“Morning.” She padded into the kitchen with a tired stride.“Morning, my sweet summer child.”“Morning, my love.”“Morning, beautiful sister.”“I enjoyed our self-care yesterday.”“Good morning, little angel.”Ibrahim, Malikul, Taqiyuddin, Aisyah, and Siti answered the greeting simultaneously in exactly that order.All of them were already in their working suits, except for Aisyah who was still a student.Shadow yawned, smoothed out her disheveled hair and entered the kitchen, and sat next to Aisyah and Taqiyuddin. Malikul was sitting in front of her with Siti next to him. Ibrahim sat in the head seat.All of them seemed patient enough to wait for her. “Wow. Y’all look professional except me.” She became self-aware. Apparently, she was the only one who was still wearing pajamas.“We have an early schedule,” Ibrahim answered, his eyes staring at Shadow’s plate. “Is that enough?” Her gaze fell on her own plate. Today, Malikul was in charge of the breakfast.Smooth fluffy pancakes were
Shadow and Malikul instantly presented their case studies to the king and the advisor – which Salahuddin is for today. Bulteo and T-Vir inevitably got entangled together. Both of the mysterious organizations were not mere mirages anymore as Shadow undercovered their secrets and bases.Ali tapped his finger on the table, humming while reading the reports consisting of a lot of information.“This is rather unsettling.” A wrinkle marred Salahuddin’s forehead as he read the whole report.“How’d you…” Ali raised his head and stared at Shadow. “Forget about it.” He shook his head and dismissed the idea.Who was he kidding, yeah? This was Shadow they were talking about. She knew what not many should know.“Are you saying the one that instigated the war a century ago was someone from Bulteo?” Salahuddin was taken aback.The last war was mainly about ethnic cleansing and expanding power. The community back there was too ignorant to understand the whole thing and went to war as if their life de
“I KNEW IT!” Malikul roared, his possessive mode switched on.“What? What? What?” Salahuddin looked at them back and forth in confusion.“You have the contract, don’t you?” He said it furiously in his accusation tone.Again, Ali looked away with his flushed face whilst Shadow smirked proudly at him.“Oh, my god. What? What’s popping?” Salahuddin covered his mouth in shock. “They have a contract.” Malikul rudely pointed his finger at Ali.“What contract?”“A slave contract!”“A slave contract?” He wasn’t sure about that. For all he knew, slavery was forbidden to all races. The Unknown made the rule.“No. The slave contract.” He pressed the slave word furiously, stomping his feet in rage. “I can’t believe you, Shadow!”“None of your business.” Shadow smiled cutely at him as those venomous words slipped out of her lips.“It is my business. He is my king. I am his future! I am this kingdom’s future. I am his crown prince, Shadow. So sorry to burst the bubble, my love.”“The king is old e
“Yes.” Shadow being truthful, shamelessly smiled at her fiance. “I use the fact that you guys abandoned them to the unknown, to feign for themselves just because they’re different from any of you.” In that sense, Malikul was similar to them. Their power was similar to Malikul. The only difference was, he was living at the right moment when the people started to realize that the outcast was powerful enough to protect their country.However, it was already too late to coax the outcasts. Instead, they nurtured the offspring. Still, those outcasts were small in numbers, and only the chosen ones. It only appeared once in 400 hundred years.“It does not matter to me.”Malikul didn’t care. He wanted to take this job or Shadow would go to the extreme level just to obtain her goal. If he wouldn’t go, she would go in their state. She would be the bait and she would use herself.“I will be your piece. Just command me, my love.”“Right…” Shadow cleared her throat, quite uncomfortable when Maliku
Shadow hooked her arm with Maliku, walking side by side with their puffy eyes after having a moment with each other. Their little talk was overdue and Shadow had tormented the poor man long enough.Malikul deserved to be happy. As much as her. No! He must be happier than her. He was there in her weakest moment, he was there in her happier moment. He was there in every situation that required his assistance.Sometimes, his behavior was borderline stalker alternating with possessive but Shadow knew better than to argue with the man. In whatever regard, Malikul was still way better than other mediocre men including the wolf prince.“Don’t be sad, Af.”“I won’t.”“Don’t sell yourself short either.”“... I will not.”“You are my most precious lover after Amru.”He quieted down.“Not saying you’re any less important than him, though.”He hummed. When their eyes connected, he gave her his longing stare. Nothing more, nothing less.Shadow understood the behavior too well. He was having doubts
“Of course, I am prepared, Your Holiness. Ho ho ho.”Lily’s attitude changed 180 as soon as Shadow entered the room and crashed her supposed fitting event. The somber room changed for the better. What was amazing was, she didn’t even dislike it. If anything, she welcomed the sight.“How many magazines did you go through in order to compile all the beautiful dresses, Princess Lily?” Albert said in awe.The amount of dedication shown by Lily was reflected in this thick compilation. Albert wasn’t ignorant. He knew that Lily had to read at least hundreds of magazines.“At least hundreds of them. I personally copied with my magic to preserve the original copy. So you don’t have to worry about that.” Lily was boasting, puffing her chest and acting arrogant with eyes discreetly glancing at Shadow, preserving her reaction.“Wow… your dedication is unmatched.” Shadow’s smiling voice soared Lily’s giddiness. “Is the matter of course, Your Holiness. Now, you can choose any design that you like
They spent the entire day reviewing the wedding dresses.Malikul took the initiative to choose the dresses and asked for Shadow’s opinion. His whole body was brimming energetically, pondering seriously before deciding it.Shadow played along and followed his lead with a blinding smile decorated with her smile. Honestly, it only took her 15 minutes before her social battery was completely drained. To compensate for it, she let Malikul, Albert, and Lily take part in the dress's short listing. It didn’t make it any easier, however. The dresses looked lovely, but all three of them had different opinions. Thus, the choosing session didn’t exactly go well.The mothers had already abandoned the dress selection, instead, they had already moved to the venue selection.So, Shadow sat there, in the middle of mayhem, waiting for everything to end.But, watching back, Malikul was so happy and involved in the whole process. He seemed to have confidence in himself as their argument heated up. Whene
Ibrahim promptly granted her permission to visit the north under the pretext of studying their nature and being closer to them at the same time. Therefore, her departure was early afternoon.The king seemed to be aware of their activities because Shadow could see the eagerness in his eyes.Therefore, a small convoy was created for Shadow's safety. Malikul tagged along willingly even though she gave him short notice. He brought nothing but only important documents and ID. That's all.In a short time, the queen and the duchess loaded a lot of snacks inside the carriage and summoned the most powerful knights and warriors to escort her.“Play hard, sister.”“Let them suffer.”“Don’t let them have a rest.”Albert, Firash, and Daud shouted vicious words merrily while waving their hands to Shadow and Malikul.“Malikul! Please take good care of my beloved sister.”“Crown prince, my sister's safety is in your hand.”Dhia and Aidan thankfully were exceptionally mature.Malikul flashed his thumb