Daneel honestly thought that Xuan must have said something completely different, and that he must have misheard her.
Yet, as he saw her move back and then start to move forward again, slowly, he realized that he was wrong.
She was being serious!
At this moment, a war began in his mind between two opposing forces.
One contained all the suppressed feelings inside him which he didn"t even know he had had.
They raged and ranted about how any typical earthling would have used the status as a King to enjoy the fruits of adulthood in as many different flavors as possible, day in and day out, even if only to see whether one could ever get tired of them.
It said that he should lean in now, too, and clear the debt in the process.
Obviously, it didn"t give two sh*ts about the debt.
The other was the more rational one, and Daneel was actually surprised that it wasn"t stronger.
It contained everything that the kind old lady had taught him, about how a woman should be respected and cared for by one with their utmost attention, and that one shouldn"t rush into a relations.h.i.+p the first chance they got.
It was the main reason he hadn"t proceeded in this matter even though he had gotten various opportunities- that, and because he had never seen the pressing need to rush.
The risk of millions dying always seemed more important, and he had always told himself that he could think about it later, when the threat was past.
After all, one was a pressing issue which would result in ma.s.sive loss of life if not handled properly, and the other wasn"t.
Yet, that other force begged to differ.
It tried to make him afraid that dallying like this would only result in him being left alone, until death, just like the Emperor, and that he should use the opportunity presented to him instead of acting like a completely inexperienced, shy teenager from Earth.
It didn"t fit his character, and it definitely didn"t fit his position.
As a stalemate was reached, something happened which threw everything in his mind into chaos.
Xuan had reached close enough that her warm breath, which had graced his neck before, was now felt on his nose as her lips reached ever closer.
The woman was the same height as him, which made him realize that she had used a spell to raise herself before initiating this action.
She had clearly planned everything out perfectly.
Yet, from the deep blush in her cheeks, Daneel realized that she might not be as bold as she was letting on.
However, she didn"t pause, and even Daneel unconsciously bent forward a little, resulting in him experiencing something which he could never forget.
Their lips touched for the briefest of moments, and when they did, Daneel was even tempted to use the Basilisk"s Breath to make this moment pause so that he could savor it more.
Her lips felt like they were the most succulent things in the world, and the way they pressed against his made him appreciate their fullness and perfection.
Feelings that had been hidden away for the longest time surfaced, making him become hyper-aware of all the changes happening in his body.
Yet, at that moment, a loud sound interrupted both of them, and made Xuan fall to the ground in shock.
Bang!
Someone had banged the door loudly, with such force that the whole alcove shook, causing dust to fall from the ceiling.
Daneel automatically leaned forward and caught Xuan by her armpits, and as he did so, his hands also brushed against something delicate and bouncy that made him feel puzzled at first, and then raise his eyebrows as he realized what they were.
Immediately, he let go, but not before he saw the expression of alarm on Xuan"s face, as she, too, hadn"t expected that something like this would happen.
Indeed, she had planned this whole thing because of a suspicion that the King was dallying in the matter because of inexperience, and not some other strong reason.
Hence, during her free time after becoming a Champion, Xuan had used Champion-level eavesdropping spells to listen in on the women of the sect who were in relations.h.i.+ps, who mostly happened to be the normal servants of the sect.
From them, she had learned a lot of details that had made her feel quite bashful while giving her the urge to close her ears, but she had also heard about how some men needed to be pulled into a relations.h.i.+p and be courted actively, in the same way that women typically were.
In fact, she even heard about a fair system in many villages and towns where there were cases of women seeking men and wooing them for various reasons which were in the same range as the number of men who sought after women.
That was when she had understood that her thinking had been flawed- her boldness had been good, but more boldness wasn"t bad, either.
This was what had led to this whole plan of obtaining the key to the Secret Archives, where they could definitely be alone, and also obtaining that bracelet to lure Molan away.
Of course, she had been as nervous as ever as she had leaned in. Many, many thoughts had gone through her head, such as what she was supposed to do if the King got angry and left, or if he thought less of her because of this, or if he had some other kind of adverse reaction.
Still, she had gone ahead, and she had been struck as breathless as Daneel in that moment.
And after that, when she had felt his hands on her body, a s.h.i.+ver had run through her back, making her shudder and feel a little sad when she saw him hurriedly remove his hands.
This was accompanied by a sudden onset of embarra.s.sment and self-consciousness, but both of their reactions were cut off when they heard another loud "Bang!" Which made them look at each other for a brief moment before running toward the door.
Xuan reached first, and as she pulled out the seed from her side, the door opened to reveal a furious Matron who glared at her and said, "Xuan, you may have become a Champion in the G.o.ddess Path, but you are not authorized to bring outsiders to sacred places such as these! You must learn to stick to the rules!"
The Matron was the one that had practically raised her, all her life. Even though she had begun to rebel in some ways, some intrinsic fear was still present, which made her look down and stammer, "I"m sorry, Matron-"
She was interrupted by a confident voice.
"Matron, let me apologize. I was the one who took advantage of Xuan. Your wrath should be directed at me, and not her."
