Reincarnated With The Strongest System

A tear fell from Shannon's eyes as she finished the last brush stroke of her painting.

"I'm sorry," Shannon said as she covered her face with her paint-stained hands. 

Due to Princess Aila's weird behavior after William whispered something in her ear. Shannon thought that something was amiss. After asking the angelic Princess what was wrong with her, she subconsciously muttered that William was planning to sleep with her tonight.

This revelation made Shannon blush because she didn't expect that William would immediately take things to the next stage after receiving their confessions.

Because of this, she decided to spy on the two of them, thinking that she would be able to better understand how couples share their nights together.

However, what she saw was completely unexpected. Although she had seen what she was looking for when the silver-haired William and Aila embraced each other, what followed next was heartbreaking.

It was like watching a very wholesome show that suddenly became a tragedy. This caught Shannon completely by surprise, and she didn't expect that her curiosity would leave her feeling so bitter and sad at the same time.

Although she didn't fully understand it, she had a hunch that what she saw was William's and Princess Aila's past life. This concept was not new to her because she had seen how William traveled back to Earth and met Belle, who had been his love in his previous lifetime.

Truth be told, Shannon felt a little envious because she didn't have this kind of connection with William. 

Even so, she still felt that he was the Prince in the books that she had read in the past. 

No. 

Shannon wanted William to become her Prince.

When she heard about the prophecy of the Prince of Darkness, she wished that the prophesied Prince would come to save her, and pledge his undying love to her.

Sadly, fairy tales were different from reality.

Any Prince, no matter who they were, would commit suicide after seeing her face. This was something that she couldn't control even if she wanted to. This was why, when William first visited her in the shrine, she was very eager to know if he would be able to resist the power of her Divinity.

Sadly, he couldn't even after trying twice.

Back then, Shannon no longer thought of William as the prophesied Prince for one single reason.

How can the Prince be affected by her Divinity? Since he was the Prince of Darkness, he must be able to overcome anything in order to bring the entire world to its knees. That was Shannon's belief, and she had thought that Celeste and Celine weren't the true Brides of Darkness, but her.

"What should I do?" Shannon muttered after regaining control of her senses. "Should I apologize to Aila? No. if I do that, she will know that I spied on her last night."

Shannon was at a loss about what to do and her feelings were in disarray. Because of this, she didn't notice a little fairy looking at the paintings that she had drawn from behind her back.

It was only after a few minutes that Shannon realized that she wasn't alone and immediately turned around to look at Chloee who was looking at her paintings with her arms crossed over her chest and a serious expression on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Shannon asked. "Don't you know how to knock?"

"Knock? I came through the window," Chloee replied. "Why should I knock on windows?"

"That's not the point! I didn't give you permission to enter my room!"

"Oh? Don't sweat the small details. You're like that old man, Byron, who always complains whenever I break down the door of his office."

Shannon didn't know how to respond to Chloee's nonchalant attitude. Clearly, she was used to barging into other people's private space. Because of this, Shannon completely ignored the little familiar as she stood up to drink a glass of water.

Silence descended inside Shannon's room as the two girls did their own thing. Both of them had things on their mind, and were in no mood to talk to each other.

—--

William sighed for the umpteenth time as he held a canned soda in his hand. Conan and Elliot were right beside him and munching on sunflower seeds.

"So, how did it go?" Conan asked. "Is Aila really one of your past lovers?"

"Mmm." William nodded before emptying the can in his hand. 

Elliot peeled his sunflower seed in a leisure manner as he listened to the conversation. He already had a hunch that Princess Aila was telling the truth, which was why he agreed to help her meet William in the Demon Continent.

However, the biggest question was, what would William do about it?

Seeing that William still couldn't decide on what to do, Elliot decided to give him a hand.

"How about you postpone your decision until you deal with the problem of the Ancient Ruins in the North?" Elliot asked. "I know that giving Princess Aila and Shannon your answer is important, but that could wait until you come back from the North. This will also give them enough time to prepare their hearts for whatever answer you need to give them."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" William asked. "Wouldn't it be better if I just get it over with now?"

Elliot shook his head. "There are things that you cannot rush. Also, I had a premonition last night. You need to settle the issue with the Ancient Ruins first before tackling other matters."

William arched an eyebrow as he looked at his angelic familiar that was busy peeling his sunflower seeds. He knew that Elliot had the power of clairvoyance, so he didn't mind listening to his suggestion.

"Are you sure that there will be no issues?" William inquired.

"Relax, Shannon won't start a genocide just yet," Elliot replied before taking a bite of the seed in his hand. "That will happen after you return."

William rubbed his face with the palm of his hand. "This doesn't make me feel relieved at all."

"Will, you and I both know that you don't need to wait for the future," Elliot said as he gave Wiliam a sidelong glance. "It comes soon enough. And for your sake, I pray that it comes soon enough."

Elliot muttered the last part of his statement in a voice that was so low that not even William's strong hearing could pick up.

Although it didn't show on his face, Elliot had been feeling restless lately after seeing what the future held for William. He had already used his powers to formulate several possibilities, but all of them led to the same ending. 

The only difference was the order in which things were going to unfold and their severity. Since that was the case, Elliot had resolved himself to push events that would give William a higher chance to reach the goals that he had set for himself. 

This was the only thing he could think of in order to ward off that dark future that awaited all of them.

"Will, just remember one thing," Elliot said as he stared at William with a serious expression. "No matter what happens, you always have a choice."

William stared at Elliot long and hard before giving him a brief nod. For some reason, Elliot's words resonated inside his core, and it made him feel that something inside him had been cleared up. Although he still didn't know what that thing was, he was sure that he would find it after he traveled to the Holy Land of Darkness.