Shadow Monarch: Heroines Could Hear My Thoughts?!

Chapter 58- The End Of The Beginning

(We finally reached the end of the first volume :3 Here is the finale.)

When the group returned, Rin quickly left the castle and returned to the house before dawn. He had no idea whether Aria had woken up yet or not but he had to hurry up nevertheless. If she finds out that he was out in the night while she was asleep, she will kill him with questions.

'Hurry your ass up, me!' He urged himself to run faster.

If the journey to the castle took him 25 minutes, the journey back took only 15 minutes. He had to use mana to accelerate even more.

When he reached the mansion, he quickly jumped from the window. There, he saw his sister asleep peacefully while hugging his pillow. He could see a trail of drool on her cute mouth as she murmured some incoherent words.

'Sigh, thank god, she's asleep!' He breathed out happily and quickly changed his clothes before laying beside her.

'I'm exhausted… I need to sleep.'

Then, as his eyes were about to trail to sleep, he heard a whisper next to his ear. Most of the time, this whisper was like a sweet melody in his ear. However, at that exact moment, it sounded more like a death sentence to him.

"Where have you been, Rin?" Aria asked.

Rin's heart stopped for a moment before he rigidly looked at Aria. His expression changed quickly from surprise to drowsiness as if she has just woken up from sleep. He then rubbed his eyes and tried to sound as sleepy as he could.

"*Yawn* what do you mean?"

"Good acting, little brother. But…"

She then cupped his cheeks and continued as she gazed at him with her hypnotizing eyes.

"I know you more than you know yourself. You think I will believe that acting of yours?"

"Huh? What do you mean? Are you still half-asleep, Aria?" Rin kept the front without flinching. Any mishap means his end.

"So you won't admit it?" Aria murmured to herself before a weird glint flashed through her eyes.

"Admit wh- Woaaah!!" Before he could even finish his words, Aria moved closer and licked his neck.

"What are you doing, Aria?!"

"I once heard you could determine whether a person was lying or not from the taste of their sweat. I was trying it out."

'No! Not that!! Where did she even hear about that stupid thing?!' He cursed in his head.

He had seen this in a certain anime before but he only laughed it off as a bizarre act in a bizarre anime and didn't think much about it. Now, ironically, it became the source of this mental torture.

Aria smiled mischievously and tried to lick him again, more thoroughly this time to get a stronger reaction from him. He was simply inside her trap now, with no chance of escaping any time soon.

'Why can't I hear his thoughts when I need them the most? Does it work on and off automatically? Dammit! I have to get him to admit where he went.'

"Speak. Where did you go?" She asked as she squinted her eyes.

"W-Wait, Aria."

*Lick*

"Speak. I won't give you a chance to lie to me."

'Why do I have to go through this hell? You know what, screw it! If she wants to play this game, I can play it too. Don't think I will be a virgin wimp just because you are stronger than me.'

Having had enough of this mental torture that tested his self-control, again and again, he decided to let loose a little bit. He wanted to show Aria that even if he was tame most of the time, he can still turn into a wild beast if the moment calls for that. Aria wasn't aware of it, but she was a recipe for disaster for any man if she uses her seductive body and touched them all over. Rin was no exception for that equation.

Besides, he was pretty much aware of all the weak points Aria had and he could easily exploit them to his advantage. So, with that in mind, he extended his arm behind Aria and poked the side of her ribs.

"Kyaah!" Aria made a cute sound like a squirrel as she grabbed his arm.

Grinning evilly, Rin said with a low tone.

"What is it, dear sister? You felt something?"

"N-No! I was just surprised." Averting her eyes nervously, she tried to hide her embarrassment.

"Oh, really? Ok, how about this?"

Then, he poked her on the side again with two fingers.

"Kyaaah!" Aria's eyes widened as a healthy blush appeared on her beautiful face.

Rin knew that Aria was vulnerable in those areas and couldn't control her reactions when touched there so he made it his B-plan when he was cornered by her and needed to escape.

"Stop that! Rin, I'm warning you." Pinching his cheeks, Aria pouted angrily and tried to get rid of his playful arms that kept moving around.

"Heheh! This is merely the beginning! Now, for the main part. I call this move, 'the one thousand tickles of destruction'!"

Then, without hesitation, Rin started tickling her body from head to toe. He made sure to touch every weak point whenever he reached one.

Aria quickly lost control and fell on top of Rin as she giggled loudly.

"Hahahah! Stop it! No! Everything except that place!! Kyaa!!!"

"You are not going to run away! You think teasing me was a good idea? Think twice, Aria. I'm not a pushover."

Then, he threw her on the bed and climbed on top of her before continuing the session of tickling. Aria lost her breath from laughing and felt pain in her stomach.

Her body kept twitching left and right and it kept touching Rin all over. He knew how destructive her curves were but he tried to keep a clear and sane mind so that he doesn't turn into a lustful beast.

"P-Please." She begged.

"Ok, I will stop…"

Aria's eyes flashed with hope but then quickly got crushed completely.

"After a few minutes, that is."

"Nooooo!!!"

After that, Aria's horrible torture started. On that day, she learned that Rin was not the docile and cute brother she thought he was. That same boy can turn into a monster in human skin when he wanted to be. However, that monster was still her Rin that she loved so she really didn't care how he acted… In fact, secretly, her body was weirdly enjoying these tickles.

However, that will be a story for another day.

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Meanwhile, Elise who was unaware of this war between the two was sitting in her room. She was training her ability while she read a book.

In her hand was another book that she kept throwing in the air, making it float before pulling it to her hand again. The training was hard but she was able to get accustomed to it quickly.

As she was like that, she heard an urgent knock on the door. Putting the book back in its place. She walked to the door and opened it.

There, she found her maid, looking extremely pale and distressed. Elise asked her confusedly.

"What's wrong, Maya?"

"Y-Y-Your highness…" The woman couldn't even speak as she choked on her own tears.

"Calm down, Maya. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

After a few moments, Maya finally composed herself enough to speak.

"His majesty… was found dead."

"What?"

"Someone… had assassinated his majesty."

'Assassinated?! This isn't a part of the game's plot!'

Then, Elise to the king's bedroom where she found many maids and butlers gathered along with her other brothers and sisters.

Making her way through as quickly as she could, she finally saw it… the horrifying sight of the king.

The king was pinned to the wall with a sword as if he was some kind of picture. Blood was dripping from the wall it created a pool on the ground. His face was bent down and his limbs were disfigured beyond recognition. Whoever the killer was, he definitely didn't like the king at all.

His death was so horrible that most of the people present didn't dare to approach him from how disgusted they were. That is not to mention the fact that the smell inside was gut-wrenching, to say the least.

However, the thing that made Elise's heart stop beating for a second was slightly far away from the king.

There, she saw a shadow that belonged to no one, thrown to the side with no owner at all. Its form was so twisted that it didn't resemble that of a human. However, with a close look, she could see that this shadow belonged to the king himself. Beside that shadow were a few words written in blood.

The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.

'Shadows? What…' A huge frown appeared on Elise's face.

The king was killed by someone… and that someone can manipulate shadows.

(A//N: Finally, the end of the first volume. I enjoyed writing and I hope you all did enjoy reading it too. I made some mistakes here and there but I do hope it was up to the standard. Anyway, the name of the first volume is 'Flashy Beginnings'. In the next arc, mysteries will get more enjoyable and thrilling and Rin and Elise's relationship will be tested thoroughly. It will be an evil ride, so buckle up :3)