It was from Daneel, who had understood the situation and decided to act this way, as he was really grateful and didn"t want her to get into trouble in any way.
Besides, he was banking on his position with the Head, who wouldn"t want him to be harmed.
To him, this felt like something he was obligated to do, but he didn"t notice the glow in Xuan"s eyes as she saw him defending her like this.
Inside her mind, fireworks were going off as she thought, "Yes! This is the kind of relations.h.i.+p I saw! Someone who cares for me, and is even ready to stand up for me in front of someone like the Matron! I"ve made the right decision!"
Meanwhile, the Matron had turned her glare in Daneel"s direction, who didn"t feel the need to lower his eyes, at all.
Of course, he was trying his hardest to not recall what had just happened, as he was afraid that all of his composure would disappear if that happened.
That moment, and that feeling still lingered in his head, but he couldn"t let them do so, unless he wanted to risk devolving into a b.u.mbling mess of a kid who had just had their first kiss.
It didn"t even count as such, and he, and her, had only been able to feel it as they had evolved minds.
If it was someone normal, it would have just felt like their lips brushed against each other for a fraction of a second, which wouldn"t have had as much of an effect.
Regardless, both of them knew that couldn"t show any sign of what had happened in front of the Matron.
So, Xuan just stayed silent, while the Matron measured up Daneel from top to bottom.
Finally, she "humphed" and said, "You"re lucky the Head favors you. But Xuan must be punished according to the rules of the Sect, and you cannot stand in her place. Xuan, head to the Room of a Thousand Mirrors and meditate for three days. Go."
"But I-"
"Yes, you were designated to show him around, but I"ll a.s.sume that duty, now. Now, go. One more word from you, and it"ll be three months."
This made Xuan grumble under her breath, which resulted in Daneel opening his mouth to speak again on her behalf in order to help her.
However, he stopped when he received a message from her via trinket.
"It"s all right. That room is just one of high Energy meant for a special type of training. It"s no trouble. I can show you around again when I"m out. If you want to leave, you can do so when the Matron is around, too. Goodbye for now, King Daneel."
Daneel didn"t know how to respond, and before he did, Xuan shot him a quick smile and teleported away.
As she saw this, the Matron "humphed" again, but led him in the direction of the library with her hands folded in front of her.
Just as Daneel was about to follow, he received another message from Xuan, which made him stumble and almost fall.
"That kiss doesn"t count, though. You are still in debt, and I"ll see what to do with it when we meet again."
His cheeks felt warm, and he even unconsciously raised his hand to touch his lips, while everything that had happened ran through his mind.
Before he sent a reply, the Matron spoke.
"She will be closed off from talking to anyone via trinket, too, so don"t think it"s too light a punishment. I"m just telling you so that you don"t think about doing something similar again. Whatever little information you might have gotten in that short visit, that"s all you"ll ever learn from our Secret Archives, unless you join the Big 4. Now, come on. I don"t have all day."
Daneel felt like laughing as he heard this.
Little information? He had recorded it all!
Smiling to himself, Daneel followed after her, but even he couldn"t tell whether that smile was because of what the Matron thought, or because of the message he had received from Xuan.
Regardless, he still did summarise his findings in the archives.
The Race was more important than he had ever imagined. He had to win it at all costs, and for that, he had to break the third seal as soon as possible.
Hoping to find things in the library that would help him, Daneel quickened his pace.
…
Meanwhile, sitting in a secret false room at the top of the dome were two middle-aged people who were drinking tea mixed with wine.
It was a special brew of the G.o.ddess"s Sanctum which gave one both the kick of wine and the serenity of tea, and all those who visited always sang praises of it.
One of them was the Head, and the other was the Matron"s master, who was the Hero on the High Council who represented the G.o.ddess"s Sanctum.
"You"re sure about this, right? I don"t want to have allowed my precious grand-disciple"s first kiss to be stolen away in this manner by someone incompetent."
This made the Head burst out with laughter before saying, "Hey, who stole who"s first kiss?! It reminds me of you, you know, all those years ago. Anyway, yes, I am confident. That kid just has something about him. He"s among the top in overall talent and potential in all the Big 4, but there"s something additional, too. Well, I"ve never been wrong, yet, and it"s not like she"s your most precious grand-disciple."
The Hero"s lips pressed into a line as she heard the first part, and after the Head was done, she shrugged and said, "She is the cutest, though. Anyway, have you-"
As they continued to talk about various other topics, Daneel absorbed himself in collecting all the books in the library of the G.o.ddess"s Sanctum.
…
At the same moment, Kellor had a puzzled expression on his face as he watched Faxul"s body, which had been acting strangely for the past 10 minutes.
He had been asked to stay and monitor Faxul, so he wondered whether to message the King.
After thinking for a bit, he decided to wait.
The "strange actions" were that wings made of glossy black weathers had started to come into existence occasionally on Faxul"s back, accompanied by tiny, dark holes in s.p.a.ce which gave Kellor a feeling of danger even though he had touched them and felt nothing except a slight attractive force.
As he continued to keep a close watch, night turned into day, and, for some reason, Kellor felt as if this day might prove to be quite eventful, too.