Chapter 78 - 2.39

"..Hmm? Do you truly want to know?" Xu Jiaqi giggled, tilting her head as she questioned.

"Yes, my lady." Zenith gulped, wondering what reason could it possibly be.

"You are a special person to me. Someone who can revitalize me when I am tired.. someone who can replenish my energy when I am exhausted. You are very special, Zenith. You don't even realize the extent of your potential! It's a real shame."

Zenith blushed at the lady's frank words. His thought frame immediately jumped to the conclusion that the lady was hurling praises and loving words towards him, but he quickly realized that that might not be the case. Energy, fatigue, exhaustion, vitality.

Most importantly, the discussion about his potential.

Was the lady talking about something else that he possessed and not how she felt towards him?

"Lady, if I may ask.. Could you elaborate on those.."

"Nope. Decipher them yourself. Interpret them in a way that you find suitable. I believe that you will be able to draw the correct conclusion, right?"

Zenith shrugged, nodding even though he was confused.

In any case, he had to go back to lecturing her about the scare she gave him when he couldn't find her anywhere despite using the full brunt of his abilities.

"Lady, you can't just disappear so suddenly without communicating your whereabouts or intentions. Even more so when you become the Saintess. I understand that you value your freedom, but this might come to bite you in the back. Please.." Zenith pleaded, his eyes pressing on his seriousness.

"I get it, I get-" Xu Jiaqi replied nonchalantly as she turned, but due to some remnants of the dizziness she got from the Goddess' gift, she lost her balance and was about to fall down.

Zenith widened his eyes, and hurriedly slid his arms below Xu Jiaqi's back, hugging her tightly and preventing her from falling down. He pulled her back up, and the both of them seemed to enveloped in a strange atmosphere as there were nothing separating their two bodies except for their articles of clothing.

Xu Jiaqi felt that her heartbeat was drumming. Without a second thought, she immediately recovered and concealed the shock in her eyes. She pushed Zenith away and looked to another direction.

"..I will walk back to the chamber alone. You can leave now. Good work for today, Zenith."

"What? My lady.." Zenith reached out to hold Xu Jiaqi back, but she quickly dodged his attempt and showed a flustered face as she distanced herself.

"Leave!" Xu Jiaqi exclaimed, barring the other off from trying to get close to her.

"..I understand. Please take care." Zenith lowered his head along with his hand before turning around and leaving her, not knowing why she had lashed out. What had he done? Did the lady loathe coming in close contact with him? Everything was just fine when they rode a horse together, so what exactly was the problem here?

With those thoughts brewing inside his mind, he went back to his living quarters. His mind was occupied by her angry figure.

Back in the location, Xu Jiaqi clutched her chest as she gnashed her teeth. Why was her heartbeat not slowing down? The man had already vanished from her sight. Better yet, she didn't hold any special feelings towards the man, but when he raised his voice and embraced her tightly without a strain of doubt, it did make her...

"What am I thinking? How stupid. Tch." Xu Jiaqi clicked her tongue and forcefully controlled her emotions, suppressing the spiralling thoughts and burying it down. "It's uncomfortable.. Pisses me off. Why is this happening?!"

She left for the quarters and went back to rest in a grumpy mood, wishing to shut down her thoughts completely. She also ignored the concerned System's words. Later on, she attributed this outrage of hers to her chaotic dreams, which had been affecting her for quite some time from when it first started.

As she slept, she would certainly enter another dream that would implicate her, but she didn't mind it as much as having to see Zenith's image pop up in her head.

While all this happened, Ezra was sitting inside his Tower, deep in thought as his eyes roamed about the room. The Goddess should be around there, somewhere. The Goddess was in his vicinity.

He felt vexed. For Xu Jiaqi to be able to see and hear his Goddess within the first time of meeting her.

He recalled his first interaction with the Goddess. He was only able to 'feel' her presence. That day, he was praying out of frustration. He came from a well off family, but they neglected him and left him to fend for himself.

His childhood was trash. Garbage. His life only started to pick up after a clergyman picked him up and introduced him to Goddess Eula's religion. From that point on, he became invested in this pure faith he had. It wasn't baseless. He knew that he had a special affinity for the deity because even from when he first clasped his hands together and prayed to the deity, he felt a warm light surging in his heart, as if cleansing and purifying him from deep within. It felt very comfortable.

After polishing his faith and nurturing  his ability, he grew stronger and stronger until he was discovered by the Holy Land's people and taken to Palla. At first, he thought that this would be a great chance for him to get closer to the deity. His beliefs on the people in charge were the same ones he had towards the clergyman who picked him up, when the reality was obviously different.

Alas, he managed to twist his rights and get a secluded Tower where he could freely spend his time devoting himself. The altar was built along with time, because he slowly began to hear the Goddess' voice more clearly thanks to Palla's high energy concentration. He then built the altar and set everything up. Then, he could finally land his eyes on the Goddess' peerless visage and charm.

It was the most captivating sight that he had ever witnessed.