TGS - Chapter 30
Chapter 30: Lying in Wait Like a Snake
Lotus entered the tent a step ahead of the Princess. Just as she had assumed her incarnate form and sat down, the tent flap was lifted by the latter, revealing that beautiful but cold face.
Lotus gazed at her, a myriad of emotions welling up inside. She pressed her lips together to suppress an overly obvious smile, offering only a faint one. "I'm back, Alyuin."
Alyuin stood frozen in place, her expression blank, making no reaction.
This stunned appearance softened the cold severity of her features, making her look like a cat again, just as she had in childhood. A cat standing stock-still with wide eyes, its ears pricked up.
A sense of reality finally hit Lotus, and she rose to her feet and stepped forward.
But Alyuin seemed startled. She took half a step back, observed her cautiously for a moment, and said hesitantly, "Lotus?"
"We haven't seen each other in three years. Have you already forgotten what my incarnation looks like?" Lotus couldn't help but laugh.
"No!" Alyuin subconsciously raised her voice, then abruptly lowered it. "How could I..."
The Princess took two steps forward, feeling light-headed, as if in a dream, until she was face-to-face with Lotus, just inches away.
She took the goddess's wrist, squeezing it slightly as if to confirm, and murmured, "Why did you come?"
The question slightly puzzled the Goddess of the Yilu River, so much so that she didn't even notice the Princess wasn't using a respectful form of address. She said gently, "The matter in the Kingdom of the Gods has been resolved. Of course, I had to return to your side."
"I thought—" Alyuin paused, swallowing the rest of her sentence as if remembering something. She fell silent, merely clutching the slender wrist, unwilling to let go.
She lifted her eyes, greedily yet restrainedly tracing Lotus's features from top to bottom—her eyes, her pale lips, her neck as white as fresh snow, as elegant and slender as the goddess's messenger.
Then the Princess lowered her head slightly, her fine bangs hiding her shifting gaze.
It really was Lotus.
Alyuin's mind worked quickly. She instantly understood that she had been wrong before. The fact that the river goddess had returned meant her irreverent thoughts hadn't been discovered. Otherwise, there would be no need for the goddess to say all this to coax her.
If that was the case, since that was the case—
The Princess suddenly blinked. Without any need to summon the emotion, moisture welled up in her golden eyes, quickly gathering into teardrops that spilled out, large and uncontrolled.
She shed tears without a sound, like a wronged child, making Lotus's heart clench.
Even during the Princess's actual childhood, Lotus had never seen her cry so hard. Feeling helpless, Lotus was about to reach out and wipe away the tear stains on her face when she was pulled into a tight embrace.
Slender, honey-colored arms wrapped around the back of her neck, leaving almost no gap between them. The other hand rested on her back, fingertips digging in slightly from the force, even bunching up a small piece of the fabric there.
The hug was almost too tight. Alyuin buried her face in the crook of the goddess's shoulder, sobbing softly and repeatedly, "Why were you gone for so long? Why did you only come back now? I thought... I thought..."
A pang of pain shot through Lotus's heart. She raised a hand and gently patted Alyuin's back, offering silent comfort.
Alyuin lifted her head, released the hand clutching the goddess's clothes, and took Lotus's wrist again. Turning her head to the side, she pressed her lips to the back of Lotus's hand for a long moment.
Her expression was a mixture of grievance and adoration, tears still falling silently as if to display her piety. She paid no mind to how incongruous it was to be kissing a hand while her other arm was wrapped around the goddess's neck.
After a while, the Princess's emotions seemed to gradually calm. As if only now realizing how improper her actions had been, she immediately let go and straightened the clothes she had rumpled.
It would have been better if she hadn't. Looking down, she saw she was still in her military attire. The metal gorget on her chest was cold and hard; one could imagine it hadn't been comfortable for the person she had been hugging so tightly.
Alyuin bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry, I was too emotional just now."
Lotus shook her head, unconsciously wanting to raise her hand and stroke the Princess's hair. "I'm the one who should apologize. I'm sorry for being away so long."
