After Keh returned from his father''s study, he joined his guests again.


    Damien was the one doing most of the talking. And the others listened. They learned how miserable Damien had been for all these years. They all were saddened by Damien''s story.


    They all only agreed to go to sleep when Keh informed all of them that they only had 4 hours left until they were to get up again. It was already 2 at night when they all finally bid goodnight to each other.


    "See you tomorrow, buddy," Ramon patted Damien''s shoulder and said with a soft smile on his face.


    Damien gave a nod. "Sure. Goodnight, Ray."


    Ramon was feeling extremely drowsy so he spared no time in heading towards his room.


    Keh then stepped in front of Damien and pointed at the room just beside his own. And he informed Damien just to fulfill his duty as a host, "I believe that the servants prepared that room for you." He also further added, "If you need anything then feel free to ask me."


    Damien nodded and replied, "Thank you!"


    Damien watched Keh walking towards the sofa and saying goodnight to Ariel, Nih, and Zach. And then he entered his room to rest for the night.


    Damien''s gaze then met with Ariel''s. He gave a subtle smile to her and mouthed, "Goodnight."


    Ariel gave a nod and resumed her talks with Nih.


    Damien heaved a sigh of relief thinking that everything went better than how he had expected. He then turned around to head to the room that was assigned to him. But he stopped when he felt a gentle tug on his vest.


    "Damien, you won''t disappear for another 9 years again, right?" Zach asked before Damien could enter the room.


    Damien turned around and lovingly ruffled Zach''s hair as if he was still a baby whom he saw 9 years ago. And he replied, "Zach, do you think that I would disappear again after listening to everything that I said for the past hours?"


    Zach grinned at Damien. "Goodnight then." He was about to head back to his room but suddenly something struck his mind.


    He looked at Damien and then curiously looked at Damien''s head. He then stood very close to Damien and asked, "Hey, if you don''t mind, can I sleep with you tonight?"


    Damien narrowed his eyes at Zach because Zach''s eyes were beaming for some reason. And not in a good way. It looked like he had something mischievous in his mind. So Damien asked, "First, tell me why you want to do that. I can sense that you are up to no good."


    "Um…" Zach turned his head and nced at Ariel. She was still sitting down on the sofa and she was listening to something that Nih was whispering to her.


    He also leaned closer to Damien and then whispered to him, "Ariel had told me one of your secrets when we were kids. And I really wanted to check it for myself and even slept with you. But I fell asleep and didn''t get to see it. And you disappeared after that night and never came back."


    Damien kept on standing still as he tried to process what Zach just said to him. He recalled that Zach had insisted to sleep with him that night. But then he ended up sleeping in between Zach and Ramon.


    However, he couldn''t recall him having any secret. So he asked Zach, "What secret are you talking about?"


    "That you…" Zach looked around and since no one was actively listening to him, he whispered to Damien, "Ariel had told me that your horns grow at night. And I really wanted to see that."


    "Horns?" Damien looked visibly confused.


    And out of the blue, they heard Ariel cracking up. Both Zach and Damien nced at her. She was looking at them andughing.


    "What''s wrong?" Zach felt as if Ariel wasughing madly because she was that angry at him for saying to Damien that she had revealed his secret. He pinched Damien''s vest and asked Ariel in a little scared tone, "Don''t tell me that you are mad at me?"


    "What? No, you idiot!" Ariel controlled herughter and said, "You still believe that I told you the truth that day? That was just a joke! Damien doesn''t have any ho–"


    She suddenly stopped and looked at Damien.


    And while she paused, Zachiningly shouted at Ariel, "What? Did you lie to me? Why?"


    A thought had suddenly crossed Ariel''s mind. She couldn''t deny the possibility that Damien could have grown a pair of horns after they got separated. So rather than apologizing to Zach for lying, she curiously asked Damien, "You don''t have any horns, do you?"


    Zach instantly turned his neck and looked at Damien''s face, expecting him to say that he has an amazing pair of horns.


    However, Zach was disappointed.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Damien burst intoughter when he heard Ariel asking such a question. "Of course, I don''t! If I had horns, why would I keep it a secret from you?"


    "No, I mean, I thought that you could have… gotten itter," Ariel replied and quickly looked away from Damien.


    Zach then shouted at Ariel again, "You are such a bad person! I believed you for all these years!"


    Ariel nced at Zach and teasingly said, "Well, you never asked about Damien''s horns again. So I never told you the truth."


    "I didn''t ask because then you would get upset after hearing Damien''s name!" Zach emphasized in a high-pitched voice.


    Ariel shrugged and then got up on her feet. "Well, you know now," she replied and then headed towards her room.


    "Goodnight, everyone!" she said before she locked the door of her room.


    Zach pouted and then said to Damien in a dejected voice, "If you don''t grow horns at night then there''s no point in sleeping with you. Goodnight, Damien."


    "Goodnight," Damienughed and patted Zach''s shoulder.


    After Zach also left themon room, only Damien and Nih were left there.


    Damien nced at Nih and said with a smile, "Goodnight, Nih."


    However, rather than replying back with a goodnight, Nih walked closer to Damien. She gave a subtle re to Damien. The irises of her eyes had a subtle golden glow on them.


    Damien could sense hostility from Nih even though she wasn''t trying to be hostile.


    Nih then said to Damien in as soft a whisper as she could produce from her mouth, "Damien, I am really happy that you are back again. Everyone is. I can feel that even Ariel is happy with your arrival."


    "But?" Damien guessed that there was a ''but''.


    And as he had guessed, Nih further said, "But Ariel was finally showing her happiness. She is finally ready to let people in her life, let them love her. To put it bluntly, Ariel is finally epting Keh in her life. And she looked really happy."


    She took a deep breath in to calm down the anger that was surging in her heart out of nowhere. And after a few moments, she said again, "You cannot suddenly pop out of nowhere and say that you are going to marry Ariel!"


    Damien felt a pinch in his heart upon hearing what Nih was saying. He felt a little betrayed when Nih was taking Keh''s side.


    Nih, on the other hand, had seen Ariel so happy after so many years. And she wasn''t blind to not see Keh''s efforts in giving Ariel the happiness that she deserved. She didn''t want Damien to ruin Ariel''s happiness again.


    So she warned Damien, "I am sorry that you were buried in your own guilt and emotions. And I am sorry that you had to go through a lot. But Ariel is finally happy. She looks alive again. And Keh is a really good man for her. So, please, if you really want Ariel to get the happiness that she deserves, don''t say anything stupid to her and confuse her."


    But little did she know that Damien had already done that.