The Lord of Shadows stared at Silent for a long time. His unseen eyes bore through her, his body not moving a muscle, making even her gloomy sister shift in place from unease. But then, unexpectedly, he slowly shook his head.
"No, I'm not Master Sunless, I am Lord Shadow, a Saint. He is called Master Sunless for a reason. He is the master of being a fool," The Reclusive Saint told Silent, pointing to her friend.
Before Silent could respond, Lord Shadow continued.
"But let us say that yes, you are right, I am Sunless, because obviously behind this mask, I am the man known for being clumsy and a bumbling imbecile. The man who can't even hold a sword properly and has been pampered." His tone was full of sarcasm.
"But what then? Will you be satisfied if your suspicions are confirmed? Will you dislike me more? What do you think you will see if I take this mask off? The delicate face of Sunless or something else?" Lord Shadow tilted his head.
Eunbin stared in quiet admiration. How could someone stay so calm and collected in such a situation?
***
Sunny was far from calm!
'Damn! Damn! How the hell did they find out?!'
No, Sunny knew exactly how they found out, Mordret. That bastard had sold him out, and they likely already knew that the Lord of Shadows was Sunless, or rather, they suspected that he was.
So how would Sunny get out of this predicament?
By telling the truth, of course, and that's what he was doing. But that didn't mean Sunny didn't have something up his sleeve. Because Silent Stalker made a mistake in asking her a question, she had asked if he was Master Sunless, not Sunless.
It made things much easier for him to talk his way out of. It was one seemingly unimportant word, but it significantly impacted how he could answer since he was not a master but a saint, so he used that to his advantage.
The cat would be out of the box if his plan didn't work.
Or however that's saying went.
It didn't matter whether they knew who he was in the long run, but Sunny was having far too much fun with his personas interacting with one another.
"We won't know until you remove the mask, Lord Shadow, or I suppose I should say Master Sunless." Silent Stalker looked at Sunny's original body with a frown, then back at the avatar of the Lord of Shadows.
"Fine." He nodded and dismissed his mask, watching their eyes light up in anticipation. As they did, Sunny commanded the wild shadows of the training room to wrap around him; it looked like a hurricane of shadows, but Sunny's face was covered, and that was all that mattered.
'Here goes nothing.'
Once the shadows receded, they were face to face with the four-armed shadowspawn.
"Is this what you wanted?" Due to his now towering height, Sunny leaned down to look Princess Silent Stalker in the eyes.
"I don't understand." The unassuming Princess frowned.
"What don't you understand? This is my face." Sunny straightened back up.
It was technically his face because of the shadowshell, not his real face, but they didn't have to know that yet.
"Well, I'm sure you're beautiful on the inside, Lord Shadow." Eunbin gave a half-hearted smile that was still somehow gorgeous and an uneasy look in her eyes.
The Enchantress went over to his original body and helped him stand up, giving him a more genuine smile, so much so that Master Sunless had to pretend to look at his body for any more injuries to avoid her gaze.
Why the hell was she so beautiful?
"What the fuck? Now that's a plot twist!" Lonesome Howl chuckled with her usual cocky smile, but Sunny could feel her genuine confusion and weariness in her shadow. Her eyes rapidly darted between Master Sunless and the incarnation of Lord Shadow.
"What exactly are you, Lord Shadow?" Seishan asked calmly, though Sunny could tell she was also somewhat startled.
"You answered your question just now. I am a shadow, it is in my name." Sunny shrugged.
"I... see." Seishan slowly nodded.
"It is highly insulting to think that you concluded that I was in any way, shape, or form identical to this fool standing before me. If you were not my allies, I would have already struck you down." Sunny glared at them, pointing a clawed finger at his original body, which was standing near Eunbin.
"Our sincerest apologies to the Lord of Shadows." Seishan bowed.
"Just don't repeat it, and we will be fine." Sunny scoffed, but it came out as a snarl, which received multiple eyebrow raises from the sisters. He turned on his heel and began walking away.
