TGS - Chapter 53
Chapter 53: After Wash
That night, the entire city was ablaze with light.
The people celebrated all night, completely unaware of the quiet transfer of power that had occurred in the Lord's manor. They returned home after the festivities to sleep, and it wasn't until nearly noon the next day that they emerged, yawning, to see the notices posted on every street corner.
Overnight, the city lord had changed. The former lord had died unexpectedly in a fire in the banquet hall, and his only son had succeeded him.
The lords of the main cities enjoyed a relatively high degree of autonomy, and most positions were hereditary. A lord with many children would have to report the name of their chosen heir to the King of Solancia in advance and await approval, but Kopal was spared even this step—she was the only one, so what was there to report?
She directly succeeded as lord and sent a message to Akhet, attaching a summary of the former lord's crimes. The charge of colluding with bandits alone was enough to explain everything, leaving Horst with no pretext to hold her accountable, even if he wanted to.
This sudden turn of events left the few insiders in Wash City and the other nobles who had an inkling of the plot utterly astonished. They had gone to bed expecting to hear of the princess's death, only to find that the one who died was the lord.
The clever ones covered their ears, sealed their lips, and pretended to know nothing.
There were also those less astute who let things slip. Kopal saw it all, noted it down, and waited for a future reckoning.
However, regardless of how events in Wash City would unfold, the impression of the princess held by those watching the situation was transformed—or rather, fundamentally changed.
When the princess was first exiled and passed through Wash City, they had thought her a fragile fledgling deprived of her parents' protection. They all said she wouldn't survive a year in a remote border town like Kadera.
Later, when the princess joined the army and her fame for her military achievements spread, most of them dismissed the news. Some guessed the rumors were exaggerated, while others suspected her Royal Guard had given her the credit.
Even those who did believe in the princess's abilities didn't think she could stand against King Horst. Solancia had never lacked for generals skilled at repelling foreign enemies, nor was it without rebellious garrisons, but throughout history, none had ever succeeded.
It was only now that they truly acknowledged Alyuin's existence for the first time.
This princess, it seemed, was at least capable. As for what the future held, who could say for certain?
Kopal officially succeeded as the Lord of Wash City three days after the incident at the celebration.
Although there were still some factions not yet in her grasp, it was only a matter of time before she truly controlled those powers.
Everyone knew she had half-slave blood, but no one dared mention it. They all assumed the new lord would be ashamed of having a slave woman for a mother.
But before the succession ceremony, Kopal made a special trip to the bank of the Yilu River, to the place where she had held a simple funeral for her mother.
Here, she paid respects to her mother, who had been dead for many years, while completely ignoring the recently deceased former lord.
The former lord had died in the fire. Since no one had dared to fight the blaze at the time, his charred corpse was mixed with those of his guards, making it impossible to distinguish them. They had to be given a collective funeral by the river.
Kopal didn't even go to the funeral.
On the day of her ceremony, she passed by the site of her father's funeral without so much as a glance.
Alyuin also attended the succession ceremony. As the only member of the royal family present, she received the token and seal symbolizing the lord's authority from the priest of the Earth God and presented them to Kopal.
For certain reasons, they acted as if they were not well acquainted, not even friendly, maintaining a flat, business-like demeanor.
Their acting was so superb that even the nobles in the know were a little confused—wasn't Kopal, the biggest beneficiary, the one who had cooperated with the princess to kill the former lord? Why did the two of them seem to have no connection at all?
No one noticed that after the ceremony, the new lord's first act was to pay a visit to the princess.
Upon entering, Kopal did not offer the simple bow of a city lord meeting royalty. Instead, she knelt on one knee and said respectfully, "Your Highness."
Kopal knew very well that having seized the lordship with the princess's power meant she was now a part of the princess's faction. A formal salute was required when they met.
"You've come at a good time. Rise," Alyuin said with a nod. "Congratulations on achieving your wish. We'll be departing tomorrow. Since you've come today, I won't need to go to the lord's manor to say goodbye."
Kopal was a little surprised, not expecting the princess to plan on leaving so soon.
She thought for a moment, but instead of rising, she bowed her head deeply, placing her fists on the ground.
This was the Solancian pledge of fealty.
"Your Highness, please accept my loyalty," Kopal said firmly. "This is the purpose of my visit. I am willing to follow in your footsteps with all my heart, to provide you with all possible assistance, to never disobey your commands, to hide nothing, and to never have a second thought."
Alyuin: "Have you made your decision?"
Kopal: "Yes. I should have done this before you even agreed to help me. To have delayed until now is already a negligence on my part."
Alyuin nodded. "Very well. I accept your fealty."
With those words, the atmosphere in the room instantly lightened.
Lena clapped softly from behind the princess. "It seems we have another companion."
Motis: "Not bad, not bad. Do you have time? Want to go for a spar to build some camaraderie?"
Only Luca was shocked. "What? No test? Am I the only one who had to pass a test to formally pledge loyalty to the princess?"
After a brief silence.
"Yes, only you."
The two said in unison, not bothering to hide their disdain.
Only then did Kopal break into a relaxed smile and stand up briskly.
"Since I have already promised to hide nothing from you, I naturally wouldn't dare conceal my identity," she said, pausing for a moment. "You must have guessed long ago. I am a woman. I have been dressing as a man for reasons of necessity, and I will continue to do so for some time."
Alyuin raised an eyebrow. "So, you intend to announce your identity publicly in the future?"
"Yes. If you object, I can remove that from my list of goals."
