The blood loss and fatigue due to his injuries made Damien faint before he could even realize it.
It was already surprising he was able to stay conscious till now. He had held on to ensure his survival. But now that there was no imminent danger, his mind and body subconsciously relaxed.
The princess suddenly took out a pill and forced it into Damien's mouth.
"Your Highness, you have already done enough. You only have a few of those Star Soothing Pills. We should just let him be. As he said, we can't carry around a burden like him." Nestor Rong said pragmatically.
"If we just let him go now, wouldn't what I did all go to waste? Look at him. He won't even last a moment out there. If I just leave him out there to die, I would be the reason for him dying a more miserable death. And I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing that an innocent person suffered because of me." The princess asserted.
"Sigh...okay. Then what do you plan to do with him? You can only make him do menial jobs that too only after his hand heals. But you already have maids for that. Giving him an attendant's job in our Imperial Ethereal Court will only bring about unnecessary troubles."
"Did you forget the fact that I am a sword maniac? I have found someone who could teach me something new and give me a few pointers. He was able to display such mastery over the sword as a cripple. I can't even imagine the attainments he would have had if he was not crippled or had high cultivation."
'Oh, maybe that must be why she rescued him.' Nestor Rong conjectured inwardly but didn't comment about it.
"You can't possibly be thinking of letting him train you in swordsmanship." Oswin Rong was taken aback, " We already have the best swordmasters training you."
"No, I am serious. Those old fogeys are too stuck up and annoying. And this is the only way I can handle this situation without any problems. Besides, have you ever seen a cripple crossing levels to kill ethereal beasts? In name, he would be my personal servant assigned to do some menial jobs so that no one would be suspicious." The princess said resolutely.
"But what makes you think that boy would even agree to all this. So far, from what I have seen, it is obvious he has had a tough life and wouldn't yield even if threatened."
"Who is talking about threatening him? And he has no reason to reject us. I will handle the convincing part. Let's go."
The two protectors helplessly shook their heads as they prepared to leave along with the princess.
——
"Damien, what name do you think we should give to our child?"
"Come on, Sofie, we don't even know whether it's a boy or a girl. You know what, for now, let's just give it a nickname. 'Little Sofie' if it's a girl or 'Little Damien' if it's a boy, haha."
"Still sticking on to that, huh. Well, I wonder if little Damien would be as naughty as you, hehe."
"Seems like yesterday night I went easy on you. Come here you…"
Suddenly the surroundings disappeared and dissolved into another scene. All Damien could hear was the hoarse screams of his loved one while she was burned alive at the stake in front of him.
Her beautiful skin was replaced with charred skin flaking off from her body as her face contorted in a grimace of pain.
"NO!!!"
Damien desperately tried to struggle free, but he still couldn't take a step forward to help her. He was filled with overwhelming despair as he helplessly watched her suffer.
Soon her screams went silent, and finally Damien felt the restrictions on his body disappear.
"SOFIE!!!"
He instantly rushed towards the stake shouting her name.
But the next moment, he found himself sitting in an unfamiliar place. His hand was stretched out in the air as if trying to catch something.
The chaotic and distorted scenes in his mind had already started fading away.
A pleasant floral smell wafted through his nostrils as he scanned his surroundings with his eyes.
He could see he was sitting on a soft couch. But before anything else could catch his attention, his eyes focused on the lean hooded figure sitting opposite to him.
"Ugh!"
Suddenly the pain from his right forearm made him wide awake. He realized that he was sitting inside some carriage, probably the one he saw earlier. His right forearm was dressed in white bandages and seemed better than before.
"Don't make any sudden moments and just relax. I have already given you a pill to heal your arm. By the way, it seems like you had quite a nightmare. Who's Sofie?" The princess asked without masking her sweet and pleasant voice.
"That's none of your business—" Damien said coldly— "Wait...your voice...are you a girl?"
Damien was flabbergasted as he never expected the hooded person to be a girl.
"Of course, I am. I had disguised my voice before just for caution." She said as she removed her hooded cloak and took off her mask.
Damien was a bit stunned when he saw a beauty that could make one's heart tremble.
Her silky black hair was gathered together and cinched with a band to make a ponytail. She seemed to be around sixteen, with a pair of beautiful black sparkling eyes framed by short lashes along with crescent-shaped brows, an elegantly straight and delicate nose, and full cherry-colored lips. Above all, her face exuded a noble and graceful aura that added to her charm.
