Beneath starlight that seemed like something from a dream, Du Pont could not help feeling a little guilty when faced with his mentor's question, even with his temperament.
Though the identities of him and the others were perfectly clean, and at most there had been a little physical friction between them, he had only managed to become an apprentice without paying the apprentice tax because of Deva's connections. Otherwise, he would probably have had to waste money for a long time.
And now he had eaten from her table, so to speak. World Tree Essence was practically priceless and unavailable on the market, a supreme divine treasure that money alone might not buy. Without his mentor's connections, how could he possibly have gotten his hands on such a benefit merely by showing up?
At best, he would have ended up like that bastard Lavoisier, who started a war with the drow in his name and then tossed him ten thousand gold coins to send him away.
So how was he supposed to explain this?
After several seconds of thought, the air seemed to freeze. Du Pont considered it again and again before deciding to tell the truth. "Well... there's a deal between us."
Du Pont explained how Yuehua had hired him to pretend to be her boyfriend. The female mage immediately sneered. "Heh. I didn't expect someone as clever as you to get muddleheaded over such a trivial matter. No matter how far the elven empire has declined, it remains one of Faerûn's foremost powers. Its current troubles are more because its internal forces cannot unite."
"Moreover, Yuehua's family is part of the royal house. There are currently eight surviving children. Regardless of gender, every one of them had a price tag the moment they were born. Their internal competition