As Minos left the room, he saw Xin, who was about to enter the chief's chamber. Xin tried to turn back and go the opposite way as soon as she saw him, but before she could, Minos held her hand and asked, "Xin, are you going to avoid me forever?"
Xin finally faced him and sighed. "If you want to talk, this isn't the appropriate place. I will come by your hut tomorrow." She said. Minos looked reluctant to leave her, but sensing the sincerity in her voice, he decided to trust her words this time. After he let go of her arm, Minos immediately left the celebration, as the purpose of coming here was Xin and it was already completed.
Next Morning
Minos woke up to see a familiar face staring at him. With a smile, he gently mumbled, "Why are you so beautiful, you goddess?"
"Wake up, you beast." Xin said, turning red all of a sudden.
Rubbing his eyes, Minos sat up slowly, realizing that this was not a dream.
"Why did you come so early? Wait, does that mean you've been reinstated as my personal maid? If so, I think this calls for a celebration." Minos said, asking one hundred and one questions at a time.
"When did you become a talkative?" Xin asked, releasing a sigh, before continuing. "You said you wanted to talk, I'm here now. Let's make it snappy."
"Xin, can you please tell me what happened last night? I can't recall a thing. My memory's blank." Minos asked, looking at Xin who was already turning red.
Waiting for a while, he got no response from Xin, who looked like she was not willing to answer any time soon.
"Xin, just tell me. Did we do it or not?" Minos asked, as Xin left the first question unanswered.
Xin quietly nodded, and a look of regret and frustration was visible on Minos' face. "I'm sorry, Xin. I really am." Minos said, as he couldn't get over the fact that he had tainted this goddess and frustrated because he couldn't remember what happened the night he lost his virginity. (+_+)
"It's alright, it's really not a big deal. I always wanted to be a nun." Xin replied casually.
"Why?" Minos asked.
"Why what?" Xin replied in confusion.
"Why do pretty girls lie so much?" Minos asked Xin, as he saw through her facade.
"I'm not lying. Why do you think I would waste my lying skills on the likes of you?" Xin retorted, as she folded her hands under her breast.
"I don't believe you!" Minos said, as a smile appeared on his face.
"How does that concern me?" Xin asked, standing up to leave the hut, when Minos held her arm and said, "I don't think I can allow someone like you to be a nun."
"It was never your decision to make." Xin replied, in a somewhat angry tone.
"Okay then, I will tell you my plan now and you decide if it's my decision to make or I still don't have that much power." Minos said, as he looked at a pissed off Xin.
"What plan?" She asked.
"I can break through your chains now, as I've regained my strength. So after I do that, I will break the village barrier and leave this little village of yours. I'm sure you heard of the upcoming war between the Dark Council and your village, and I'm also sure you know that your village has no hope of winning against such a cult without me. And even with me, it will still be a bit of a hassle. So that's my decision. I won't be staying."
Xin's expression immediately changed from being angry a few seconds ago to that of horror, as she knew for a fact that they really had no hope of winning.
"Okay, what do you want?" Xin asked, as Minos stood up and moved towards her.
"Marry me!" Those were the words that came out of his mouth.
Hearing this, Xin was shocked and said, "Why me?"
Bringing his face very close to Xin's, Minos whispered, "I always dreamt of marrying a goddess, and if I let you become a nun, I don't think I will get married to anyone else. Where I come from, it will take me 200+ years to find someone of your caliber of beauty".
I refuse, Xin said before rushing out of the little hut.
Minos was shocked by her answer as he thought she gave the "I love my village" kind of vibe. Or could he be wrong? He wondered before Li Song walked in, breaking his line of thought.
Later that day, Minos went for a walk to clear his mind as the truth remained: he hadn't made a decision about saving the village or leaving as he claimed he had in the morning.
While on his walk, he saw Li Song rushing to meet him. He asked, "How may I help you?" as Li Song stopped to catch her breath. She had run from the chief's chamber all the way to where Minos was.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, great Minos, but the chief requests your presence," Li said.
"It's just Minos," Minos corrected, already getting irritated as that's what she had been calling him since morning even after being warned by Minos several times.
"Tell your chief I'm on my way," Minos said before continuing his walk. As she left, what immediately came to Minos's mind was, "Do you think Xin will call me great Minos as well?" Minos thought, but was quick to give himself an answer: "Not a chance!"
After his walk, Minos had already decided to find out about Xin's story from the chief before concluding, as he knew that the only reason he would stay to fight would be for Xin.
Going to the chief's chamber, Minos was welcomed with a large banquet, but this time it seemed to be made for just Minos and the chief.
"So what do you think? Have you made your decision?" the chief said, breaking the silence that existed between them.
"Before I tell you my decision, I need some certain details regarding the dark council and when this war is expected to take place. Plus, I need some information regarding my former personal maid, Xin," Minos said, waiting for the chief's reply.
The chief stood up, walked towards his wooden cabinet, and brought out some pieces of paper and gave them to Minos. "That's everything you need to know about the dark council. The war part is a little different as even I don't know, but when it's time I will let you know. Now the last thing, you're looking for information about Xin. What do you want to know?"
"Tell me everything you know about her," Minos said with a calm demeanor.
"Okay, let me see," the chief said, stroking his chin before starting.
"Xin is not from the Akabba Clan. All I know is that her mother and she appeared in front of our barrier begging for refuge after a great war. We were skeptical but allowed them in as slaves. Two months passed and her mom was sentenced to death by hanging as she harassed one of our nobles. After the death of her mother, Xin never remained the same."
Minos was infuriated, but he didn't know why he was getting angry. "You mean to tell me that the penalty for harassing a noble is death by hanging?" Minos asked, already seeing through the conspiracy.
"Don't misunderstand me. I…" The chief tried to explain, but was cut off by Minos.
"If I will save a trashy town like this, I will be giving you my conditions. But the first one is you'll hand over all rights you have over Xin as your slave," Minos said with pure disgust visible on his face.
"As you wish, great Minos," the chief said, as he could already sense that Minos was pissed beyond measure.
Grabbing the pieces of paper, Minos said, "I will tell you the rest tomorrow," before walking out.
On his way to his hut, he sighted Xin walking towards the maid house and immediately approached her.
"Let's talk!" Minos said before walking towards his hut, and Xin calmly followed.
"As of today, you're leaving that maiden house and staying here," Minos said as soon as they entered his hut.
"And why is that?" Xin asked.
"You're no longer a slave as of today. You are my partner," Minos said, confusing Xin even more. She had a lot of questions, but before she could ask, Minos said, "Xin, I want to hear your side of the story. How did your mother die?" Minos asked, and immediately tears rolled down from her eyes. She didn't know how to answer the question. Seeing this, Minos moved closer to her, hugged her, and tried to calm her down as he knew what he said just reopened old wounds. He ended up cuddling her on the bed.
After a while, Xin calmed down a bit before telling Minos the whole story: Her mom never harassed a noble, but she was a maid for the noble's wife, who hated the fact that Xin's mother was more beautiful than she was and even started to catch her husband's eyes. So using her influence, she was able to create a scenario where it looked like Xin's mother was involved in adultery and was a spy from the neighboring village, and took the opportunity to kill her mother by hanging. When the chief heard about this, he only sent a notice of warning without any punishment, after all, they were just slaves.
"Pretty goddess, how do you think we should handle this? What punishment would be suitable for such a lady?" Minos asked Xin after hearing her story.
T/L = What punishment should we give this woman?
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