TGS - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Taking Care
Alyuin never paid serious attention in her daytime classes because the lessons were too simple for her. Only the supplementation of knowledge in her dreams gave her something to look forward to.
Four hours in the morning, two in the afternoon—nearly half the time the Sun God spent in the sky, yet the young princess had no choice but to watch it all slip away.
However, the current situation would not last forever.
Since the Lord of Kadera City's visit a month ago, the eyes watching her in secret had slowly relaxed their vigil. Before long, their attention would shift from a lonely, helpless princess to what they considered more useful matters.
Just a little longer, until the surveillance was completely withdrawn...
The young princess lowered her head and unconsciously pressed her temples. Her fingers were cold, and her mind felt a little groggy.
She climbed into bed and began her afternoon nap.
Lotus watched her fall asleep before floating out the window to scout for a wide, secluded spot near the temple. This would be the future training ground for the young princess's martial arts and archery.
The previous night before bed, the young princess had drawn the curtains and practiced her martial techniques in the privacy of her room. But the space was too small for flips and maneuvers; she could only go through some simple motions.
After her practice, she sat on the edge of her bed and murmured to herself, "I'm still rusty."
That forlorn expression, in Lotus's eyes, was just like that of a young eagle confined to a tiny space, unable to spread its wings and fly.
Martial arts training required perseverance, deepening the body's memory through endless repetition. Otherwise, even the most gifted would become mediocre.
The Alyuin of history was renowned for being invincible. How could Lotus watch her stagnate here?
Lotus followed the river behind the temple, searching.
Solancia had only one river, the Yilu, which split into three main tributaries. The one flowing through Kadera City was called the "White Yilu." The terrain here was quite hilly, making the river's current more rapid.
The river rushed past, white waves churning, its mighty roar unceasing until it reached the edge of the city. There, it was blocked by a towering mountain ridge, which it circled docilely at its base.
This mountain ridge was Kadera City's natural barrier. Lotus looked up at the high cliffs and sighed with regret.
There was no path forward. She should turn back and search for a suitable location in another direction.
But perhaps the scenery before her was too beautiful, the contrast between extreme motion and extreme stillness too striking. Lotus didn't want to leave just yet.
The young princess was still napping, anyway. Why not take a little break for herself?
Her spirit form drifted back and forth over the river, sometimes floating as if sitting, sometimes as if lying down. Before long, she noticed a patch in the continuous expanse of lush silvergrass between the mountain and the river that was unusually tall—a head taller than an average adult.
"Alright, I'll trust a god's intuition."
Lotus stared at the spot for a moment and murmured.
She floated over, failing to stop in time, and her spirit form landed in the patch of silvergrass. Although she had no sense of touch, the sight of the grass stalks passing through her translucent body was still quite strange.
Lotus didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Just as she was about to back away, the scene before her caught her attention.
Concealed by the dense silvergrass, she saw a narrow opening in the rock face, just large enough for one person to pass through. The further in she went, the wider and brighter it became, opening up to a vast field covered in green grass.
It was embraced by high mountains on three sides, with the fourth being a sheer cliff. Looking down from here, one could see the gently flowing Yilu River in the distance, and along its banks, tiny black dots like ants—the hardworking people of Solancia.
Flat, spacious, hidden, and deserted. In the distant East that Lotus had once known, people would call this a "Peach Blossom Spring."
—This was the perfect natural training ground for Alyuin.
A god's intuition really was reliable.
Inspecting the young princess's future secret base for skipping class, Lotus's heart filled with delight.
In this mood, Lotus returned to the temple residence, only to see the young princess still lying in bed.
There were still classes in the afternoon. Normally, Alyuin would have been up by now. Why was she still sleeping today?
Lotus floated to the bedside and looked down, her heart tightening instantly.
Alyuin's condition was very poor. It was less like normal sleep and more like an unconscious stupor.
Her face, ears, and neck were flushed with an unnatural red. A thin sheen of sweat beaded on her forehead, and a few damp strands of black hair clung to her skin. Her usually rosy lips were somewhat purplish and chapped, slightly parted as she breathed in short, rapid gasps.
