The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 276: Master & Familiar

Chapter 276: Master & Familiar

It took them a while, but they eventually found their way to the Portal Hall of the Capital City of the Mortal Realm, where Elijah was awaiting them as per Valerius’ request that the latter made the previous night through a magical letter.

"Will this work?" The Mortal Crown Prince asked as he tried to hide just how unsure he was feeling at the moment.

Kenric gave a light pat on Elijah’s shoulder while assuring him - "Don’t worry too much. We surely will succeed tonight."

Elijah gave a tight smile and a little nod in response to Krnric’s assurance, but Annalise could still see that he wasn’t too convinced about the involvement of the Dark Witches, and she couldn’t blame the Mortal Crown Prince at all; if it was solely up to her, she wouldn’t have trusted the Dark Witches either. After all, the dark witches weren’t known for their loyalty and helpful nature.

Right at that moment, the Witch Leader suddenly turned her attention toward Annalise, and there was a little smirk playing on the woman’s lips that almost made Annalise wonder if the woman was somehow aware of her thoughts, which was unlikely to happen.

"My lady, can you please call your familiar out? We need its assistance to get the remaining Divine Guardian Beasts out."

Annalise immediately looked at Valerius, and her man gave her a light nod in response to her unasked question. Letting out a small sth, she closed her eyes and focused her attention on the bond between her and her familiar. She immediately found the presence of the Little Snow Lion nearby, and she made a silent request to it to make an appearance from wherever it was hiding.

Several long moments passed without any response from the Little Snow Lion, and it was only when Annalise was about to give up that she finally heard from her familiar through their mind link - ’Do you really trust these dark witches? What if they ended up harming the Divine Guardian Beasts?’

’This is a deal made between Valerius and the Dark Witches. No matter their nature or ambitions behind this deal, we can trust Valerius with his judgment... right?’ Annalise responded to her familiar’s insecurities regarding the involvement of the Dark Witches.

It was kind of clear at this point that the Dark Witches didn’t have much of a positive impression on anyone so far, and their involvement was only making everyone paranoid. But as Annalise just mentioned to the Little Snow Lion, despite her opinions against the Dark Witches, she was going to believe in her husband and mother-in-law’s plan.

The Little Snow Lion responded almost immediately once Annalise was done speaking, and its response almost made her freeze completely for a moment or two - but for all good reasons.

’In this entire world, I only trust you, Master.’

The words kept repeating in her mind, and for the first time in months, Annalise felt her Master-familiar bond with the Little Snow Lion flooding with warmth, comfort, and trust as the Divine Beast finally opened up to her.

’Did you... did you just call me... Master?’ She asked as she could hardly believe what she had just heard.

’Why? Do you want me to call you by your name instead? Or maybe I should address you as ’My Lady’?’ The Little Snow Lion almost sounded sarcastic, but that barely mattered to Annalise.

’You can call me whatever you want, whether it’s master, or my name, or any other title. I just... I’m just happy that you finally... accepted me...’

If not for the company, Annalise would have ended up breaking down right there and then. The feeling she was experiencing at that moment was way too much and made her really sensitive. It was almost like the feeling of a mother when she heard her child call her ’mother’ for the very first time.

’Are you going to cry?’ The Little Snow Lion asked in an almost worried tone after several long moments of silence, and its soft worried tone made Annalise giggle as she shook her head before responding - ’I won’t give you that privilege... yet!’

There were another couple of long moments of pure silence, and Annalise was aware that everyone’s attention was upon her. While her husbands had kind of an idea about what was going on, they weren’t aware of the entire situation, and as for the rest, they were just being patient with her.

Taking in a long breath, she pulled herself together and again spoke to the Little Snow Lion through the mind link - ’Thank you for not abandoning our bond. I promise I will cherish our relation with all my heart and for the rest of my life. And while I, too, don’t trust the Dark witches, I trust my husbands, and I know that they won’t let anything happen to the Divine Beasts. All I can give you right now is a promise. We are doing all this just to save your friends; there’s no way we will let anything bad happen to them.’

The Little Snow Lion remained silent for a second or two as if it was pondering on its options before it finally gave its final answer - ’In the past couple of months that I have spent with you, there’s one thing I have learned about you, Annalise - you are worth trusting.’

’Thank you.’

That was all Annalise could say in return because she was too overwhelmed with emotions to muster out any other words. There were very few of those who made her feel so positive about herself, and the Little Snow Lion was now one of them.

"Annalise?"

Valerius’ soft but concerned voice finally pulled Annalise out of her thoughts, and as she finally looked up at her husband’s face, she was unable to hold herself back any longer. So she just there her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest as she let out her emotions without any care of those around her.