Not minding her usual cold expression, he smiled as he walked closer and said, "I know you are quite busy, but can I ask you a favor?"
Standing before her, even though he was the crown prince, he just didn't feel like one at all before her regal gaze but just an ordinary mortal.
Even if she was his sister for all these years, he always felt a huge chasm between her and him. He couldn't help but feel inferior even without considering her cultivation level.
He could feel it in his heart that she and he were from two different worlds. In fact, he would at times even wonder whether she was really an immortal who fell from the heavens to have such beauty and power that did not seem to belong to the mundane world.
But still, that couldn't stop him from developing certain feelings that he felt never should have borne in his heart.
Reva maintained her same expression as she asked in a voice as unmoving as a still pond, "What is it?"
Arthur tried to meet her gaze to answer but couldn't because of various reasons and said, "I would be again cultivating non-stop for a week. So, I wanted to ask if you could just keep an eye on my mother? I am not asking you to always keep an eye on her by hindering your activities. But whenever you are walking through here or whenever you are free."
Still hearing no answer from her, he continued, "You are someone I can trust, so I just couldn't bring myself to ask anyone else."
Reva slightly pulled her brows together as she said, "In this world, the only person you can trust is yourself, especially when it comes to matters involving your mother herself."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Arthur lowered his head while nodding slightly, showing that he admitted she was right. Despite being older than her, he felt that she was the elder one and he was the younger one.
She, however, let out a low sigh as she said, "Okay. I will keep an eye on her whenever I am nearby. But...do take other measures if you are that worried for your mother's safety."
If someone asked Reva, which member in her family was relatively the most good-natured one amongst the others, she would say it was Arthur. But she wasn't sure if he was simply putting up a mask or if that was his real nature.
However, so far, she never noticed him carrying out any illicit activities but instead kept true to his name and title. Nor did she see him going out of the palace much because of the time he spent in taking care of his mother or cultivating.
Reva at least knew that Arthur dearly loved his mother, otherwise judging by the average young master out there, if they had the same status, they would gladly throw away any burden on their shoulders and cultivate for more power.
In this world, the term 'family' usually meant an asset a budding cultivator could use as a backing to propel himself up in the cultivation journey.
As soon as this said family outgrows its usefulness, they would merely abandon it and pursue other methods.
Despite knowing that she shouldn't, she felt some sympathy for him thinking about his mother and agreed to his request after a few moments of hesitation.
Still, she suddenly remembered Damien thinking how she tried to give him the cold shoulder but miserably failed to even when she suspected Damien of having ulterior motives in approaching her.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})No matter how much she thought about it later, she couldn't understand why she would let her guard down so easily in his presence as if it was quite natural even though her mind was cautioning her against Damien's motives.
For some reason, she felt like she wanted to learn more about him instead of keeping him away from her. She, in fact, already planned to dig more information about him by keeping an eye on him but never expected that she would get so close to him to the point of being friends.
It just seemed absurd sometimes, and she wondered if she subconsciously let him get closer to her for the need of learning more about him or because she genuinely wanted to it.
Arthur's expression lit up hearing that Reva agreed to his request even though she said that only when she was free. But that was more than enough for Arthur as he knew how much power and status Reva held in this palace, and if anything out of the norm was happening, she would at least notice it.
Before he could thank her, Reva left without further notice and seeing her graceful silhouette disappearing slowly; he couldn't help but feel mesmerized each time he saw her.
But at the same time, he hated himself for harboring such forbidden thoughts, especially when Reva was the only one out of his family who helped him with things related to his mother.
He couldn't help but think lowly of himself and inwardly mock at his reputation among the people.
He knew how beautiful Reva was, and even when he met Valentina, he only stared at her for a few seconds unconsciously but only out of admiration for her beauty. Other than that, he felt nothing else nor harbored any other thoughts.
But whenever he saw Reva, he didn't foster any lustful thoughts but instead a deep and intense feeling to just be close to her. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't hold any lewd thoughts towards her and felt as if that would be no less than profaning a goddess.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Still, he never dared to let these feelings out or show them on his face, especially whenever he talked to Reva. Nor did he act in any way that would make himself seem suspicious.
He knew that he was probably not the only one who had such feelings towards Reva but just one among many other men out there, maybe even from his own family itself, especially his other half-brothers.
But unlike what most men felt, he didn't have any thoughts of possessing or conquering but merely just being near her and seeing her within his sight always was enough.
He just decided to bury these unwanted feelings deep inside his heart since the last thing he wanted was for Reva to look down upon him as a lowlife.
For some reason, he felt that Reva always maintained some distance from everyone else, be it him or anyone, but he had no idea why. He wanted to know why and get closer to her to learn more about her.
But he never was able to muster the courage to do that. Just a straight gaze from azure eyes was enough to deflate all his courage, especially when he himself was feeling guilty in his heart.
He decided to focus on whatever's happening with his life right now.
Right now, he had his mother to worry about and thinking about the possible fate that awaited her within a week if he failed, he couldn't help but shudder at that thought.
"Your Highness, what a surprise," An old man's friendly voice carried forward towards Arthur's ears, making him turn around at hearing the familiar voice.
"Uncle Sven, I never thought you would be coming here," Arthur asked with slight surprise, seeing an old man who, despite his age, had boulder-like shoulders with piercing features and an imposing aura around him, making one no doubt that he was one of the three supreme elders of the Xeton Family just below the emperor in cultivation.
Despite just numbering three, these supreme elders were basically the Xeton Empire's pillars and one of the major deterrents to the other empires.
Not even the emperors from the other empires would dare to mess with the three supreme elders of the Xeton Empire without reason. They would be treated like kings wherever they go and would receive respect and praise just below the emperor and the Ethereal Fairy.
Sven chuckled, "Ah, I actually wanted to talk something with you after you came out of your close-doors cultivation. But yesterday, I was so busy that I couldn't find the time, so I decided to seek you out today. Can we talk somewhere else? Talking in the middle of the hall might cause some inconvenience to others and ourselves."
Sven was twisting his beard, especially when he stressed on the part "ourselves," making Arthur think what secret Sven wanted to talk to him about that others shouldn't hear.
However, Arthur nodded and followed Sven as he led him towards the outside of the imperial palace.
Sven placed his hand on Arthur, and suddenly Arthur felt the surroundings around him disappearing and flashing towards another view.
He was surprised to see that Sven took him to another spot, slightly away from the imperial place but a mountainous region with nobody in sight. He wondered what Sven wanted to talk to him about by bringing him here.
Sven asked as he narrowed his gaze, "Nephew, don't you think things are looking bad for you now?"
