The one who won the third prize was quite happy with the number of Blue Spirit Stones he received since for him it was an astronomical amount, enough to increase his family's prestige by a lot back home.
Maximus got some top-notch Supreme Tier Pills, and Damien took special notice to see whether those were his handiwork but was puzzled when he felt that it wasn't the ones he concocted.
Since he always uses Fallen Flames to concoct Supreme Tier Pills, a special aura always emanates from the Supreme Tier Pills he concocts, which vastly contrasts with the pills concocted by others.
However, only he could discern this aura since he was the only one who had the Fallen Flames.
Soon everyone dispersed as the competition came to an end, and King Krisen had a small talk with Maximus before he left just to make sure they could continue their friendly relations since, as a king, he had to make sure his kingdom had all the support it could get, and the Lancaster Empire was too powerful to simply let them go.
"Prince Tristen, please follow me," King Krisen said in a dignified tone as Yuria followed behind him while glancing at Tristen.
Kale didn't want to leave since he wanted to see what Tristen and Yuria would be up to when the two were all alone and didn't dare to imagine if someone as licentious as Tristen could fool the innocent princess and take advantage of her.
Still, he was helpless as he was escorted out with everyone else, and when he went back to his room, Farah immediately got up and said with a concerned look, "It's fine, my love. I am sure the emperor will consider other factors as well before making a decision about filling the seat of the crown prince."
However, inwardly she was happy that Tristen won since it meant that Yuria now wouldn't even look at Kale, and he would only have her as his woman.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})She also didn't seem bothered by the fact that Kale would probably lose the race for the title of the crown prince since she already had Tristen in her hooks and because of some other reasons as well.
s
Kale felt like smashing things around but seeing his beautiful wife trying to comfort him, especially with so much concern in her eyes, made the bitterness in his heart lessened.
He suddenly felt that he underappreciated this beauty before him and gave her a loving hug.
"Wifey, I only need you...You are the only one who truly cares about me...As for the crown prince title, I won't give up and let Tristen have his way. I will surely find a way to get rid of him!"
"I know, darling. I love you too," Farah said in a coy tone while her lips arched into a smirk.
"How about we return to the palace now?" Farah asked as she broke the hug.
Kale had a thoughtful expression and said with pinched lips, "Yeah. Let's return. There's no point in staying here any longer, and Tristen can find his own ride back home."
Farah smiled and felt that things were going smoothly, and she had to report this to the most powerful person in the Gale Empire.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Meanwhile, King Krisen, upon Tristen's request of having a private audience with both his daughter and him, decided to go to an underground chamber which was none other than the place where he usually meditated.
After entering a dark chamber with only a few lamps lighting the whole chamber, King Krisen turned around and asked, "So, Prince Tristen, what is it that you have to speak of importance? And is Damien your friend or...?"
"I am not Damien, but I am at the same time," Damien said with a slight smile.
"Huh?" Yuria was puzzled and asked, "What do you mean by saying you are and you are not Damien. Please don't play games with us, Prince Tristen."
King Krisen didn't say anything and waited for Tristen's explanation.
Damien looked at Yuria and smiled, "I am not. Actually, this body is being controlled by Damien or me. Prince Tristen is dead."
The last four words came as a shocker to both Yuria and King Krisen since it just sounded absolutely ludicrous.
Yuria dryly chuckled, "Prince Tristen, you can't be saying such ominous things, especially about yourself. It isn't a joking matter."
King Krisen didn't say anything, but he continued to keenly observe Tristen as all his senses began to surround him.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Damien knew that what he said was not something everyone would believe straightaway. And the reason he wanted to reveal this was because he trusted these two and knew that his future plans couldn't be set in motion without including these two, especially when the Gale Emperor had his sights on the Krisen Kingdom.
"He probably is not…" King Krisen mumbled in suppressed shock and astonishment, which Yuria clearly heard, making her lips part in confusion.
"Papa, did you notice something?" By now Yuria was starting to believe what Tristen or Damien said since even her father seemed to slowly believe in his words.
King Krisen answered after a few moments of silence, "His soul...I sense an abnormality because it seems as if Tristen's soul plane is being occupied by a foreign soul essence. From the ancestral records, I have heard of stories where people could use some dark arts to take control of someone else's soul, but that was it. It was not clearly explained how or detailed. All I knew was that controlling someone else was possible and that there could be a lot of ways to do it."
s
He then continued with a tinge of astonishment in his voice, "But to conceal the fact that the original owner was being controlled like this even when standing before me is something I cannot fathom how he was able to do it. If he didn't tell me and I didn't care to look deeply, I wouldn't have noticed it at all."
Yuria had her mouth slowly open wide in awe as she finally believed that this Tristen was indeed Damien controlling his body, no matter how ridiculous it seemed since it made whatever happened before make sense, especially with the pill he gave her and the way he looked at her.
Still, she found it hard to picture Damien being inside a stranger's body and preferred to talk to the real Damien.
But at the same time, the fact that Tristen was dead was indeed a shocker to both the father and daughter since they couldn't imagine how the Gale Empire would react if he knew about this and, most of all, how he didn't even know about this yet.
Yuria looked at Damien and asked curiously, "How did you kill him without anyone knowing and why?"
