Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem-Chapter 406: Trust

After the speech, Zach first quickly greeted his friends before returning to his room. They were happy to see him up and about and wanted to celebrate their victory, but Zach wanted to rest. He was still weak and tired, after all.

But when he opened the door, he sensed the presence of another person in his room. With a frown, he walked over to his bedroom and opened the door only to find a young-looking girl in pajamas curled up in a nest of pillows and blankets, surrounded by snacks.

Zach stared at the girl for several long moments. The girl looked up and stared at him, frozen in place.

Zach slowly turned to Yanael.

"Who is she?" This was his bedroom in his dorm. He would have understood if Nora or any of his familiars had taken the opportunity to make full use of his luxurious bed. But a stranger? What was going on?

"That is Zoe, Master," Yanael helpfully answered.

"Oh, I see. Pardon my mistake. And why is ’Zoe’ in my bed?" He said sarcastically.

"Because she wanted, I guess, Master."

"..." Zach gave Yanael a sharp look before turning to Zoe, who had started packing up the snacks and sorting the bed in a frenzy. When she finished, she took off the floppy pink pajama hat and stood in front of Zach with an embarrassed expression.

"This isn’t how I wanted to meet you, Zach." She curtsied before introducing herself,

"My name is Zoe. I am the Daughter of the Underworld, and I owe you my life."

Zach’s eyes narrowed as he looked her up and down skeptically.

"So you owe me your life and that’s why you are in my bed?"

"I…didn’t want to sleep in anyone else’s bed, and I was waiting for you to wake up, so I figured…"

"Well, it’s fine." Zach shrugged. "It’s not like you’ve ruined it," he said while grabbing the sheets to remove them and the crumbs Zoe had filled the bed with. However, his fingers slipped when he tried taking the sheets off the mattress.

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"..." Zach stared at his trembling, skinny, and pale hands without saying a word.

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"...Let me do it, Master."

Zach didn’t object as Yanael made his bed for him while he watched. The others weren’t sure what to do.

It was the first time that Zach had suffered this long after acquiring world essence energy. Usually, no matter what happened as long as he didn’t lose a limb, he would be fine after a day, especially if he added Alzara’s potions on top. But now, he had been in a coma for over a week, and his body and hands were still wrecks.

He had to be struggling.

And he was in this state because all of them were weak and incompetent. He had pushed himself so far beyond his limits that he might be permanently crippled because he had to cover for their faults.

The only one who didn’t feel that guilt was Nora but only because she felt a bunch of other things because she was the only one who hadn’t been present.

When Zach lay down in the bed, she took the initiative to lie down next to him.

"...Young Master, you keep almost dying whenever you leave my sight," she said, just stating the truth.

"I would apologize, but the only thing I’m apologetic about is leaving you behind every time." Zach closed his eyes and faced the ceiling with his hands clasped over his stomach. Nora copied him.

"But that’s over now," he continued.

"Since I’ve graduated, there are no Academy rules stopping you from helping me out however much you want."

Nora hesitated. If not even Yanael, Alzara, Soara, and Mandra were enough to stop him from getting injured, what could she do?

"...I’m not sure how much help I’ll be," she said, as if apologizing in advance.

Zach was silent. He could say a couple of different things in response to that. He could say that it didn’t matter if she couldn’t help him, her presence alone was a help. He could say that she just needed to get stronger, then. He could throw out a bad joke about he doesn’t need her help.

None of those things were what she wanted or needed to hear, nor were they things Zach wanted to say. They were easy to say, but not right.

"I…trust you, Nora," was all he said.

It was not what Nora had expected, but it warmed her heart nonetheless. She could tell Zach had read her like a book. He knew what she was insecure about, but instead of encouraging her to work harder and become useful or just stop worrying, he was telling her that he knew she would figure it out.

Those same words that brought Nora comfort stabbed into the heart of another. He had told Alzara those same words moments before he was petrified. He had entrusted his stony body and the removal of the petrification before it was too late to her.

She had failed. He had to break free on his own.

In the end, both Jigak and the Daughter had said it was an opportunity for growth, and it had let Mandra exercise enough of her strength to hold Ugor at bay. The circumstances were forgiving for Alzara not breaking him out of his stone prison.

But that didn’t change the facts. Not only had she been unable to do it. She had also stopped trying. She didn’t deserve Zach’s trust.

Him saying that to Nora right now made it seem like he had shifted his trust from Alzara to Nora. Of course, that wasn’t the case. Zach had always trusted Nora, and he hadn’t stopped trusting Alzara.

He had just woken up and hadn’t enough time to think too deeply about everything he missed while petrified. He didn’t care that it had taken some time. The only thing he cared about was that everyone was alive and together.

With a sense of comfort unaffected by Zoe’s presence in her bedroom, Zach fell asleep again.