Shadows of the Darkened Veil

He might be the best for now," Setward Syscs continued as he entered the room, "He is so clean, he has no memories, just fragments of imagination."

"What do you mean?" the shadowy voice asked. "We can't even make him play doctor in three days."

"Then, we just have to make a real doctor his assistant. He would act how the assistant doctor said he should."

"And how would he learn about the illusion… It takes time…" Sigrid raised a critical point.

"He will play doctor in the day," the steward continued, "and learn how to use illusions at night."

"When will I sleep?" Ravindra asked an important question, at least from his perspective. Sigrid stomped on his foot, and they acted like they never heard the question.

"Syscs, there has to be another way…" The Jarl folded his hands and rolled his eyes in disdain, thinking this mission was impossible for someone like Ravindra. "We can't let him do… such an important job. We don't have time, and you know that."

"Think about it, Lord. Can we find other Dark Magic users? Even if we did, they could be criminals or might betray us… This fellow, on the other hand, is much more useful. He is an Akarvan… Akarvans are always special, and no one, not even that Viscount, would ever doubt him… I heard about him. He respects Akarvans more than anyone in our kingdom. This boy is indeed the best gamble we can do."

'I like this old man,' Ravindra started to understand that he had to deceive the Viscount as a doctor. 'Even though I didn't like this old man at first, it seems he knew a lot about me.'

"We might not even find anybody… at least not someone so clean. Think about it, lord. The king gave us the task to get rid of him… We just need to be sure and have a single proof, or we could have an accident… but that might be even riskier." The Jarl was confused; he looked at Sigrid.

"I think he might be able to pull it off…" Sigrid shared her opinion while nodding.

"You there…" The Jarl spoke.

"If having an accident might be the last option, then we should give this boy a chance," the shadowy voice said.

"Ok, then. You will be given all of the information by Sigrid and will stay with her. Learn as much as you can… That's it, you are dismissed…" The Jarl still seemed to be thinking about the decision. "Wait… What's your name, son?"

"It's Ravindra Chauhan."

"Good name…"

Sigrid bowed before leaving, and Ravindra copied her. After they left, the Steward and the Jarl started to discuss how dangerous it could be. "Ravindra… If his story comes out… You know what can happen… We will become evil."

"I agree with you, lord… That's why we will make sure it never comes out… Even if it does… I will personally make sure that a person like Ravindra never existed."

"That certainly helps."

Sigrid had a mansion near the palace. She lived alone there, though it was still pretty big for one person. Only a few people lived in such a luxurious mansion: Sigrid, two attendants, and a butler—an old man who had been serving her family for over 40 years.

When they reached the house, they were welcomed by the butler. "Oh… Young lady, what took you so long… And who is this young man?"

Ravindra, in turn, smiled broadly like a maniac. "He is… important… He is mission… Give him a room, and if anyone asks who he is… just say that he is my younger brother and just came from… abroad because of war tension… I mean… just don't tell them anything… OK??"

"I understand…" The butler nodded, then looked around and asked, "Where is the bag of young lord?"

"He… has… nothing… Well, if possible, take him to a shop and get him what he needs…" She said with a sigh.

"Eh… Elder sister… I forgot…" Ravindra realized that he had something he borrowed from someone.

"What?"

"The suit… It's his… That… um… what was his name?"

"Eirik?"

"Yes… He liked the suit… Can we return it??"

"No… We can look into it tomorrow. Right now, just eat up and go to sleep."

"Eh… Ok." He looked outside one last time before the butler closed the door, feeling an urge to return the suit.

She went upstairs, while Ravindra stayed in the living room for a while. The butler was looking for some clothes that could fit Ravindra so that he could change. Meanwhile, one of the helpers, who was more like a maid of the house, gave Ravindra some water and fruits to eat.

After some time, two women descended the stairs: one was Sigrid, and the other was a maid. Sigrid now wore normal clothes, like the common women of the country, with the same quality as the maid accompanying her.

