Arthur stood outside of the restaurant that Andrea's parents owned, appeared slightly nervous, and red in the face as he waited outside, pretending to feel the glances of passer-by's as he silently waited.
He had to play the part of the fifteen year old who had just started to experience love for the first time.
A slightly embarrassing role for a thousand year old demon, but one that would inevitably pay off in due time.
The various "seeds" that he had planted had yet to bear fruit. And even though the blood essence gathering plants were nearly ready, their importance had become secondary in the face of this new benefit that had appeared in front of him.
Arthur's figure stiffened slightly, and he straightened his back as three figures walked out of the store in front of him.
Speaking of benefits appearing in front of him-.
Arthur's gaze glanced towards the two adults standing beside Andrea, and his face reddened slightly as he looked towards her.
"Good evening, Sir, Madam".
Arthur gave a polite bow to Andrea's parents, causing her Mother to smile gently while her Father eyed Arthur intently.
Andrea noticed her Father's actions and nudged him with her elbow, causing him to frown and send a glance towards Andrea's mother.
Said Mother just narrowed her eyes at her husband, causing him to sigh before turning towards Arthur with a stern expression on his face.
"I don't think I need to tell you what you can and can't do right?".
Arthur nodded, placing a fist over his heart.
"I swear on my Father's honour that I would never do anything to harm Andrea".
All three of them seemed slightly surprised at the seriousness of Arthur's tone, causing Andrea to blush heavily, and Andrea's parents to send another glance towards each other.
Her Father eventually let out a loud sigh before nodding his head, turning towards Andrea.
"Just be back before dark alright? And no drinking either".
Andrea nodded, already hearing these words before.
She had a lot of expectations placed on her the past month and had started to gain a new form of confidence. Her talents had increased dramatically, and her control and origin essence manipulation had hugely benefitted from the Boundless Forest Yearning Sovereign Boundary Physique.
The dream of her becoming a powerhouse capable of destroying mountains and separating the seas, was no longer just a dream.
And if it could attract the attention of the person she liked, then that was only an added benefit.
"I'll be home later Father. And I won't do anything stupid either".
Andrea took a step forward and stood beside Arthur, causing them both to smile at the sudden closeness.
If Andrea knew the amount of people in this world that would kill for this kind of attention, she would probably die before she could count them all.
Arthur turned towards Andrea's parents giving them a small nod.
"I'll make sure she gets home safely Sir".
Andrea's father nodded, watching the pair of them walk back towards the main street of the Village.
Eventually, all Fathers would have to give up their daughters eventually. It was something that he hadn't realised until now.
Andrea and Arthur on the other hand, seemed to light up the world wherever they walked past.
The talented third son of the Clan Leader, and the mysterious young female Fae Master that the Clan had suddenly placed a lot of attention on walking together through the streets, smiling and giggling like two young lovers.
It was the first time "either" of them experienced anything like this, yet both of them seemed neither awkward or embarrassed by the others presence.
In fact, they both welcomed it.
Arthur paused as he walked through the streets, turning slightly flustered as he looked towards Andrea.
"I, um.... got you something".
Andrea raised an eyebrow, also slightly flustered due to the sudden gift.
"Oh! Ah, what is it Arthur?".
He nodded, before taking it out of the small bag he had been carrying and placing it in Andrea's arms.
Her eyes widened at the gift and she shook her head frantically trying to give it back.
"Arthur! This is much too valuable! A vine fae must cost at least 20 origin essence stones! How did you-".
Arthur pushed it back towards Andrea, shaking his head from side to side.
"The cost is.... inconsequential. I can protect myself just fine with the fae I have. But, even if you have one of the Sovereign Boundary Physiques.... I don't want anything to happen to you Andrea, so I got this so you can protect yourself with it".
Arthur gulped slightly, turned an even deeper shade of red. The faint orange-red glow over the horizon masked the redness slightly, but only enhanced his physical attributes even more in the radiant coloured sunset.
