbin's bed right beside Shan.
Her tone was soft, but it also left no room for argument.
"I will go, mother. Master Sunless is making a memory for me at the moment." Howl walked to the door.
"Lord Shadow was spotted outside of Raven Heart only an hour ago, so he should still be here." Mother informed them.
"Thank you, Mother." Howl bowed and left the room, leaving it in silence.
"That young girl with dark hair, who is she?" Mother tilted her head.
"Aiko? She is his assistant mother." Veil said.
Mother slowly shook her head. "No, not that one, the one I always see in the forest with Master Sunless."
"That is Rain; she is his other assistant. But if I may ask, what do they do in the forest?" Eunbin's curiosity was piqued.
"They train, or rather, he trains her. I saw them pass some time ago, heading back to Ravenheart as I was bringing the corpse of a sleeper who had frozen to death to the ice caves. He cares and loves her despite not outwardly showing it, like I do for all of you. So there is no need to make that face, Bin." Mother turned to her.
"I-what face, mother? I'm not making any faces!" Eunbin miserably defended.
Mother gave her a look.
"They are likely siblings." Mother concluded.
Siblings? Eunbin wasn't aware that Master Sunless had any siblings.
Why didn't he tell her?
Did he not trust her?
Then again, they just met more than a month ago from today. So it was understandable.
"How have my daughters been?" Their Mother gave a smile.
It was foreign nowadays, but always welcome.
***
Most of Eunbin's sisters were in the training area sometime later, standing on the sidelines. Mother had long left the throne room. The dark walls cut from the jade palace were filled with various weapons and wooden swords.
The training area itself spanned hundreds of meters above and across, comparable to The Lord of Shadows' main hall of the nameless temple.
Eunbin watched Howl walk into the area beside Enchanter Sunless, who looked around with wonder and astonishment.
His eyes landed on Eunbin, and he gave her the pleasure of seeing a dazzling smile on his handsome face.
Howl and Master Sunless walked closer until they stood before Eunbin and her sisters, with Howl standing beside them.
"This place is fantastic. Princess Howl told me I was training. "he tilted his head.
"Yes, that's right." Eunbin nodded with a smile.
"Which one of you am I training with?" He asked, smiling politely.
Before they could answer, the training area dimmed, and a terrible figure wearing a dark, featureless mask appeared before them. Master Sunless's smile was replaced with a look of fear.
Lord Shadow walked towards him menacingly, stopping before the handsome Enchanter she now called a friend.
"Me." Lord Shadow looked at him with arrogance, disdain evident in his voice.