Fairy Tale: Little Red Riding Hood's Wolf Mentor

Chapter 197 Leaping Out of the Shadows
In the Shadow King City, in the deepest part of the towering palace, candles flickered in the surrounding walls.

In the candlelight, the shadow of the person on the throne stretched and separated on the palace floor, like a pendulum, swinging unsteadily.

Princess Marlin took a deep breath and spoke slowly:
"Respected Ancestor, I..."

But before he could finish his words, the Shadow King's voice rang out:

"Child, I already know why you're here—you want to leave the shadows and return to the world, right?"

Princess Marlene's eyes widened instantly, but she soon realized that this was the way it should be, and nodded.

"Yes, my ancestor, I... want to leave here."

The young man on the throne did not seem disgruntled or angry. His voice was very calm, more like that of an elegant scholar than a king.
"Why do you want to leave?"

"I'm still a little worried about the Shadi Kingdom. It's like my shadow capital. My people admire me because I protect them and call me Your Highness the Princess.

I am the last princess of the Shadi Kingdom. My country has not perished yet. In the real world, my people are calling me, so I want to go back."

Princess Marlene bowed her head and said, and the young man on the throne laughed and nodded.

“Yes, out of kindness and the kingly way, I mustered up the courage and chose to leave.

It's like being in the shadows, looking at the sun, moon and stars outside - I agree with your leaving, and you have received my approval.

Of course, this is not complete. After all, I am not a king, but just a scholar.”

"Ok?"

Lake and Poro looked puzzled as they listened to the words of the young man on the throne.

He...isn't the king?
And the recognition is incomplete? What does that mean?
But then, this doubt was answered.

The young man's body began to fade rapidly, becoming a three-dimensional shadow, blending into the shadow of his feet like a stream of water. At the same time, the shadow originally under his feet peeled off from the ground, but spontaneously rose, straightened, and expanded, revealing a human body.

In other words, his body and the shadow swapped places, and another person who looked exactly like the young man appeared on the throne in the same posture.

The only difference is that the king's dress, cloak and boots he wore were all pure black.

The expression on his face was also completely different.

If the young man at the beginning had a kind expression on his face, the current Shadow King had a blank expression, his eyes dark and lifeless.

More importantly, Poro felt majesty and oppression from him.

It seems that this person is the real King of Shadows!
"The shadows of the world are growing deeper and deeper. If you want to leave here and become the king of a country now—in my opinion, you haven't grown enough yet."

The second old shadow king spoke, and as he began to speak, the candlelight in the hall began to shrink spontaneously.

It was not the wind or the burning out, but a real shadow, like a veil, suppressing the virtual light. More shadows were intertwined above the palace.

In palaces, houses, streets and alleys, countless figures were whispering.

The shadows plotted furtively and chuckled.

Then, it was another familiar scene. The capital of the Shadi Kingdom was besieged by the army of the Weiser Kingdom. In the sky, flying ships dropped deadly explosives and people fled in all directions.

"If you become king, do you think you can prevent something like this from happening again?"

The old shadow king said this, looking at Princess Marlene, and raised his voice again. He raised one hand, and the shadow above the hall became more refined.

This time, Princess Marlene opened her eyes wide.

The shadows that appeared this time were the people of the Shadi royal family. The larger the kingdom, the more people in the royal family there were. The people in the shadows were fleeing out of the city.

If they escape from the Shadi capital, the royal bloodline will not be easily severed.

But at this moment, a secret guard leading the royal family members stopped, turned the spear in his hand, and stabbed the people of the Shadi royal family.

This was a carefully planned rebellion.

"Conspiracy, rebellion, and what appears in the light are just illusory bubbles. What happens in the shadows is the thread that governs this world."

"I……"

Princess Marlin gritted her teeth and looked at the shadows above the palace. In the assassination by the guards, the only remaining bloodlines of the Shadi royal family in the world were all cut off.

Including the elderly and children.

The rebellious knight walked up to the high-ranking officials of another country and half-knelt down. They were laughing in the shadows, surrounded by dark clouds, and no one knew where they were.

