Chapter 19: Shadow Embrace 3
I'm thinking about something.
I couldn't help but always think, or maybe, what one called daydreaming.
Well, it wasn't important to be mentioned anyway.
I must have been influenced by the Shadow Embrace.
"It is now finished, Young Highness."
Her words snapped me awake as my eyes finally regained their clarity.
I nodded, facing her, and smiled brightly, "Thank you, Sophie."
"It's my honor to aid you, Young Highness," and she responded with the brightest smile I've ever received.
My heart wanted to be warm, but I was too emotionless to be emotional.
Without even feeling bothered by it, I placed my attention on the keyboard.
Sophie sauntered towards the door, but I paused my movements and said, "Please be with me, Sophie."
Sophie halted and faced me.
I remained focused on the keyboard, and once I perceived no footsteps echoing, assuring that she was there and remained in her position, I continued to press some keys.
My head tilted upward and downward ceaselessly, for I was checking if I was pressing the right keys as guided by the music sheets.
First, it was a mess.
Well, it's not surprising.
It's not like I have a character trait that could help me easily adapt to any situation.
However, the highly intelligent traits were still working.
It was not long before I'd memorized the keys to what a genius could really achieve.
Well, I wouldn't deny that I was relying on this host's memories when he played piano before.
Nonetheless, he and I were different.
It's just that we share the same body.
I continued playing and playing.
Unknown to me, Sophie watched me without making unnecessary movements.
She was just there, observing me closely, as though her eyes were glued to my image playing the keyboard.
She would blink for every minute.
Just her actions seemed to have entered the flow.
If entering the flow was as easy as what she had just attained, everyone wouldn't have been suffering from the lack of progress.
Nonetheless, I forgot about her once I finally got the hang of it.
Finally… Shadow Embrace had come into this world.
Finally… The Shadow Embrace appeared, and it would not be long before it would be known to everyone.
I continued playing again and again.
When I attempted to play it the last time, it was almost perfect.
My mastery was improving at a rapid rate.
The whole piece lasted for seven minutes, which totaled fourteen pages of sheet music in the real world.
However, the music sheet in front of me was so similar to the digital phone in the real world, albeit the feature was limited.
It could contain five hundred pages.
That's right, it was like a book placed on a single sheet of paper, where you could just slide it to present different pages.
What I was planning on this single sheet of paper, which could cost a low-grade Tier 2 artifact containing five hundred pages, was to complete it with my pieces.
One day, it would become a national treasure in the Music industry.
How ambitious of me.
But, well, in fact, I was only doing it out of my interest.
My lips curved into a smile while my face remained indifferent… Wait, that works?
Anyway, I was awakened by the soft clap behind my back.
However, no footsteps followed.
It was just a continuous slap, slowly dying down.
When silence returned, I said, "Is there something you want to say, Sophie?"
For some reason, I don't want to face her and gaze at her adorable face.
I desired to stare absent-mindedly at the keyboard, embracing the feelings I'd received after playing the Shadow Embrace.
It was really me.
The Shadow Embrace's appearance was so similar to me.
In fact, I even thought that my shadow ignored the restrictions and moved by itself.
Well, I couldn't really determine if it indeed happened, for I was so focused on playing the Shadow Embrace.
I was so engrossed in playing as if another realm appeared – the Shadow Realm.
Where I could interact with other shadows, where I could finally empathize with them.
There, in that Realm, there were no restrictions.
Shadow could act like crazy, shy, joyful, conservative, and other different personalities.
It was like a festival, where my piece brought life to it.
When a part that sounded like fireworks appeared, or when it died down to a lovely atmosphere scene.
The Shadow Embrace, in seven minutes, materialized a new world.
That only me and the shadows could see.
Only I could know what the shadows wanted to be.
"That was…" Sophie's voice snapped me awake. "Beautifully well done, Young Highness. I could perceive what you wanted to convey. It was a roller coaster ride of emotion."
I don't need to see her face to know she smiled.
For sure, she was beaming a smile.
A smile so genuine just like her words.
"Really?" I replied with a smile, as well, imitating hers.
Sophie didn't mind me not facing her, ignoring my baffling actions – staring at the keyboard absent-mindedly – and said, "Young Highness, from the piece you played, you pushed each note in my head, painting a canvas of world, where there was joy and sorrow, or indifferent and overreaction, or pain and numbness… There was an unending comparison.
It might seem as if there were two subjects in that piece."
She was right.
There were two subjects, but it was me and the shadow.
Where I represented the real people that the shadows were bound into.
Yet, I was also the shadow.
That led me to the question that had been on my mind ever since I've come to adapt to this body.
If I'm not a shadow enough, not a real person enough, not Eddie enough, and not Luke enough, then what am I?
If I'm cruel to others, kind to some, unusual to most, trash to everyone, talented to the minority, who am I to me?
Even my past self, Eddie Hamilton, couldn't answer that.
"I see, so that's what you've felt."
This time, I faced her, gazed at her, right directly into her hazel eyes, and replied with an appreciative smile, "Thank you for letting me know. It was what I intended."
Sophie was stunned in a split second before she quickly composed herself and replied with a bow, "Y-Your welcome, Young Highness."
She managed to conceal her burning cheeks and flustered face.
Being ignorant about it, I was nonchalant from her response.
I said, "You may leave now. Call me when we will depart."
"Y-Yes."
She even forgot to add the honorary address as she quickly tried to leave.
My previous sparkling eyes returned soulless as I returned my focus to the keyboard.
The last play might seem almost perfect, but it was just almost.
I also know that I couldn't play it perfectly due to one reason.
My frail physique.
I needed to be faster and quicker, with my mind and body in harmony.
However, it was impossible.
"Young Highness, I'll be waiting outside. Please be ready."
That's right.
The only way for me to improve my physique would be to receive the blessings of the God of War.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
CloverNine
CloverNine Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone