"The Pandemonium Needles?" Nalia had a confused look.
'Great, what did I expect…' Damien didn't feel like he should be surprised at her ignorance as the Pandemonium Needles was not something everyone knew about, even though it was a Saint Grade artifact.
She said in an apologetic tone, "I don't know about such needles, but maybe my daughter does. She has a great interest in the art of formations and—" She, however, suddenly stopped realizing that she was talking about her precious daughter to a person like him.
Even though Tristen was her daughter's half-brother, she had no idea if this lecherous person wouldn't do anything to her.
Even though Damien wasn't Tristen, he still couldn't help but feel a twitch in his temple, seeing how she was assuming that he would do something to her daughter. However, he said with a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, Nalia. I see her as my own sister and won't let anyone harm her!"
But Damien was indeed a bit taken aback to know that Tristen had set his sights on her daughter before because he was able to remember the name Mina.
He was not able to recollect the names of countless other princes and princesses. But sure enough, he saw in his memories that Tristen indeed had some plans for Mina.
Nalia was a bit surprised to hear his words, but then she felt a bit reassured even if she had no idea if it was a lie. At least, she felt that he had enough brains not to commit such atrocities and that she was merely overthinking it.
"No, I didn't mean—"
"It's fine. Now let me get back to the palace before my father looks for me," Damien said as he got off the bed and dressed himself up.
Nalia felt disappointed that her illicit romance had to be stopped midway. She was just about to have an orgasm, but now she could only helplessly see Tristen get off.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})She wanted to call him back, but that might mean more trouble, and she still wanted to save some dignity for herself instead of making him see her as a roadside slut.
She also dressed up since she was too embarrassed to be naked for long. They both covered themselves in a cloak, hiding their features, and got out.
Damien saw the senior experts dressed in casual clothes taking a subtle look at them before heading towards the ground floor.
They had emotionless expressions since no matter what they knew or saw; their duty was to protect the prince only; nothing more, nothing less.
The two of them soon followed behind and got out of the inn before separating their ways. They each took a different carriage and headed towards the palace.
Damien finally removed his cloak as he sighed, 'Phew, is this how having an affair feels like? To hide and be careful on my toes…'
But he was impressed that Tristen had his own set of loyal and trustworthy experts and felt it natural that a genius prince like him would always have such men at his disposal.
Still, if he had to admit Tristen had guts in one thing, it would be the fact that he dared to sleep with one of his father's concubines.
However, he wondered how Nalia would feel once she knew that she slept with a dead person. Even he couldn't imagine how her reaction would be.
Damien soon got inside the palace through the backdoor and changed into Tristen's usual grand and lavish light blue robes with beautiful markings on it.
He quickly combed his hair with his fingers and made sure there was no lingering presence or smell of Nalia's perfume on his body.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})He didn't trust his maids and servants, thinking that if someone gets a whiff of something suspicious from his body, the emperor might come to know about his trysts.
The maids and servants around him bowed as they greeted him while he walked past them nonchalantly.
The grandeur of the palace was top-notch, but Damien felt that it surely didn't really match up to the Xeton Imperial Palace.
This palace seemed a tad inferior, but he noticed that there was a strong presence of wind in the region where the palace rests. Anyone with a Wind ethereal seed would surely die to cultivate in a place with strong wind affinity.
This was more applicable to senior experts since they would want to comprehend deeper into the Wind Laws and gain some enlightenment.
He got into his room and saw a cute maid who suddenly got startled by his presence. Damien felt amused seeing the wariness and fear in her eyes.
The maid still didn't forget her manners and greeted, "Welcome, Your Highness. I-I was cleaning your room. I will now leave since I have finished cleaning."
The maid hurriedly left as if she was afraid her heart would jump out if she stayed here for a second longer.
"Wait."
The maid clenched her teeth, thinking that this lecher wouldn't leave her alone for even a day. However, she still turned around with a smile and asked with a nervous smile, "Yes, Your Highness?"
Damien sighed since he knew that young and pretty maids like her were just a way for Tristen to pass the time during his leisure time and to vent his libido.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Do you know where Princess Mina is?" Damien asked.
Hearing his question, the maid had a lot of outrageous thoughts passing through her mind. But she still replied, "Her Highness should be in the imperial library at this time."
"Hmm, you may leave," Damien said as he waved his hand.
The maid felt as if a heavyweight was taken off her heart and rushed out without even stopping to think about why Tristen didn't seem to want her today.
Damien was about to head towards the imperial library when a beautiful mature woman dressed in regal robes popped up before him.
She looked even more beautiful than Nalia and had a proud and aloof look on her face as if everyone was beneath her. But now, her eyes were glaring at Tristen.
"Tristen, are you really making a fool out of me?" She asked in an angry tone.
Seeing Tristen's mother, Damien wondered if she was here to lecture and chide him again. He could see in his memories how frustrated Tristen was whenever Rhea Gale, his mother, would come to scold him because of his recent performance.
"Mother, what do you want now?" Tristen asked with a frown. He decided to act as Tristen usually would.
Rhea closed the doors behind her and fumed, "Is this the way you talk to your mother? What kind of child did I give birth to?"
"Oh, stop it. Just because royal father is not sleeping with you anymore, you want to vent your frustrations on me. Why do you care so much about receiving his favor?" He asked with a shrug.
Rhea's face went red with anger, and the nerves in her neck pulsed hearing his disrespectful words. She only now realized how crass Tristen was. Before, since he was doing well in his cultivation, the emperor favored him.
But now, the emperor was taking out his anger due to Tristen's disappointing performance on her as well.
She knew if Tristen continued like this, she might lose the status of empress consort to some other woman, especially the mother of the first prince.
Previously, even though Tristen was not the eldest among his half-brothers, she was sure that the emperor was going to pick him as the crown prince for the upcoming ceremony, which was only a few months ahead.
As long as Tristen becomes the crown prince, she could rest easy thinking about the future since her son would end up as the emperor in the future while her status and power would get a significant boost.
Everything would be perfect if Tristen simply continued what he was doing before. But now, things seemed to take a bad turn.
She never had to even talk much to Tristen before since he was doing very well in his cultivation. She also knew about the lecherous acts he had been carrying out but didn't mind it as long as he performed.
But now, not only was he continuing his debauchery but he didn't even make any slight progress in his cultivation for these past few months.
"Tristen, at least behave respectfully when talking to your mother! If the emperor catches wind of your current attitude, you will lose every advantage you have. Don't make things worse for yourself," Rhea said in a stern tone.
Damon shrugged, "This is how I am. If you don't like it, then bear it. I had enough of living up to your expectations."
Rhea placed her palm over her forehead in frustration as she sat down on the bed. She was continuously shaking her head with disappointment while mumbling to herself.
Damien smirked inwardly and spoke after a few moments, "Fine. Mother, I promise to turn around myself if you can do something for me."
