When Max woke up he felt an acute pain on his neck, as if he had been hit hard there just moments ago.
He seemed to remember a vivid dream, one where he shared a passionate kiss with Archangel Hazriel in the balcony of this very room, however, he was sure that it was nothing more than a dream.
The only problem was, his lips could still feel the moistness of her lips eventhough it was a dream and just like his neck which ached slightly, his lips also had a slow burning sensation which only occured after an intense bout of kissing someone.
" Such a vivid dream… " Max murmured as he stirred and woke up, only to be stunned seeing archangel Hazriel standing in his room's balcony just like she was in his dream a few moments ago.
Max touched his lips, then his neck, then looked around the room to see Asiva and Zippo still knocked out cold as he wondered if it was all really a dream or was it true?
" You are awake " a gentle voice said cutting Max's internal thoughts short as Hazriel turned to face him and walked slowly towards him.
Max smiled brightly seeing her face, she was as graceful and pretty as his memory made her to be, a true goddess at the epitome of beauty standards.
" This lowly mortal is blessed to have you visit him personally, Archangel Hazriel" Max said as he put his right arm to his chest and his left arm behind his back as he bowed as low as his back muscles would allow.
" You have grown, I'm happy to see you make it so far " Hazriel said with only a hint of kindness in her words as she waited for Max to regain his posture and stand back-up straight.
" It's all because of your guidance…. " Max replied humbly as he stood back up straight and looked straight into the Angels eyes.
By now Hazriel had completely regained her composure and was no longer allured by Max's charms as she could look at him expressionlessly without letting the other party have the slightest idea that only moments ago the two of them shared a passionate kiss.
" I see you still wear my pendant " Hazriel said, revealing a slight smile
" Agh yes, It's my lucky charm, I clutch it and pray to you whenever I'm in a fix " Max said honestly as Hazriels smile widened.
The necklace Hazriel had given Max was special. It was a necklace that connected its wearer with Hazriel and allowed her to peer into their fate.
It was the reason why Hazriel was able to hear all those desperate prayers that Max made to her, or the idle chatter he did at times to inform her about his life developments and why Hazriel had slowly developed feelings for Max, as for the first time ever, she got to know a person's true inner personality without them deliberately manipulating it infront of her.
When she usually interacted with men they would hide their true thoughts and only put their best face forward, however, because of the necklace's connection to Max, Hazriel was sure that the side which Max showed to her while praying were his true inner feelings without any deceit.
It was only because she found that side of Max cute and enigmatic that she was rooting for him to succeed on a personal level.
Although since Max ascended to tier4 she could no longer pry into his fate because the fog of karma surrounding it was extremely thick, there was one event that she had foreseen in his future which was sure to lead to his doom for which she was here today.
" Good job becoming a lord and overcoming your mana limitation, if I did not witness it personally I'd never believe that you were once an individual who could not even sense the slightest fluctuation of mana in the universe " Hazriel said as she acknowledged Max's journey uptil this point.
Max said nothing but smiled like a silly fanboy as he waited for Hazriel to get to the point of why she was here.
" I've been watching over you, Max Rajput, I've been watching over you for a long time, and I'm happy to say that you have grown to a point where the laws of the universe make it extremely difficult for me to pry into your fate.
But this also means, I can no longer show you visions of what you need to do in your future to achieve the greatness that you seek.
Perhaps, today is the last intervention I'll be able to make…. " Hazriel said with a concerned voice as Max snapped out of his fanboy zone and immediately focused on what she was saying.
" Tomorrow, Regus Aurelius will come here personally to coronate you. It will be a matter of great prestige for you and your people and the ceremony will start with very high spirits.
However, before he would place the crown over your head, he would bring up an unrelated matter of Max Rajput allegedly killing an Aurelius family government official in a distant planet.
You would react as if you never heard about the matter and like the whole concept of it was a little absurd, and would be baited by Regus Aurelius to sign a system contract where it would state that you were unaware of his involvement within this matter.
In theory you would have no qualms about signing the system contract, but once you skim through it the condition inside the contract would say
' Neither was I aware of Max Rajput's involvement in this matter, nor am I the same Max Rajput in question '
A very carefully crafted ploy by the Monarch, which would make it impossible for you to sign the contract.
Questions will be raised when you refuse to sign the contract amidst a hall filled with vampire lords and their representatives and in the end you will die tomorrow after Regus Aurelius brands you a traitor.
A perfect political assassination " Hazriel said as she told Max precisely what was in store for him at the coronation ceremony tomorrow.