Damien was a bit taken aback but wasn't surprised since he knew how important Maria was to Arthur.

Still, now he had one more card by having the favor of the crown prince and accepted the golden token from him, seeing how sincere he was with his words.

He had no doubt that even if he asked Arthur to go on a life-risking mission, he would do it.

"I will keep it in mind," Damien said as he put the token in his soul space.

"Lina, please escort senior Azrael outside," Arthur said as he saw that he was about to leave.

Damien waved his hand, "No need. It would be alright if I take a walk on my own on my way out, right?"

Arthur was a bit surprised, but he readily nodded, "If that's what senior wishes, then I can't stop you. Please go ahead."

Damien left, and soon after, Arthur was again sitting beside his mother, still feeling a bit anxious about her condition. He could only hope she woke up as soon as possible.

Lina bit her lips slightly as she saw how tense Arthur was. She slowly walked over to him and asked, "Your Highness, let me look after Her Highness. You must be feeling really tired. And...you can ask me for anything you want. I will be glad to help you out in any way as long as it makes you happy," Lina's tone became unnaturally low towards the end as she was hinting at something embarrassing.

Arthur slightly turned his head towards her as he softly chuckled, "Lina, you really don't have to go that far for me. No matter how high my status or bloodline is, I wouldn't take advantage of you, Lina. I am not that kind of person," Arthur understood what she was hinting at but misunderstood her intention, thinking that she was asking him as a maid that wanted to fulfill her duties for her master.

Lina's expression faltered, seeing that Arthur misunderstood her and wanted to tell him that he got her wrong. But at the same time, she couldn't tell the truth since some things couldn't be revealed, especially considering the differences in their status, background, power, and everything.

She could only forever look at his back from afar...or so she thought.

Meanwhile, after an hour, Damien and Valentina set out for the Forsaken while she was in her cute cat form, resting herself on Damien's shoulder.

Soon enough, he was sitting in the main building in front of Triton...or Reva now that everything had been made clear between them.historical

And on either side of her, her protectors, Shania and Blake, were sitting as well while looking at Damien with squinted eyes, as if they were scanning him from top to bottom.

Yara had taken away Valentina for a ride, wanting to pet her like always, and so Damien felt as if he was in some kind of interrogation room alone with these two looking at him like this.

Shania's eyes weren't as firm and cold as Blake's, who seemed as if he had a lot of things to say to Damien.

Reva was feeling a bit embarrassed to be sitting before Damien while dressed as a man, especially since he knew everything now.

At the same time, she had to inform Shania and Blake about the fact that Damien knows about her identity since they were like her parents, and she just couldn't hide this fact from them forever.

And that was how this awkward situation arose with these two silently staring at Damien for god knows what reason.

To clear up the air, Damien took out the Pandemonium Needles and placed them on the table as he cleared his throat and said, "Well...here are the Pandemonium Needles you guys asked for. I take it I have fulfilled my end of the deal."

Shania smiled as she took the Pandemonium Needles and inspected them as she said, "Wow, Damien. You really did a great job. I am not lying when I say that all of us were a bit shocked to learn that you somehow pulled it off."

"Well, it should be expected since our great senior Alchemist Azrael is sitting before us, right?" Blake said with a stiff smile as he continued to look at Damien.

Damien finally decided to address the elephant in the room as he said, "Okay, okay, I know you guys might be upset about me creating a fake identity as an alchemist. But tell me, could I really be blamed? In this world, being weak or showing weakness would mean being stepped on by others all the time. That is why I decided to take the upper hand before anyone could step over me. So it's not that I wanted to deceive you all on purpose, especially you...Reva," Damien looked at Reva with endearing eyes, making her avoid his gaze abashedly.

"Okay, Blake. Cut the kid some slack. He is right. To survive in this world, especially when you have no background or family to support you, we would have to be smart and strong enough to pull tricks as Damien did. But still, how did you put up such a convincing act, even to the extent of fooling our senses?" Shania was really impressed by how Damien was able to pull this off and fool even the Xeton Emperor.

Blake had the same thoughts as well, and this only made him admire the frightening potential of this young man.

Blake finally leaned back as he relaxed his expression and said, "Don't ask such questions to him, Shania. Every cultivator has their secrets, and revealing them would only mean exposing their weaknesses. Don't bother about it, Damien. On a serious note, we are not upset or anything but just shocked...that is the only word I could find to express what we are feeling right now. I mean, we know where these two Pandemonium Needles are coming from, which only makes it even more shocking since not even ten of us could pull this off. Anyway, we will let it be and ask you the most important thing."

"What is it?" Damien asked with a slightly confused expression.

"What is going on between you and our Reva to the point that you don't even address her as you should address her as the princess of this empire," Blake asked with creased brows.