"What happened to your clothes?" Ravindra noted.

"What??? It's my house, and I can choose what to wear…" She was more annoyed now.

"Then, why were you wearing those shiny clothes in the first place…" The question's answer was obvious yet a little mysterious to Ravindra.

"Because we… were meeting with the Jarl of the city… OK?" She was almost shouting at this point.

"Who are they?" he asked, pointing at the two servants of the house.

"Why do you have to ask so many questions?"

"Because… um… I'm your 'little brother'…"

She sat on the sofa, tucked her legs to her head, and stayed like that until the food arrived, while Ravindra didn't disturb her.

The butler came near Ravindra with a set of clothes. "Young lord, here are your clothes." They were a normal tunic and jodhpurs. The only problem was they looked a little too ordinary.

He took a quick bath and changed. When he came back, Sigrid had almost finished her meal and left for bed.

"She left a little food…" He whispered to the butler.

The butler laughed a little at that comment.

"When will you eat?" he asked with curiosity.

"After young lord finishes…"

"Nah… Just eat… I don't care. I feel like it's better to eat together since you all live in the same house." From a normal point of view, if you don't consider their status, the servants should eat with their lords and esteemed guests—a normal thing that was abnormal to Ravindra.

"Come on, eat with me… I would love to talk to all of you."

"We can't, young lord… You're a guest, but we are servants…" One of the servants said with a silly smile.

"So what… just eat… Aren't you hungry?" Ravindra pursued them a little more, and they agreed to sit at the same table and eat with him.

"Is lord married?" asked the butler.

"No…" Ravindra answered plainly. Then his brain stuck on another possibility. 'What if I actually lost my memories rather than being spawned… Then, I might even have a family… hmm…'

"How old is young lord?"

'What should I say… 18… 20… 22… 24.' He smiled to buy some time. "Umm… 20."

"Really?" said the first maid, who was in her middle age.

"He looks 20, doesn't he?" said the other maid, who was relatively older.

"What about elder sister? Is she married?" Ravindra said with a little laugh. "I bet her husband has to stay silent…"

This sentence made all of their excitement go away, especially the butler.

"The thing is, she is still unmarried…" The butler said slowly. "When she was 18, her mother died, and a few days later, her father died as well. Some sort of tragic thing happened, but nobody knew the cause of their death.

"She was alone at that time. The Jarl loved her as his own daughter; he was like her father. After a few years, she recovered from that incident. The Jarl decided to marry her to a soldier she loved, but he died in the war. After that, the Jarl looked for another man for her. He was the son of a Viscount, but he refused to marry her on their wedding day, saying he would die but would only marry the girl he loved. Then, the Jarl looked for another man, but again that man died on their wedding day. He was accidentally poisoned. He used to take a medicine, but that day he took a different medicine that killed him."

"Oh…" Ravindra understood the gravity of the atmosphere. He was kind of sad for Sigrid, yet he grew colder somehow. He could act, but deep down, coldness was flowing inside his heart. Such stories were nothing to him. Emotions were something he didn't lack; rather, he suppressed them. A human without emotions is equivalent to a monster, and a human who doesn't feel emotion yet acts like he does is equivalent to a demon. That was what Ravindra was becoming—almost all of his emotions were leaving him. The only thing holding onto his emotions was his naive nature, the lack of knowledge and information about the true nature of people. Right now, he knew a little about the masks people wear, yet the depths of darkness still awaited him.

He was like a little kid with a little knowledge and good acting skills, great observations, and almost no desire at this point.

The older maid started to cry, holding onto her tears with a napkin. Ravindra noted; he learned a thing or two about human nature. They all looked happy on the outside but were all running from something that scared them.

His eyes shined eerily as he observed all of their faces. The same feeling emerged in his heart when he had killed Rowan in cold blood. He didn't feel anything at all.

