However, the Emperor looked calm and was a little satisfied seeing Aditya's reaction. He was trying to gain Aditya's favor and pull him to his side so that in the future Aditya would have close ties with the Echo Dominion Empire. Being a divine dragon, it was almost confirmed that Aditya was going to reach 7th-order, maybe even higher order. If the King can befriend such a powerful figure, his Empire will benefit immensely in the future. To him, these 5 million royal gold coins were investments that were going to ensure his Empire's safety.
However, the Emperor did not stop there. "If in future Aditya decides to open any kind of business in my Empire, he won't have to pay any taxes. Not only that, if Aditya wishes to become a noble of this Empire, he will be immediately given the rank of Duke along with a small territory to manage."
Adam and Sophie looked at each other's faces in shock. It did not take Adam, Sophie, Aditya, and other intelligent and sharp nobles to understand what the Emperor was doing. At this point, the Emperor was ready to give Aditya anything. Adam and Sophie feared that if Julia was not engaged to Aditya, the Emperor wouldn't have hesitated in trying to marry his daughter, the princess, to Aditya so that the emperor could tie Aditya to the royal family.
"Your Majesty, thank you for such a generous reward and offer. But unfortunately, I already have a home. I cannot abandon my homeland to come and live here. But I will make sure to keep on visiting the Echo Dominion Empire." Aditya was super happy to get 5 million royal gold coins. With these coins, he no longer had to worry about money. As for the other rewards that the Emperor promised, he simply wasn't interested in them. He can see that the Emperor was trying to tempt him by making him stay in this Empire.
"There is no need to apologize, Aditya. But do remember that the Echo Dominion Empire will always be open for you and your family." The Emperor wasn't disappointed when Aditya rejected his offer sincerely. He knew that a being who has a divine dragon bloodline also should have a strong background. Even though the Emperor tried to learn about the Crimson Emperor's background, he really couldn't find anything. This made him wonder if Aditya was from the main continent.
Seeing that the Emperor was highly favoring Aditya, Duke Addison did not feel good. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh, drawing out fresh blood. Fortunately, no one noticed this.
'I was thinking of learning more about Aditya and then making plans on eliminating him but this Emperor got in my way. Now even if I kill him, the Emperor will find this excuse to start a war. What should I do now?' Addison always followed these words. If I can't obtain this fruit, then I won't let anyone else have it either. Now that the goddess of alchemy has been taken away from him and also the divine dragon was on Adam's side, Addison felt a great threat from the future Onard family. Even a fool that with Aditya's backing the Onard family was only going to rise in power. Before Aditya or the Onard family got even stronger and started suppressing his family, Addison wanted to take out Aditya and then slowly start destroying the Onard family.
'Maybe I should have sent some reinforcements.' Somewhere in his heart, Addison felt a sense of regret. He was being too greedy. He wanted to see his old friend die so that he could take his daughter and use her for his family's benefit. But now his plan has backfired on him. If he had kept their close relationship, then maybe the Addison family also could have gotten some benefits from Aditya and Julia.
At this point, he knew that it was impossible to heal the large crack that has separated the two families apart. 'What is done is done. There is no use of crying over spilled milk. I should focus on my and my family's future.' Addison's eyes flashed in cold light as a plan of taking out Aditya began forming in his mind.
'As long as I kill Aditya in silence, then no one is going to suspect me and my family.'
"Your majesty, I will forever remember your kind words." Even though Aditya had the divine bloodline, he did not lose himself in power. He was still being respectful and polite to the elders. He did not let power change his character.
The party continued going on. One by one, all the guests walked up to Julia and Aditya and congratulated them while handing Julia expensive gifts. Adam had invited more than hundreds of guests to this party.
"Happy birthday Lady Julia." Lucian then looked at Aditya who was standing beside Julia. "Do you want to fight?" Aditya asked with a smile.
Lucian let out a depressed smile and shook his head. "We all know that I will just humiliate myself if I fight you. That being said, I would also like to express my gratitude and also apologize for my behavior."
Lucian gave a small bow of apology to Aditya. He was apologizing to Aditya for the disrespect that he was shown to Aditya that day.
"You saved my life. I will forever remember this debt in my heart. If in the future you ever need anything as long as I can get it with my powers, I will try my best to get it for you."
