Free Web NovelChapter 101: Chapter 101: Confronting Lark [1]
The door to Damon’s suite clicked shut, sealing him in a silence that felt heavier than the one in the hall.
The room was opulent, all soft silks and dark wood, with a wide balcony overlooking the city’s glittering tapestry.
He ignored the view.
He walked to the connecting wall, placing a palm against the cool, papered surface. His spiritual sense brushed against it and met a gentle, firm resistance.
A privacy array, basic but effective. It would alert the occupant if probed.
A slow smile touched his lips. He hadn’t planned to knock.
Midnight draped the city in a deeper quiet, the constant hum of solar arrays dimming to a faint background glow.
Damon sat cross-legged on the floor, not cultivating, just listening. The suite beside his had been silent for hours.
’Time for a visit. The Princess’
He stood, and the shadows in the corner of the room seemed to lean toward him.
He didn’t vanish so much as he became part of the darkness itself, his form dissolving into a wisp of deeper night.
Eternal Darkness’s Broken Shadow Art wasn’t true invisibility, it was becoming indistinguishable from the absence of light.
He flowed like smoke under the crack of his door, into the empty, illuminated hallway. The array on Lark’s door was a simple lock, nothing meant to stop him.
He seeped through the microscopic gap between door and frame, feeling a slight tingle as he bypassed the spiritual seal.
The room inside was dark, save for the ambient city glow filtering through the sheer balcony curtains. It was a mirror of his own—a sitting area with plush chairs, a door leading to a bedroom.
A soft, rhythmic sound came from behind that door. The sound of cloth rustling, and a low, relieved sigh.
Damon reformed from the shadows beside a large potted plant, his presence utterly silent. He peered through the slightly ajar bedroom door.
Lark stood with his back to the room, bathed in the silver moonlight from the balcony.
But the figure was no longer the lean, broad-shouldered man. The heavy outer robes were discarded on a chair.
Lark was carefully unwinding a long, tight band of cloth from his chest.
Layer after layer came loose, falling away. With the final strip, the transformation was complete.
The disguise fell away with the bindings.
Where there had been flat chests, there was now a massive boobs on her chest, along with a curve of a woman’s back, tapering to a narrow waist before flaring out again into generous, rounded hips.
Skin the color of moonlight gleamed in the dimness.
She—Lumina—let out another soft sigh, rolling her shoulders as if feeling true freedom for the first time all day.
She reached up and pulled a few hidden pins from her hair, letting the short, practical cut fall into a longer, silken cascade of golden blonde that spilled just past her shoulders.
Damon’s golden eyes watched her with eager eyes.
The necklace around her neck, the Origin Grade artifact, pulsed with a faint light, maintaining the illusion of a masculine jawline and sharper features from the front.
But from behind, the truth was undeniable.
’Top-tier is an understatement.’
She was tall, her legs long and shapely. The curve of her backside was full and perfect. She began to turn, likely to reach for a night robe.
Damon chose that moment to step forward.
The floorboard didn’t creak, but the shift in the air, the presence suddenly occupying the space behind her, was palpable. freewebnoveℓ.com
Lumina froze, half-turned, her eyes widening in the moonlit gloom. She saw him, a tall, dark shape in her private chamber, his golden eyes catching the light like a predator’s.
A choked gasp escaped her lips, and she snatched the discarded robe from the bed, clutching it to her chest in a frantic, futile gesture.
"You—" Her voice was higher than the captain’s, laced with pure terror.
"How did you get in here? Get out!"
Damon didn’t move.
He leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, his gaze a slow, deliberate sweep from her bare feet up the length of her legs, over the robe clutched against her revealed curves, to her frightened face.
The illusion necklace flickered, struggling against her panic, but the feminine lines of her neck and collarbones were plain to see.
"Lark," Damon said, his voice a low, calm rumble in the quiet room. "Or should I use your real name?"
Her breath hitched. The fear in her eyes sharpened, but beneath it, something else flickered—calculation, desperation.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about. You are trespassing. The Pavilion guards—"
"Will come if you scream?" Damon finished for her, pushing off the doorframe. He took one slow step into the room.
"But will they see a your secret then? Or a young woman, half-dressed, with a man in her room?" He tilted his head.
"What would that do to your disguise, Lumina?"
The use of her name was a blow for her. She flinched, her knuckles turning white around the robe.
The terror was winning, a cold sweat beading on her temple. But she held her ground, chin lifting with a remnant of that noble pride.
"What do you want?"
"What do I want?" Damon smiled, a slow, magnetic curl of his lips.
He was close now, close enough to smell the clean, sun-warmed scent of her skin, to see the rapid flutter of her pulse in her throat.
"I was curious about my traveling companion. You’re have... many secret."
He didn’t activate his aura yet. He let the tension build, let her feel the sheer physical presence of him, the confident, unshakable energy that seemed to fill the space.
"I am a disciple of the Azure Dragon Sect, on a mission," she said but the words was stiff and like she rehearsed it.
"Nothing more. Your curiosity is misplaced and offensive."
"A disciple who wears an Origin Grade artifact to hide her identity." Damon amused then he take another step.
She was backed against the edge of the bed now, with nowhere to go.
"A disciple who fool everyone that using an artifact. Who has the Solaris name on her real name."
