Yuria felt that there was no point in conducting the alchemy competition anymore since she had found the man she wanted.
But at the same time, she felt it might be too late to cancel it now and could affect her father's image.
And as expected, King Krisen shook his head and said, "It's too late to do that now. We have invited all these influential people here already. We would be making ourselves look bad if we canceled it without any good reason."
Yuria nodded with a sigh thinking that her father would have to now give away those rewards for nothing.
King Krisen then slowly got up and said, "Okay, you don't worry about it too much. That Lancaster boy would probably win this and by giving him the reward, let's hope he returns home without feeling too bad."
Yuria squinted her eyes and asked skeptically, "Papa, were you thinking that I would be impressed with his skills if Maximus Lancaster won the competition. I mean, before all this?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtKing Krisen cleared his throat and said, "Well, I thought it wouldn't be a harm if you took a liking to him. After all, among others, I find him quite a capable and well-mannered kid. Anyway, it doesn't matter now that you already have a lover. I just have to find a way to break the news to that poor boy. He was pining for you for quite a couple of years, as you know."
Yuria rubbed her temples, feeling bad for Maximus, but she knew there was nothing she could do for him, "Yeah, let's get this over with. I already told him that I am not interested in marriage. So I hope it makes it better when you say it."
King Krisen nodded and said as he was about to leave, "You go and rest in your room. I will go and take a look at your lover boy and see if he deserves my daughter."
Yuria wasn't worried and said with a cheery smile, "I am sure he won't disappoint you, papa."
King Krisen raised one of his brows, seeing how confident she was, and said doubtfully, "I guess I will find out soon."
Meanwhile, a few minutes ago, while Damien was being escorted to the dungeons, he sent a soul transmission to Valentina to not worry about him and go back to the guest residence.
Valentina felt her blood boiling seeing Damien being escorted as a prisoner, but after hearing his voice in her head and sensing the confidence in his words, she calmed down.
She learned from him that he was being taken away just to have a one-to-one talk with King Krisen about his daughter.
Valentina moved to a safe location and kept watching the direction in which Damien went, processing the fact that he might probably be coming back with a lover who was none other than Princess Yuria.
Dark thoughts were slowly manifesting in her mind to get rid of her competition and make Damien hers alone. But whenever she thought about how Damien might react, it froze and shattered those dark thoughts.
Still, her instincts were inwardly screaming that she should confront Princess Yuria and find out if she was indeed worthy enough to be anywhere near Damien.
And just as she thought this, her whole figure went visible.
King Krisen had made sure to warn his guards to discreetly escort Damien to the dungeon grounds and leave him there after taking the chains off. He was confident that Damien wouldn't run away after hearing about him from his daughter.
Since it was still early morning, there were not many people walking around, and King Krisen was glad that nobody noticed anything suspicious. Otherwise, handling the news that his daughter was having an affair with a boy who was not even from a noble family could send tumultuous waves across the kingdom.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAs Damien waited in the dungeon grounds, which was a vast open space enclosed by large walls and an ethereal barrier to prevent prisoners from jumping or even flying over the walls, he was softly smiling, feeling very relieved and happy that he didn't lose Nathasia but instead reunited with her again.
And one other thing he realized was that there was now definite hope he could meet up with Sofie in this life and that she must have definitely reincarnated.
"So, don't tell me you really met your previous life lover?" Luna's skeptical voice sounded in his mind, breaking him away from his thoughts.
Damien said with a slight head shake, "I really did...can you believe it? I mean, you must know why I was able to meet her again, right? This can't be purely a coincidence. This feeling I had when I first met Yuria...I felt the same with Valentina as well. Could she really be Talia? Luna, you still cannot find a way if we are connected in some way?"
Luna pinched her chin and said, "Nope. Unless I regain my divinity, I wouldn't be able to see if there are any weak Strings of Destiny between your soul and theirs. But I feel like Destiny laws might be in play here, considering that whatever happened to you so far couldn't be coincidental since the chances are almost nil. But I wonder if it was the former case, which god could be so well versed in Destiny Laws and how you are connected to them? Maybe just as I said it had to do with your memory loss as well."
She then continued in a thoughtful tone, "There were indeed strange disturbances in your soul when you were sleeping, and it seemed as if your soul was resonating with something, probably her soul. My hands are tied now, so I can't be sure, but I definitely think your soul is connected with others. But as for Yuria's body constitution—"
*Creak*
Suddenly Damien heard the gates behind him open and turned around to see King Krisen walking towards him with a stern expression, his immeasurable aura pressuring him from all sides like a flood.