After waiting for nearly half an hour, Kylian finally raised his head again, watching Keith coming out of his mother's cottage.
He briefly glanced at his mother, and he was relieved in his heart that she was no longer in pain and danger. But he still could not feel happy about it.
"The patient is fast asleep and won't wake up for the next twelve hours. In addition to the supplements that I prescribed to you, she needs to take a few more to make sure that her body can recover from the trauma..." Keith lightly spoke to the lady whose eyes were brimming with tears, and she readily nodded her head as she remembered the things he recommended. "You can see her now. Just don't wake her up. She needs that sleep."
"Thank you, Master Demiliore!" She bowed, despite being only a few weeks away from her due date.
Keith nodded to her and then accepted the greetings of everyone present outside the cottage.
Sect Master Dusk was very polite and respectful to him and happily informed him that they had arranged for the three of them to stay at their property for as long as they wanted.
It was something that Keith had asked for, telling them that he wanted to spend a few days at their Sect to observe their ways and satiate his curiosity. And the place was quite beautiful too with several natural lakes on their property.
The Sect had readily agreed to his request, and they had put forward their request too, asking him to treat a few key members of their Sect who had been bearing grievous injuries for a long time now. Of course, it was not going to be free, and Keith named the price too, making them owe him several favours.
Kylian keenly observed how the old man Bal trembled when he shook hands with Keith, and how the latter lightly smiled at him before whispering something in his ear.
The fear, shock, and dismay on the old man's face were confusing. It was as if he had found out that the young man was even stronger than him, but it could not be possible. Even the thought of it was ridiculous.
How could a twenty-two-year-old young man be that strong?
Kylian guessed that it was probably something about the health of the old man, something which he could not tell since he was not good enough of a doctor as Keith was right now.
"She's fine now, but I am curious. Her condition should not have been so grave as it was. What happened?" He feigned some confusion and smiled in his heart when Hadrian and his wife glared at their brother before explaining everything that happened to Keith.
"It is unwise to operate on a patient if you have not successfully diagnosed them yet, Mr. Kylian." He seriously said, showing some disappointment in his voice.
Having already borne enough humiliation at the hands of his family, Kylian immediately excused himself away, and it earned him the ire of his younger sister again, who openly called him "useless" and "coward" since he did not even apologise to anyone there for his overconfidence and mistake.
The poor Child of Destiny thought that everyone would be welcoming his return and would revere his talent and strength, but that reverence had only lasted for a couple of days. Now, everyone behaved as if he was nothing special, and they even looked down on him for his actions.
Drowning in depreciating thoughts, Kylian felt incredibly horny, but then a thought crossed his mind which sent goosebumps all over his body.
The last lady he slept with was born a man.
Just the reminder of it made him feel sick, and for a brief time, the fire in his loins subsided. However, it was set ablaze again when he entered his cottage and found the maid responsible for cleaning it working there, bent over his bed as she set the sheets.
She was in her late thirties, but since she regularly exercised as the subject of this sect and was also a Cultivator, she was in great shape.
His better mind asked him to not do it, but he needed something to distract himself and approached the woman, who had sensed his presence and politely bowed to him.
"What's your name?"
"Mina."
"Are you married?" He asked straightforwardly, eyeing her body, making his intentions clear to her.
The woman frowned at his question but shook her head.
"I am a Widow, Master Kylian."
Kylian nodded his head to her words and then commanded her as he closed the door of the cottage behind him.
"Strip."
"I am not a whore, Master Kylian." She lowered her head and replied.
"I am taking you into my household." He was far too gone to think about it and simply told her that he was accepting her as his love-maid.
His words surprised her, and though she hesitated a little, seeing him take his step forward, she lowered her head and started taking off her clothes.
She was not very beautiful, but she was beautiful enough for him to satiate his lust, and he jumped on her without any restraint or care. However, this time, he did make sure that she was indeed a woman, even though the chances of her once being a man were close to none.
Kylian had already made the mistake once, and he was scared of ever committing it again.
Once he dove into her depths, he lost all his reason and just ravaged her, completely oblivious to the person who heard the voices from his cottage and rushed to inform the Sect Master about what his son had just done.
Taking a maid into your household as a lover was not something that was frowned upon in the Sect, but taking someone who was a Widow and a mother of two children was not going to reflect well on the status of the Sect Master's son.
Sure enough, after the Sect Master heard about it, his face was a little unsightly. And Hadrian, who was right next to him and happened to hear it too, lowered his head in disappointment.
Everyone amongst the Elders knew about Kylian's adventures in the city of Arkton.
He was a promiscuous man, who would jump on any lady, be she taken or not, given that she was beautiful enough for him, and it seemed like he had not learnt his lesson yet.
"What are you going to do about it, Father?" Hadrian asked. "Elder Zola is already reluctant to give the hand of his granddaughter in marriage to Kylian, and he is not going to agree to it now."
"Let him be. A man who does not learn from his mistakes only learns right and wrong when it is too late. There is nothing you can do about it." The old man, who looked to be in his late forties, sighed. "Forget about Kylian. Take good care of Master Demiliore for as long as he stays here."
"I will, Father." The young man lightly nodded his head.
Even if his father did not say it, he was going to make sure that Master Demiliore enjoys his stay at the Sect. After all, he was heavily indebted to him for saving the life of his dear wife and their child in her womb.
"Gerald." An Elder who was present in the room suddenly called out to the Sect Master. "You need to think about tying Master Demiliore to our Sect. He could prove to be our greatest benefactor."
"It is not that I don't want to think about it. I already have." He sighed. "But we can not do it. Elder Bal has warned me against using any underhanded measures."
"Father... we must not jeopardise the trust we have." Hadrian worriedly said.
"I know, Hadrian. We are not going to do anything that would jeopardise our relationship with him." Gerald assured his son.
"We don't have to use any underhanded means. Zola's granddaughter is a very beautiful maiden. I am sure he would not mind if the Sect offers her as a maid to Master Demiliore."
"He's right, Gerald." Another Elder spoke, "Besides, he is a young man, just a few years older than her, and he is ridiculously handsome too. I don't think that an innocent maiden would be able to resist his charm."
"That might be true. But would he look at any beautiful girl given the ones who surround him?" Gerald questioned back.
For a short while, everyone contemplated his words.
What he said was true. Zola's granddaughter was beautiful, but she could barely compete against Master Demiliore's Shadow. And they could not even compare her to the enchantingly beautiful maid who was around him. Just a thought of it would be blasphemy. After all, they had never in their lives seen a girl as beautiful as Master Demiliore's maid.
"We could still try." An Elder spoke. "Gina is quite talented in Cultivation. And Master Demiliore seems like a person who knows how to appreciate benefits."
Those words ignited the hopes in their hearts again, and Gerald finally nodded his head.
"I will go talk to Zola about it." He said and excused himself from the room, deciding to go and see his younger cousin and best friend.
Hadrian stayed in the room for a while after everyone was gone. And he sighed, worrying that if Master Demiliore took offence to it, he would be ashamed about it all his life.
He knew that his father was going to be mad about it if he found out what he was going to do, but Hadrian decided to inform Keith beforehand about how the Elders were planning to test the waters.
