Chapter 546: Tamed Lovers

Damian walked out of the palace with Shin following closely behind him, while William and several royal guards trailed after them.

The moment they stepped into the open courtyard, Damian noticed three familiar figures waiting near the royal carriage. Racheal, Hazel, and Ruby stood together, their expressions carrying a mixture of anxiety and anticipation.

The moment they saw him, their eyes immediately moved toward his bandaged right arm. Unlike the last time they had seen him, however, the arm was no longer hanging uselessly at his side. He could move it now, and although the bandages still covered the wounds, there was a noticeable difference in his condition.

Hazel was the first to lower her head. "Sire... It’s been a while. It’s nice to know you are doing well."

Racheal and Ruby followed her lead, bowing respectfully before raising their eyes toward him again.

"You might want to adjust your hair before you leave..." Racheal said carefully, and Damian paused for a moment before remembering that he had left his hair in its natural state when he walked out of his room.

His white hair had become so familiar to him during the past month that he had almost forgotten how much attention it would attract outside the palace. Slowly, the strands began changing color, the white fading into black until his usual appearance returned, though the purple streaks remained scattered throughout his long hair.

Ruby studied him for another moment before speaking softly. "Your wounded heart has recovered as well... I’m glad."

She was not wrong. His month of secluded cultivation had allowed his body to develop a new demonic heart to replace the one he had sacrificed through the broken Faustian Bargain. It was not enough to completely restore everything he had lost, but the return of another demonic heart had significantly improved his condition and allowed his body to recover much faster than it otherwise would have.

Damian stopped in front of the three women and studied them carefully. Although he had spent most of the month inside his palace with Alice, Mary, Loth, and Rah, he had never completely ignored what was happening outside his room.

Through Clairvoyance, he had continued watching Hazel, Racheal, and Ruby from time to time, observing their actions and the way they handled the consequences of everything that had happened.

He had seen them trying to remain composed despite being isolated from him and separated from almost everyone they had once relied upon. He had also noticed the fear they tried to hide whenever they wondered whether Damian would eventually discard them entirely.

"You three have done exceptionally well in my absence," Damian said quietly.

He reached out and gently rubbed the jaws of Racheal and Ruby before raising Hazel’s face by the chin and placing a soft kiss against her forehead. The three women blinked in surprise, their guarded expressions slowly giving way to smiles.

Damian could see the pain behind their eyes, and he could sense the fear buried beneath their composure. They had genuinely been struggling, but instead of allowing themselves to collapse, they had continued doing what was expected of them.

"Babe..." Hazel muttered, her voice trembling slightly.

Damian opened his arms without saying anything else, and the three women immediately understood the invitation. They stepped forward together and wrapped their arms around him, pressing themselves against his chest as they buried their faces against him. Their bodies trembled lightly as months of tension finally found an outlet.

Hazel’s voice was muffled against his robes when she whispered, "We are really sorry for everything."

Racheal and Ruby nodded silently beside her, unable to find the words themselves. Damian’s expression softened into a small smile as he wrapped his arms around them and rubbed their backs.

"Since you have all been good girls, move back into the palace and don’t worry, I have made sure no one will bully you even now you are not my fiancées..."

The three women slowly lifted their faces to look at him, but none of them released their hold on him. Ruby’s eyes widened slightly. "Can we really move back in?"

Damian nodded calmly.

Hazel hesitated before asking in a quieter voice, "Can we also have you... It’s been a while."

Damian chuckled softly and tapped her nose with one finger before gently pulling himself away. The three obediently released him, though their eyes remained fixed on his face.

"That will come after the coronation ceremony. You have to be a little more patient." All three nodded immediately without hesitation, and Damian could not help but smile at how quickly they accepted his answer.

From behind them, William watched the exchange with genuine disbelief. The three women standing before him were the same women who had once been considered among the most difficult figures in Lin Qui’s court, women whose personalities and family influence had made even powerful nobles cautious around them.

Yet now they stood before Damian like obedient companions, accepting his decisions without argument even after he had broken their engagements and stripped their families of all of their influence.

If someone had told William half a century ago that Hazel, Racheal, and Ruby would one day become this obedient to another Prince, he would probably have beaten that person to death for making such an absurd claim.

Damian, seemingly unaware of William’s thoughts, looked at the three women and said, "Get packing already... I’ll pay you three a visit and have a small talk with you after the royal court meeting."