"I will manipulate the shadows and use what I have learned from you to rule this kingdom again and defeat those hostile conspirators."

Princess Marlene took a deep breath and then answered.

"This is not the answer I want to hear."

The old Shadow King shook his head. Under Princess Marlene's trembling gaze, his expression remained calm. His lifeless eyes seemed to be thinking. No one knew what he saw.

"But, I also agree that you leave."

But the next moment, he suddenly spoke and stood up:

“Remember, every being is made up of its part in the sun, and its part in the shadow.

If you only act for those vague philosophies and ideals of truth, goodness, and beauty, you will end up like that guy, a poor and unsuccessful scholar.

The old Shadow King spoke slowly, his words seeming to hint at something. His face was still immersed in the shadows, making it difficult to see clearly, but his words carried a hint of inexplicable arrogance:

"You can only stand on the rooftop like me, looking into the endless distance, and grasp those despicable and secret shadows that happen among men, women, parents and their 'loving' children in your hands—"

The Shadow King in a black dress raised one hand and slowly tightened it. The shadows that spread throughout the hall spun and shrank as if they had encountered a black hole. He held them in his palm.
"Only then can you truly control everything. Those people will be swept up in their own shadow and willingly submit to you. Do you understand?
The people may not necessarily support you because of your kindness or wisdom, but they will certainly fear you and be terrified of you because their secrets have been discovered!"

"Control... secrets, shadows..."

Princess Marlin whispered as she looked down at her feet. Like the other citizens of Shadi in her shadow capital, she had no shadow.

"I understand, Ancestor."

"Do you really understand?"

But when the Shadow King heard what Princess Marlene said, he spoke the next sentence in a calm voice, or rather, a question, "Before this, I would never agree to you leaving like this. However, if you understand——

So, child, please answer me.

Why did I change my mind and agree to let you leave?"

"Why did you change your mind..."

Princess Marlin was stunned for a moment, and then her figure began to become transparent, and the shadows around her began to show lines in her eyes.

If my abilities were not recognized by my ancestors, then why...

Suddenly, her expression froze, her originally distracted eyes focused, and she turned to look at Lake and Poro standing behind her.

"Ancestor, it's a secret, right?" "Yes, I can see the secrets in the shadows. Although I am not a scholar, I can discover the secrets-"

The old Shadow King walked down from the throne and turned his head for the first time to look at Lake and also at the Poro.

Lake and Poro shuddered under his gaze.

Especially Poro, he could feel the gaze of the old shadow king coming from all directions and from all the shadows, as if no secret could escape his eyes.

But it didn't last long, the old shadow king looked away, and the uncomfortable feeling of being spied on also disappeared.

"These two friends of yours carry secrets far greater than yours, and even... myself."

As he was speaking, the old Shadow King was already standing in front of Princess Marlene. He raised one hand and touched Princess Marlene's forehead. The next moment, shadows surged like a storm, and the image of the palace instantly turned into debris and disappeared.

The place where they were standing turned into a dark plain, and the ground was covered with gray nettle leaves.

Countless human corpses lay in the gaps between the nettle leaves.

They were all dressed in costumes from the Shadi Kingdom, and the closest one – was none other than Princess Marlin herself!
She lay flat on the ground with her eyes closed, as if she was sleeping.

"Since you are ready to leave the shadows, take your people with you. You can linger in secrecy, but when you decide to return to the light, take with you what you have brought."

Following the Shadow King's voice, Princess Marlene knelt down and placed her hands on the chest of "herself" who was lying flat on the ground.

The next moment, she turned into a shadow and merged under "herself".

Then, the sleeping Princess Marlene moved her fingertips slightly and opened her eyes. A dark light flashed in her eyes. She stood up, and her shadow covered the nettle leaves on the ground.

"Thank you, ancestors."

She bowed again, and the dancing shadow at the feet of her ancestor, the old shadow king, stood up and turned into the young scholar she had seen first.

