In a spacious office filled with luxurious sofas and a sturdy desk. The desk was scattered with many documents.
The room was filled with the overwhelming aura of a person standing behind the desk, gazing out of the window. His face not visible.
He let out a tired sigh as he turned around to sit at the desk; the man looked no older than thirty, which was far from his real age. He had black hair and crimson eyes; he looked like a bit more mature version of Alden.
He was none other than Alaric Draven, patriarch of the Draven family. An overlord rank existence, one of the strongest in the world of Eryndor.
In the human continent there were only a few Overlord rank existences, and he was one of the strongest among them.
The Draven family was so strong because of its patriarch. He is known as Shadowbane for his mastery over the shadow element.
He was reading the documents with efficiency and silence. He had a stack of documents waiting to be approved by him.
When suddenly the silence of the room was disturbed by a soft knock. Alaric looked up and said in an impassive voice, "Come in."
A well-kept person in the Butler's outfit entered the room. His steps were measured but were with a sense of urgency.
Alaric noticed the urgency in the movement of the butler and gestured him to speak.
The butler nodded and said in a hurried voice, "Sir, there's some trouble."
Alaric looked at William, his butler. He had known him since his childhood, and he knew he wouldn't disturb him for anything small.
Looking at his expression, Alaric understood something big had happened within the family.
Alaric asked, "What happened?" In a quiet voice.
William continued, "Sir, the spirit guardian of the family has mysteriously vanished. She was not seen or heard from for the last two weeks."
"Has she left any note or anything else like that?" Alaric asked with a frown.
"No, sir, the person keeping an eye on the library said she had not come out of the library for a week, so he went to check inside, but there was nobody inside the library. Nobody had entered the library for that time period except Young Master Alden." Butler gave a brief description of the situation.
"Alden? What was he doing there? Have you asked him?" For the first time there was a flicker of emotion on Alaric's face, which vanished as soon as it came.
The butler, not noticing the emotions, replied
"We asked Young Master Alden about her, but he simply said he didn't know anything about her disappearance and he was there to read, and she was there when he visited."
The butler continued, his voice a bit hesitant.
"Young master Alden was seen frequently with Ellara before her disappearance."
Alaric didn't show any emotions on his face, but his mind was in turmoil as he spoke. "Monitor Alden's movement and report any suspicious activity directly only to me. That's all you can leave now."
Alaric said in a solemn voice.
The butler bowed and turned around to leave.
As the door closed with a click, Alaric was lost in his thoughts; he thought about Alden.
As he was thinking about Alden, he remembered a memory of a woman smiling, but Alaric quickly distracted himself from thinking much about it.
He wanted to support Alden more; he wanted to give him Noctus Grimore, but he couldn't as he was bound. He knew if he supported Alden or showed any emotions toward him, his two wives would do whatever it takes to kill Alden.
Both of his wives were from prominent families, having the backing of their own overlord rank individual.
Even if he was powerful, he knew he couldn't protect him forever. That's why he was shielding Alden by not showing any emotions toward him, by being indifferent even after knowing how he was beaten, how he was isolated from the rest of the family.
"I'm sorry, Ceres; I couldn't give Alden the love he deserved." He could only protect Alden from shadows.
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It's been two weeks since Ellara is gone; she had left a huge void in my heart.
The first few days were the hardest; I always ended up wandering towards the library, foolishly thinking she would be there waiting for me with her mischievous smile.
But I can't stay down always; it would not be what Ellara wanted; she would have wanted him to move forward to get stronger.
And I would do just that.
The family mansion was flipped around by Ellara's disappearance.
Even I was enquired of a few times, as I was the last person seen entering the library.
I looked at the mirror as I saw my face, the same as before, but there was a slight change...as my eyes had a tinge of blue colour in them.
It was Ellara's soul ability she gifted me before parting.
In this world, at the time of awakening, everyone had to undergo a trial, and if one performed exceptionally, there was a slight chance they would awaken a soul ability exclusive to them.
Ellara had transferred her soul ability to me. I didn't know how she did it, as there is no method shown in the novel to transfer soul ability. Was it something exclusive to her, or is anyone able to do it?
I don't feel any effect of spirit eyes, only that I could see better. According to Ellara, I would awaken it when I awaken my mana.
Every time I looked into the mirror at my eyes, I felt reassured as if Ellara was still with me.
I got up and made my way to the training ground for practice, my expression determined as my hand grabbed a small marble in his pocket.
It was spirit pearl; I hadn't kept it aside from me ever for a moment since her disappearance.
I could feel it thumping as if it was alive.
I didn't know how long it would take for a new spirit to be born....
As I was lost in my thoughts, I arrived at the training ground and started training.
Each swing of my sword was cutting through air, and my movements felt smoother than before with each strike. My body ached with exhaustion, but I still kept going... only one thought burning in my mind.
"I am going to get stronger," he said in a resolute voice. "So that I won't lose someone important to me again..."