"Thank you for training me, Lord Shadow. Respectfully, my lord, I sincerely hope I do not have to do it again." The pampered fool called out to him with an expression of nervousness.
"As do I, now leave. You will not like what happens if I find you here still chatting it up with the Song sisters," Sunny responded over his shoulder, and Shadow stepped away.
His original body immediately started speedwalking away, bowing and thanking the daughters of Song. Eunbin had decided to walk him home using the excuse of being a bodyguard so that Lord Shadow didn't snap his neck in broad daylight.
Sunny knew he had to play into the ruthless persona of the cold Lord of Shadows, but did they think he would do something like that?
'Perhaps I should dial it back?'
Who was he kidding? Of course, he wasn't going to.
Sunny would have left that fool to deal with the questions he knew they had, but the Brilliant Emporium was running low on ingredients. Since he was no longer in Bastion, he had no access to the Beastfarm and its deliveries, so Sunny had errands to run.
After several shadow steps, he was back at the nameless temple. With nothing to do besides sit there, Sunny switched focus to his original body, which was currently being walked home by his new friend.
Sunny was still not used to it, being friends with the most feared Saint in existence, though he should have been considering that he was friends with and once was in love with one of the most powerful saints in existence, Nephis.
He shook his head, getting a look from Eunbin as she walked beside him.
"Something on your mind?" She asked in her husky yet soft-spoken voice.
"Nothing much, I was just reminiscing a bit." He gave a faint smile.
She smiled as well, then frowned. "Sunless, I apologize for that 'session' with Lord Shadow earlier. I did not expect my sister to accuse Lord Shadow of being you. It's just that a guest of ours told us a rumor, though we took it lightly because of his habit of lying to people. Unfortunately, Silent did not, which led to that encounter." Eunbin looked genuinely remorseful about it.
Sunny almost felt bad about deceiving them, but mostly Eunbin.
Almost.
The only reason why he didn't was because of Silent stalker and her blunt approach to it.
"Oh, it's alright, I've had my fair share of rumors about me during Antarctica, so this is not the first, and I highly doubt it will be the last, my lady." He smiled politely.
Her frown deepened. "It is not alright. I refuse to stand by if rumors are going on about you, but that's a conversation for another day."
She was right, it was a conversation for another day because they had arrived outside the front door of the Brilliant Emporium.
"Thank you, Eunbin." Sunny bowed, then straightened back up
"It was my pleasure, Sunless. I will see you later," She smiled softly, showing dimples.
'Ah, don't smile at me like that!'
He cleared his throat. "A while ago, you mentioned an annual ball. Are there any updates on that?" Sunny had hoped there were at least. He wanted an excuse to wear a suit again; he thought he looked pretty good the last time, even if the night didn't end well.
"Unfortunately, there are not at the moment, but since you are so curious, I promise you will be the first to know if there are any." Eunbin chuckled.
"Thank you, Lady Eunbin." He turned around, moving to open the door until he stopped, hearing her speak again.
"Why are you so curious? Should we have the ball this year? Is it perhaps that you are looking for someone to take?" She had a mischievous smile on her face.
"I want an excuse to wear a suit again. And no, not right now." Sunny went to open the door again.
"Well, we must have this year then, I want to see you in a suit or better yet, a tuxedo." Eunbin slowly began walking away.
"I refuse to wear a death trap like a tuxedo." Sunny shook his head, earning a laugh from her.
"If I have to see Mordret in a tuxedo, then I have to see you in one as well; it's only fair." Her voice grew distant as she walked away.
"Have a good day, Lady Eunbin." He blatantly ignored her statement.
"I already have Master Sunless." She called out.
Closing the door behind him, Sunny walked inside with a faint smile. He heard a chair scrape on the ground, only to see Rain and Aiko staring at him. The former had narrowed eyes, while the latter held a thumbs-up and had a greedy smile on her face.
"Keep it up, boss! And we'll be rich in no time!" Aiko smiled wider.
"Teacher, don't you annoy Princess Eunbin with your ridiculous tales!" Rain took off her apron.
