Claire became quiet. Her lips pursed, making her look a little bit hesitant. She puckered her lips and spoke, "Before you were born, when you were in my womb, do you know who I considered being worthy of you, my only son, at that time?"

Davis blinked for a moment and thought he had found the answer, "Princess Isa... Ruth?"

Claire couldn't help but nod her head, "She is the strongest women in the whole of Grand Sea Continent at that time, and I thought that I would never return to this 'place'. Hence, she became the first candidate in my mind. The marriage between you two in the future would also lay the foundations for the Loret-Ruth Alliance, further entrenching ourselves as peak power."

Speaking till this Claire heaved a sigh, "Unfortunately, because of the rebellion started by the treacherous Noble Families, I had to compromise and promise you the Cauldon Family's Young Mistress!"

"And at that very moment, you lost the right to marry the greatest flower of the Ruth Empire..."

Davis had his eyes wide, thinking that his mother had seriously thought about his future and the Loret Empire as a whole. Perhaps, only a few Empresses would do that considering that they occupied a position of looking down on the crowd. Most of them wouldn't even bother about the sons and concentrate on strengthening their grasp on the Emperor in the Royal Scene!

Fortunately, his mother wasn't like that.

Claire closed her eyes, "Still, I never thought she would clear 'that' and grow up to this stage in cultivation. The more I think about it, the more remorse I feel..."

"Is that so?" Davis smiled, "Well, I'm glad you promised me to the Cauldon Family's Young Mistress, otherwise, I would've never met with Evelynn!"

Claire smiled back, "You sincerely love her, don't you?"

"Love?" Davis laughed and shamelessly declared, "It is better to say that I'm obsessed with her."

Claire giggled and pursed her lips, "There is still one other regret I have over to matter of your marriage."

"There's still more?" Davis felt amused.

"It's about Princess Shirley..."

Davis's expression froze. His smile turned stiff as he looked at his mother.

"Honestly, I felt that the matter regarding the marriage of you two was heaven sent."

"At that time, the Grand Sea Continent came to know the existence of your master, allowing our Empire's momentum to skyrocket!

"Your perspective wasn't large at that time so you failed to see the intricacies, but, Emperor Ashton was after you the moment he tried to marry off his daughter, Shirley Ashton to the Loret Empire."

"Initially promising her to Logan was just a farce. The moment it failed, he instantly promised her to you so that he could wait and see in the future if he should marry her to stumbling and also the rising Empire such as the Loret Empire..."

"It gave Emperor Ashton a decade of leeway to reconsider his words while also securing a route of stabilization for the future..."

Davis widened his eyes in shock. There was so much going on while he was measuring 'Empress' Isabella's peaks at that time?

Davis felt rather ashamed for not noticing the intricacies and small details... Or it could also be possible that his mother had read just too much into it.

In any case, whether if it was true or not, it didn't matter to him anymore as he had his own way to become stronger and make the Loret Empire grow.

To him, even setting up a new empire, organization, or sect in the First Layer wasn't a dream in a hundred years. With Fallen Heaven's prowess, he could make this a reality.

"But in the finals of the Grand Sea Continent Meet, you two just had to revoke the engagement like it was nobody's concern..."

"But mother, it was Shirley who revoked the engagement, not me."

"Hmph, without your consent, how could she revoke the marriage agreement single-handedly? At that time, she didn't have much freedom in that matter. Only with your mutual consent could the engagement matter be revoked." Claire scoffed.

"I didn't want to marry a woman without her consent. It was her choice to..." Davis twisted his lips but got interrupted.

"What about now? Isn't she obsessed with you? After going that far to help our Empire with that matter of the loot got from the secret entrance, looking after Clara like how she would look after a little sister, don't you think that she has fallen enough for you?" Claire gasped.

"I don't know where you saw that she didn't want to marry you...? At that time, during the Grand Sea Continent Meet, she was nothing more than a confused woman."

"It took her some to realize her feelings but you two just had to be hasty and revoke the marriage as if you've two seen through it all!"

Davis had no words to refute as he became tongue-tied! After being fed all this information by his mother, even he felt that it was perhaps his fault that it became like this.

Thinking back, if he and Shirley hadn't mutually revoked the marriage, perhaps, the event that caused Evelynn's arm to be severed wouldn't have befallen either.

If he thought using this perspective, then perhaps, it was all his fault all along in the first place.

Davis widened his eyes as some kind of unknown feelings erupted in his heart. He couldn't even tell if it were guiltiness or happiness.

At this moment, the blame he cast on Princess Shirley completely disappeared from his heart. It somehow left him empty and a small urge to find Princess Shirley welled up within him.

"Currently, she has already become equal to me in cultivation or perhaps even surpassed me considering that she has already cleared that another 'trial'."

"Hence, the reason for my other regret." Claire sighed as she patted Davis, "My son, I always want the best for you."

Davis blinked and slumped his shoulders as he shook his head, "I already have the best with me."

Claire giggled, "Of course, Evelynn's the best daughter-in-law I could've hoped for! Honestly, I didn't think I would like her enough to accept her calling me her mother. At that time when I was in bad terms with Logan, she alone was the one who helped me tide over it for a long time."

"Although clumsy, she's very perceptive and cares about the feelings of others. From what I've seen, she wholeheartedly loves you and as a mother who had her son taken away, that's the best I could ask for!"

Davis chuckled and pulled over his mother's cheeks, wanting to tease but suddenly a voice echoed from the projection.

"The envoys from the Alstreim Family have arrived!"

Claire's entire being froze as she turned stiff. Logan and Davis simultaneously became alert as they heard the word 'Alstreim'.

While the crowd was fascinated with the still unknown and unseen envoys of the Alstreim Family, Davis, Logan, and Claire had already stood up and left the makeshift Banquet Hall. They came out and stood outside as they saw the projection. The projection alone was equal in size to an enormously big theater screen on Earth.

They already interchanged their masks to the ones implemented with the 'Blur' symbol. They had entered a cautionary state considering that the Alstreim Family was here for some reason.

They guessed a few reasons, perhaps, to congratulate the Ethren Emperor on his 950th Birthday? They had this doubt but when Claire saw the entourage of seven members on the projection, she became shocked!

And so did Davis and Logan!