The young princess had always been physically robust, but she had endured too much recently. From Akhet to Kadera, she had shouldered a pressure unimaginable to ordinary people, relying solely on a spirit stretched taut as a bowstring to keep herself going.
And now that the surveillance had lessened, her nerves had relaxed ever so slightly, and illness struck like a collapsing mountain.
Lotus instinctively wanted to press the back of her hand to Alyuin's forehead to check her temperature, but she quickly remembered she couldn't truly touch her, let alone feel her temperature.
In truth, she didn't need to. Anyone with a bit of experience could see the young princess had a fever, and a very high one at that.
She had to get someone.
But it was already past naptime. The priestess and Rhea would have woken up long ago, so Lotus couldn't enter their dreams to ask for help.
Wait for someone from the temple to notice something was wrong? Who knew how long that would take. The medical standards of this era weren't high to begin with, and the young princess's fever was too severe. If there was a delay, what if she suffered some lasting consequences—
Lotus's gaze darkened.
These past few days as the Goddess of the Yilu River had easily given her the illusion that she was truly omnipotent. She hadn't been completely seduced by this feeling, but she had inevitably overestimated her current abilities.
But the fact was... Lotus was still very weak.
No physical form, no power. The name of a god, the substance of a ghost.
She couldn't even take care of a single child.
The desire for a physical body had never been so strong. The silver-white strands of hair falling beside her face hid her expression. She was as silent as a snowtu flower under the moonlight.
A change occurred, silent and unseen.
Her translucent body gradually solidified. Her bare feet, which had been floating in mid-air, landed lightly on the floor. The gold ornaments around her neck clinked against each other, making the faintest of sounds.
In that moment, Lotus formally acknowledged the "god" aspect of her being.
Before, although she considered herself to be Lotus, the Goddess of the Yilu River, she had never truly accepted this identity from the bottom of her heart. It was more of an act, an imitation.
Perhaps because of this, the rights and powers of a god had not been fully opened to her. She could enter the dreams of devout believers and master all the knowledge in the temple's library—these were the goddess's "rights."
But she couldn't manifest an avatar, nor could she control the Yilu River as in the myths and legends—these were the goddess's "powers."
No matter how Lotus defined herself in her heart, the rights of a god had always belonged to her. The reason she couldn't wield her powers was that, deep down, she didn't believe she had the strength to do so.
Just now, Lotus had realized this, and without hesitation, she shattered that cognitive limitation.
The divinity latent in her consciousness overwhelmed her humanity with irresistible force. And so, obeying her will, the river goddess's avatar to walk the mortal world took form.
Having a physical body meant she could take care of the young princess, which was of course a good thing.
Yet Lotus lowered her eyes, her gaze cool as she looked at the little girl with the flushed cheeks, and made no move to help alleviate her symptoms.
What is divinity?
It is not pity, nor is it mercy. It is an indifference that resides far above all living beings. A human would naturally try to save a child suffering from illness, but a god would not.
Lotus raised her eyes toward the direction of the rising sun, the direction of the Kingdom of the Gods in myth and legend. The gods were born there and resided there for eternity. She rose slightly on her toes, about to lift into the air.
Just then, Alyuin's faint voice came from the side.
"Mother... Father..."
Of course, there was no response. A clear tear spilled from the corner of the young princess's eye and slid into her hair. With a slight sob, she whispered that name: "Lotus..."
The god's movement abruptly halted.
A flicker of struggle passed through her eyes before clarity returned a moment later.
That was close.
Lotus fully came to her senses, startled by her own recent actions. She remembered what had just happened; or rather, the one who had acted was indeed her, just with a different way of thinking.
It was a good thing the young princess's voice had startled her awake. Otherwise, who knew where she might have flown off to. That would have been troublesome.
Not daring to delay any longer, Lotus immediately found a linen cloth nearby, then hesitantly snapped her fingers.
With a snap, a clear ball of water the size of a fist materialized above her fingers, then fell onto the cloth, soaking it completely.
