CHAPTER 53: BENEATH THE INVITATION

Damien continued to stare at Eliot without a change in his expression.

Feeling awkward under the continuous stare, Eliot coughed a few times.

"Ahem...Ahem..."

Hearing his coughs, Damien came out of his reverie and spoke.

"Why are you here?" Damien questioned as he turned back to look out of the windows, not wanting to look at Eliot anymore.

"I am here to report on pressing matters," Eliot answered with a serious tone.

"Haha! Are you saying that the head of the wandering nova team is here just to give me a report?" Damien asked after a chuckle, his tone full of mockery.

"You still remember what my team does, yes?" Eliot retorted with a sharp edge of his own.

Hearing that, Damien turned and looked at him with a small smile.

"Don’t you run around looking for dream rifts?" Damien answered with a playful tone.

"I don’t run around, my lord. I search for dream rifts." Eliot replied with a smile of his own, but a vein could be seen on his forehead.

"It’s the same thing, is it not?"

"It’s n-"

"Doesn’t matter, continue with the report."

A vein once again throbbed visibly on Eliot’s forehead when Damien interrupted him.

Eliot took a few deep breaths before continuing.

"It’s about the rifts-"

And Damien....

"Haha! Well, no surprise about that." Damien said as he started to laugh.

Hearing his laugh, Eliot clenched his fists and looked at Damien with a serious expression.

"Lord Regent, this is a serious matter," Eliot spoke in a bit louder voice.

"Hmm? I will decide if it’s serious or not, Eliot."

Eliot lowered his head and continued with a solemn tone.

"The number of dream rifts is increasing rapidly, and soon we won’t have enough manpower to take care of them." Eliot paused as he began his thoughts.

’I am sure that after hearing this, he will come back no matter what.’

A grin involuntarily appeared on his face as he thought so.

But the next words from Damien popped his bubble.

"And?" Damien questioned, his tone still indifferent.

"M-my lord, you know what will happen if we don’t close those dream rifts right?" Eliot spoke with a stutter because of how outrageously confused he became.

Damien, however, didn’t answer and continued.

"I don’t see it as a serious issue. The more rifts there are, the more chances for Midnighters to break through."

"But..." Eliot, too, turned silent on that.

"Isn’t it good for The Star Council that there are more dream rifts?" Damien asked, his tone had a bit of confusion.

Damien couldn’t understand why the Star Council even came to him... The more rifts there are, the better it is for them... But what Eliot said next answered all of his questions.

"The rifts... they are getting harder and harder to clear.... Even a rank one rift requires nearly double the manpower now." Eliot answered, his voice becoming deeper with each word.

"I see..." Damien finally got the gist of the issue as he nodded to himself.

"That is why it’s a serious issue, my lord," Eliot said, his tone nearly desperate as he tried hard to convince Damien.

"The more dream rifts there are, the more high-ranked Midnights the Star Council will have."

"But it will cause imbalance within Azor and the Star Council."

"It’s not something we can stop now, can we?"

"No..."

Both of them fell silent for a few moments.

"You may leave." Damien turned towards him as he said so.

"What would you do, my lord?" Eliot, however, didn’t move and asked.

"What does The Star Council want me to do?"

"They wish that you return to Azor as The Purple Regent, not as The Maestro of Space," Eliot answered without hiding anything.

"That is up to me to decide," Damien said, his tone as cold and sharp as the winds during winter.

"I know, my lord." Eliot bowed as he said that.

"Take your leave, Eliot," Damien said once again.

Eliot lifted his head and looked at Damien, and nodded his head as he turned around to leave.

"Make sure not to snoop around here."

Hearing that, Eliot clicked his tongue and left the room.

A few moments later, Damien heaved a sigh and moved towards his chair and sat on it.

"If what he said is correct, then rifts may become a huge issue shortly, and that is not only for Azor. I have to at least attend the meeting regarding this." Damien mumbled to himself as he fell back on the chair.

"And then there’s the meeting with Edwin Turner tomorrow..."

Damien let out a tired sigh as he lay back on his chair and closed his eyes.

’I’ll have to make sure that nothing goes wrong with the rifts till I find those pests and wipe them all out.’

He was deep in thought, which he came out of when his watch started to beep.

*Beep* *Beep*

Damien took out his phone and opened his eyes as he looked at the name of the caller, and a smile appeared on his face. He picked up the call and called out.

"Anna?" His tone was gentle and calm.

"Brother!" Anna replied with a voice full of excitement.

"Why did you call?" Damien questioned with the same smile on his face.

"Uwah! I can’t even call my brother now?" Anna said with a fake frown as she rubbed her eyes like a kid trying to stop its tears.

"Haha! Of course, you can." Seeing her acting like that, Damien’s smile widened as he replied with a chuckle.

"Hehe!" Anna too grinned widely and started to chuckle.

"But I know you tell well, Anna. So, tell me. Why did you call?" Damien questioned.

"Yeah, yeah. So we are going to have a class party tomorrow, and all of the students must attend it." Anna replied as she rolled her eyes and flicked her hair.

"I see..." Damien, hearing that, nodded and smiled as he asked.

"You called me just for that?" Damien asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I just wanted you to know about it," Anna replied with a tone.

"My little sister is so cute, huh?" Damien said as he grinned widely.

"S-shut up!" Anna yelled with a stutter as she hung up the call, and seeing that, Damien broke into laughter.

"Haha!"

A few moments passed in silence, after which his watch once again started to beep.

*Beep* *Beep*