They nodded, and the three stepped aside as Damian continued toward the palace entrance.

Outside the entrance, Lucy was already waiting beside the royal carriage. Her smile immediately brightened when she saw Damian, and she bowed respectfully.

"It’s great to see your recovery is going very well, sire."

Damian stopped in front of her and examined her face for a moment before gently tugging her chin upward, forcing their eyes to meet.

"Before I go back to secluded cultivation with my girls, I’ll be visiting you to have a taste of you... I have already waited a month after the Dantalion incident, I won’t wait any longer than that."

Lucy’s face immediately flushed at his bluntness. She had expected Damian to be direct, but even she had not anticipated him stating his intentions so openly in front of the guards and officials.

"It... It would be my pleasure, sire!" she replied, attempting to lower her head again, only for Damian to keep her face raised while continuing to study her.

Lucy then noticed that the hand holding her chin was the same bandaged hand that had once been completely charred and useless.

"I didn’t think the recovery ability of the Prince of Lust through intimacy was this effective," she muttered.

Damian smiled lightly. "Now you know."

Lucy’s expression became more determined. "Then, I’ll do my personal best to aid in your recovery."

Her words made Damian’s smile widen slightly. "I’ll be looking forward to that."

Damian finally released her and turned toward Shin, grabbing him by the arm with his recovered arm. "Let’s go kid."

Bang!

The ground beneath Damian’s bare feet shattered as he launched himself into the sky like a rocket, dragging Shin along with him.

The sudden burst of force sent dust and loose stones flying across the courtyard before Damian disappeared into the distance. Lucy stared upward for several seconds before slowly turning toward William, who looked equally horrified.

Neither of them had expected him to use the carriage, but apparently Damian had decided that walking was already too slow. William forced a bitter smile onto his face as he watched the empty sky.

"My lord is becoming too unpredictable, I’m not sure my weak heart can handle much more of this."

Damian reached the royal court in less than a second. His arrival produced a thunderous explosion when he abruptly stopped in midair, the force of his sudden halt creating a shockwave that rolled through the surrounding structures.

Attendants and eunuchs near the entrance were caught completely off guard, several falling onto their backs while others stumbled and dropped whatever they were carrying.

Before anyone could even properly understand what had happened, Damian descended with Shin still firmly held by the collar. The two landed before the staircase leading toward the royal court, and Damian released Shin before calmly beginning to climb.

Shin quickly adjusted his clothes and followed after him, still clutching Kaiku tightly at his side.

One of the eunuchs finally managed to regain his composure and immediately turned toward the court entrance.

"H... His Royal Highness has arrived!" he screamed.

The attendants scrambled to their feet and rushed toward the massive doors, pushing them open before Damian could even reach them. Inside, Damian was greeted by a court filled to the brim with unfamiliar faces.

The purge of the old noble families and the arrival of new clans had completely transformed the imperial court, and many of those standing inside had never seen their Prince in person before. Their initial curiosity disappeared the moment Damian stepped through the doorway.

The first thing they noticed was his clothing. Their Prince had arrived wearing nothing more than loosely fitted bedroom robes, with his long black hair hanging freely around him and not even a pair of slippers covering his bare feet. Yet none of them dared question his appearance.

The moment Damian entered, his overwhelming presence filled the entire court, pressing down upon every noble, official, attendant, and soldier present. Standing upright suddenly felt twice as difficult, and even some of the stronger nobles felt their knees weaken beneath the invisible pressure.

Damian walked forward without acknowledging their discomfort, his expression calm as he approached the throne.

Everyone eventually fell to their knees and planted their heads against the floor. The sound of thousands of voices then thundered throughout the court as they cried,

"MAY YOUR HIGHNESS REIGN FOR TEN THOUSAND YEARS!!!" The chant was repeated again and again, echoing against the walls of the imperial court.

Shin had never witnessed anything like this before, and for several seconds he simply stood there, overwhelmed by the sheer number of people kneeling before his master. However, when he saw Damian continuing toward the throne without hesitation, Shin quickly recovered and followed him.

Once Damian reached the throne, he sat down casually and rested his chin against his palm while Shin moved to stand beside him, still gripping Kaiku tightly as he looked across the unfamiliar court.

Damian’s purple eyes slowly swept across the gathered nobles. These were the people who would shape the next era of Velmora, many of them belonging to clans that had only recently pledged themselves to his rule.

Damian rested his cheek against his palm and calmly declared, "All rise... Court is in session."