Seeing Lucian leaving, Julia leaned forward and whispered in Aditya's right ear. "He has changed. I don't know what happened but Lucian looks like a completely different person. Even the way he looks at me has also changed." Even Aditya is not sure how or why Lucian's personality has changed. Maybe this has something to do with Aditya saving his life from a Peak 4th-order goblin. Either way, this was a good thing for Lucian.
"Congratulations on getting engaged princess Julia." Aditya's instantly frowned hearing the voice.
"Julia, he is...."
"Oh, he is Duke Addison."
Addison coldly smiled as he looked at Aditya like a snake staring at its prey. But little did he know that the prey which he thought to be a weak sheep is actually a dragon in disguise. "So, it's nice to meet you." Both of them shook hands.
After Duke Addison left, Aditya kept on staring at his back. In their small exchange, the only thing that Aditya sensed from this man was killing intent. 'This man is definitely going to plan something against me or the Onard family.'
After about 3 and half hours, one by one all the guests began taking their leave. The party was coming to an end. Everyone had different kinds of thoughts in their minds. But one thing that everything thoughts had in common was that everyone was thinking about the Onard family. Even the Emperor felt a headache knowing with the support of Aditya and Julia, the Onard family might even become stronger than him and gain more influence than the royal family. But then again knowing Adam's character, the emperor did not fear that Adam was going to use his powers to take over the throne.
After sending off the last guest, Adam and Sophie looked at each other and sighed in relief. Fortunately, nothing went wrong in this event. Everything went perfectly. It was just that after dealing with the nobles, both Sophie and Adam were mentally feeling exhausted.
"Where is Julia and Aditya?" Adam asked when he couldn't find them anywhere in the living room. By now Little Zak also had fallen asleep.
"Leave them alone. Let's just get some sleep. I am already feeling very tired." Adam sighed knowing that his wife was right. He should leave the couple alone in their own world.
"Aditya, where have you bought me?" Currently, Julia has closed her eyes. While closing her eyes, because of her strong senses, she can feel that Aditya has taken her out somewhere. The wind was a little chilly but not cold enough to affect Julia or Aditya.
"You can open your eyes now." When Julia opened her eyes, she was stunned to find herself right above the clouds. The crescent-shaped moon light reflected on the clouds, making her feel like they had come to some fairyland. She did not expect the night above the clouds to be this beautiful and stunning.
Right now Julia's cheeks were a little rosy from drinking alcohol. Even Aditya also had drunk a few glasses of wine even though he preferred to not touch wine or alcoholic stuff at all, as the previous Aditya had left some bad and traumatic memories that were associated with alcohol. But to entertain the guests, both had to drink a few glasses of wine.
"You know I was waiting for my birthday." Out of everyone that gave Julia birthday gifts, the Goddess was eagerly anticipating what kind of gift she would get from the man who stole her heart. But during the whole day, much to the Goddess's disappointment, she never received any gifts.
"Princess, you already have received hundreds of gifts. Even the Emperor has gifted you a 4-star artifact. Why would you need my gift?" Aditya asked in a teasing voice.
"Hmph! This princess wasn't waiting for your gift or anything. I don't need your gift." After snorting, the princess looked away, clearly expressing her anger and dissatisfaction with Aditya.
"Hahaha! You know I don't mind giving you a gift….." Hearing his words, the princess's eyes lit up as she looked at Aditya. She did not even try to hide the excitement in her sparkling eyes.
"Of course, I will give you a memorable gift only if you let me sleep with you tonight." Hearing the shameless man's words, the virgin goddess's face instantly went red. Aditya is not sure if her face was red from embarrassment or anger.
"I see, so this was what you were after from the beginning." Hearing the dark and cold tone, Aditya's body suddenly shivered. He did not feel this fear even when he was facing the 5th-order goblin king.
"You bad wolf, do you really think that I care about your gift?" Without any warning, the princess gave Aditya a strong bite on his neck.
Ouch!
"Stop biting me."
"Princess you call me wolf, but you're the one who is acting like a wolf. Are you sure your bloodline does not have any wolf race blood mixed in it?" Given how many times Julia has bitten him till now, Aditya felt his words might be true.
"Alright, alright. Stop messing around and look at your neck." The princess only then noticed something slightly cold around her neck. When she looked down, she widened her eyes in shock looking at the light blue crescent-shaped crystal pendant on her neck.
"This….." Julia did not know when he put this pendant on her neck.
"I hope you like my present. I have personally engraved the runs on his pendant."
Really Thank you very much to all those who sends support with valuable golden tickets. I hope we can keep it up!!!
