"Can you stop looking at her like that?"

Daniel could no longer stop himself as he finally called out to Shadow seeing that the man was continuously staring at his baby sister.

The bodyguard did not reply but he indeed stopped looking at Emily who was sleeping beside him without any care in the world.

Her head was resting on his shoulder while one of her hands was placed on his thigh. He could clearly hear her heartbeat which almost sounded like soft sweet music to his ears.

He could tell that she was not wearing any perfume, rather, she had a natural scent that reminded him of almonds and roses.

Currently, they were on their way to the Alessandro mansion. It was already near midnight and Daniel was the one driving the car.

Another car, filled with a team of trained guards, was following them. Domenic had decided to visit the warehouse before returning to the mansion while the rest of the brothers left the headquarters about half an hour before the banquet officially ended.

The car ride was filled with silence after that and it barely took them around fifteen minutes before they reached the mansion.

As soon as the car stopped, Shadow slowly pulled the sleeping princess in his arms and made the car door flew open on its own.

"Let me carry her." 

It was not a request. Rather, it was a command from the Second Young Master of the Alessandro Empire.

However, instead of complying with him, Shadow stepped out of the car before he turned his attention towards the Second Young Master.

"I know that you are worried about her safety but it will be better if you can learn to trust me, Young Master. Although I'm not the most innocent or harmless person in this world, I think I'm still worthy of the trust that your brother has put in me. I will take care of her, at all costs."

He did not wait to hear Daniel's reply before he disappeared into the thin air along with the sleeping Emily.

While the team of guards panicked for a few seconds seeing their 'supposed to be team captain' disappearing with their Young Miss, Daniel showed no worry on his face.

Rather, he just let out a deep sigh before he started climbing the stairs.

Just how he was supposed to stop worrying about his Sorellina?

She was too young and surrounded by people who wanted to use her and her sleeping abilities for their own selfish purposes.

No matter how hard he tried, he was not able to trust anyone when it came to her, except his family along with Sam, Jackson, and Bianca.

He could tell that Kaiden, Rylan, and Shane also truly cared about her. But the doubt was still present in his mind.

The fear of losing her just because he trusted a stranger with her security was making him worry with each passing day.

All that he wanted was for his sister and brothers to live a happy and carefree life but he could already tell - they were going to go through the worst and best phases of their lives.

Their bonds would be tested, and all that he wanted was for his family to pass all these coming challenges and tests.

--

Shadow appeared inside Emily's bedroom which was filled with darkness.

The lights suddenly flickered on as he moved towards the bed and laid down the sleeping girl on the soft covers.

"How long are you going to pretend?"

He questioned softly as he kneeled next to her bed as he gently took off her heels and started massaging her feet.

Emily opened her eyes as she sat up on the bed, watching the man taking care of her with so much gentleness.

"Why are you so good to me?" 

She could not help but ask as she watched his slender fingers working magic on her feet.

All the exhaustion and sleepiness that was surrounding her body and mind with a thick fog started disappearing.

"Because I've nothing better to do."

Shadow replied as he kept his attention on her feet while her fingers continued to transfer his power essence to help her body relax.

Rather than getting mad at his attempt of ignoring her question, she ended up bursting out into soft giggles.

Shadow did not comment on her reaction, nor did he move his eyes away from her feet.

"You are weird.....but also so normal. I wish I can learn to hide my shadows behind a light just like you do."

Emily's words came out as soft as flying whispers. He was probably not supposed to hear them, however, his sharp senses picked up every single word that escaped her lips.

His fingers stilled on her feet as he turned to look at the girl. The more time he spent with her, the more surprised he was left whenever he saw a glimpse of the girl that was hiding behind the facade of the perfect Young Princess of the Alessandro Empire.

"Want me to tell you a secret?" He asked in a soft voice as he took a seat next to her.

Emily immediately nodded her head and waited eagerly for him to continue.

"You don't need to learn anything from me. You are just as perfect in hiding your darkness as I am. Maybe you don't realize it but to those who have not got the chance of getting to know you personally, what they all see is the perfect Young Princess that you are supposed to be. Only those who are close to you can tell your true emotions."

The two of them were silent for the next few minutes ss Emily thought about what Shadow just told her.

Even though a minor part of her wanted to object to his words, the major part knew pretty well that he was speaking the truth.

"Is it wrong to hide our darkness from prying eyes?" 

She asked him after a few minutes as he fumbled with the emerald ring that she was still wearing.

The ring gave her a sense of safety, almost as if it was protecting her in its own way.

She watched as a small smile appeared on her bodyguard's lips as he covered her right hand with his left one before giving it a warm and gentle squeeze.

"No, Princess. It's not wrong to hide your darkness from others. Since it's your darkness, then it's your choice if you want to share it with others or not. However....."

He became silent for just a second or two before he continued.

"Although it is not wrong to hide your darkness from others but what's wrong is to hide yourself from your own darkness. It's a part of your life, of your past, or maybe the present. You should never try to run or hide from it. You need to be strong and accept it. You need to learn to embrace it as a part of your life and try to find a way to start a new life without forgetting what that darkness has taught you." 

Emily turned her eyes to look at the man as she asked, "Is it hard to accept it as a part of you?"

Shadow shook his head as he smiled warmly at her while replying to her question.

"Everything is easy and possible if you have the confidence and patience to achieve it. Maybe you won't succeed on the first try, or second, maybe not in a day, or a month, or even a year, but as long as you don't lose your confidence and keep trying, you will eventually succeed. And you know what's the best part of always keep trying again and again?"

Emily shook her head as she eagerly waited for him to answer the question.

Shadow once again smiled softly at her as his free hand moved to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"The best part is that you will learn something new about yourself and life every time you will fail. Both good and bad moments of our lives teach us something new and important. It's up to us if we are capable of learning those lessons or not." 

His amber eyes were swarmed with so much warmth as he looked at her with a small smile present on his lips.

"Have you learned to accept your darkness as a part of your life?" 

Emily asked as she looked at him with eager eyes.

"I have lived for too long to care about these trivial matters. All that I want at this moment of my life is to finally find the peace that I've been searching for such a long time." 

Shadow answered her question as he turned to look at the glass window, his eyes showing no disappointment when he found the moon absent in the vast night sky.

"What's your biggest realization so far?" Emily again found herself asking.

Shadow was silent for a few moments before he answered, "Being an Immortal is always not a blessing."