"Of course I don't object." Alyuin's thoughts shifted. "However, remember to tell me before you decide to announce it."
Kopal naturally agreed.
But...
"If I may be so bold, how did you see through it? In all my years in the lord's manor, no one ever suspected my gender. I thought I was flawless."
Kopal finally couldn't contain her curiosity.
Alyuin glanced imperceptibly at Lotus.
Lotus smiled, her face clearly saying, I am just an ordinary lady-in-waiting.
So the princess shrugged. "Intuition, I suppose. My intuition has always been rather sharp."
Kopal: "…"
Could intuition really be that accurate?
The new lord felt a slight worry. If she encountered such unreasonably accurate intuition again in the future, would any disguise be useless?
But on second thought, even if someone did feel something was amiss, they couldn't possibly question her. Even if they had suspicions, they would never have the opportunity to demand that the lord of a city prove her identity.
The days of treading carefully, of being constantly on edge, were finally over.
"Oh, there's one more thing. My friend wishes to see you. She wants to thank you in person for defeating the mountain bandits."
Alyuin: "Let her in."
Kopal raised her voice slightly. "Vanice, you can come in."
The door was pushed open from the outside, and a young woman walked in, looking a little nervous. She was startled to see so many people in the room.
After bowing, she said softly, "G-greetings, Your Highness."
"I'm sorry. I know I'm taking up your time, but I wanted to thank you in person…"
Lena looked at her face. At first, she didn't connect it to the scene she had witnessed while tailing Kopal, but upon hearing the familiar voice, she suddenly remembered. "Oh, it's you."
Alyuin: "Who?"
"Your Highness, remember when I told you about the slave girl Kopal met by the rockery when she left the banquet? The one who cried for a long time. It's her. I almost forgot."
Lena shuddered at the memory. That girl could really cry. If she hadn't been patient enough to wait it out, she might have missed Kopal's subsequent contact with her secret aide.
The young woman before them was not dressed in slave's clothes. Her face flushed slightly. "I'm sorry… I didn't know you were listening."
Kopal also coughed lightly. "Running into Vanice then was not part of my plan. It was an accident."
But Alyuin's attention was on something else.
"The merchants in the city said that two years ago, someone broke into the lord's manor demanding that he eliminate the bandits. Was that you?"
Vanice's eyes dimmed at the memory, but she managed a faint smile. "I didn't know any better back then, just foolishly went to the lord's manor. If it weren't for Kopal, I don't know where I'd be now."
A young girl traveling with her family's small caravan for the first time, everything was new and exciting. When the caravan was attacked by bandits at the foot of the mountain, she was in the nearby woods picking flowers.
In the blink of an eye, her world had changed.
The bandits mercilessly slaughtered her parents, brothers, guards, and servants. Then, laughing, they left with the ox carts laden with goods. Vanice lay hidden in the bushes, not daring to breathe, the flowers she had just picked scattered on the ground.
She made her way to Wash City alone, hoping to beg the lord to send men to eliminate the bandits, but instead, she was knocked unconscious and sold into slavery.
If Kopal hadn't saved her, Vanice's fate would have been grim indeed.
"So I am very grateful to you. Thank you for helping me and Kopal get our revenge." Vanice bowed deeply. "I heard you are also a follower of the Goddess Lotus. May the goddess bless you forever, Your Highness."
This blessing pleased the princess greatly. "You believe in Lotus... the Goddess Lotus?" Alyuin said cheerfully.
Vanice didn't understand why the princess's tone had suddenly become so friendly, but that didn't stop her from feeling flattered. "Yes! I'm from Yilulaila City."
They chatted for a while until the sky began to darken. Kopal glanced out the window and bid farewell to the princess and the others.
"I will stay in Wash and seize full control of this city as quickly as possible. If you need anything, you can command me at any time."
Such words could only be spoken today. When she saw them off tomorrow, she would have to put on the facade that she and the princess were not at all familiar.
And that was indeed the case.
The next day, before the caravan departed, in front of the other nobles present, the two parties simply exchanged brief farewells and then fell silent.
As Kopal and Vanice watched, the caravan drove out of the gates of Wash City.
Lotus pressed her temples. She looked down and saw a cup of hot, dark reddish tea on the small table before her.
She lowered her gaze to her own blurred reflection in the cup and was suddenly reminded of the lord's guards, whose blood vessels had burst before her eyes. The dark red color showing through their skin was very similar to the color of this tea.
Before coming to Wash City, no one had ever targeted her in an attack, so this kind of change had never been triggered.
Lotus felt no particular turmoil.
She was more interested in understanding the mechanism behind this reaction.
Does any active attack on a god result in the punishment of death?
Is this true for everyone, or are there exceptions?
Just as Lotus was pondering this, a game board appeared at her right hand.
She looked up and met Alyuin's expectant gaze.
"The bandits interrupted our last game." The princess picked up a black, cat-headed piece and spun it around her fingertip. "Lotus, let's play another round. The same wager, alright?"
Lotus chuckled. "You still remember."
"How could I forget anything related to you?"
"Alright. Who goes first this time?"
"You can go first again."
"Your turn."
"Mm, what a brilliant move. As expected of you."
"...You're praising me too early. This is the first move."
"The first move can decide the whole game."
Soon, one piece appeared on the board, then two, then three.
In the glow of the morning light, the smooth, translucent black and white pieces shimmered faintly, reflecting Lotus's face as she looked down in thought, and the princess's expression as she rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the goddess.
Behind the caravan, the silhouette of Wash City gradually receded into the distance.
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