Chapter 37: Awakening?
"Ellia?"
Davis's voice pulled her back from her thoughts, making her blush slightly.
"Mhm… Now that we have become friends, it's fine to call me Davis whenever we are alone from now on, but for your safety, don't call me by my name in front of others. Things will take a turn for the worse for you if you say my name in front of someone else, but even if it came down to that, I would take care of that. Therefore, you don't have to worry too much about it."
"I got it… D-Davis." Avoiding his gaze, Ellia shyly nodded her head as her lush black hair fell by the side.
"So Ellia, why didn't you push me back? I think you can answer me now…" Davis grinned meaningfully.
Ellia's face went blank as she held her hands in front of her budding bosom and mumbled.
"Tha… that is… as a maid in training, we are made to learn about nightly services, so I was quite… ready for it…" By the time she finished, her face was so flushed that it looked like a crimson apple.
Hearing that, Davis became dumbfounded.
"What? Did those bastards do something to you? I will surely get revenge for you!" Davis fumed with anger.
What are they doing with little girls? This is unquestionably a crime in his moral notebook.
"Ah, no-no! We are only made to learn from books… and…" She hurriedly said, afraid that he might misunderstand but went silent again.
"And what?" Davis had a blank expression on his face.
"And we are made to learn from that crystal you took yesterday… and,"
'What the hell? Pornography exists here too? No wonder she recognized what type of crystal it is…' Davis became dumbfounded again.
"… And?" He gulped.
"We are then made to practice with vegetables!" She shouted and ducked, holding her legs as she hid her face while she went silent in shame.
"Hahahaha!"
Davis laughed, quite literally rolling on the floor. He hadn't had a laugh like this in his whole life. He laughed so hard that a little drop of tear rolled out from his eyes.
Hearing that laughter, Ellia felt like that she could just die from shame.
Stopping his laughter, Davis became silent and realized that he had awoken to the pleasures of bullying his new friend.
'Ah, this is gonna be so fun.'
"Alright," He lifted her shoulders and made her stand up.
"Ellia, if you want to break out from this status you have, then you need strength. Strength is the basic form of power, and if you have it, no one will dare to look down upon you regardless of your status or your actions." He uttered seriously.
Ellia regained her composure and nodded her head. Inwardly, she wanted to meet his expectations.
Davis uttered in a reliable tone, "I'll teach you cultivation, so don't worry…"
It was said that teaching had the effects on comprehension where a teacher would be able to realize their own discrepancies in their comprehension, and that is why most male geniuses would gain disciples sooner, to verify their own comprehensions and grow.
However, Davis didn't have such an attitude when he said that to Ellia.
Whether if it were fortune or misfortune, Ellia became his personal maid, and he wanted to see to it that she is not a normal person whom he would not leave behind in the future.
As a Prince with self-awareness over what he's doing, he could have easily declined this so-called custom of the Loret Empire if he remained adamant about it, but he didn't do so.
Why?
Perhaps he felt their meeting was fate or coincidence or felt like living the royal life… He didn't know.
'Maybe I became too bored with my current lifestyle and needed something to make it interesting?' Davis inwardly laughed as he tried to make sense of his actions.
"Thank you, Davis."
"Stop that, and there's no need for thanks between friends!" Davis lightly shook his head.
"Look at that. You are already at the High-Level Meridian Refinement Stage."
Ellia became slightly proud, "Hehe, they said that I have some talent for cultivation. I heard that's why they sold me so expensively that only the Imperial Family could afford for a single slave like me."
"I don't know whether to be happy or sad about that fact, but I guess your talent is good, considering the stage you achieved at your age without many resources," Davis said while accurately trying to guess how high her talent was compared to others.
However, talent could only be measured by the primitive form of checking a cultivator's age and cultivation before sticking a label on to them like, genius and other names. He didn't have a scale to check Ellia's talent accurately.
'Oh, but I am pretty happy about that fact. After all, I was able to meet you.' Thinking like this, Ellia smiled in her heart.
"Whatever, let's go meet my mother. I want to introduce you to her as well."
"Oh, if it's the Empress, I have already met her imperial highness once. Her Imperial Highness only gave me a single purpose, and that was to take care of you well."
Hearing that, Davis had a smile on his face thinking that his mother still cared for him deeply.
"Alright then, I guess there's no need to introduce you then. You stay here. I shall go to visit her."
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In the Empress's Quarters.
*Uee!~* *Uee!~*
A child incessantly wailing could be heard, grating the ears of a woman.
"Now now, don't cry, Diana, Mother is here" Claire tried to placate Diana, but it was of no use.
