My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

The parchment unfurled further.

Lines of text rearranged themselves, creating room for one final clause.

The clause was simple.

Should Emilia Hightower successfully identify the individual holding her child within three attempts, her child will be returned, and the Unknown Mediator shall be entitled to claim an item of equivalent value from the individual who abducted the child.

”What happens if I fail to guess the name within three tries?”

She was not stupid.

This entity had referred to itself as a mediator.

By doing so it had deliberately removed itself from suspicion.

More importantly, it implied the mediator was not the one holding her child.

And the reward...

The person who had taken Godric would lose something of equivalent value.

But what could possibly equal her child?

Nothing.

There was nothing in the world she valued more.

”Should you fail, then nothing happens. I suppose your situation could scarcely become worse than it already is.”

Emilia nodded.

Then bit her thumb.

Blood flowed freely.

She pressed it against the contract.

The moment her blood touched the parchment, the contract vanished.

The voice disappeared as well.

Emilia blinked.

She was still in bed.

Still beneath the blankets.

Still staring at the darkness of her room.

”Ah... a dream. It was all a dream...”

She pushed aside the covers and rose.

Then she felt a sharp sting.

Looking down, she saw blood on her thumb.

The same thumb she had pressed against the contract.

That was when she realized it had been real.

”Xander... what have you done...”

This was more than enough reason for divorce.

Yet she could not do that.

The prerequisite for entering the agreement was being Xander’s wife.

If she ceased being his wife, her connection to the contract would likely disappear.

”Xander...”

She did not know what she had made an agreement with.

Only that she had.

********

Neither Damon nor Xander knew anything about the added clause.

Both had their own problems to deal with.

Damon arrived back at the Tomb of Lesser Gods carrying a baby in his arms.

The toddler had gone quiet.

Large curious eyes simply stared at everything around him.

Renata glanced at Damon.

Without a word he stepped forward and carefully handed the child to her.

The moment the baby left his arms, Godric’s face crumpled.

Then he started crying.

Renata looked down at the child now clutching her clothes with tiny fingers.

Then she looked back at Damon.

”Are you okay?”

Damon stood silently for a moment.

Then he slowly shook his head.

His gaze lingered on the crying child.

”No.”

His voice was barely above a whisper.

”I feel dirty.”

For perhaps the first time in a very long while, Damon spoke without excuses, without lies, without trying to justify himself.

That was genuinely how he felt.

Damon walked out of the tomb with Lilith by his side. One of the clauses agreed upon was that Xander would never speak of who he gave his child to, nor would he reveal that he had given his child away at all.

He retraced his steps until they reached the Brightwater family estate, which in reality was less an estate and more a massive palace.

According to Renata, the Grand Duke and most of his family spent most of their time there these days. The reason was simple.

Ranar refused to leave.

She had been that way ever since her father disappeared. Even the maids and servants knew the little princess was still waiting for her father’s return after all this time.

For that reason, the Grand Duke, her great-grandfather, had moved many of his affairs from his own domain to the capital. The Brightwaters had heavily fortified the palace, turning it into something that looked more like a luxurious fortress than a noble residence.

Damon made his way inside with Lilith beside him.

No one stopped him.

If anything, the knights and servants who recognized him immediately bowed in greeting before hurrying off to inform the rest of the household that he had returned.

Damon spread his shadow perception throughout the estate until he found his daughter.

Then, while holding Lilith’s hand, he took a single step.

Space folded.

The two of them appeared inside a room.

A young girl sat there.

Slightly bigger than a toddler.

His daughter.

She had long golden hair and deep golden eyes. Honestly, she looked far more like her mother, or Evangeline, than she did him. Everything about her screamed Brightwater.

Very little of Damon could be seen in her appearance.

She held two dolls in her hands.

One was a plushie that looked suspiciously like Damon.

The other was much smaller and seemed to be a doll of herself.

She was making the dolls talk to each other.

”My beloved Ranar, it’s me, your deadbeat daddy. I’ve finally returned. I didn’t mean to leave you. In fact, I’ve come to take... you away with me...”

The moment Damon heard those words, something inside him cracked.

Then she moved the smaller doll.

”Daddy, you meanie. I’ve been waiting every day for you... to come take Ranar away...”

She continued playing with the dolls, acting out conversations with a father who wasn’t there.

For a moment Damon simply stood there watching.

Then a smile appeared on his face.

A sad one.

He leaned closer.

”Hey there, beautiful young lady. Would you like to ride on a magical pony?”

The moment she heard his voice, Ranar turned her small head toward him.

Her golden eyes widened.

Her entire face lit up.

A smile appeared.

Her little arms immediately opened as if she intended to throw herself at him.

Then she stopped.

Right at the last moment.

The smile vanished.

Her face scrunched up into adorable indignation.

”Hmph.”

She folded her tiny arms across her chest and dramatically turned her head away.

She was only three years old.

And somehow she was already terrifying.

”Ranar, I... don’t you recognize me? It’s your daddy.”

She waved a dismissive hand.

”Croft. Scar. Go tell the knights there’s an intruder in the estate.”

Her words came out so clearly and fluently that Damon was genuinely stunned.

Before he could even react, Croft flew down from above, cawing aggressively at him.

The raven sounded personally offended.

As though Damon had violated some sacred agreement.

Meanwhile, Scar sat on the table staring at him.

Judging him.

Silently.

Harshly.

Lilith looked between the animals and Damon.

Even she wasn’t sure what to say.

Then Ranar suddenly turned toward her.

”So you took my daddy, huh?”

Lilith froze.

For perhaps the first time in a very long time, she looked genuinely awkward.

”I... didn’t. Didn’t you just say you don’t recognize him?”

Ranar finally looked directly at Damon.

Really looked at him.

The father she had not seen for two years.

A period longer than half her life.

”Ranar, I love you,” Damon said softly.

”Love yourself.”

The answer came back instantly.

Damon stared.

Lilith stared.

Even Croft stopped cawing for a second.

The response was so immediate, so savage, so completely unnecessary that Damon almost felt proud.

Because that was exactly the sort of thing he would have said.

Truly.

She was her father’s daughter.