Damien kept silent for a moment and then said frankly, "I requested to meet Your Highness for only a single purpose. I want to heal the revered Ancestor of the Rong Empire."
Lily's thoughts freezed as she didn't expect Alchemist Azrael to want to help her Ancestor. She came here expecting him to be all kinds of person but never expected him to offer his own help.
Lily didn't remain silent for long and asked, "I am well pleased that you want to help our empire's Ancestor. But can you tell me why you want to help him?"
She was thinking when did the world get so kind? When did anyone offer their help with sincerity and not because of some underhanded schemes?
In fact, she was planning to ask Alchemist Azrael's help, whether he can find out if there is any way to help her Ancestor after finding out how serious his injuries are. She didn't exactly know what's ailing the Ancestor since he refused to tell her for some reason. But she knew it was very serious seeing her Ancestor's weary and wan face unlike how he used to look before.
She was hoping that Alchemist Azrael could one day be able to concoct at least a Rank 5 Supreme Tier healing pill or higher for her Ancestor. If she could get his word then she could rest easy knowing that her empire would still have its guardian to protect it and her only loving family member to live.
Damien expected her to ask that question and said in a solemn tone, "I hope Your Highness don't tell this to anyone else, but I have been living in the Rong Empire as far as I can remember. I am not coming from any other empires as the rumors might suggest nor am I coming from any prestigious power. I am just an alchemist who is by himself. And most of all I love my empire the most, since my long lost family had received a lot of grace from the revered Ancestor."
Damien paused for a moment and then sighed as he continued, "Hearing that the Ancestor is dying, I couldn't help but feel that I should do something otherwise our empire might be in danger. After all, as a physician who was brought up in this very empire, how can I not try to help the very person who sacrificed his blood and sweat for the prosperity of our empire."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})'I hope my bullshit convinces her.' Damien prayed inwardly.
Lily's eyes flickered as she could feel the sincerity in Damien's voice to help her. So she thought that the reason he told was probably true to the last word and couldn't help but feel immense gratitude that there was at least a person like him who was concerned about her Ancestor and prosperity of the empire.
She still felt it hard to believe that things could be so easy when everything has been tough so far. But no matter how she thought, things couldn't get any worse. So she thought that the person sitting before her was probably heaven sent after listening to her prayers.
Many notable doctors had already tried to treat the Ancestor some time ago, but they all went back ashamed at themselves for being unable to cure him.
Lily composed herself and said in a slightly stirred tone, "I really can't express in words how thankful I am for requesting to help our Ancestor. I will talk with the Ancestor and will send someone to tell you when he is ready to see you. That is fine right?"
Damien nodded, "Perfectly fine."
It was still afternoon when Damien came out of the imperial palace.
'Phew...I hope Lily forgives me when this is all over.' Damien felt bad he had to lie to Lily so blatantly but he knew he had to do it for her.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Damien actually was not really confident about healing the Ancestor. He first wanted to find out what exactly the Ancestor's condition is. If his injuries are more severe than imagined, Damien didn't know if he could concoct even a Rank 5 Pill within the given time.
First of all, he needed at least Low Level Sky Grade medicinal herbs to concoct a Rank 5 pill. Damien was now rich enough to buy plenty of medicinal herbs including Earth Grade ones. But if he wanted to buy at least a single Sky Grade herb, he would have to pay a fortune since the price gap between Earth and Sky Grade herbs was so astronomical that even large sized families would rarely buy them.
Damien had around 500,000 Yellow Spirit Stones but he would probably only be able to buy two or three Low or Medium Level Sky Grade herbs at most.
However, he thought money won't be much of a problem as all he has to do is just wait a bit till he earns more and then easily buy the required herbs.
Thinking about these things, he walked towards his villa. But as he got closer and closer to his villa, he noticed that there was some kind of hullabaloo among people and dense crowds in the usually clear and spacious roads.
He didn't understand what was going on for the people to cause such a commotion. He walked towards an old man standing nearby who was just spectating the commotion and asked, "Excuse me, do you happen to know what's with this crowd?"
The old man assessed Damien from top to down and his eyes suddenly widened, "S-Sir, are you Alchemist Azrael?"
Damien nodded not minding the surprise since he had become quite a celebrity in the Rong Imperial City and people came to know about his appearance.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Then, by chance does your esteemed self not know that the Xeton Empire's envoy had come to visit you? Right now, they are waiting outside your villa for your return." The old man asked in a respectful tone.
Damien was surprised as he didn't receive any message about any arrival of an envoy from the Xeton Empire. But then he remembered that there was a letter from the Alchemist Society lying on his letter box which he felt too lazy to pick up and read at that time.
Damien then said thanks to the old man and somehow made his way to his villa. Since the people recognized him, they hurriedly made way for him otherwise he would have gotten lost in the crowd.
When he neared the gates of his villa, he saw the streets were filled with masses of people lifting their chin to look into the distance silently without any commotion unlike how it was a bit farther away from his villa.
Then when he got to the front, he was surprised to see a dignified and majestic cavalcade of fifty azure plated armored men. Their set of armor had a square helm with a face guard shaped in the face of a dragon.
Despite being surrounded by such a crowd, there was hardly much clamour as no one actually dared to shout or talk loudly. Even though the parade was simply stationary outside the gates, the people felt an unparalleled feeling of pressure which almost made their hearts jump out. Even ones who were proud of their strength, and had enough guts, only dared to secretly whisper.
However what caught Damien's attention was the golden dragon imperial chariot surrounded by a few dozen golden attired bodyguards. There were silver curtains hanging over the windows making one unable to see who was sitting inside.
'All this for sending an envoy? Is the envoy some kind of big shot? Or are they just trying to show off their power?' Damien couldn't understand why the Xeton Empire sent such an ostentatious and exaggerated greeting just for him. He wondered whether the Xeton Empire wanted to show him how powerful they are and spark his curiosity to visit their empire.
However, Damien had to admit he was impressed by their display and was indeed curious about their empire.
But he broke away from his thoughts when he saw a man clad in dazzling golden robes with a handsome face and sky blue hair getting off from an azure maned horse; walking towards him with a reserved aura.
He gave a light bow to Damien and said in a tone that was neither humble nor supercilious, "Greetings, Alchemist Azrael. We are accompanying our respected envoy sent by our Xeton Empire in order to express our admiration and have a few words with you. Our envoy was waiting for your return, so if you currently have no customers to tend to, would you mind having a word with our envoy?"
Damien was impressed with the bearings of the man before him as he didn't even show an ounce of arrogance despite coming from such an exalted empire..
'Seems like I underestimated my own worth.' However, Damien knew that it's because of the importance the Xeton Empire is giving him.
Damien nodded, "Sure, I am ready to meet your envoy." Just like the crowd behind him, Damien was also curious who this envoy might be for them to send fifty armed soldiers to escort an envoy.
Compared to Xeton Empire's display, the display of Gale and Lancaster Empire was a far cry or they just didn't take as much effort as the Xeton Empire.
The golden robed man nodded and gave a polite smile. He then went back to the golden chariot and slowly opened the door.
Damien's gaze focused on the door in anticipation of who it might be.