"Sure, whatever. I'm heading to the waking world to run some errands, so Aiko stops pestering me about them." Sunny rolled his eyes.
"It's about damn time! Pick up a few card games while you're at it, boss." Aiko began floating.
Sunny gave her a long look.
"Fine." He groaned.
"Thanks, boss," Aiko called out, floating into the kitchen.
"Hold down the fort while I'm gone." Sunny pointed to Happy, who had slipped out of Rain's shadow and manifested as an avatar. Happy gave a bright smile and an enthusiastic nod.
"Don't do anything silly, teacher." Rain sighed.
"When have I ever done anything silly? Don't answer that. I'm off!" Sunny went through the door and started to walk to the gateway in Ravenheart.
Making his way there, Sunny was met with many glares from men and, surprisingly, women who had seen him walking with Eunbin and their opinions about him.
"Womanizer."
"Playboy!"
"That's Master Sunless?! I get it now. Saint Nightingale and Master Sunless, it's too much for a young woman like myself! I think I will go to sleep now, so don't enter without knocking, or you'll regret it."
"You want to sleep now? Why- oh goddamnit, at least try to hide it!"
Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, he gave them a polite smile and wave, then proceeded to walk faster.
After a few minutes of walking, he made it to the gateway and stepped through, ending up in one of the buildings owned by Clan Song in the waking world. Looking around the interior, Sunny was slightly impressed but shook his head, focusing on the task.
Going to the mall.
He could have run to it in less than a minute, but wanted to take his time to think, which was all Sunny did nowadays.
Sunny had no idea these things existed until Kai took him one day, years ago, to shop for suits for the upcoming ball of Clan Valor.
The place had everything: suit tailoring, food, and, most importantly, coffee. Unfortunately, they didn't have eggs, so Sunny would have to go somewhere else for that, and it was always terribly packed.
Those people were all sitting ducks in an environment like that. Did they not think how easy it would be to kill them all?
'That's mundane humans for you, I suppose.'
But back to Kai, they had spent hours there, mainly because Kai refused to let Sunny look like he was going to a funeral.
His friend eventually gave in, though, and spent even more time wanting to make sure Sunny looked proper for the occasion.
Sunny would never have thought he would miss those days. Letting out a sigh, he continued walking towards his destination, taking note of the more than occasional glances he got from mundane people and awakened while making his way to the mall.
After ten minutes, he had finally arrived, standing before the place. Sunny watched numerous groups of people flow in and out. He slipped through the doors and walked to the first target. At least he would have until he felt a pair of eyes on him.
Sunny turned slightly to see a young mundane woman with auburn hair staring at him. Seeing that she had been caught, she smiled pleasantly at him.
Sunny smiled and continued walking for a few minutes until he felt someone staring at him again. He turned to see a young man smiling at him politely; this time, he didn't smile back.
He deliberately continued walking until the same thing happened again, only this time, an older, awakened man approached him.
"Good afternoon, young man. How are you doing?" he smiled brightly, holding his hand out.
"I'm fine, but I would be much better if you'd stop following me, Mordret." Sunny frowned.
The older man's smile widened. "Oh, I see it must be one of those jokes you younger people have. I'm afraid I don't know who you're talking about."
"Quit pretending, I know it's you, you've been following me throughout this place from the moment I stepped in here." Sunny glared at him.
"Ah, I guess I've been caught, Sunless. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" He fixed his coat.
"Getting things," Sunny stated curtly.
"What kind of things?" Mordret spoke from behind him, appearing in his original body whilst fixing his tie. The body he was using had disappeared; it was nowhere to be found.
"The kind that you buy." Sunny continued walking.
"Do you mind if I join you? It would be quite grand if we could shop together." The Prince of Nothing followed him.
"Yes, I do mind." Sunny kept his gaze forward.
"Alright."
Mordret continued following him until Sunny stopped and whirled around.
"What the hell are you even doing here? And stop following me!" Sunny grimaced.
"Well, I came here to get a new suit." He smiled.
"A suit?" Sunny stared blankly.
