Chapter 5343: Power Corrupts

Looking at these two names, Davis was indeed stunned.

Others may not know, but he knew how prideful these two women were.

He thought he had completely offended Bing Luli since he wouldn’t give her the time of day, and as for Jaisi Alstreim, he knew she had been eyeing him from the time Evelynn and he met her for the first time in her restaurant, but it had to be known that she hadn’t said a single word to him about her feelings ever since she had failed the first time.

She didn’t bring it up twice! Not ever again.

From this, it could be known how prideful she was in her heart.

She took pride in being a chef, but as a woman, her pride exceeded even that of Lea.

Jaisi Alstreim had only tried to silently get into his heart through the route of delicious food, and he had to say that she was succeeding little by little, but he had never thought her patience would break. From his perspective, she was a disciplined woman who never fell for cheap tricks or scams, or she would’ve never risen to this level even with the Davis Family’s help.

For the two of them to put in their applications, it was like basically slapping their own faces.

He couldn’t believe they had done it, making him wonder if these were actually recommendations from his wives instead of applications from the candidates themselves.

He took a look again and saw that there were indeed recommendations, but the proposals were still sent by the two of the candidates, as he could sense their soul aura from it.

Myria seemed to have recommended Bing Luli, and Zenova picked Jaisi Alstreim.

He wasn’t surprised about Myria’s seal of recommendation since she and Bing Luli were friends, but as for Zenova, he wondered if she had fallen for Jaisi Alstreim’s food; on second thought, he realized that she was recruiting a fellow prideful woman.

’Holy heavens... am I that popular now... enough for them to lose all sense of pride?’

Davis asked himself as he leaned back while holding the two marriage proposals. He inclined his head, not from confusion, but constantly reminding himself to not fall for anyone anymore, or it would be very easy for him to slide down a slippery slope, since his Will literally wanted to take advantage of all the women whom he had the slightest interest in, regardless of their status or beauty. It was his primal desire, but not what he wanted, so it was obvious to him it was a cause for corruption.

To give in would be like a repeat of what the Sky Word Emperor lamented about.

Yet, the marriage proposal left him with little room to maneuver as he now needed to confront them about it and give them a serious answer since they had decided to go all-in now.

Not responding or setting these proposals aside was no better than saying that he didn’t need them, which would be a huge blow to them.

’They really are not trying to keep up appearances anymore and are willing to get messy, huh...’

Davis inwardly sighed.

He kept the two marriage proposals in his ring and moved on to the others.

His lips twitched as he saw a few familiar names.

Fenren’s daughters had sent him marriage proposals. In fact, every other clan did. He had already forbidden his friends from trying to consolidate power by using him as a scapegoat. He didn’t bar them from sending marriage proposals to his son, so this undoubtedly meant the women of these powers willingly sent these proposals to him.

And to reject them would be a cause for public embarrassment for his friends.

’Fuck those guys. I can’t afford to offend my wives more than what is agreeable.’

Davis thought as he pushed aside all the other marriage proposals until he came across a few peculiar ones which amused him since these came from little girls who adored or idolized him. They had even written cute messages, telling him to take care and be safe, and one day, they would like to share the same bed while he narrated them bedtime stories after they had grown up or something along those lines.

He had no idea why these were still on his table instead of being thrown out by Mingzhi, making him laugh. He supposed she wanted to see his reaction, but poor Mingzhi was hard-pressed for time just as he was.

If he had to think of a reason why these were even sent in the first place, he supposed it was sent by their greedy parents, whom he possessed a bit of killing intent for right now.

He laughed in anger, but then turned to look at the notes there to see that Mingzhi had already taken care of these issues.

Only then did his anger subside.

’I just sat in power officially in the last three months after cementing my status as the Emperor of the Davis Empire, yet some people are already trying to make me become corrupt...’

It made Davis imagine that if people with good intentions took the leadership, the people around them wouldn’t necessarily let them carry out their duties in the rightful way.

He heaved a breath and continued going through the proposals, eventually stumbling upon a few that held his interest. He couldn’t help but lick his lips ever so lightly, the temptation at an all-time high when they were throwing themselves at him like this, leaving him with little room to defend.

At this rate, he felt like he might end up being corrupted by his own Will.

Soon, Davis finished going through it, rejecting all of them. He didn’t have to respond. Just not getting a response meant it was rejected. He only had a few marriage proposals in his spatial ring. He held onto it for the time being.

After the round of amusement was over, he went back to working while his main body still enjoyed a gourmet meal.

Half a day later, Mingzhi returned, reporting that Fairy Qiyra was fully recovered, and Lydia was fast asleep in her mansion since she had overexerted herself.

She asked him about the marriage proposals, causing Davis to pause from work and chat with her. Laughter echoed in the chamber as they talked about how she dealt with those greedy parents, as she had hired mercenaries or local thugs to beat them up.

Fortunately, none in the branch families or allied powers were foolish enough to pull something like that.

Davis passed on the list he stored to her, seeking her opinion.

"This many...!?"

Mingzhi gawked, causing Davis to laugh satisfactorily, "Choose one from them for me, and I’ll entertain them."

"Why would I? I don’t need sisters any more than necessary." Mingzhi looked incensed, "In fact, let’s just elope, just the two of us. All this pile of work or marriage proposals can go to hell!~" ℯℯ𝘭.

"You sure you can handle Fiora’s arrow?"

"Ah~ That girl will definitely shoot me in the back." Mingzhi reacted with a sullen look.

"Silly girl, those are the ones I hold interest in, but it would take more than interest to end up with me when I’m aiming for the likes of your master."

Mingzhi’s lips went agape, "Gosh, you’re really bold. You really want to die?"

"Just a significant interest. No love and only gratefulness." Davis dismissed her worries with a wave of his hand, "Except this gratefulness is what’s bugging me. Would you believe me if I said that my Will wants to confront and dominate powerful women whom I have no way of towering over because of not only cultivation but, most importantly, debt of gratitude? It is like the greatest challenge for a man of honor like me."

Davis bragged narcissistically, but Mingzhi went silent.

She opened her mouth after a few seconds.

"Would you believe me if I said my Will wants to kill every single one of your wives, and should you refuse to have only me, kill you as well?"

Davis chuckled, "I believe you, but don’t turn into a pre-corrupted Zenova. We both underestimated the dangers of the Heart Intent, and our limits are catching up to us, bit by bit. I figure you have it worse than me. Whether it is the Will or the lowest inherited authority, all forms of power absolutely corrupts a person. It’s ironic that we’re vulnerable to being corrupted the most when we’re the most dangerous manipulators alive in the Davis Family."

Mingzhi’s gaze flickered, "Hehe, is being corrupted a good state for Zenova?"

"Yes, she’s currently corrupted by yours truly." Davis held his chin, appearing to make a handsome pose.

They continued to chat into the night, having a bit of fun and extrapolating Heart Intent and its containment methods before Davis told her to call Fairy Divinacia, Lest Mistwalker, the next morning after Mingzhi said the karmic serpent wanted to meet him to discuss building better defenses since she supposedly had some great ideas.