Damien entered the azure spatial ethereal formation and found himself teleported inside the room he was in before.
He saw Triton and Blake waiting for him, and the silver masked people were still standing in the room.
Triton's eyes flashed as he saw Damien appearing in the room and said in a pleased tone, "Welcome, Damien. You are now one of us. Here's your mask, which you can use whenever you want to protect your identity."
Damien accepted the silver mask from Triton's hands, and he wondered if the color of the masks signified their ranks.
Triton turned to the silver masked people assembled in the room and said, "Everyone, you all can remove your masks."
They all seemed to show some hesitation, but suddenly one of them removed their mask, and Damien was surprised to see their face.
'Yara Haley? What the hell is she doing here?' Damien thought.
"Hello, Damien." Yara Haley said with a sassy smile.
The others also removed their masks at this point, and Damien saw that some were young men and women while others seemed a bit older.
But the only one he recognized was Yara Haley.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})He slowly walked up to her and asked, "H-How are you here?" Damien couldn't understand how a young mistress of one of the top five families was working for the rebellion.
Why would someone of such high-status work against the empire? Wouldn't they be destroying themselves?
Yara Haley tilted her head, "Why not? Well, things are not as simple as they seem."
Damien knitted his brows, "Wait a sec. Did you befriend Valentina to keep an eye on me?"
Yara Haley gulped when she sensed that Damien's mood was turning sour, and for some reason, she saw the cat on his shoulders glowering at her.
Triton stepped in and said to Damien with simple directness, "She was supposed to befriend you and not Valentina. But for some reason, she didn't."
Yara Haley said in a low voice while avoiding Damien's gaze, "No, when I saw him, I felt like he would have seen through me if I abruptly tried to strike a conversation with him. And honestly, I genuinely wanted to befriend Valentina when I saw her. I just didn't expect her to already be too close to you. I only learned that afterward."
Damien still fixed his gaze on her with a doubting expression while Yara Haley timidly stole a few glances to see whether he was still looking at her.
Damien let out a faint huff and said, "Fine. I believe you. It better be the truth."
Damien wasn't surprised that the Forsaken had already sent someone to keep an eye on him as he speculated that since they were interested in roping him into their organization, they would do their due diligence in various ways.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})But he would have been pissed if Yara Haley tried to use Valentina to get to him. The last thing he wanted was for someone to cheat Valentina, and he thought that next time he should keep a closer eye on whom Valentina talks to.
Yara Haley looked petulantly at Damien, "Hey, I am not that bad to lie even after everything has been revealed. I still see Valena as my friend, and it's not because she is close to you. Hmph."
Damien was first a bit pissed off, thinking that Yara Haely befriended Valentina with ulterior motives. But now, he could see that it was probably not the case. And as Triton said, it would have been better for her to hang around Damien if she wanted to keep an eye on him.
"Hey, can I play with that cutie sitting on your shoulder?" Yara Haley asked in a beseeching tone as she looked at Valentina with sparkling eyes.
"Murrr…" Valentina squinted her eyes as she stared at Yara Haley. Valentina felt a bit angry, thinking that Yara Haley approached her just to spy on Damien. Even though Yara Haley said otherwise, Valentina was still a bit disgruntled.
Valentina had so far enjoyed Yara Haley's company, learned some interesting things from her, and was slowly starting to see her as a friend. But, now, she felt a bit hurt thinking whether Yara Haley had been merely using her to get closer to Damien.
"Come on, don't be shy. Mama won't bite." Yara Haley cajoled.
"Mama? Girl, you really have a weird way of expressing yourself." Damien said amusedly.
"Yara, stop acting like a child. We are not here to play with ethereal beasts. Stop wasting time and go do your work." A young man's stern tone sounded from the side.
Damien turned his head and saw that it was a young man in his twenties with an attractive face and striking features.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Hmph, brother Drake need not worry what I do. You should stop being a snob and mind your business." Yara Haley stuck out her tongue towards Drake and ignored him.
"You!!" Drake was infuriated that his little sister, as usual, wouldn't even show him face.
Damien was a bit surprised to know that Yara Haley had another elder brother. And it seemed like Drake was the eldest, considering how he was older than his two siblings.
Yara Haley continued gesturing at Valentina, "Now come, let this mama hug you."
Valentina still had a grumpy expression on her face, and Damien could understand why Valentina was like that.
He said to her mentally, "It's okay. You can go if you want. Her intentions towards you weren't false."
"Hm, hm…" Yara Haley nodded with a smile as her hands slowly approached Valentina.
"Mrr…"
Valentina let out a grumpy whimper and closed her eyes, giving the green light to Yara Haley.
Yara Haley smiled triumphantly, seeing that Valentina didn't seem to show any reactions. She gently took Valentina by her arms and put Valentina in her arms as she stroked her head.
"Wow, she is so soft and cute, hehe…" Yara Haley was surprised at how velvety Valentina seemed.
Damien and Triton moved to a side to discuss other things, and the others had already dispersed while Drake left with a snort.
"Ajooo...my little cutie, why don't you open your eyes and look at your beautiful mama?" Yara Haley was a bit puzzled why Valentina was pretending to sleep even after trying to coax her.
Yara Haley moved to a seat and placed Valentina on the small table in front of her.
She curiously stroked her two tails and said, "You are one strange kitty. I haven't seen any ethereal beast like you. So cute and powerful at the same time. Sigh, Damien is so lucky to have you. If only my mother gave me a pet like you, I would have treated her like a princess." She sighed wistfully.
She whispered to Valentina, "Hey, wanna tell me the secret to how Damien tamed you? Or did someone else do it for him? No, no, I want to know where you are from. Do you have more cute sisters anywhere? Or are you a single one? If you do, I can coddle one and have my own cute ethereal beast pet, hehe."
Valentina simply yawned lazily, hearing her babble, and reverted to her sleeping pose.
"Aww, my little cutie pie, show this mamma some love. Don't be so cold. Hmm, your ears are really fluffy. Haha, now you look cuter." Yara Haley gently stretched Valentina's ears upwards, making her look a bit comical.
"Prrr…" Valentina gave a piqued stare as she opened her eyes. With her soft palm, she lightly slapped Yara Haley's face.
Yara Haley's brows raised as she touched her cheek. Even though she didn't feel any pain, her expression became peevish as she said, "You bad kitty. Do you hate mama so much?"
Valentina simply turned away her face with a stiff expression hearing her words. However, Yara Haley felt very amused by Valentina's reactions as she had never seen such a peculiar and seemingly intelligent ethereal beast. It was like Valentina was able to understand everything she was saying.
As minutes passed, Yara Haley didn't give up trying to coax Valentina, and the more she interacted with her, the more she wanted Valentina as a pet. But sadly, she knew it could only be a dream and looked at Damien at times with envious eyes.
However, Valentina's stone face slowly softened as time passed with Yara Haley's cajoling, and she decided to let Yara Haley off the hook.
"So, you want me to teach alchemy to the kids here?" Damien queried as he talked with Triton.
