Chapter 290 Can You Afford Me?

Kyran's words instantly peeved Rhys and Vera.

Regardless of the Crown Princess's take on what Kyran had said, Rhys and Vera would never tolerate such insolence in front of the empire's Crown Princess.

"You rascal!" Sigma suddenly bellowed and smacked Kyran's head.

"Ack" Kyran winced as he touched the spot where Sigma's huge fist landed. There he found a lump forming from the force of Sigma's fist.

Sigma's action made Rhys, and Vera gawk at them stupefied.

Even Haylee's beautiful sapphire blue eyes widened in surprise.

"Do you have to hit me that hard Senior Sigma?" Kyran complained.

The interaction between the two was not scripted. Even Kyran's complaint was real. His head was indeed hurting. If he was not pretending to be Tyr, Sigma's hit would not have hurt. The hit would have even backfired on Sigma and he would end up with broken bones.

The reason for this was that Kyran's body had already fully assimilated the drop of dragon's blood he had taken when he was young, making his body similar to that of a dragon. But since Tyr did not possess a tough body, Kyran had to forcefully lower his physical defense. At the moment, his physical defense was comparable to an Adept which was at least five levels lower than Sigma's level, making the latter's simple smack very effective.

Malek and Noir, on one side, did not react much to what Sigma had done. Honestly, if Sigma did not act, one of them would. After all, they might only act respectfully in front of the Crown Princess, but she was still the Ylfaen Empire's Crown Princess, and if the latter was offended by Kyran's words, this meeting might end up going downhill.

"Humph," Sigma snorted and crossed his arms as he glared at Kyran. "If not for Chairman Noir's presence, I would have clobbered you senseless for your unscrupulous tongue. You are talking to the Crown Princess! What the hell are you even saying?"

It was at this point that Haylee burst out in laughter.

Her laughter did not sound unrefined though. On the contrary, the sound of her laughter filled the whole VIP room with a melodious sound that seemed to lift their souls.

This instantly made Malek double his guard. He was a Magus, and his magic defenses would not have been affected easily, but they did. His initial suspicion about the Crown Princess seemed to be correct.

Kyran felt the same. He might have forcefully lowered his physical defenses but hi

"President Sigma," Haylee started as she wiped a tear at the edge of her eyes. It had been a while since she laughed so hard that it brought tears to her eyes. "It is fine. I actually find Disciple Tyr's words intriguing."

She then looked at Kyran and smiled, "Rather than having an unscrupulous tongue, I felt a slight discomfort in you when you said that. Can I take it that this is not the first time others tried to recruit you?"

Kyran raised his brows at her, "What? You're trying to recruit me? Then you should have just said so. Why make it sound so vague? Saying something like wanting to take me back with you to the Palace... You sound like you want to make me your consort or something."

Once again, Rhys and Vera almost burst out.

Even Sigma's glare sharpened as he yet again tried to rebuke Kyran.

"Why you—!"

Malek cleared his throat, instantly diverting everyone's attention to him. That was everyone, apart from Haylee who was still looking at Kyran in amusement; and Kyran who was also looking at Haylee with an indifferent expression.

"Sigma, you know Disciple Tyr has always been sensitive to the opposite gender trying to gain his favor. There is no reason for you to overreact," Malek said, giving Sigma a meaningful glance.

Noir also cleared his throat and stood up. He bowed slightly in Haylee's direction and said, "I hope you will not take offense, your Highness. I understand that you seemed to be interested in my Disciple's ability. To show our sincerity, we will be willing to hear what you have to say."

Kyran's brow furrowed at Noir's action but did not say anything. Instead, he looked away from Haylee and closed his eyes.

Haylee looked at Noir and shook her head, "None taken, Chairman Noir. I actually find Disciple Tyr's character interesting."

"Thank you for your understanding, your Highness." Noir replied and sat back.

Hayle turned her attention back to Kyran and said, "Rest assured Disciple Tyr. I am not trying to gain your favor... no, maybe I am but not in that way."

Kyran heaved a sigh and shrugged, "Most said the same."

"You—!" Vera started.

However, Haylee lifted her hand, stopping Vera's outburst.

