Chapter 286

Vorbuk was left in a heavy silence when Ashley left.

He knows... Vorbuk felt certain that Ashley had overheard everything. Was he just spying on the conversation the whole time?!

Ashley did not seem to treat him any differently if he knew. That part made him feel more comfortable. The vampire treated it as if there was nothing that changed between them. He was not in a position where he could be picky over things about his master's background.

A while later, Priestess Mai showed up at the king's chambers with Ashley to meet with King Vorbuk and Prince Leo. The topic they were going to discuss was considered a sensitive topic. Vorbuk trusted the priestess with the topic.

It took a while to explain everything to her but he made sure to explain everything he knew about Sebastian's condition. While discussing everything Vorbuk leaned against the wall while standing. It felt improper to remain in bed with her present.

The priestess listened to everything from start to finish. Giving her opinion only when Vorbuk was done explaining everything to her, "There is nothing I can do for him. If he has such a serious problem I am not sure that anyone could handle such a case."

Vorbuk seemed to ponder something before asking her, "What about the phoenix tears?"

"Phoenix tears?" Priestess Mai was surprised to hear such a sudden suggestion. It was true that phoenix tears could heal almost any condition. However she was unsure still how badly the condition of Sebastian was. She had not met him personally to know his exact diagnosis.

"I received them from Grand Duke Heket as a gift." Vorbuk said while considering the idea.

"May I meet with him?" Priestess Mai asked.

"Who?" Vorbuk asked in return.

Priestess Mai stepped towards Vorbuk while explaining, "I would like to meet Sebastian. I can not fully comprehend his condition unless I see him."

"He does not want to see anyone but Vorbuk." Prince Leo explained to her in return before Vorbuk had a chance to speak. It was clear that the prince still felt some hostility towards Sebastian.

"Pardon?" The priestess was a bit confused why the new guy brought into the palace would be attached to Vorbuk specifically. Did they know each other? I thought he was just a strange man they found at the palace gates.

"We were old acquaintances." Vorbuk quickly spoke up in order to stop the topic. He was not interested in telling the priestess more then she needed to know about him and Sebastian. Especially when Sebastian was someone he knew from his old life.

Prince Leo seemed to divert his gaze elsewhere while muttering something incoherently to himself. It seemed the prince felt annoyed suddenly with the topic about Sebastian. Vorbuk could not understand why the prince was so sensitive when the man was brought up in front of him.

Vorbuk slowly added on while deciding to do what he could, "You only need to meet him once to understand his condition, right? I will take you to see him. It would seem I should check on how he is adapting to the palace now that he had some rest."

"Wait!" Prince Leo suddenly halted the conversation between the two of them.

"Hm?" Priestess Mai was startled by the prince's outburst.

"Heh." Ashley held in a feint laugh.

Vorbuk did not pay attention to either of them as he responded to the prince with a confused expression on his face, "What is wrong with you all of a sudden?"

Prince Leo coughed to clear his throat before replying with closed eyes as he tried to hide his embarrassment from shouting suddenly, "You have been through a lot and we still have much to take care of..."

The others did not say anything as they listened to the prince. It was a strange matter to step forward over. Truthfully it would not take much effort to stop by Sebastian's room with the priestess. Clearly the prince was uncomfortable with Vorbuk going there. He could not avoid Sebastian.

"You should just let me take care of it this time. I can take the priestess there to see him while you deal with other things. I can come find you when things are over with." Prince Leo pressed the issue while offering to take care of things on his own.

I guess I will let him have this one... Vorbuk thought to himself. It would be possible to meet with them later. He could also hear the news from the priestess about Sebastian's condition. There was no reason to rush meeting with Sebastian again as soon as he woke up. The prince meeting with Sebastian alone could also be good for the both of them in the future.

They would need to work together in the future. Vorbuk thought it would be best if they had a chance to get to know each other a bit more without him in the way. It would only complicate things more if he was in their way. Both of them seemed more focused on communicating with him then getting along if he was there.

Priestess Mai sighed to herself as she watched the two of them, "It does not matter which one of you takes me."

"H-Huh?!" Prince Leo was flustered as the priestess started to walk towards him.

Priestess Mai grabbed hold of the prince by his arm and smiled at Vorbuk, "Your Majesty, I will borrow the prince for this matter. We will excuse ourselves."

"P-Priestess, what are you doing?!" Prince Leo was startled by how the priestess held onto his arm. She used her strength to quickly pull the prince along with her as she left the room. His face flushed in embarrassment as he tried to understand what was going on.

The priestess could not endure much more tension between the two of them. Desiring to escape the awkward tension she could only motivate the prince to leave by pulling him along. Her father was someone who lived openly free to be himself. Mai had learned a lot from her father over the years including how to freely accept herself and act as she felt the desire to.

She was not embarrassed to pull the prince along by holding onto his arm. To others the way she held onto him made him look as if he was escorting her. The prince did not know a thing about the priestess so he felt panic on the inside. Outwardly he struggled to keep a calm demeanor.

"Are you going to let go of me?" Prince Leo asked quietly so that nobody could overhear them as they walked.

Priestess Mai pondered his question for a long time before smiling at him politely while answering, "If I let you go I fear I may never get there."

"Wh-What??!" Prince Leo became flustered at her remark.

"You clearly do not care for the man so why would you offer to take me to him? If I let go I fear that I may be left behind when you express it so obviously that you do not wish to see him from the very start." She spoke to him openly about the fact she saw the prince's dislike towards Sebastian.

The Prince bit back his words as he struggled to find a response to the priestess's words.