The little princess stared at her without blinking—no, the adjective "little" was no longer appropriate.
Lotus herself was 170 centimeters tall, but the young woman before her was half a head taller. Years of training and combat had made her figure firm and graceful, slender yet well-proportioned. It wasn't hard to see the formidable power contained within that body.
In any case, the Alyuin of today could no longer be considered a child.
The raised hand hesitated for a moment before Alyuin guided it to the top of her own head. She actively nuzzled against it lightly, then stilled, simply looking at Lotus with eyes still moist with tears.
No one could refuse such a focused gaze. Lotus's already soft heart melted completely. She could no longer bluff her way through things as she had when the Princess was a child, so she explained softly:
"This time, I had to return to the Kingdom of the Gods to resolve some of my own issues. There, I slept for three years."
Alyuin's eyes widened slightly. "Slept? Does that mean... you didn't actually see what was happening with me, did you?"
Lotus felt a little guilty and admitted honestly, "Before I went back, I didn't expect to fall into a deep sleep. I originally thought I could at least watch you grow up, but as it turned out..."
"It's nothing. In fact, I'm rather relieved."
Alyuin smiled. Over the past three years, there had been plenty of things she wouldn't have wanted the goddess to see.
But then, she remembered the near-death experience after being severely wounded, the sorrow and resentment of calling the goddess's name over and over without a response. The Princess couldn't help but lower her eyes, laughing inwardly at herself for overthinking things.
The whole thing was actually very simple: the goddess had temporarily left to handle her own affairs and hadn't been paying attention to her believer. The three years had been long and painful for her, but for anyone else, it would have been nothing.
Someone with a weaker will might have grown resentful toward their patron deity after a serious injury, complaining about why the god wasn't always there to protect them. But Alyuin wasn't that kind of person. All the torment she had endured, in the end, was simply because she had developed thoughts she shouldn't have.
Seeing the Princess in a daze, Lotus added, "But I hadn't fallen asleep yet when the festival was held. You performed exceptionally well, Alyuin. And all that muttering to the statue—"
"You were listening then, too?" Alyuin seemed to recall something, and her face flushed. "I was being so clingy. You weren't laughing at me in the Kingdom of the Gods, were you?"
"Of course not. It was incredibly cute," Lotus said with a grin.
Alyuin muttered, "You definitely were laughing at me."
A few lines of teasing lightened the atmosphere considerably, pulling them slightly out of the complex emotions of their reunion.
Outside the tent, the sky had already grown dark.
Alyuin lifted the flap to look outside, then turned back and said, "It's time to prepare for bed. Please wait a moment, I'll go fetch some water."
Conditions in the military camp were not as good as in the city. It was impossible to bathe daily; one could only fetch water each night to wet a towel for a simple wipe-down and hair wash. They had to wait for the designated rest day to bathe properly in a nearby stream.
Alyuin was long accustomed to this routine. A nightly wipe-down was nothing; on the march, when there was no water source, it was common to go for days covered in dust and grime.
But she had always liked to be clean. If conditions allowed, bathing before bed was always more comfortable.
Lotus said thoughtfully, "Would you like to try a new way of bathing?"
Alyuin paused. "What?"
Lotus smiled faintly and pointed a hand toward the only empty space in the tent. A mass of clear water, more than half a person's height, coalesced there. It held its shape as if contained in an invisible barrel, not dispersing, looking very much like transparent jelly.
Alyuin, who had never seen a gelatinous substance like jelly: "..."
This was a bit beyond her scope of understanding.
Lotus chuckled. "You can use it as a bathtub. It won't overflow."
Alyuin looked at the mass of water, then back at Lotus, and a smile suddenly curved her lips. "Alright."
Before the words had even faded, she began to remove her clothes.
The metal armor was tossed carelessly aside, followed by the black leather inner armor. Finally, her fingertips undid the clasps underneath, and her white tunic fell open.
At first, Lotus didn't react. After all, the little princess of the past would even run behind the statue in the temple just to change her clothes. Who would have thought she would now start undressing right in front of her without a word?
