‘Is this even the Damien that I rescued that day? Why is there an air of confidence around him?… How did he come out of his despair so fast?’ Lily was puzzled seeing such a change in Damien’s attitude.

When she rescued him that day, he was like an abandoned wild beast who was trying its best to stay alive, baring its fangs at whoever tries to get close to it even if they were trying to help it.

But now, Damien’s expressions were composed and seemed a bit laid-back. His way of talking too was different instead of the cold and indifferent tone.

Nestor Rong’s eyes twitched the moment he heard Damien’s demand, “Boy, don’t go too far! Even the reason you can demand conditions from Her Highness is that she rescued you in the first place. If not for her, you would have died a dog’s death in that wretched place. Don’t you know the meaning of gratitude?”

Nestor Rong thought that Damien was taking advantage of Lily’s kindness, which for some reason seemed inexplicable to him. But he still didn’t want to question why at least not in front of Damien.

Damien gave a light scoff, “It’s not like I requested to be saved. And I can never guarantee my own life in this place. What if you all just throw me away or worse when I am done being useful? Also, teaching swordsmanship is not an easy business. I just expect to be rewarded for my job. In my perspective, saving my life doesn’t have anything to do with fairly rewarding someone for doing their job. It’s not like you can expect me to slave away without getting anything in return just because my life was saved. I don’t see how things would be any different if that were the case.”

Nestor Rong’s vein popped out in anger, “How can you be so shameless, boy? If we really had some bad designs on you…you wouldn’t even realize it. Just because Her Highness treated you well, don’t let it get to your head.”

But Oswin Rong only had a curious expression on his face as he was observing Damien.

Lily said in an elegant tone, “It’s fine, Vice Court Master. Damien does indeed have a point, and it won’t be right to let him teach me swordsmanship without rewarding his hard work.”

She then looked at Damien and said with a graceful smile, “Please mention what your conditions are.”

‘Wow, her smile is really beautiful. Guess she is naturally graceful, unlike a certain someone. But I wonder why she is still tolerating me…’

Damien cleared his throat as he said, “Well, I only have three simple conditions. My first condition is that once I am done with teaching, you have to write me a recommendation letter so that I can join the Alchemist Society after leaving this place. And I take it you won’t stop me from leaving, right?”

Lily nodded slightly and smiled, “Sure, that’s no problem. You are free to leave after you teach me.”

“Okay, then my second condition is that I would need a common grade cauldron along with common grade herbs that I might request from time to time.”

Nestor Rong instantly chipped in, “Why would you even need a cauldron or these herbs? You can’t even concoct pills in the first place.”

Damien shrugged, “Who said I am trying to concoct pills here? Since I am a cripple, I am trying to take up the profession of an Alchemy teacher. I merely want to study these herbs and the cauldron for my own research. That’s also why I asked for the recommendation letter.”

Nestor Rong seemed as if he wanted to retort but ended up being tongue-tied.

Lily’s gaze became unfocused for a moment before she said, “Of course. That’s no problem. It is good that you haven’t given up on everything.”

‘Huh…why do I feel like she expected it and seemed happy for me?’ The more he interacted with Lily; the more puzzling her behavior seemed to him.

“Well, the third condition is not much…” A subtle smile emerged on his face as he said, “I just want you to call me ‘Master’ whenever I am teaching you.”

“What??” A flustered one replaced Lily’s collected expression as her body jerked back slightly.

When Lily saw his devilishly charming smile before he demanded his third condition, she knew he was up to something.

“Impudent!” Nestor Rong immediately rose to his feet as he pointed his finger towards Damien.

Even Oswin Rong frowned, “Damien, just because we have been treating you very well doesn’t mean you can get on our heads. The only reason we are entertaining you is that we respect Her Highness’s wishes.”

‘Finally, she had a reaction…otherwise, it would have been too strange and suspicious.’

Damien purposefully put out that condition to see Lily’s reaction, and he didn’t care what the other two protectors would think. He wanted to know how far Lily was able to tolerate him.

Damien casually smiled, “I am not asking anything excessive here. It’s just a form of address that a person should follow when they accept teachings from another person. And this is only when I am training her and not in front of others.”

