Chapter 223 - Su Luxi (13) <2-in-1>

Days passed yet since the last day the female lead came over to the Wade Mansion, Jiang Li did not hear from the Goddess again.

He wondered, was she busy setting up the summoning ceremony? Or were there just other duties making her busy?

It was hard for him to guess since he had no knowledge of what level of power she had and how otherworld summoning works. He turned to the system but it was useless, it couldn't answer him.

It only said to him, 'Host, the Goddess, though mentioned as a powerful and majestic being of this world, is nonetheless a mere extra in the plot. The system deemed her an unimportant character too whose worth is only to summon the villainess. If you ask me about the leads though, I can probably help. But if it's regarding an extra... Ha ha.'

Lying. The damn system was obviously lying since its laughter was very awkward. For sure, it could show him the coordinates of anyone in this world apart from the Goddess.

But he didn't pursue anymore since he had already a guess that the Goddess' disappearance was related to the summoning. The Saintess, after all, would be coming to this world soon.

Now that he remembered it, why was she entitled to a wish again? Was it the compensation because the soul of that person was suddenly pulled into this world?

Hmmm...                       

While he suspected Su Luxi was summoned in random to set up the stage for the leads, the plot justified it as a means to consolidate the church's power and make the faith for the Goddess of Light stronger.

But for what reason again? The continent was too peaceful and there was no mention of a dark faction or any opposing forces in the plot. So was there a need to consolidate power?

System: Host, this is fantasy. It was normal for some things not to add up here. Take note as well that the plot is more focused on romance and the existence of magic and its medieval setting are only for the sake of beautifying the romance. And also, look. A romance between two people will be boring without a villain, so the Saintess could not not be summoned. Try to create a harlequin novel without a villain and see if any publishing house will accept it! Host, I'm telling you, no editor will accept it!

'Oh?'

He muted it. Reminding him of the obvious, even though it was appreciated, he'd rather have some peace and quiet for himself, a long one at that.

After some small events between the crown prince and crown princess which didn't fail to spread to the whole empire, the awaited day finally came.

Jiang Li met the female lead and the male lead near the altar where he had 'predicted' the Saintess to appear. It was a place inside the main branch of the Holy Church, where most baptisms were held.

Many came to see whether the prophet truly lived up to his reputation, curious about whether a girl from another world would truly appear out of nowhere. They gathered around but gave space near the fountain where the Saintess was said to appear.  

"Luke, my son, are you a hundred percent sure that today is when the Saintess will grace our world?"

The Duke and Duchess also came with Jiang Li to check the occasion. The latter kept pinching her husband's waist, feeling so tense and nervous from all the wait.

Jiang Li did not answer, busy trying to communicate with the Goddess. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he called, he didn't get any reply.

It was the Duke who responded to the antsy lady, whispering softly to her ears, "My wife, believe in our precious son. As the most distinguished messenger, of course, he won't lie about it."

"But what if the Saintess doesn't appear?"

"Have faith, alright? The Goddess won't forsake our son and not summon the Saintess."

At the best spot in the place, the crown prince Rome stood half a step behind the Emperor, narrowing his eyes at the direction of the prophet. 'The Goddess, huh?'

One question kept playing in his mind. Once the Saintess came around, what would be the prophet good for? Wouldn't his special status became null since the one who would become closer to the Goddess would be the new Church person?

'Heh.'

He did not bother hiding the smirk that appeared on his face. He really looked forward to knowing if his guess would be correct.

Soon, gasps echoed in the huge square followed by overlapping noises and screams. A bright light suddenly shone from the fountain. Its intensity was a lot greater than seven years ago when the Goddes acknowledged the prophet. Not even the priests used to light and healing magic could stand it. Everyone, of course, shielded their eyes from the bright light and waited for it to settle down.

"Is this... the Saintess?" A full minute later, one of the onlookers murmured absentmindedly. This person, an honest-looking young priest, was one of the first few people to recover.

Jiang Li squinted his eyes at the white-clad figure of a girl who popped out of nowhere by the foot of the fountain. The light gradually faded away until the features of the girl got revealed.

Black hair, black eyes, and snow-white complexion - a weird combination that gave resulted in a delicate and typical oriental beauty.

However, in this world, there were very few people who had these features. Even though Duke Wade's hair was black, his eyes were a pair of beautiful emeralds.