After a few minutes, she suddenly stopped crying and slept peacefully.
Diana possessed two pure sapphire eyes like her father. She remained chubby and incredibly cute. Her black hair was short and wavy. If she grew up, it was of little doubt that she would come to look like her mother, combined with her father's eyes and hair.
Davis knocked open the door and went inside his mother's room.
"Oh, Davis! Come here, come here. If Diana hadn't stopped crying, I would've gone looking for you…" Claire said with a rueful expression on her face.
"Hehe, Mother, today I saw Evelynn Cauldon…" Davis smiled, his lips curving into a grin.
"Oh… What do you think about her?" Claire's eyes shot up as she probed him.
"She is truly beautiful, and I think I've taken a liking towards her as well."
"Haha, Davis! Just like your father, you two easily fall for women with beauty…"
However, hearing that, she was finally able to relax.
Davis shook his head but didn't deny.
Who didn't favor a beauty? A crippled man perhaps… and a man with a broken or cold heart…
Okay, there were many…
However, Miss Evelynn could be in no way compare to his mother in terms of beauty. The two of them could be said to be worlds apart. However, in terms of figure, Miss Evelynn took the lead without even a need to compare.
Or Davis should say that her figure perfectly fits into his type.
"I guess that this marriage is now pretty much set in stone." Claire nodded her head in satisfaction. After all, she was the one who fixed this engagement in the first place. If this marriage got nullified, her face would be thrown away by her own son, not that she cared much about something like face in the first place.
"Not so soon, mother!" Davis swung his hand.
"Mhm?" Claire did not expect him to reject, so she cast him a bewildered glance.
He explained the events that took place when he was in the Cauldon Emporium.
"And that's it, I don't think she likes the marriage arrangement, and if she doesn't like me, then just let her go." Davis spread his hands wide.
"But judging by the events, it looks like she isn't totally against the marriage as well." Claire deduced after hearing his story.
"Then we'll have to see how it goes. If she doesn't want to be with me by any chance, then we will cancel the marriage! Agreed?"
"This… I can't decide that by myself, so you should ask your father." Claire had a difficult expression on her face.
There it is, the legendary diversion technique he had heard about, used by almost all the parents in his previous world.
Davis sighed. "At least, you can't force her, okay?"
"Alright…" Claire gave in as she shook her head.
"So what about your new personal maid, satisfied?" Claire smilingly winked at him.
"Very satisfied!" He winked back at her.
"Wonderful! Mother pulled some strings to get her for you. However, she was quite expensive for a maid…" She pouted as she thought about it.
"Just for facts, how much did she actually cost?" Davis let his curiosity get the better of him.
Claire calmly stated as she lifted up a single finger, "One Purple Coin!"
"…100,000,000 Copper Coins!!!!?" Davis had a dumbfounded expression on his face.
So expensive?
The currency in this world ranged from Copper Coins to Purple Coins, however not limited to it as goods like treasures ranging from Mortal Grad to higher grades could also be accepted.
100 Copper Coins equated to a single Silver Coin. 100 Silver Coins equaled a single Gold Coin. 100 Gold Coins compared to a single Platinum Coin while 100 Platinum Coins compared to a single Purple Coin.
Purple Coins are made from Peak-Level Earth Grade Ores extracted from mines spread throughout the Grand Sea Continent. However, every mine present that was found was more or less mined. Hence, only the currency was flowing in the Grand Sea Continent, and Purple Coins became the top currency to exchange with currently.
It was also written in the records in the Imperial Library that there was even a higher currency but disappeared in the passage of time due to the exhaustion of resources.
Davis secretly shook his head, feeling that he had 'corrupted' an expensive maid with his way of thinking.
"By the way, mother, where is Clara cooped up?" Davis asked, feeling a little bit sad since he hadn't seen her for a long time.
"Clara, huh?" Claire heavily sighed.
"That child isn't the same as she used to be for some reason. She is avoiding us, her father, and mother."
She said dejectedly and continued.
"What did I do wrong? Did I wrong her in any way? Your father is afraid to deal with her since it seems that she can think for herself naturally like an adult despite her young age. She only talks with you and won't talk much with us. I can also strangely feel that she maintains some distance from us."
Claire bit her lips in frustration.
"Honestly, you two are so much different than a normal child that we even hesitate to choose the choice of words while having a conversation. I know about you, Davis, but your little sister just won't open up to us, unlike you. All she does is give a short reply or nod her head and return to do her own work."
'When did things get this serious?' Davis's eyes twitched.