TGS - Chapter 22
Chapter 22: The Upcoming Festival
The next day.
After six days, Lord Hephit finally took the initiative to meet with the Princess.
Standing beside him were the same two advisors, but the way they looked at Alyuin was completely different from before. The scrutiny was gone, replaced by respect.
In just a few short days, the young princess had won too many victories on the training grounds. In the end, no longer satisfied with sparring against ordinary guards, she chose an experienced and formidable general under Hephit's command as her opponent, remaining undefeated after a hundred moves.
For someone of Alyuin's age and stature, this was an almost unbelievable feat, yet she had accomplished it.
For the soldiers who were stationed at the border year-round, a good fight was the best way to foster camaraderie and close the distance between people. Even though Alyuin had not yet joined the army, in their minds, she could already be considered a comrade.
Lord Hephit had seen everything, remaining impassive, and only today did he finally reveal his attitude.
"Your Highness the Princess should know that in five days, Digebia's grandest ceremony will be held—the Festival of the Moon Goddess." Hephit skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the point. "I invite you to attend the festival. What are your thoughts?"
Alyuin said, "I am a believer of the Goddess Lotus."
As a believer of the River Goddess, it was of course impossible for her to participate in the festival of another major god.
Hephit rephrased, "Then would you be willing to attend as a spectator? Eda does not worship the Moon Goddess either. You can observe the ceremony with him."
The advisor named Eda stepped forward and gave the young princess a friendly nod.
It seemed the Lord was determined to have Alyuin participate in this festival. Perhaps he wanted to use the opportunity to observe how the princess, who had left the royal city at a young age, would conduct herself at a grand event like the Festival of the Moon Goddess.
This was precisely the opportunity Alyuin had been waiting for.
She said seriously, "In five days, I will be there on time."
Leaving the Lord's reception hall, Alyuin turned to Lotus, about to ask her what she thought of the matter, only to find her gazing thoughtfully at a point in the distance, her eyes slightly vacant, as if she were in a daze.
Lotus often spaced out on her own, Alyuin knew that well, but this time felt different from before. She couldn't say what was different, but it just felt unusual.
Could it be because of the approaching festival?
"Teacher, is there something wrong with the Festival of the Moon Goddess?" the young princess asked.
Lotus snapped back to her senses and said gently, "No, everything is normal."
Since she said so, Alyuin didn't doubt her. She set aside the subtle doubt in her heart and continued, "Lord Hephit has his considerations. Inviting me to the festival might just be to observe my performance in a different setting, or he might create an incident to test my adaptability. However, he is a devout believer of the Moon Goddess, after all, so the former is more likely..."
Lotus listened quietly as the young princess chattered on. The girl before her had bright eyes and a lively expression, and her tone faintly revealed the majesty befitting a person of high station.
Although still immature, Alyuin already showed the qualities needed to walk that path. An adolescent black wolf is still a carnivorous beast, just like those two subadult golden eagles. Even if their flying skills still needed honing, they flew far higher and farther than sparrows, always circling in the heavens above.
All this time, Lotus had watched over the young princess very closely, afraid that any lapse in attention would lead to a mishap.
But in the original history, hadn't the Alyuin who never formed a bond with a god still carved out a bloody path for herself on her own? Perhaps she had been covered in scars, but she had the ability. She was the uncrowned queen of Solancia.
Perhaps letting go at this time wasn't a bad thing, but...
Lotus quietly lowered her eyelashes.
She patiently listened to the young princess's analysis, then watched as the prepared little girl stepped onto the training grounds once more to challenge a new target. Meanwhile, she herself left the Lord's mansion in her spiritual form, drifting aimlessly through Digebia.
In a moment of inattention, she drifted through a wall and into a garden. Even in winter, meticulously trimmed evergreen plants grew here. One could imagine how beautiful it would be in spring and summer.
In Solancia, gardens like this were mostly privately owned. Just as Lotus was about to retreat, her ears suddenly caught a few fragmented words of conversation.
"So what if she's a princess..."
"...that's not okay, you just let... bully me..."
The keywords were clear, and the voice was a bit familiar.
Lotus immediately turned toward the source of the sound. The first thing she saw were two conspicuous tufts of red hair. It was the arrogant youth she had encountered outside Digebia a few days ago. The other person resembled him; he was a shrewd-looking middle-aged man, likely an elder in the boy's family.
As Lotus drew closer, their conversation became clearer.
The shrewd man was persuading him: "It's been so long, and you still remember? It's not that I won't help you get even, but the princess's status is tricky. She's not like those commoners from before that you can push around as you please."
The red-haired youth's voice grew even louder as he threw a tantrum without a care: "You just don't want to help me, don't think I don't know! What kind of princess is she, with just a few useless cavalrymen following her—"
"That's the Royal Guard!"
"So what if it's the Royal Guard? I have more guards than she does!"
The shrewd man flung his hand in anger. "I've really spoiled you rotten. Can't you be a little more considerate of your father's difficulties?"