Just as she was about to turn away, Lotus's gaze suddenly froze.
Beneath the discarded clothes was not exposed honey-colored skin or the undergarments women usually wore. Instead, strips of white cloth, two fingers wide, were wrapped tightly around her chest, binding it.
A sweep of Lotus's gaze revealed small scars on the Princess's exposed shoulders and abdomen. They were minor wounds that wouldn't leave permanent marks, but they were still startling to see.
And those white cloths.
Lotus couldn't help but ask, "Are you injured?"
"Are you talking about these strips?" Alyuin glanced down and realized. "No, I'm not injured. It's just that after... developing, it's inconvenient for archery. I bind them before going onto the battlefield."
Lotus frowned. Alyuin continued, "Do you want to keep watching?"
As she spoke, one hand was already unwrapping the white cloth.
Lotus turned and walked out of the tent. "...You wash first. I'll go take a look outside."
Alyuin stared at the tent flap for a while before the smile on her face gradually faded. She let go of the hand covering her chest.
Just below her right collarbone was the scar from an arrow wound. It wasn't large, but it still looked somewhat menacing.
As I thought, I still don't want Lotus to see this.
Alyuin thought, touching the scar nonchalantly before tentatively reaching a hand toward the floating mass of water.
Her fingertips touched the water. It was warm, the perfect temperature for bathing.
When Lotus re-entered, Alyuin was already dressed in her nightclothes, staring blankly at the now slightly murky mass of water.
The goddess casually flicked her fingers, and the mass of water suddenly shrank into a palm-sized sphere, which flew out of the tent on its own and watered the roots of some unknown tree.
The moment Alyuin saw Lotus, she fell silent for two seconds, then started searching the tent for a cloth to dry her hair.
Lotus didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Still haven't gotten over this bad habit?"
Alyuin defended herself in a low voice, "If you had come in one minute later, I would have already been drying my hair."
Lotus sighed and placed her palm on the Princess's head. The hair beneath her hand instantly lost its excess moisture, and the damp strands resting on her shoulders once again became cool, smooth, and dry like silk.
It was one thing when she didn't use her power, but now that she had, Alyuin was reminded of how the goddess had once dried the little golden eagle's feathers. Her eyes slowly widened. "Why didn't you use this on me before?"
Lotus said solemnly, "It's time for bed now."
Alyuin stared at her, silent.
Could the change of subject be any more obvious?
That night, the mortal and the goddess lay side by side in the tent, chatting idly for a long time.
It was mostly Alyuin who spoke, recounting the interesting things she had encountered over the past few years. Her narration was so vivid that it seemed she could go on all night.
Finally, Lotus checked the time and ruthlessly interrupted her. "It's time to rest."
Alyuin was still eager to talk. "You slept for three years, and you're still tired?"
Lotus: "I was talking about you."
Alyuin: "...Oh."
Staying up too late was bad for one's health and could cause hair loss. The goddess, of course, didn't have to worry about such things, but it would be a terrible shame if the Princess, with her thick, dark, and lustrous hair, were to lose even a few strands.
With this thought, Lotus closed her eyes and fell asleep with extreme speed and silence, showing no signs of someone who had just slept for three years.
It couldn't be helped; a goddess's quality of sleep was just that good.
In the darkness, Alyuin couldn't sleep at all.
Or rather, the fact that the goddess was once again lying beside her was setting the Princess's nerves on edge.
Every moment, she had to suppress the desire to lean in and kiss her. Every moment, she had to warn herself—absolutely not.
She could not bear the consequences of being rejected by the goddess.
No matter what, she never wanted to experience the feeling of being abandoned again.
But that didn't mean Alyuin would give up and willingly bury all her feelings.
She would always seize every possible opportunity, never letting go of the slightest sliver of hope, until the day her wish was granted.
Yes, the Princess was indeed a natural-born predator.
She had the keenness of a hawk, the persistence of a wolf, the cunning of a fox, and the aggression of a lion.
And likewise, she could lie in wait like a snake.
Hiding, slowly approaching, never revealing herself rashly until she was certain of a fatal strike.
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