'Is that thing so important to shed tears? What's so wrong with all of these people, or am I just different?' Someone who can think straight is not generally a criminal but rather someone who either thinks entirely differently or lives in a different world while seeing the world from a distorted angle.

"After that, she refused to marry. The Jarl insisted, he wanted to see her happy… She just… stayed like this… now it's been almost 2 years to that thing… feels like yesterday… She might look normal, though inside she is sad… very sad."

'So, she just runs away from the truth. She just can't accept the reality… So weak,' he analyzed things from his perspective while maintaining a pitying face.

"So strong… She is strong," said the younger maid while she sniffled.

"What happened with her parents?" A flicker of sadness passed across his face, as fleeting as a shadow over sunlit grass, looking directly into the eyes of the butler.

The butler almost became uneasy. His old wrinkled hands trembled; the regret and sadness were flickering on his face like the grey sky before a storm. "It just happened. They just disappeared into thin air, apparently that's what the authorities said when they found nothing. The mistress disappeared right before the young lady's eyes. Her feet refused to move; her limbs locked in place as if the earth itself held her captive. It looked like a single touch could shatter her. The place where the mistress was standing had dirt… right before her.

"Her face had lost all emotion. She wasn't blinking. Something was unreal, something this vast magic couldn't accomplish yet it happened… I was the first one to see her like that. I could never forget her sight and that emotionless face of hers." The butler used his hands to support his head. His voice was as painful as a broken mirror, his face smouldering like embers in a dying fire.

The more the fire of pain burned near Ravindra, the more coldness in his heart grew. He listened like an observer, acted like a human, showed his emotions through a mask, planned like a manipulator. He could see emotions; they refused to come near him still, wandered all around him. His eyes were looking at regret and sadness with a sense of emotionlessness. An eerie light was coming out of them. It was how he was intended to be… He was supposed to be cold… no matter what he encountered, his fate was predestined… The darkened shadow was watching over him—so dark, almost invisible.

The exploration was set for the next day. The magic was something Ravindra was looking forward to. He had dark magic… It was powerful and infamous. To others, it was as if a disease.

Things that might be normal for someone could be strange and ignorable to others, like a shadow at noon.

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The unnamed dairy continued at the same time.

Entry two…

Today, was really good… We were taught the application of our powers, with minimal concentration and a few incantations could show the magic powers in real life. They said, before choosing an ethereal path… We should first understand our powers… Everyone was given a ring, when someone uses raw mana on it, with an ingratiated function it will use magic… Without ethereal magic, could not be used properly yet at least we could practice and understand our powers. I got one ring it was a plain copper ring but when I used mana on it and for security it was locked behind an incantation… So, no one accidentally triggers magic and hurts themself and others… I have to use mana in that ring and say "Awaken, Forstspire" It makes ice, crystal clear ice into thin air… When our teachers showed us I was amazed.

The academia then called upon a competition, where the person who can show the best thing with their magic wins and gets a ring… They gave us 6 hours… I tried and made something everyone loved… It was like a gem… with the crimson light of sunset growing inside it… It looked beautiful… Really beautiful… Like a gem that glows… Everyone had their eyes on it… They loved my creation. I won the competition and got a ring but my teacher Mr Ashok gave me another one… it was precious, he said… That ring looked amazing… Even though in the open section I finished at 15… This competition is yearly and many people from the city and some from outside join it… Mr. Ashok was the one to take it to the open section… My competition was almost impossible they had a lot of preparation, and their creations were just amazing… Mine might have been beautiful but it wasn't on that level.

Since I got 15th place, they didn't submit my creation… I got to keep it… This thing was really close to my heart, and the amount of concentration it took… was special to me… I gave it to my teacher… Mr. Ashok.

Ulfic and his friend walked me home today and they really liked it… Ulfic tried and his creation was great as well it was just not beautiful… He came second in class though, they are like my friends now.

I even got 1 chrysos (gold coin) as a gift from the principal of the academia… Today, everyone loved what I did… It was just a great day…