“Even so, do you think you are worthy enough for Her Highness to call you a master? I admit your swordplay is somewhat impressive, but we don’t know the true extent of your skills. Nor whether you are qualified to teach someone else. Knowing something and teaching the same knowledge to others are two different things.” Nestor Rong said as his veins were throbbing in his neck.

Damien nonchalantly replied, “Why don’t you see for yourself first whether I am qualified enough to teach her? Even if she doesn’t have the potential or talent for swordplay, I am confident enough to at least make sure that she deserves to be labeled as an expert swords-woman. And if I don’t fulfill my end of the deal, I can accept any consequences.”

“Impressive proclamation, young man. But are you sure you can back it up?” Oswin Rong asked, raising his eyebrows. “And it would still depend on what Her Highness has to say.”

Lily was a little taken back when she heard Damien’s final condition. She didn’t expect him to demand her to call him ‘Master’, even if it’s only during training.

She was the imperial princess of an empire! Unless it was some exalted senior who was teaching her, who else is worthy enough for her to call them ‘Master’?

And she was even more surprised when Damien claimed that he could train her into a sword expert even if she had no talent for it.

She wondered where this confidence was coming from and mused whether she has yet to see his true sword mastery.

Lily quickly collected her thoughts as a strained smile emerged on her face, “It’s fine. I accept it. As long as I can truly learn more insights about swordplay and gain more expertise in swordsmanship, I can call you…’Master’ whenever we are training.”

‘This girl can’t be real. Is she even willing to compromise with my absurd request? Aren’t princesses supposed to have some sort of dignity? How can she call someone without any power or status as Master?’ Damien felt that he was only getting more confused thinking about Lily’s motives.

But Damien didn’t let his outward expression change as he said, “Okay, good. So, when do we start the training?”

“Actually, I want to start as early as possible, but I want you to heal your arm first so that you would be able to teach properly,” Lily said, maintaining her gaze.

Damien looked at his right forearm and shrugged, “Oh, my arm already feels much better than before, and it’s only a matter of time before it is fully healed. So, I don’t mind when we start. Besides, even if my right arm was really in a messed up state, I can still use my left hand while teaching you. And that wouldn’t affect my teachings at all.”

Lily gave a slight nod in understanding, “I see, then would it be fine for you to start the training tomorrow onwards?”

“Yeah, why not. Also, I was wondering if I can get some real food instead of some pills? No offense, the pills are really convenient, but my taste buds are getting a bit restless.” Damien said with a chuckle.

“Hmph!” Nestor Rong harrumphed in dissatisfaction, hearing Damien’s request as if indirectly asking him whether he is still not satisfied with the conditions he demanded.

Lily raised her eyebrows with an amused expression, “Oh, I actually thought it would be more convenient for you to have those pills so that you can focus on your rest without moving around much. But it seems like I was mistaken. Don’t worry. I will send someone daily to deliver some ‘real’ food for you.”

“Aha, Your Highness is so kind. Don’t worry. I will surely keep up my end of the bargain. So, I guess I will see you tomorrow then. Can I take my leave now, Your Highness?” Damien said with a sarcastic smile.

Lily’s lips twitched, seeing his sarcastic expression, “Sure. I will see you tomorrow then. Also, remember that in everyone’s eyes, they only see you as a servant as they all think that I have hired a new servant to look after my garden. You wouldn’t be bothered by this, would you?”

Damien squinted his eyes, “Doesn’t that mean I have to look after your garden?”

Lily nodded, “Yes, since it would only be suspicious to have someone else take care of your garden when you already have a person employed for that task. But don’t worry, my garden has some medicinal plants and herbs. Including any common grade herbs, you can also take a few of the earth grade herbs every month. And you can also study some of the rare sky grade herbs. This would be fine for you, right?”

‘Wow…she is offering me earth grade herbs and even let me study sky grade herbs…all just to look after some plants?’

Damien’s expression didn’t change as he nodded, “Oh, well, that seems perfect. I will take my leave then now.”

Damien gave the two protectors a slight nod and left the room.