However, the red-haired youth was not afraid at all. He clearly expected that his father was just putting on a show and wouldn't actually punish him, so he made an even bigger scene.
His father was at his wit's end and could only try to coax him. Just as he was feeling overwhelmed, someone ran up with small steps and whispered something in his ear.
The shrewd man's face lit up after hearing it. His eyes darted around, and he said to his son, "Alright, stop making a fuss. Dad will get revenge for you, get your dignity back, how about that?"
The red-haired youth immediately stopped his tantrum. "How will you get revenge?"
"Don't be hasty, listen to me first," the man said. "The person who bullied my son, I will make her lose her reputation completely. But let's be clear beforehand, you can't participate in this, and you can't go around telling people about it. Can you accept that?"
As soon as the condition was stated, the red-haired youth's enthusiasm deflated by half, but he still said reluctantly, "Fine, I won't tell anyone. But you have to make her suffer."
"That's more like it. Come, Dad will tell you..."
Nearby, the spiritual form of Lotus stood with her arms crossed, her blue eyes icy.
The shrewd man was a merchant.
His caravan traveled between the main border cities year-round, earning large sums of money by trading with foreigners for goods not found within Solancia. It was for this reason that the red-haired youth had the confidence to provoke the young princess who was accompanied by the Royal Guard.
If this were his only identity, he certainly wouldn't have dared to do anything further to the young princess. No matter how much Alyuin had fallen from favor, the status of the royal family was enough to intimidate a merchant with ill intentions. However, he was also the younger brother of a high priest's wife at the Temple of the Moon Goddess.
In Solancia, the status of a priest was second only to the royal family in its loftiness. Relying on his brother-in-law, although he didn't dare to do anything to the royal family openly, he could still pull some strings behind the scenes.
Therefore, upon receiving the news that the princess would be attending the Festival of the Moon Goddess as a spectator, the merchant almost immediately thought of a plan.
This princess had been exiled to the border under the pretext of "bearing the blood of a sinner." Since that was the case, it would only be natural for her appearance at the festival to incur the god's disgust, wouldn't it?
Lotus witnessed the merchant invite his brother-in-law to his home to discuss how to create the illusion of divine rejection at the festival.
The high priest looked respectable enough. At first, he even refused, saying, "You are slandering my faith! How could I tamper with the Festival of the Moon Goddess? Say no more, I will not help you."
The merchant persuaded, "No need for that talk in front of me, brother-in-law. I'm helping you, too."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Think about it. The princess bears the blood of a sinner. How could the Moon Goddess, who illuminates the earth, tolerate such an unclean person appearing at her festival? We are merely acting in accordance with her will."
The merchant paused, then lowered his voice. "Besides, the current High Priest of the Moon Goddess is getting on in years. I don't think it will be long before a new one is selected. If word of this matter reaches Akhet, our king will surely..."
The high priest's brow twitched. After a long moment, he said slowly, "For the purity of the festival, it is my bounden duty."
The merchant smiled. "That's more like it."
Greed and vengeance intertwined to form a secret plot. However, being unknown to men was one thing; being unknown to a god was another matter entirely.
When Lotus returned to their quarters, the young princess had not yet come back.
The tidy room was large and empty. Lotus sat quietly on a wooden chair by the table, unable to help but imagine how Alyuin would face this situation if she weren't there.
Merely attending the temple to observe the ceremony, having done nothing, yet inexplicably becoming the target of public criticism.
The king's judgment had already branded the young princess with a fabricated crime, but as long as the divine authority represented by the priesthood had not made a final ruling on it, most people wouldn't really take it seriously. At most, they would mention it in passing when talking about the reason for the princess's exile.
But if something were to happen at a festival watched by all, Alyuin's name would forever be linked to the label of "rejected by the gods."
Not to mention distant consequences, just looking at the immediate ones, Lord Hephit himself was a devout believer of the Moon Goddess.
Just then, there was a sound at the door. Alyuin pushed it open and walked in. Seeing Lotus sitting there silently, her beautiful eyes immediately curved into a slight smile. "You're back so early today. Did something happy happen?"
Lotus suppressed her emotions and said calmly, "Quite the opposite."
Alyuin was still smiling, but her gaze instantly darkened. "Did someone displease you?"
"They want to make you unhappy," Lotus said with a soft scoff. "A certain priest from the temple has betrayed his faith in the Moon Goddess and plans to fabricate an incident at the festival, then pin the blame on you."
Alyuin blinked and said subconsciously, "Oh, is that all..."
Lotus: "Hm?"
"It's nothing. I thought for a moment that someone had been disrespectful to you. It's a relief they only want to harm me."
The young princess said, even seeming to let out a sigh of relief. The gloom in her eyes quickly dissipated, and she looked nothing like someone who had just learned she was being plotted against.
Lotus: "..."
You should be a little more concerned about the people plotting to harm you!
At that moment, the Goddess of the Yilu River felt for the first time that perhaps there was something wrong with her teaching.
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