"Yes, a suit. You didn't think I constantly wore the same one, did you? Goodness no. This is where I also get my suits dry-cleaned. I've been going here for years; I highly recommend them." Mordret smiled pleasantly.
"Wonderful." Sunny continued walking, leaving him behind.
"How about I join you in your errands?" He asked once more with a polite smile.
"How about you don't?" Sunny deadpanned.
"Sunless," Mordret called out.
"No." Sunny started to walk again and shook his head.
"Sunless." Mordret followed him.
"No." Sunny repeated.
This repeated for the next several minutes.
"Sunless."
"No."
"Sunless."
"No!"
"Just let me accompany you on this short journey, then I will be out of your hair."
"Fine."
"Really?"
"No!"
"Where exactly are we going?" Moving to walk beside him, Mordret tilted his head.
'We?! Who the hell is we?!'
Sunny stared at him for a long moment, and then the pain of his flaw became unbearable. "To get coffee beans."
"Now isn't that wonderful? We just so happen to be going to the same place. Is that all you're getting?"Mordret smiled.
"No."
"Excellent, my friend." The former Prince nodded.
"We're not friends." Sunny frowned.
"Well, you are unique in every way, divine even, and because of that, you are the closest thing I have to a friend." Mordret smiled at him.
"You threw me under the bus, you bastard," Sunny said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, Sunless, I hope you'll forgive me. The song sisters would not stop questioning me, and I had a guilty conscience. I take it you know a lot about that." He smiled wider with a strange look in his eyes.
Sunny nearly tripped over himself.
No.
That was impossible; he couldn't have known his flaw. Sunny had no runes for Mordret to look at in his reflection.
Right?
Sunny chose to keep silent for now.
After a minute of walking in silence, Mordret spoke. "I do think you should let me accompany Sunless. "
"Why?"
"Nothing in life is free, Sunless, and if I recall correctly, I spared those worms because you asked me to, not because I wanted to. Therefore, I did you a favor on your behalf, so you owe me. And it would be quite tragic news if something were to happen to the fine people of this mall." He smiled.
This sick bastard.
"Fine, you can join me." Sunny looked around the mall.
"I'm glad you had a change of heart, Sunless. Now it seems like we are here." He pointed to the coffee store filled with different kinds of beans worldwide.
They walked inside, and Mordret greeted the cashier with a smile, which flustered the young woman.
"Don't touch anything, this is going to be quick." Sunny pointed at him and walked away, looking for the beans he usually bought.
Once Sunny found them, he returned to see Mordret curiously holding a bag. He put it back and smiled at Sunny.
"Onto the next destination, my friend." Mordret looked at his suit.
"Fine." Sunny frowned.
"Preferably to the suit tailor if you wouldn't mind. This is top priority." He walked to the entrance of the coffee shop and stood there with hands clasped behind his back, waiting for Sunny.
Sunny walked past him, and Mordret stepped beside him with a smile.
"How are you fairing in Raven Heart Sunless?" He suddenly spoke up.
"Good," Sunny answered curtly.
"That is wonderful to hear. You seem to be getting along well with the sisters." He smiled.
Mordret wasn't bad company; he would've enjoyed having him around if he hadn't known the bastard's true nature. He also would have already died if it weren't for his shadows in his soul sea.
"Here we are. Don't worry, Sunless, this will be quick. I will have it delivered to one of Clan Song's buildings." Mordret spread his arms out.
"I don't care." Sunny shook his head.
"You will someday rely on me if Ki Song holds the ball this year." He walked inside.
Sunny let out a long sigh. "Gods help me."
He would have already left, but Mordret was practically holding the people in the mall hostage without their knowledge!
So he walked inside as well.
Sunny found Mordret checking out a dark red suit with a slight frown. He scoffed, then went to a simple black suit and smiled.
"Perfect." He smiled wider.
"That's the same suit you have on." Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"So? There's nothing wrong with a classic. I do not judge the clothes worn, so I would greatly appreciate it if you did not judge me."
Sunny's head was starting to hurt.