Chapter 88 - 2.49

"This is an order. I will do everything, you just have to wait until the seat is vacant. So... sit there nice and tight when I tell you to do so. Can you do that?" Xu Jiaqi smiled blissfully.

His heartbeat was going out of control, and he covered his face with a hand to hide his flustered expression. He thought that he was someone who could hide his emotions very well, but in front of his lady, all of his defenses seemed to be torn apart in an instant.

"The Emperor.. is not an easy enemy." Zenith finally spoke up after dozing out for a few seconds.

"There is a way. The Goddess is on my side, and so will the Holy Land. The Cardinal won't even be able to hold a candle against me by then. We might have to do some charity work after all. As hypocritical as it might seem, I will become the people's angel. They won't know anything, but they will support the angelic Saintess that actually saves them instead of telling them to pray to the Goddess, right?" Xu Jiaqi raised her brows in delight.

-You are already an angel in my eyes.-

Such a thought flashed through Zenith's mind for a second, leaving him stunned at how his mind was betraying him. His heart was telling him that.. there was a desire that he had to obtain. It wasn't strength, it wasn't power, glory, or anything like that.

It was something much more important to him, as Zenith Ahgren. His lady, someone he wished to protect, someone he couldn't bear leaving anymore.

Pursing his lips, he imagined himself as the Emperor. If he was truly the Emperor, then could he.. be with the lady? She was a Saintess. Albeit there being rules that stated how a Saintess should keep herself pure and chaste, once he got to the Emperor's seat, couldn't he bend this rule easily?

Who would be able to oppose it?

Of course, the lady herself. How could someone like him enter the eyes of the lady?

If he became the Emperor... No, it wasn't just a hypothetical situation anymore. The lady was very frank with her words, but she never spoke lightly of her plans. Since she had posed this question to him, it was certain that the lady was confident in her victory, that she would be able to pull off this outrageous feat.

"My lady.. if I became the Emperor, could I ask you for one reward?"

His mind was slowly being led towards agreeing with this whole offer.

"Sure thing. You may ask whatever you want, and I will unconditionally follow it." Xu Jiaqi confidently answered. It was unlike her, who wouldn't promise such an inconvenient thing that would certainly put her at an obvious disadvantage.

But, there was indeed a proper reason for it.

She just didn't say it. She didn't say the last bits of her words. The continuation.

'Because when you step up to that position, we would be most certainly done with all the missions, and I will return to the Space. A request or two should be awarded due to of your efforts so far.'

These words were omitted, and Zenith ate up her words in excitement. Thinking that since this was the lady, she wouldn't fool him. She wouldn't go back on her words.

Then, so be it.

"I gratefully accept your generous offer, milady." Zenith said. In his mind, the image of him getting together with Xu Jiaqi in the future was already firmly imprinted. "From this day onwards, I promise to stay by your side. I shall protect you with my life."

The man's oath was put down.

Ding!

Along with it, the System's notification sound rang, attracting Xu Jiaqi's attention.

[Side Quest: A Loyal Knight's Unconditional Trust.]

[Details: Zenith Ahgren has sworn his lifetime loyalty towards you. His unmeasurable faith and devotion is something that should be rewarded with the right gesture. The world needs to be purged of evil, and one of the steps to achieving that is to receive Zenith as the Varadan Empire's new Ruler. He is motivated to fill the spot because of his lady, Ariel Maine, who promised him a wish after the completion of their plans. He is very expectant of it. As the good lady of honor, your end of the deal has to be completed before leaving this world. Whatever his request is, you mustn't disregard it.

Target: Make Zenith Ahgren the Emperor and fulfill his request.]

It was the side quest.

Xu Jiaqi heaved a sigh of relief. It wasn't a romance quest, so she didn't need to nurture this man's favorability level like she did with the previous world. It was not that taxing when she thought about it now, but she still didn't sit right with the involvement of romance.

'Hoo, I was about to scream at the Main System if it threw me a romance quest. System, applaud!' Xu Jiaqi burst with joy.

She kept Zenith relatively close not just because she wanted to use him, but also because he could be a potential love target, and it would be easier for her to complete the side mission if it popped up suddenly. She wouldn't need to do more work.

But since the worry was lifted, she felt liberated.

As Xu Jiaqi rejoiced, the System was caught in a dilemma. He was a bit afraid to tell the happy Host of the truth.

The reason why it wasn't a romance quest.. Was because Zenith, this man, was already jumping into the pit of love all by himself without even realizing it. He still mostly denied it, trying to shrug it off as just the effect of having been around her for far too much. It was because in his mind, it was impossible for her to love him back, so he suppressed his feelings forcefully. But this led to an even bigger explosion of emotions!

He was naive and didn't know that what he was feeling was already beyond the realms of a normal love. Almost a deranged obsession even though he acted normally, nothing out of the ordinary.

The System wondered if he should tell this fact to the Host, but decided to rescind the desire since he believed that it wouldn't affect the Host too much.