[Flashback - ]

Nightfall Academy ~

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A frustrated sigh left Emily's lips as she threw away the pebble that she had been holding in her hand for the past half an hour.

"I can't do this anymore. I'm completely hopeless. It's been over a month and I'm still unable to perform even a single spell." She felt like throwing a tantrum but unfortunately, she was no longer back at her home with her brothers.

"Emy, don't be so sad. Didn't I tell you that it took me nearly three weeks to learn my first ever spell? There's nothing wrong with taking time to learn. Everyone has their own pace. All that you need is to have confidence in yourself." Ava Montero, a friend that Emily had found during her magical theory classes, said as she walked closer to stand next to her.

Emily just shook her head as she muttered in a sad tone, "It's not the same. You were only five years old when you started learning spells. It's normal for a child to take some time to learn but I'm not a child."

Ava sighed softly before she took hold of Emily's hands as she spoke, "Emy, a beginner is a beginner. Age never matters. Right now you are just as new to spells and charms as I was back then. You are seeing a difference in our situation because that's what you want to see, not because there's actually any difference."

Emily remained silent as she pondered on what her friend had just said. Somewhere deep down in her heart, she knew that Ava was right but for some stupid reason, she was not ready to believe in it yet.

"She's right. You are doing bad in your classes because that's what you want to do and not because you are not capable enough." Shadow's cold voice suddenly disturbed the silence of the empty classroom where Emily and Ava were practicing.

As her eyes landed on his familiar figure, she found him staring back with coldness and anger in his eyes. It was clear that he was losing his patience with her. She immediately looked away, not liking his coldness at all.

"Shadow...!"

She heard Rylan whispering something to Shadow and when she again looked up in their direction, she was surprised to see that Shadow had calmed down a little bit.

"You all can leave now. I'll be with her." He told her friends who immediately left the classroom, leaving her alone with him.

Shadow turned to look at the girl who was standing like a statue as she stared at her shoes with great interest. He immediately felt bad for losing his calm in front of her but the current situation was seriously driving him crazy.

He started walking towards her and when he finally stood in front of her, he felt the darkness that was surrounding her. He did not like it when her aura turned dark and gloomy. It's supposed to be full of lights and joy.

He held her chin in his hand before making her look up at him as he spoke, "I'm not angry at you, Princess. I was in a bad mood when I came here to meet you and did not even notice that I was not in the right state. I'll never dare to raise my voice at you. I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable."

Emily was surprised by his words. She could feel the sincerity in his voice and she knew that he was really feeling sorry for his actions even though he did nothing wrong.

The care that Shadow had been showing her ever since they came to the Nightfall Academy was making her see him in a new light.

But what she failed to notice was exactly how much he was risking to keep her safe and happy. Just like how she failed to notice that all the bad feelings that were swarming her mind a few minutes ago, the hopelessness, the sadness, and the exhaustion that she had been experiencing the entire day, had suddenly left her.

She failed to notice that the man standing in front of her was not only apologizing but also taking away all the dark and sad aura that had been surrounding her and it was not the first time when he did that.

Without her realizing, he had been doing this every time the darkness started getting heavier over her. He took them away only to suffer himself when the darkness inside him started punishing him.

"You are hurt... again..."

Emily suddenly spoke as she took hold of his hand that was holding her chin. Since she was no longer under the compulsion of the darkness, her mind was once again working properly, finally making her see the bruises that still had to fade from his hand.

Shadow immediately tried to pull his hand away but unfortunately, the girl was not letting him away that easily.

She rolled up his sleeve only to see bruises and faint lines of cuts over his arm. She hurriedly rolled up his other sleeve and found the same result.

"Take off your shirt!" She ordered him in a hard tone. Her hands were clutched into tight fists as she tried to calm down her emotions.

"Princess, I am perfectly..." Shadow tried to speak but was silenced when she suddenly pulled on his collar with huge force, tearing down his black shirt as the buttons flee away in all directions. The next thing he knew, his shirt was lying on the floor while his bruised upper body was visible to her.

Shadow cursed himself in his mind for being dumb enough to take the risk. He should have waited for his injuries to heal before coming to find her but seeing that he had lost a lot of blood and energy, it probably would have taken him an entire day to heal and it was impossible for him to wait for so long.

The moment he felt that the darkness was getting heavier over her, he was there to help her out and take away the evil force.