Andrea froze slightly, unconscious staring at Arthur before avoiding his gaze, cradling the vine fae slightly in her arms.
Her smile unable to be hidden, even if she turned away.
"Thank you, I'll treasure it forever".
She had a lot of importance placed on her due to the Boundless Forest Yearning Sovereign Boundary Physique, but before this, no-one really paid attention to "Andrea".
People had only just started to respect the Boundless Forest Yearning Sovereign Boundary Physique, and not the person underneath.
This happened a lot with young geniuses.
They only got special treatment due to their talents, and as such, unconsciously treated their talent as a part of their identity.
It would usually form some sort of superiority complex, or even perhaps an inferiority complex if a genius fell from grace and lost their talent.
When that happens, they would usually lose their identity as well.
Their pride and self-confidence was tied to this talent, and as such, when it cracked or crumbled in the face of a greater power, they lost everything about themselves too.
Andrea had only just started to realise what everyone valued was her talent. Not herself.
But then, came Arthur. Someone who wanted to protect "Andrea" and not the Boundless Forest Yearning Sovereign Boundary Physique.
It was as easy as taking candy from a baby.
Arthur took Andrea to one of her favourite food stalls in Parachenko Village, and the pair ate while laughing and smiling happily as the sun slowly set over the horizon.
Andrea unconsciously felt more and more drawn into Arthur's confidence. His strength and his caring personality.
Everything about him was the same as her, with the sole exception of him not possessing one of the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques.
Despite not having the same level of talent as Randolf, or even Alina or Ratimir, he could still defeat them during combat with ease and grace.
She had only just started her Fae Master Path, but already knew that Arthur's combat senses were extremely powerful.
Perhaps.... she could use this as an excuse to get closer to him?
The cogs in Andrea's mind churned as she opened her mouth to speak.
"Arthur.... do you still plan on teaching martial arts to everyone?".
Arthur quickly drunk his cup of tea before shaking his head, indicating no.
"Everyone else is quickly advancing their cultivation. Even though I can fight those whose talent is stronger than mine, I lose out in cultivation speed. I need to focus my efforts of increasing my cultivation more quickly so that I don't lose out to the others".
Andrea silently nodded at his words.
But then-.
She moved her head closer towards him, glancing from left to right, so as to make sure no-one was listening.
"If I could help you with that, help increase your cultivation speed, do you think you could teach me how to fight? Without the others watching?".
Arthur raised an eyebrow, internally frowning his brows.
'This girl wants to get benefits out of me? How devious'.
This Andrea girl might definitely be worthy of one of the Thirty Three Sovereign Boundary Physiques.
Her mindset as a Fae Master had already begun to solidify.
Arthur lowered the volume of his voice.
"What did you have in mind?".
Andrea smiled before lowering her voice as well, moving her face closer towards Arthur's.
"The Clan Elders offered to give me a special fae called the vein limit fae. Apparently, it can increase origin essence regeneration even further once it has been incorporated into the body. It is a one-time use fae, so it can only be used once before vanishing".
Arthur's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, before he turned towards Andrea with a look of concern on his face.
"Are you sure that you don't want to use it? You cultivation speed should skyrocket so long as you use this fae".
Andrea shook her head gesturing to the fae in her arms.
"You already gave me one fae. How could I not return the favour?".
She smiled towards Arthur, placing her hand on his own.
The pair glanced down at their touching hands before quickly pulling away, both equally as red in the face.
Arthur recovered his composure much quicker than Andrea did, and nodded holding himself back from smiling politely.
He moved his head towards Andrea's, making her blush deepen as he moved his mouth beside her ear.
"If I can use that fae, then perhaps I would have the time to train in some martial arts".
The pair smiled, happily.
One got to spend more time with the person they liked.
While the other only gained from their budding relationship.
Truly, this was the duality of the human heart