Shadow Slave novel Chapter 210

Chapter 210 Shadow of the Past

'Technically dead? What does she mean?'

Sunny glanced at the others and saw that they, too, were confused. Everyone except for Caster, that is, who seemed like he knew something.

A few moments passed in tense silence, which was broken by Changing Star's sigh. Looking at them, she said evenly:

"My mother is one of the Hollow. She became Hollow while pregnant with me, actually. So I never really met her. Just her… body."

Nephis grew silent. After a while, a strange smile appeared on her face.

"It's funny, really. When my grandmother was still alive, I made a point of treating that body as nothing but a corpse. But once she passed away and we were the only ones left… well. I found myself getting a bit confused."

Nephis shrugged and turned away once again.

"Anyway, before leaving for the First Nightmare, I used what little money there was left of our estate to buy her a VIP spot in a specialized Hollow care facility. They are treating her really well. But still… I don't like the idea of her being alone there. So when I return, that's what I'm going to do. Visit her."

No one said anything, heavily affected by her words.

Sunny stared at Changing Star, trying to imagine what it must have felt like, growing up in the company of your parent's soulless shell. With death staring at you through those empty eyes every day, always looming over you like a dark shadow... both of your past and your future.

Maybe that was a part of the reason why Neph hated the Spell so much.

Sensing the heaviness in the air, Changing Star glanced at them and smiled darkly.

"What? Is this your first time meeting a hollowborn? Well, I can't blame you. Creatures of my breed are pretty rare. In fact, even I have never met another one."

Then, she sighed and stretched her legs, moving them closer to the fire.

"So yeah, that and dye my hair. These are the things I would do in the real world first."

Sunny blinked.

"...Dye your hair?"

Nephis nodded.

'How is that a priority?'

Feeling that he was missing something, Sunny scratched his head and asked:

"Why?"

She glanced at him in surprise.

"What do you mean, why? I'm not used to it, and it's weird. Do I need another reason?"

He stared at her with a perplexed expression. Noticing it, Changing Star frowned and asked with a tiny hint of amusement in her voice.

"Sunny… did you, perhaps, think that this is my natural hair color?"

He was silent for a while, then opened his mouth and closed it again.

"...It's not?"

Nephis looked at him for a while with a strange expression, and then suddenly exploded with laughter.

Her laugh was melodic, pure, and very pleasant to the ear. With regret, Sunny realized that he had never heard it before.

He wished that their lives were different, so that people could hear Nephis laugh more often. But they weren't, and would probably never be.

After a while, she glanced at him and smiled.

"Sunny, it's silver, for Spell's sake. Who has natural silver hair?"

Luckily, at that point, Kai suddenly came to his rescue:

"Actually, I thought that it's natural too. Ah… it suits you very well, Lady Nephis."

Changing Star turned to him with an expression of utter surprise. Then, she glanced at Effie with a silent question.