"You are late today," A cold and airy voice sounded near Damien's ears just as he entered the alchemy study hall.
He felt as if the voice of the sapphire-haired beauty before him was seeping into his very soul itself. No matter how many times he heard her voice or saw her dignified beauty, she still appeared as refreshing as the seas.
Damien lightly laughed as he took a seat near Reva and looked at her flawlessly beautiful face, "It seems like you were eagerly waiting for me."
Reva, who had her eyes glued on the medical formulas before her, just gave a cute and light scoff to which Damien could only smile more in amusement.
Occasionally seeing her act like this, he could see that her real persona would surface and that she was just a young girl who yearned for normal things and not some grand princess who stood above all.
And of course, before he got close to her, she never even remotely did such actions and instead always had an icy expression as usual. He also learned that she was quite a bookworm making him remember certain memories.
Damien softly chuckled and said in a convincing tone, "Don't be so cold. I was actually a bit late because your brother, or I might say, the crown prince wanted to talk to me."
Reva's azure eyes moved as she finally looked at Damien and asked, "Why? What did he talk to you about?"
Damien casually said, "Pretty much normal things. Oh, the main thing was that he needed something from me. It seemed like someone dear to him was ill, and he wanted me to pass a message to Alchemist Azrael if he would be able to heal that person."
Reva furrowed her brows as she nodded. She already knew who that person was. Seeing Reva's expression, he asked, "Do you know who that person is?"
After a brief moment of silence, Reva replied, "His mother."
Damien raised his brows as he rubbed his chin while Reva had no idea what he was thinking about.
He was a bit surprised that the mother of the crown prince was bedridden. Why would a crown prince ask the help of an outsider when he could just ask his father to heal his mother using some special resources?
Considering the wealth and prowess the Xeton Empire had, there weren't so many things the empire couldn't do. He knew all the top experts were concentrated in this empire, and most of them were working for the Xeton Empire and the reason why this empire was so advanced compared to others.
"What are you thinking about?"
Damien surfaced out of his thoughts and answered, "Is her condition really that bad for your father to be helpless regarding that matter?"
He knew that Ruthren might have some exotic or legendary stuff stacked up in his personal treasury that could bring about miraculous effects, especially with a god supporting his empire.
Could Arthur's mother be a hopeless case for Ruthren to wash his hands off from it or...the only other reason Damien could think was that Ruthren didn't care enough about it. But that seemed less likely considering he didn't know about their affairs at all.
Still, if that was the case then, Damien felt that things would be more complicated than he initially thought, especially about the crown prince.
Reva let out a sigh as she said, "Her condition is indeed bad since her ethereal core is damaged. It's even a miracle she held on to this point even though all the top physicians said that they weren't able to cure her. As for my father, I don't know what goes through his mind."
Damien now realized why Arthur's mother was bedridden. After hearing the full details of her ailment, just as Reva said, he also felt it was a miracle Arthur's mother held on all this while.
He first wondered how her ethereal core even got damaged in the first place unless she did something very risky.
As expected, it seemed that Arthur's mother tried to breakthrough unnaturally, which was a big no-no in his books. He had already researched the possible effects of having a faulty cultivation base and the life-endangering effects one could have if they try to breakthrough with a faulty cultivation foundation.
The end result was the implosion of the ethereal core, which would undoubtedly destroy one's heart, and no one could even actually predict when it would get completely destroyed.
He wondered if it could really be fixed with a healing pill since the ethereal core itself was damaged. Even if hypothetically he was able to concoct a Rank 6 healing pill, it wouldn't take effect completely if the body can't absorb it properly, especially a body with a damaged ethereal core.
That was why he didn't feel surprised when Reva said that all the physicians treated it as a hopeless case.
Most of all, he wanted to know why the crown prince's mother would be so desperate to increase her cultivation base when she already was living comfortably and with such high status.
Usually, those who desperately cultivated were people who had nothing to lose or were in dire straits that their lives would become miserable if they didn't gain more power.
Based on his knowledge, he felt that he had an idea to treat Arthur's mother, but he would have to consult Luna to see whether it was plausible.
Any doubts he had about his own hypothesis, Luna would immediately clear it as there was barely anything she didn't know about her own creations.
Damien asked Reva the obvious question, "But why did his mother recklessly breakthrough like that? I mean, she should know better, right?"
Damien knew that Arthur's mother was obviously not a fool nor a newbie at cultivation. How could the strongest emperor not marry the best among the best of women? It was not like he would marry a village girl unless she was the most beautiful woman in the world.
Reva shook her head, "I don't know. Arthur said that it was a careless mistake on his mother's part though I feel like there more to it than what he said."
Damien nodded, agreeing with what Reva said. Indeed, he felt that something fishy was going on. Making careless mistakes in their cultivation would be the last thing the imperial family members would do.
Reva said, thinking about Maria, "I hope you can convince Alchemist Azrael to help her somehow. She is a good woman and deserves better. After my mother died, she didn't neglect me and took care of my needs even though I didn't treat her the same."
Damien smiled in understanding and said, "Don't worry. I can vouch for Alchemist Azrael. Even though he is a bit grumpy and scary sometimes, old people like him get the job done no matter how eccentric they are."
Damien inwardly chuckled, feeling cringy for praising himself. Obviously, he lost count of how many times he put the name 'Azrael' on a pedestal before so many people.
Even half of the praise and respect he was getting was because, one, Valentina was his girlfriend, and two, her master was a preeminent expert in alchemy. Even if he were a wastrel, just by relying on these two things, his life would be set forever...or that was what everyone thought.
Reva softly smiled, hearing his assurance, and then said as she remembered something that she wanted to tell him, "There was something I wanted to ask you. Do you know about the Rising Sun Annual Convention?"
Damien knit his brows and said, "Yes, I have heard about it. But isn't it just a boring meeting of all the higher-ups from all the empires to discuss politics and whatnot?"
Reva nodded, "You are right. But this time, it's different, and even the emperors would be attending this time. Usually, the rulers of each empire would only send their envoys to represent them every year."
"But why?"
Reva explained, "I just learned it very recently, and you would also learn about it anyway as there would be announcements throughout the empire regarding the matter of this annual convention. In fact, young practitioners would be excited the most. But I guess I can tell you the reason before you learn from the upcoming announcements."
Damien nodded readily, thinking that having friends in higher places surely had its perks, especially when it comes to things like these. And indeed, he was interested to know why this year, a usually boring convention would catch the attention of all the big shots.
Reva felt amused seeing his childlike expression and said as her eyes narrowed, "What I am going to tell you has not been recorded in history books because it was something that happened only once tens of thousands of years ago and also because our ancestors considered that event as sacred or the doing of gods."
"Gods?" Damien's gaze focused.
Reva nodded, "Yes. Anyway, that's what our ancestors said, and there's no proof or anything. Maybe it was because it was an inexplicable phenomenon."
"And what was this phenomenon?" Damien asked with a slight head shake.
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