Even though she was dressed in a simple skirt and top, it highlighted her curvaceous yet slightly immature body and her peach-like tender white skin. One could say that her beauty can bring empires to their knees.
'What a beautiful girl.' Damien couldn't help but admire her beauty in his heart. Her beauty was even on par with Sofie's. But the expressions on his face didn't change much.
"Wow, this was quite unexpected. Now, why would a girl like you go around black markets looking to buy slaves, and who are you exactly?" Damien asked in a questioning tone.
She was surprised when Damien didn't have much reaction on his face other than being surprised.
His gaze was clear without any hint of lust, unlike the youngsters she had met who subtly checked out her assets with lust in their eyes.
She wasn't narcissistic, but she had an overall idea of her beauty. She was even titled the Celestial Princess, which only brought upon more problems for her.
But besides that, she was expecting a certain reaction from him but was slightly disappointed when he didn't show it.
"I know you might find it hard to believe me, but I am not a person with bad intentions. My name is Lily Rong, and I am the princess of the Rong Empire. I visited that wretched place only because I had no other alternative. I was just searching for a warrior who would be loyal to me." Lily said with a stressed-out expression on her face.
'Wow, an imperial princess. Are all princesses beautiful like her?' Damien couldn't help but be surprised. He didn't expect to meet an important person in a black market, especially the princess of the empire he was currently in.
She was just as beautiful as Sofie. Even on earth, he did not know of any woman more beautiful than her.
"But you are a princess, so couldn't you have any number of guards or warriors you want from your own empire."
"It's isn't as simple as it seems. There are a lot of things you don't understand, nor do you need to know them." Her eyes shifted momentarily as her face had a resentful expression for a moment.
'Looks like things aren't looking good for her despite being a princess.'
"Fine, then how can you guarantee that a bought warrior would be loyal to you? He can just betray you the first chance he gets."
"Do you think I don't know that? Of course, they place an ethereal seal on them to avoid those problems."
"Ethereal seal? What's that?" Damien asked with a curious expression.
"What? Don't you know what an ethereal seal is? And here I thought you might be coming from an influential background." Lily sighed.
"Don't tell me you rescued me because you thought I was coming from some prestigious background? Is that the case?" Damien asked doubtfully.
Lily gave a wry smile as she said, "Well, I know I messed up. But I couldn't help but speculate like that when I saw your sword mastery. I thought maybe you were from some prestigious family of the Lancaster Empire. And you never mentioned your name."
Actually, Lily didn't even think about his background at all when she pressed that button during the match.
But she also didn't want to let Damien know the truth since she herself couldn't validate her reasons and also because she couldn't tell Damien those reasons right now.
'Heh, in the end, she just wanted to exploit the possible connections I would have had.' Damien assumed what she said was true because he could not think about any other reason as to why she rescued him.
"My name is Damien."
Her eyes became unfocused momentarily as complex emotions flashed through her eyes when she heard his name.
"So, now that you know you were wrong, where are you taking me now? I don't plan on being your slave or anything. And being your warrior is out of the question anyway." Damien said bluntly.
Lily didn't mind his rudeness and shook her head as she said, "You misunderstand something. If I wanted to make you my slave, I would have at least made them put an ethereal seal on you. Right now, we are on our way to the palace."
She closed her eyes for a moment and continued, "Seems like we have already neared the capital. I will tell you what I plan to do with you once you settle down and rest. Also, it would be best if you cleaned yourself up. Right now, you reek of beast blood." Lily said as she wrinkled her nose.
'Hey, it's not my fault I was thrown into the arena.' He inwardly retorted.
'Well, I guess it's better to follow her to the palace. If I just tell them to drop me off in the middle of nowhere, it wouldn't be any different than a death wish.'
After all, Damien had no money or valuables, even to buy food to sustain himself and not even a place to stay. Besides, he was injured and needed a comfortable place to rest.
'But what would they want with a cripple like me anyway?' Damien mused.
He was absorbed in his thoughts when he suddenly thought of something.
"Wait, you said you fed me a pill for my arm, right? Would it really heal my right hand? Will I be able to use it again?" Damien expectantly asked as he looked at his bandaged right forearm.
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