"Don't thank us, kid. For those beautiful things you've persisted in, you've been able to muster up the courage to step out of the shadows and return to reality. You're already much better than me.

Just like what they say in those plays and books."

The young scholar said with a smile.

"Don't think about those useless beauties and superficial qualities. They are not what a king needs."

But the old king in the black suit sneered, "My child, I sincerely hope that I will not witness your death in the shadows of this world."

Afterwards, the old shadow king held down the young scholar's head and pressed him into the shadow under his feet. He took a step back and disappeared into the dark and obscure shadows.

At the same time, a single-plank bridge appeared in front of the gray plain covered with nettle leaves, leading to a flashing black door.

"Among your ancestors, the one who looks like a scholar and the one wearing black clothes... are they the same person?"

Watching the oppressive ancestor Shadi leave, Lake finally couldn't help but ask.

"My ancestor is a person, but not a person..."

Princess Marlene looked around silently at the plain filled with nettle leaves and replied, "They are shadows, and their relationship with humans."

"Shadow... Kazuto?"

Lake was stunned for a moment. She thought of the action of the ancestor in black clothes pressing the bachelor-like ancestor into the shadow just now. "That scholar, is it a shadow?"

"No, in the beginning, the ancestor in black clothes was the shadow."

Princess Marlene hesitated for a moment and explained, "But later, he became a human and became king again."

As Princess Marlene spoke, the intact Shadi King appeared on the horizon from the rolling shadows not far away.

Inside the city gate, one after another, people playing the silk flutes slowly walked out.

The first to come out were the soldiers, followed by the civilians.

They saluted Princess Marlene and then walked towards their bodies.

"My fellow countrymen, the Shadi Kingdom needs us. Now, perhaps it is time to return from the shadows."

Princess Marlin's voice was not loud, but every citizen of Shadi heard her voice.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness."

Looking at those people who had regained their shadows and stood up from the grass, Princess Marlin turned to look at Lake and Poro and smiled:

"Thank you. You can wait for me in the tall tower in the capital of Shadi. See you later."

As she spoke, Princess Marlin pointed her finger at Lake and Poro again.

Behind Lake and Poro, on the ground, shadows surged like a tide, swallowing up sight and sound.

At the last moment before their vision disappeared, Lake and Poro saw a huge crowd on the plain, led by Princess Marlin, walking towards a single-plank bridge across the shadow space.

The blackness dissipated and I opened my eyes.

It was not yet morning when Lake and Poro opened their eyes, walked out of the room, and headed towards the black tower in the center of the abandoned city not far away.

In the sky, the mysterious shadow gradually became thinner, revealing the light of the stars.

"Stop, who are you?! This is the forbidden area of ​​the Shadi Kingdom. By order of the Regent, no one is allowed to pass!"

The two Shadi people guarding the tower just discovered Lake and Poro standing in front of the tower, and walked forward with spears in hand.

But when they saw the appearance of the tower clearly, they were stunned and their eyes widened.

They saw that on the surface of the black tower with no doors or windows, all the brick cracks were filled with liquid-like black shadows.

These shadows formed a black door on the lower wall of the tower.

Afterwards, a hand stretched out from the shadowy black door. Lake walked forward, held the pale and slender hand, and gently pulled it outward.

Princess Marlin, wearing a silver crown, used the force to walk out.

"Thank you, Miss Lake."

"You're welcome, Your Highness. This is what I should do."

Princess Marlene smiled and nodded, revealing her fair cheeks from the shadows.

The two Shadi guards who were originally guarding the door widened their eyes when they saw the girl walking out of the door.

They were originally the surviving royal guards of Shadi. At this moment, some of the things they had almost forgotten resurfaced in their memories:
"Are you... Her Highness Marlene?"

Their trembling hands could no longer hold the spears, and they lowered their bodies and slowly half-knelt.

And behind him, in the ruins of the Shadi capital, human figures emerged from countless shadows. The Shadi people who survived the Weiser massacre returned to their hometown in the present world.

(End of this chapter)