Perhaps, the girl's hair and eye color were purposely arranged by the plot to set her apart from the inhabitants of this world. Her clothing too was very peculiar. She was the Saintess, she had to be unique. So of course, she was also beautiful.

The long lashes of this beauty fluttered a couple as she stood there in place, roaming her widened eyes around in shock and disbelief. Her face turned stiff. Where was she? She was supposed to be sitting in front of her computer and chatting with her friends. How come she was suddenly standing in a very unfamiliar place, surrounded by people wearing costumes only seen from medieval-themed plays and dramas?

"Hiiee." Frightened by the kind of stares she was getting from the people around, she hugged herself and then continuously stepped back.

Jiang Li repeatedly blinked. A couple of seconds after, he could be seen trying his best to hold his laughter, 'The hair is neat, obviously combed, but she is in her pajamas and slippers. Is she summoned in the middle of the night? Specifically before going to sleep?'

He truly found it funny. The Goddess was really a playful one.

Everyone present examined the girl carefully and was in awe of her unusual but beautiful appearance. However, one guy noticed the ugly and thin bear printed clothing she was wearing and frowned. Jiang Li stayed where he was even after seeing the male lead, the Emperor and the Pope move forward the girl. He only watched placidly as time slowed down without a warning. This is it. Here comes the only time when a villainess and a male lead had their slow-mo moment!

In front, the crown prince handed his cape to cover the shivering girl. The latter subconsciously accepted it and wrapped it around herself. She also blurted out in her own language without many thoughts. When she looked up and saw the handsome cold face of the crown prince, it was easy to tell from her stunned expression that she fell in love at first sight.

There was just something in the way their eyes met. Or maybe it was more accurate to say that Su Luxi, the clueless, saintess was too absorbed in staring into the crown prince's beautiful sapphire eyes. She did not even notice the surprise and confusion the people surrounding her showed on their faces.

"I don't recognize the language," the Duchess whispered softly to her husband.

"Well, she's from another world so it's not that surprising."

The Pope smilingly stood between the crown prince and the summoned girl and spoke in an archaic local language mostly found in holy texts.

Jiang Li once again had to suppress his laughter because the girl did not notice him. Poor old man. As an extra, he dared to insert himself between two prominent characters? And was he betting the newcomer was blessed in language when he spoke something akin to old English to somebody speaking Chinese?

For a while, two parties tried to communicate with each other. It was after the Saintess recovered her senses and then realized all the three people before her were dressed more prominently than the others, with the bulkiest among them wearing a golden crown. She flinched and her face turned pale as her eyes swam practically everywhere.

"Thank you for responding to our benevolent Goddess' request and going to our world to lead the Holy Church and the Empire to greater heights!"

"Miss, can you please speak our language so we can understand each other?"

How could people from different cultures and backgrounds communicate if language stood as their barrier? Well, they resulted in body gestures and hand movements. And it was not truly an easy method.  

Before approaching the four, Jiang Li watched for a while longer, enjoying their talk which gradually evolved into a monkey show. After a bow, he suggested to first bring the girl into a private place and dismissed the guests. Both the Pope and the Emperor agreed. The crown prince had no opinion, only slightly frowning at the distressed and insecure girl who kept clutching on his sleeves.

On their way to the room specially prepared for the Saintess, the three were surprised to learn that the prophet could speak the same language as the girl. It didn't take long for the shock to turn into an annoyance.

'If you know what she was saying, why didn't you step forward much earlier to be our translator.' Rome looked at the white-haired man coldly.

Jiang Li treated the hostile prince as air, looking at the girl shocked when he suddenly spoke in Chinese and asked what she was doing before finding herself near the fountain. Since he knew the Saintess would start throwing countless questions at him if he let her be, he hypnotized her first to only answer what was asked at her.

As expected, Su Luxi was a high school girl at the same age as Rumina Bolden and she was summoned when she was about to go to sleep. A light just suddenly appeared in her bedroom while she was chatting with a friend online. In her foggy memories, it seemed to be after she accidentally clicked the yes button of a pop-up. Could that ad possibly be the cause? If she was in her right mind, the thought would have lingered longer.

he asked.

The Pope furrowed his brows at him so he looked at him meaningfully and mouthed that he was introducing the world to the Saintess.

Rome could not understand a single word she said, but he noticed that her eyes looked a bit glazed and her speech was slower than usual.

But more than that, he saw that Luke Wade's face froze, then darkened...