The incarnation of all fresh water, the Goddess of the Yilu River, could at most conjure a ball of water in the mortal realm. If a less-than-devout believer were to see this, they would probably convert to another god on the spot.
Still, this ability was somewhat useful. At least the pure water she conjured was free of bacteria and viruses, posing no risk of infection.
Lotus thought, trying to find some humor in the situation, as she folded the wet cloth into a long strip and placed it on the young princess's forehead.
This alone was clearly not enough. She reverted to her spirit form and went to the temple's storeroom to get medicine—a thick concoction made from boiled willow bark, sealed in a stone jar. Later generations would extract antipyretic and analgesic compounds from willow bark, proving the efficacy of this ancient fever remedy.
Lotus fed the medicine to the young princess mouthful by mouthful, then sat quietly by her side, watching. From time to time, she would remove the cloth, which had grown warm, rinse it in cool water, and place it back.
After once again removing the wet cloth, now warm with Alyuin's body heat, Lotus paused and pressed the back of her hand against the other's forehead.
It seemed her temperature wasn't as high as before.
Just as Lotus was concentrating on the sensation, the young princess's eyelashes fluttered. She slowly opened her eyes. Her golden irises, moist from the fever, met Lotus's gaze with a bewildered look.
"..." Lotus calmly placed the wet cloth back on her forehead, and in the next second, she reverted to her invisible spirit form and vanished on the spot.
Alyuin stared blankly for a few seconds, then struggled to sit up with her weak body. The cool cloth fell with her movement, landing right in her hand.
It wasn't a hallucination. Was that the Goddess of the Yilu River she had just seen? But how could a god descend to the mortal world in their true form?
Before opening her eyes, Alyuin had felt it: a soft, cool hand resting on her forehead, as if driving away the illness, easing the intense headache and the grogginess that was even more torturous than the pain.
She had wanted to see who was helping her, which was why she had struggled to lift her heavy eyelids.
So it was the Goddess Lotus.
It was actually Lotus.
Unable to put a name to the feeling in her heart, Alyuin looked around the room. There was no one in sight. Only the wet cloth in her hand proved that someone—no, some god—had been there.
The young princess pressed her lips together, closed her eyes, and fell back onto the bed. But she didn't place the wet cloth back on her forehead, instead clutching it tightly as if it were a precious treasure.
A heavy drowsiness washed over her. Alyuin didn't resist it and quietly fell asleep again.
Lotus confirmed she was asleep and breathed a silent sigh of relief.
Wait, it wouldn't have been a big deal if the young princess had seen her, right? After all, she had already appeared in her dreams several times...
Lotus was lost in the puzzle of why she had hidden.
After classes ended that afternoon, the priestess learned of Alyuin's absence from the scribe who taught the lessons. She immediately set aside her temple duties and hurried to the children's quarters.
The doors and windows were shut tight, the curtains drawn securely, obscuring the view.
The priestess almost thought something had happened to her. She quickly found the key and opened the door, only then discovering the sick young princess.
"Rest well in your room for the next few days. Come back to class once you've fully recovered. Nothing is more important than your health," the priestess instructed.
The thought was still a little frightening. Her Highness the Princess was alone in her room with no one to look after her. It was fortunate the fever wasn't too severe this time. What if it had caused complications?
The young princess sat on the bed and answered softly, "Alright."
The priestess could only see that Alyuin seemed dazed and listless. She couldn't tell if it was confusion from the fever or sorrow over her own circumstances.
She had always been strict and wasn't good at comforting people, so she left the medicine and said dryly, "Please take care of yourself."
Her tone was stiff, sounding more like a reprimand than a word of comfort.
The priestess regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. Not knowing how to fix it, she could only leave with a stern expression, closing the door behind her.
Alyuin paid it no mind.
She was still recalling the image of Lotus sitting by her bed, gazing at her. Her posture was noble and unapproachable, yet when her fair hand rested on her forehead, it felt so intimate.
After a long while, the young princess's eyelashes lowered.
A soft, shallow sigh escaped her lips.
"Who are you, really..."
Comments
Post a Comment