Shadow Monarch: Heroines Could Hear My Thoughts?!

Chapter 109- A Night With Aria (Part 1)

"So, can you show me how you do it?" Emilia asked after calming down a little bit.

"I can. But, I need to kill some monsters first. It won't work like that." Rin said as he looked at his own hand with a complicated gaze.

"Well, we are going to visit a dungeon soon. As for which rank you should enter… Hmm?" Emilia thought for a while before nodding her head as if she came to a good decision.

"I can see that you can easily fight in an E-Rank dungeon and even a D-Rank dungeon might not prove to be that hard for you. A custom dungeon should be the best choice."

"A custom dungeon?"

"Yes, never heard of them?"

'Elise never mentioned custom dungeons before. Did she perhaps forget about it?' Rin thought to himself.

'So there was another person that knows about this matter?' Emilia's interest peaked when she heard the name of a girl pop up seemingly out of nowhere. She thought it was only Rin that knew that secret about this world but it turns out there was someone who knows more than him.

'I need to meet this Elise girl too. But, it doesn't seem that I can hear her thoughts.'

But, she quickly put those thoughts in the back of her head and focused on the matter at hand.

"Custom dungeons are basically dungeons that are created to accommodate a certain type of training. Most dungeons fall into certain categories that are determined by the letters and ranks assigned to them Like C-Rank, D-Rank, etc. But, normally, people during their training will find themselves right in the middle between those two ranks. So, that creates a big problem as if they tried to enter a C-Rank while their power is weaker than that, they will be in huge trouble and if they entered a D-Rank dungeon, they will find themselves not progressing as fast as before. That's where custom dungeons come into the equation. They have been invented to give the user full control of what he wants to face or what he doesn't want to face. They are simply dungeons that can be formed however the person wants."

"That's possible?"

"Yes, except that the only place where custom dungeons exist is here. No other place in existence has them. The founder was the one who invented them. We still don't know how he was capable of doing so."

"I see… This founder seems to be amazing."

"Yes, he is great. A man worthy of respect and admiration. A true hero." Emilia's eyes turned a little bit softer when she said that.

Rin could see the deep respect she carried for this founder from her eyes alone.

"Anyway, you can go home for now. We won't have time for this custom dungeon till next week's weekend. Keep practicing during this time whenever you are free." She said.

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By the time Rin came back home, the sky had already turned dark and the weather was a lot colder than before.

Opening the door, Rin walked inside and headed straight to the bathroom. But, the moment took the turn inside the hallway, he froze in his place.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm… Oh! Rin! You finally came back!"

Aria walked out of the bathroom wearing only a towel around her body that barely hid anything. Her beautiful red hair was soaked wet and her face was wet with water as the beautiful fragrance of shampoo assaulted Rin's nostrils.

"Aria? What are you doing here? Wait, how did you even enter the boys' dormitory in the first place?"

"I have my own ways, dear little brother. Also, I'm going to spend the night, silly! What a stupid question." She said with a chuckle.

"Huh? How can that be the case? Don't you have to attend your classes tomorrow? You can't just sleep here."

"Oh, don't worry. Top 100-Rankers can attend any class they want and also be absent from any class they want. We are free to do whatever we want."

"That sounds stupid."

"I don't know, it's the academy that set these rules." She shrugged her shoulders before she smirked and approached Rin.

"Neh, Rin."

"Hmm?"

"Do you like this?" She asked as she made a turn in front of him.

The towel moved a little bit, revealing more of her beautiful milky thighs. Rin would be lying if he said that he didn't enjoy the beautiful sight in front of him but he won't admit to doing that in front of Aria, would he?

"You should wear some clothes, dear sister."

"Moo, so boring! Look at me!"

"No! Wear some clothes! You are basically naked!!"

Rin said as he ran away. But, Aria wasn't gonna give up on getting a satisfactory reaction out of her beloved Rin.

"Come here! Give your big sister a hug!!"

"No! Wear clothes first and then you can hug me!!"

"Stop acting like a spoiled child and come here!!"

The two ran around the house like two happy children playing hide and seek. However, their speed was far from 'childish' as they appeared like blurs, moving from one place to another. In the end, Rin ended up getting caught and hugged by the naked Aria.

"Hmm, hmm! Yup, you are the best hugging pillow, Rin. I can't get bored of this."

"Yes, yes." He rolled his eyes as he gave up and hugged her back as they lay on the bed.

The two shared this quiet and peaceful moment together. Rin didn't want to voice it out but he felt that Aria was trying to force her cheerful attitude more than usual. Something was definitely bugging her but he didn't try to ask since he knew if Aria wanted to speak, she will tell him anything and everything.

"Neh, Rin."

"Hmm?" He asked.

"If one day, let's say hypothetically, I end up needing to leave for a long time. Would you let me go?" She asked.

"Can I know the reason why?"

"No particular reason. Just that I need to leave and we won't see each other for a long time. Would you try to stop me?"

"Do you want to actually leave?"

"No."

"Then, whatever problems happen, I will solve them so that you don't have to leave. You will never have to do something you don't want to do."

Pulling away for a moment, Aria looked deep into Rin's violet eyes for a long time before she closed her eyes and smiled affectionately.

​ "Thank you, Rin. I love you."

"I love you too." He said as he patted her head gently.

"I feel way better now."

"Mhm, what was that question though? That definitely sounded like there is something happening that you didn't want to tell me."

"No, there is really no reason for that question. It was just a gut feeling."

"A gut feeling?"

"Yes. Something inside me is telling me that things won't stay the same for a long time. Something is changing drastically Rin and we don't know what it is. My only fear is that it will consume us before we can fight it off. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to separate from you or father and mother. You are all my precious family. My most precious thing in this world and I can't bear living without you."

Rin's face turned serious for a moment before he sighed and replied calmly.

"There is no point in trying to think about the future, Aria. Our lives are in the present, not the future."

"I know, but…"

"Don't worry. No one will rob me of what I consider precious… Not anymore." A flash of complex emotions appeared in his eyes for a split second before he quickly calmed down.

'Tsk, bad memories.' He cursed in his head.

"Anyway, enough of this sad stuff. Did you eat dinner?"

"No…" Aria replied.

"Let me cook something real quick. I will finally show my true cooking skills that I learned recently."

Then, he woke up and walked toward the kitchen, leaving Aria to rest on the bed.

After 30 minutes, he came back with two dishes in his hand.

Aria examined the food with an impressed look. The smell alone was amazing. Rin had made pasta for dinner with chicken and cheese on top.

"I call this 'Rin's special pasta with chicken and cheese combo'. Tadah!!"

"Pfft! What kind of silly name is that?" Aria chuckled.

"Rude! It's a cool name!"

"Yeah, yeah, really cool."

"Fine, no food for you." Rin pouted and picked the plate up.

"No! Wait! I'm joking! I'm sorry!!" She quickly apologized as she grabbed him by the hem of his clothes.

"Hahaha! Good girl! Fine, here, dig in."

Aria quickly picked up the fork and put a mouthful of pasta in her mouth. The taste of the sauce and the texture of the pasta were spot on. After that, she took a bite from the chicken and her eyes widened in shock.

"Delicious!!"

"You bet it is. I know that I have a talent for cooking." Rin said as he flexed his arm with a proud smile on his face.

(A//N: sorry for the late chap. Enjoy!)

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