Everyone turned around to see who was bold enough to chime into the conversation of such higher-ups.
They saw a handsome man with charming features looking about twenty-one years of age. His demeanor seemed extremely noble and dignified.
And his face had a kind and genuine smile without any tinges of loftiness or arrogance contrary to what most would expect if they were seeing him for the first time.
His entire body overflowed with a subtle charm that would make one want to be subdued by just his smile. His hair and eyes were an elegant color of stark blue which only seemed to add to his charms.
His robes were not too lofty nor too simple but perfectly simple and dignified.
Their eyes went round as they mumbled in an excited tone, "Oh my! That is the crown prince, Arthur Xeton!"
"The Morning Prince? He finally came out of his close-door cultivation? Ahh, it's been a while since I missed senior brother Arthur."
"Of course. He is already ranked number one in the Eternal Hall of Fame rankings, and he still cultivates diligently."
"Awww so powerful, handsome, and kind at the same time. Would there be even another powerful prince like him in this world? I heard he treats everyone equally no matter their status and is very kind to everyone. No wonder he is the most eligible bachelor in the world. I wonder which lucky girl or princess is going to marry him."
"Obviously, the reason he is still single is that he still hasn't found one worthy of him, or maybe he is waiting to propose to someone he already loves."
"Nooo...I hope my prince charming doesn't have any lovers. Otherwise, I might take my own life before him…"
"Pffft...what a drama girl…"
Damien wondered if they titled him as the 'Morning Prince' just because he was a person to be seen first when one wakes up to have a happy day. At least, based on the rumors he had heard about the crown prince, he could only guess.
Wilson and Calissa were surprised to see the crown prince walking towards them, while Reva and Xeton wondered why the crown prince decided to interfere.
The two family heads and Leon bowed as Arthur Xeton walked towards them.
"Please rise. No need of such formalities here." Arthur said in a formal tone. He then looked at Reva and said, "Reva, it's been a while. I hope things have been good without me."
Reva said without any change in her expression, "Of course, it has been, First Brother."
Hearing her reply, a faint emotion flashed through his eyes which Damien noticed even though he was standing at a distance. Because of cultivation, one could see anything at a faraway distance closely.
He at first wondered who this handsome and seemingly kind-looking guy was and didn't expect that he would be the crown prince as he had quite a different image in his mind, especially someone who was the future heir to the Xeton Empire's throne.
Arthur greeted everyone and asked, "If I am not wrong, is this issue regarding what happened to Roy and Dennisa? I already heard people talking about the matches even before I came here."
Wilson said in a polite tone, "Yes, it is, Your Highness. And we are not here to create any trouble on purpose but to seek justice for the severe and vicious way in which Damien attacked Roy even though it was supposed to be a friendly spar. As for Dennisa's case, we could just seek out Alchemist Azrael and talk things out."
Arthur furrowed his brows as his expression became thoughtful. He then said with a smile, "From what I have heard, it seems like Damien was about to lose because of Roy's finishing move. But somehow, Damien was able to launch a counterattack to protect himself. And the case happened to be that Damien's counterattack was too powerful contrary to everyone's expectations, maybe his own. So, maybe he didn't know how powerful his own attack was, and it would be too late to stop it anyway."
Arthur continued, "If he really had that much strength from the beginning, why didn't he use it? I think Damien might have just used his last resort skill that came with a heavy price to launch that counterattack. And it didn't seem like he broke any rules either. During a spar, unforeseen things could happen, and some things couldn't even be in the control of the participants. I say we forgot about this match and let the ones who lost take this loss as a motivation to do better next time. Okay?"
Wilson knit his brows as Calissa said with an aggrieved expression, "But Your Highness…"
With a breezy smile, Arthur raised his palm in an assuring way and said, "Don't worry. Let me talk with Royal Father and see how he feels about the whole situation so that I could save you the trouble. If he thinks that nothing is there to be done, then we can only leave at that. I mean, since this match was conducted before our people, we shouldn't let people lose faith in our rules and think that anyone could bend them.
"Otherwise, in the future, no one would even spar with people with a higher status than them. It pretty much destroys the purpose of it, doesn't it? I am sure Royal Father would feel the same as well. So, how about we take our leaves for now?"
Arthur's tone was gentle and dignified from the start till the end that Wilson and Calissa only felt like they were being talked to as if they were good friends and not an authoritative figure.
Feeling convinced by Arthur's words, they nodded, thinking that it probably would be a bad idea to pursue this any further by talking to the emperor and instead let Arthur handle it.
They gave a deep bow as they said, "Thank you, Your Highness. We shall take our leave now." They also bowed towards Reva and Leon and gave a quick glare at Damien before leaving.
'Phew, they finally left,' Even though Damien wasn't able to hear their conversations because of the spiritual barrier they used, he could see that somehow things ended up in his favor seeing that they didn't even talk to him or give him any warning.
"Senior Leon and Reva, please go ahead. I will come after having a short talk with our new supergenius, Damien," Arthur said with a pleasant smile.
They both nodded, and Reva gave a quick glance at Damien before leaving with Leon. Seeing that Arthur talked in Damien's favor, Reva wondered why.
She already knew Arthur was kind and polite to everyone, but still, she didn't know whether she should be surprised or not that Arthur took Damien's side.
As they walked, Leon asked Reva, "Your Highness, why did you seem to be a bit worked up when you talked with those family heads? It isn't like you. Usually, you would have handled them just like how Arthur did but this time, you seemed a bit too overbearing."
Reva sighed, "You are right, Senior Leon. I am just fed up with their farce."
Leon, however, squinted his eyes, thinking whether there was more to how things seemed to be.
Damien and Valentina saw Arthur walking toward them with a warm smile that would make one feel a sense of friendliness towards the man without even knowing him.
As Arthur came closer, Damien was about to bow, but Arthur stopped him, "No need for such formalities. In this institute, I am not a prince but your senior brother. So feel free to address me as senior brother Arthur since I am a disciple just like you. I don't want my status to make people not treat me as their fellow disciple."
He continued as he greeted Valentina, but momentarily his eyes stalled on her beauty and quickly tried to move his gaze away, but his eyes seemed stubborn.
'Sigh, I guess no one is immune to Valentina's charms, especially the first time they see her,' Damien wryly chuckled, thinking that Valentina's beauty was indeed deadly.
Valentina, however, crinkled her eyes, making Arthur look away with a dry chuckle before politely saying, "Sorry. Forgive my rude behavior."
Damien was surprised that a prince like him even apologized just for staring at a lady. He wondered if Arthur was truly that kind.
So far, in his experience, the number of truly kind people he had met could be counted with both his hands.
Arthur thought his sister, Reva, was the most beautiful woman in the world and was shocked to see that there existed someone who could rival Reva's beauty in this world.
His expression, however, became relaxed again as he looked at Damien and said with a smile, "So, you are the new prodigy that seemed to have shaken this whole school. As for the two people that came before, you don't have to worry about them."
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