"Princess..." Vera wanted to say something, but seeing Haylee's sapphire blue eyes fixed on Kyran, she could only swallow her words and stand down.

"Kidding aside," Haylee started as she crossed her legs and leaned forward while resting her forearms on top of her leg. "I am here on behalf of my father, Emperor Euan of the Ylfaen Empire, and want to offer you a position as an exclusive Array Specialist of the Royal Family. Name your terms."

Haylee's declaration made Malek, Noir, and Sigma's expressions turned grim.

Kyran had already warned them about what the Royal Family might be up to and was somewhat prepared for it. But hearing it directly spoken by the Crown Princess, still left them shaken.

Silence ensued inside.

Rhys and Vera watched the three Conclave council members closely. Disciple Tyr might not be bound to the Conclave but he was still the disciple of Chairman Noir, who was a member of the Conclave High Council. Though the Crown Princess's decision in recruiting Tyr in front of the Conclave council members might be a show of respect, that might not be the case with the Conclave.

After almost a minute of silence, Kyran finally moved.

He leaned forward and smiled at Haylee, "Can the Royal Family afford me?"

Rhys could no longer stay silent. He glared at Kyran and said, "There is a limit to being brazen in front of the empire's Crown Princess. Show respect."

This time, Haylee did nothing to stop Rhys from berating Kyran. It was not because she felt offended but because she knew it would be difficult to negotiate with Kyran.

For Kyran to say what he did, meant he was confident in his abilities. Although there were no magic items under his name that had been out in the market to fully assess his abilities, the fact that he could make a human-shaped puppet said a lot.

Kyran's puppet might be far from perfect, but if he became an exclusive Array Specialist of the Royal Family, they would be able to provide better resources for him to perfect his puppet. Of course, the Blacksmith Order also had a vast amount of resources, especially with them being part of the Conclave, but they had far too many talents and their resources would be split accordingly.

Malek, Noir, and Sigma also chose to remain silent. This time, they wanted to let Kyran handle the rest.

"Or else what?" Kyran asked with a slight smile as he turned his attention to Rhys.

Rhys furrowed his brows. However, he knew Kyran was trying to bait him and refused to comply with it. He said, "The Crown Princess is nice enough to ask for you to name your terms. Answer properly."

"I am," Kyran replied with a shrug. He leaned back and tilted his head to one side, "When I asked if the Royal Family can afford me, I was seriously asking. Because my terms are quite... demanding."

Rhys sneered, "Is that so? Are you saying that your value is high enough to demand similarly high terms?"

Kyran shrug and did not reply. However, the confident smile that tugged at the corner of his lips annoyed Rhys. He had met a lot of people and even dealt with people with the same attitude as Kyran. An attitude that believed they were above others.

"Your Highness," Rhys said and turned to look at Haylee.

"Yes?" Haylee replied without looking at him.

Lowering his head, Rhys asked, "Please allow me to test this young man's abilities. I am afraid that your Highness may end up disappointed if he is not up to par with the Royal Family's standard."

When Malek, Noir, and Sigma heard Rhys's proposal, they could not help but check Kyran's reaction. Unfortunately, Kyran's expression remained unreadable. He even looked a little bored even when he had a smile on his face.

Vera found the attitude of the three council members a little strange. At this point, they should have tried to talk some sense out of Kyran to avoid clashing with Rhys. But instead, they remained silent. They did appear a little worried, but Vera could not shake the feeling that they were not worried about Kyran, but something else.

"Permission granted," Haylee replied and smiled.

"Thank you," Rhys replied, bowing his head further toward Haylee before turning his attention back to Kyran.

Kyran looked back at Rhys with an unreadable expression.

Though it annoyed Rhys, he had to reign in his emotion, after all, he could not detect any fluctuation in Kyran's mood right from the start. Something that he only noticed around veteran fighters.

"I hope you don't mind Chairman Noir, and Head Master Malek," Haylee said while looking at the two.

The two shook their head.

"It is fortunate we are already in the training ground," Malek was the one who spoke. "I can prepare one of the private training rooms for them."

"That will be great," Haylee agreed.

Malek stood up and gestured toward the door, "Please, follow me."