Willes Idaroth Anslein

"Would you like to go back to the city and sleep for the night, or continue to the Cardinal Ardor Kingdom?" I asked Fiona, who lay in my arms.

Stifling a yawn, she muttered, "the closest city from the capital is still a few hours away."

"You don't want to stay the night?" I asked, although I could already guess her answer.

She shook her head. "The city feels... dangerous. Something bad will happen. Let's avoid it."

"I thought so too," I replied, nodding. "But staying a night in the city is still much safer than travelling out in the dark. Are you sure?"

"Yep."

"All right, then let's be on our way."

I just hope that there will be no accidents with bandits or a spiritual beast attack. This might be for the best though, as I can get more familiar with the Frost Devil Arts. The Frost Aura scripture also gained some proficiency. That's nice, but... I'm not being unrealistic, but this rate of progression is too slow for me.

Danger is brewing within the kingdoms, and not everyone will be as kind and trustworthy as Burkan. Plus, the old man from the Pavilion still gives me that weird feeling... it's not like I don't have faith in Fiona's judgement, but he's just too suspicious for me to ignore. Ahh, everything's so dangerous around here... when will the day where Fiona and I can just sit back and relax come?

"Sit back and relax, huh? That sounds nice." I mumbled to myself, looking at the sides of the trees, then at Fiona, her arms wrapping around my neck. She dozed quietly, taking lengthy breaths.

I chuckled. "You really made yourself comfortable, eh? The guide is asleep, so the tourist will have to find his way on his own."

If I recall, there was a town close to the capital? The two of us can make it there by following the path, I think. Hope it's not too far and that the townsmen are welcoming of us.

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On the same pathway through the forests, a shadow stood atop a tree, watching a man and his daughter carefully trek along.

"They seem to be close, as the rumors say.... Princess Fiona truly loves her father. Too bad the Queen hasn't accepted him..." The shadow muttered to himself. He took a glance at the battle that they fought against Hell Rabbit. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh? Princess Fiona is not the one learning the techniques, but her father?"

Astounded, the shadow watched from afar as the man won the battle with ease and broke through.

"Qi Foundation Realm Stage 2... no, he can jump realms and fight with just his experience. I would say he stood quite a favorable chance of winning against high-stage Qi Condensation realm cultivators. As expected of the leader of Mishadow, the leading assassin organization," the shadow praised, appreciating the clean cuts and dodges.

He watched as the two showered each other with affection; himself blushing a bit. He reprimanded the man with jealousy clear in his voice, "these two are more like sweethearts than a father and daughter... Willes Idaroth Anslein! I once respected you!"

Willes Idaroth Anslein, also known as the Shadow of the Heart. A renowned assassin even when he was young, he learned to survive by taking up contract assassinations. The money he made helped his family out of poverty. Out of anger and fear of having their rankings and status taken, the other influential enemies launched an attack, hiring mercenaries and giving out hefty rewards, wiping his family out.

During that time, Willes fell in love with the Queen of Glendora's twin sister. The battle for the throne was raging hard, but Willes threw everything into a standpoint. The Queen's sister gave up rights to the throne, and in return asked for resources to fund an organization with Willes to spend her days. Some say though that it was just a ploy to convince Willes to buy the lives of the families.

Torn between the matter of giving face to his sister-in-law and avenging his family's death, Willes chose the latter, and on one fateful night, the heads of the patriarchs from the families involved rolled on the ground.

The Queen executed her sister in retaliation, claiming that she was mastermind behind the Shadow of the Heart, and convinced him to assassinate the influential family heads as revenge for losing the throne.

Willes named Mishadow, the organization they'd started together after her. Most citizens in Glendora nowadays recognize Mishadow as Miss Shadow, the Shadow of the Heart's beloved, and not as the Queen's twin.

That brings up Princess Fiona. Many have doubts about who her birth mother is, the Queen or Miss Shadow? Only the upper echelon of society knew that the Shadow of the Heart introduced her only after Miss Shadow's execution, which was the subject of many controversies. Did the Shadow of the Heart rape the Queen with a vengeance, or was it because he just wanted a child with his beloved?

Even Princess Fiona herself does not know who her birth mother is.

The shadow atop the trees sighed. "Such complicated family matters... what?!"

He shivered under the gaze of the man, looking straight at him. The man's expression was frosty, his emotions unreadable. Cold and aloof.

The man looked down at the girl in his embrace and chuckled. It sounded lighthearted on the surface, but felt like a warning.

The shadow didn't dare to move. "He... did he notice me?"

His next words, full of threat, sent a jolt down the shadow's spine.

"Who are you?"