Adroelians in the town

Days passed by as Irene's body continued to transform to that of a dragon's with her back, arms and legs covered in dragon scales.

And as much as Damian wanted her to know that it didn't bother her how she looked because of the change, the fact that his hands were broken on constant basis because of Irene's new found draconic strength made her feel terrible despite of what Damian and Stella said.

Damian also asked Zena to take a break from taking care of Irene as unlike him or Stella who were young and strong and could tank a lot of damage, Zena would surely suffer from accidentally getting hurt by Irene. Knowing that she was like her mother figure and the fact that Belserion lost his life not that long ago, Damian and Stella forced Zena to take some rest despite the unwillingness of the maid who had taken care of Irene for a long time and wanted to be by her side even when the conditions were that bad.

Though, Irene herself told her to do as Damian and Stella said as she too didn't want to injure Zena accidentally.

Damian who could just guess how much his wife was suffering felt pissed at himself as he was not willing to test any method that he could think of directly on her and wanted to gather some specimens showing same symptoms as her before trying his methods on her.

Because of all this Irene started to distance herself from the others and mostly remained alone in her room, leaving only when it was necessary. Of course it didn't mean that Damian and the others could not go in her room and stay by her side, but knowing that she wanted to be alone made them unable to stay in her room for long periods of time.

Well Damian didn't bother about that and made sure to stay beside her despite her unwillingness, though he knew that he liked his company and that was his reason for not following her unspoken wish of leaving her alone.

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"Hey Damian..."

"Yeah."

"Why are we here?"

"...Wanted some change of pace, that's all. What you don't like coming here with me?" asked Damian as he looked at the black haired woman beside her.

"...This was one of my wishes to go on a date with you like this, but surprisingly I am not in the mood for that." said the girl as she glanced at the Damian who was wearing a sling over one of his arms as he was out of potions and magic to heal his broken arm, though he still had some magic and potions in reserve. He decided to better save it if a situation arises.

"Seriously though, no wonder you and Irene could have a date openly in the town with these magic tools they disguise you perfectly." said Stella as she looked at the necklace she was wearing.

"I know. They were made for that reason after all." said Damian as he looked at the similar necklace that he was wearing and admired his own craftsmanship.

"The old man helped me in making these and a lot of other things." said Damian as he gripped the necklace a bit tighter and thought about the old man who gave him his seat as the mage head back in Adroelia.

Knowing the person that Damian was mentioning Stella looked at Damian with a bit of pity as she knew that he was probably the closest person to him back in Adroelia. She increased her pace and stood in front of Damian who being in his own world, didn't notice that and bumped into her.

"Ah! sorry-" said Damian but then realized that it was Stella who was standing in front of him.

Looking at her curiously, Damian wondered what happened to her but was taken in by surprise when Stella moved her hand behind his neck and forcibly bent him down to her level.

"There there, don't be sad." said Stella as she patted Damian's head with an amused smile on her face.

Hearing her teasing tone Damian looked up at her with a deadpan look on her face only to see Stella laughing cheekily.

"I know it is hard....and trust me I know better than anyone how you feel." said Stella as she thought about her father whose whereabouts were still a mystery to her but she knew what could most like have happened to him. She also had a lot of people she held dear back at her kingdom, but seeing how all of them were slaughtered made her tremble up in fear and anger and it still made her frightened whenever she thought about that scene.

"There there, don't feel sad." said Damian as he stood straight and patted Stella's head knowing might be going through her mind.

Stella snapped out of her trance as she heard Damian's voice and noticed that it was now him who was patting her but he had a concerned look on his face.

'Ugh...I made him concerned for me, when it was time to comfort him. Way to go Stella.' thought the former Adroelian princess as she mentally groaned but soon she sighed and said, "Stop messing with my hair." and lifted his hand off her head.

Damian chuckled seeing her pouting and just nodded his head and started walking forward seeing which Stella followed him as well.

"Anyways, so what is the reason that you brought me on a date?" asked Stella.

"I am out of potions and decided to get some materials from the town. You looks like you were bored at the castle since Gryph and Phen were asleep so I asked if you want to come along." said Damian as he looked at Stella who looked back at him with a pout on her face.

"Hmph, whatever. I will treat this as a date anyway." said Stella as she looked away.

"Well then let's increase the pace, I need to do a lot of things." said Damian as he started walking forward at a faster pace making Stella increase her pace as well.

After they were done with the shopping and all and have heard enough abuses about the "two people from Adroelia who ruined their kingdom" from the people of the kingdom. The said Adroelians just walked silently with Damian holding Stella's hand. Though it was not because of affection. Damian was holding back Stella from beating up the punks who were openly over ridiculing her and Damian.

She was even about to use her magic to burn the entire block if not for Damian stopping her from doing so.

"Damian let go of me, I will kill them all!! Who do they think they are saying nonsense like that!! They don't even know how much the two of us worked and dare say something like this!!!" yelled Stella.

Damian just sighed and thanked himself for making a silencing barrier before she started ranting.

"Just leave them be, they too need an outlet to let their frustration and anger out. As long as they don't do anything major, they will stay alive." said Damian as he tried to calm down Stella.

But despite all that Stella was still pissed at them and wanted to let out her own frustrations as well.

"Hmm....well if you stop now, I will show you something great." said Damian which immediately gained Stella's attention as she looked down towards Damian's crotch.

"Not that you perv." said Damian as he smacked her head.

"But you said 'something amazing'." said Stella with a smirk on her face.

Damian just gave her a deadpan look and then asked, "Do you want to see that or not?"

"Alright, but hurry up, we cannot show that 'amazing thing' out here in a public place after all." said Stella as she covered her mouth with her hands and glanced at his crotch once again only to get another smack on her head.

Damian then started moving at a very high speed, seeing which Stella followed him as well but was not able to catch up with him and could only follow behind.

Soon they reached a huge lake inside a forest.

"So was this the amazing thing?" asked Stella as she looked around.

"Nope this is." said Damian as a magic circle appeared near them.

"Happy Birthday." said Damian as Irene, Zena, Gryph and Phen appeared near them along with a table lined with various types of food.

"Happy Birthday!!!" said all the others with a huge smile on their faces though the Gryphons didn't understood what they were celebrating as they have yet to celebrate theirs and just followed what Damian did.

"!!!"

Stella had her eyes open wide as she looked at the people smiling at her and congratulating her. Soon she showed a huge smile as well and said, "Thank you!!!" and then rushed to hug Damian and Irene.

""Me too!! Me too"" said Gryph and Phen as they rushed towards the trio to join the hug...or so the other thought. The gryphons just pushed the girls away and sticked close to Damian while looking at girls with a victorious smirk on their faces which soon turned to a bright smile as they turned back at looked at Damian.

Damian just laughed seeing how the two kids that he raised were acting but just crouched down and let the two of them do what they wanted.