Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2928

Whenever Sunny slept, some part of him always remained awake. There were seven of him, after all — so, it was rare for all of his incarnations to be asleep at the same time. After finding the nameless grave on the hill where Aletheia's Tower had once stood, however, he chose to surrender himself to sleep completely. Even though nothing had happened since they entered the Tomb of Ariel, he needed a break.

The nothingness of it all was exhausting. Eventually, though, Sunny woke up.

He remained still for a while, looking at Neph's profile. She was sitting by the fire, looking at the dancing flames — just like he had been doing during his watch.

Her usually stoic expression seemed reserved and pensive in the warm light of the fire.

“It is strange, you know."

Even though she did not turn to look, she must have noticed that he was awake. Sunny did not move, either.

“What is?"

Nephis lingered for a short while, then shrugged.

"Sitting by the fire in the Tomb of Ariel, utterly ruined, acting like nothing is the matter."

Finally turning, she smiled faintly.

Her smile was a little bit bitter, and a little bit dark.

“I had spent so much time building my kingdom — all my life, really — and now, in the span of a few short months, all of it is gone. My Citadels, my armies, my comrades, my people... all I have left now are the things I can carry with me. I must be the first homeless Sovereign in history."

Sunny remained silent for a moment, then smiled as well.

"Well, to be fair, you can carry quite a lot with you. An entire flying ship, for example — and that is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Nephis chuckled.

“That's true."

She turned back to the flame, and to the darkness beyond it.

“You went somewhere while I slept, didn't you?"

Sunny lingered for a few seconds, then sighed.

"I did. How did you know? I tried not to wake you."

She shook her head lightly.

"It was because you were different when I woke up. So, I figured that something must have happened."

Nephis reached forward and cupped her hands, thrusting them into the fire. She scooped some of it, as one would scoop water, and then washed her face in the brilliant white flame. A moment later, she let out a satisfied sigh and turned to Sunny again, looking refreshed.

"Do you still have coffee?"

Sunny sat up, summoned an enchanted thermos he had once created, and poured the fragrant drink into two cups.

As they enjoyed their morning coffee in utter darkness, he considered his words for a long while.

Eventually, though, he still said:

“You never ask me any questions."

It was true. When the two of them were together, Sunny rarely had to say something because of his Flaw. As a result, there were few situations when he said something to Nephis, only for her to forget it seconds later.

It was very convenient of Sunny and made his life much easier, but at the same time, he often felt conflicted about the whole situation.

At times, he felt insecure, thinking that Nephis simply did not care enough to ask. Other times, he felt that it was not fair to her, since no matter what she did, she would never receive an answer — would never be able to truly know the man with whom she shared her life.

But Sunny never brought it up, because doing so would not solve anything. And she would not be able to remember having talked about it, either.

Nephis shrugged.

"That is strange, as well."

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify