TGS - Chapter 66
Chapter 66: An Intimate Moment
Outside the window, the sun sank in the west. The clear, tea-red light of dusk, blocked by linen curtains, filled the room with a dim, yellow glow.
The faint sound of splashing water echoed in the room.
Alyuin leaned back in the wooden bathtub, her eyes half-closed. With one hand, she scooped up water and splashed it over herself. A shallow pool of clear water gathered in the hollows of her collarbones, while more droplets streamed down her chest and fell back to the surface, sending ripples across the water.
A large, old, cheap garment was draped over a rack, set far apart from the Princess's other robes, whether simple or formal.
She wore these clothes whenever she slipped into the slums. With the hood up and a deliberate change in her gait, few would notice anything different about the young woman walking alone compared to the other lower-class citizens who toiled all day.
Was the Princess's disguise that convincing?
Not entirely. It was mostly because the poor had no time to observe the pedestrians who brushed past them. Even if they felt Alyuin was out of place on the filthy streets of the slums, who would stop and waste their energy pondering it?
The poor… they were the people at the very bottom of this kingdom.
Their status was only a sliver above that of slaves. After all, slaves were never treated as human, while the poor could at least be considered people. But in terms of their actual living conditions, the poor had it even harder than the slaves.
Slaves were the property of the nobility. Though lowly, they were at least provided with food and shelter; they had value as assets.
The poor, however, were truly insignificant, their lives as disposable as weeds. They never knew when they might freeze, starve, or die of illness. If they offended a noble and were beaten to death, no one would seek justice on their behalf.
Numb, exhausted, living only to survive. These people didn't know the Princess had come to the city, nor did they care. They had no interest in any topic unrelated to their livelihood.
To have something to talk about over tea, one first needed to have tea.
Yet they were also a silent, unseen force—a vast and silent multitude.
Alyuin had visited the slums several times, wanting to see and understand more. Yet, the more she saw, the clearer it became: the poor couldn't care less who sat on the throne. They only cared about taxes and prices.
Anyone who could make their lives less difficult was a good ruler. Even so, it was merely the difference between a difficult life and an exceptionally difficult one.
As her thoughts turned to this, Alyuin thought of Lotus again.
Faced with the dilapidated, potholed streets and low-slung houses of the slums, the Goddess of the Yilu River had seemed unmoved, yet her expression was not one of cold indifference.
Whether she looked upon the poor or the nobility, there was no difference in Lotus's gaze, as if all people were equal in her eyes.
Was this a god's impartiality, or was it that, rich or poor, noble or common, they were all simply mortals in her eyes?
Her thoughts began to drift, and just then, there was a knock on her door.
Alyuin recognized the rhythm—two gentle knocks, a two-second pause, then three slightly firmer ones. Only Lotus knocked that way.
She was about to call out "I'm here," but the words caught in her throat.
Alyuin blinked. The warm steam rising from the hot water in the tub moistened her thick eyelashes.
Then the Princess closed her eyes, letting her head and neck relax as she leaned back, becoming still.
Lotus knocked a few times, pressing her lips together lightly.
No answer… Had she misjudged? Was Alyuin not back yet?
A maidservant carrying a laundry basket passed by in the corridor. When Lotus asked, the woman replied, "Her Highness returned a while ago. She requested water for a bath, so she should still be washing up."
If she were bathing, the Princess would normally have answered, unless she hadn't heard. And under what circumstances would she fail to hear?
Lotus frowned. After a moment's hesitation, she knocked again and said, "I'm coming in."
She pushed open the door, letting it close behind her.
Alyuin was indeed bathing—or more accurately, she was half-reclined in the tub, her eyes peacefully closed and her posture relaxed, looking as if she had fallen asleep in the middle of her bath.
A flicker of concern crossed Lotus's face, but her divine senses detected nothing amiss. She relaxed and settled gracefully into a nearby armchair.
After a moment, she spoke, her voice tinged with amusement, "Are you going to keep pretending to be asleep?"
The Princess remained motionless for a few seconds, then opened her eyes and said with regret, "How did you know?"
Lotus shook her head. "You wake at the slightest disturbance. How could you not have heard me? Unless you hadn't slept for two days straight." And the Princess's routine had been quite regular lately; she was in no way sleep-deprived.
Alyuin sighed. "You're right."
Happy that the goddess knew her so well, yet disappointed that her little plan had failed, the Princess found her emotions balanced, her mood stable.
Lotus asked, "Why pretend to be asleep?"
"I wanted you to dote on me," Alyuin said, half-joking. "I used to be so exhausted from training that I'd fall asleep in the tub, and you would come and lift me out. I miss those days…"
In truth, she didn't miss it that much.
The experience of being scooped out of the large tub by the goddess like a young animal, then swaddled in a thick towel like a cocoon, had filled her heart with warmth at the time. While the warmth remained, she wasn't particularly keen on reliving it.
Alyuin would much rather lift Lotus from the water, getting soaked herself in the process, so that what followed could happen naturally…
She stopped the thought in its tracks.
Lotus also recalled those years ago, around the time the Royal Guard had first appeared. The little princess had been brimming with fighting spirit, sometimes training until she was too exhausted to lift a finger, and would fall asleep in the tub during her bath.
The river goddess, who had just manifested a physical form as an "incarnation" to stay by her side, couldn't bear to watch. She would lift the girl from the water, wrap her in a bath towel, dry her off, and gently place her back on the bed.
Back then, Alyuin wasn't even as tall as her.
Thinking back, that was probably the turning point when her relationship with the Princess became truly close and relaxed.
Lotus looked at the Princess, about to speak, when Alyuin stood up without any warning.
Her supple, honey-colored body broke the surface, droplets scattering.
Caught off guard, Lotus abruptly averted her gaze.
"——You could have given me some warning."
Alyuin leisurely picked up a long, thin linen cloth, all the while observing the goddess's reaction. When she caught sight of the tips of Lotus's ears, which had hastily turned a faint red, a triumphant little smile played on her lips.
"Was it necessary?" The Princess's logic was weak, but her confidence was not. "You came in while I was bathing anyway. A detail like this hardly matters, does it?"
"…" Lotus felt there was something wrong with that statement.
Moving with deliberate slowness, Alyuin leisurely tucked the edge of the long cloth into a knot at her waist before announcing, "Alright."
Lotus turned her gaze back, but upon seeing the sight before her, she suddenly felt she had turned back too soon.
The long cloth was indeed very thin.
So thin, in fact, that the single layer clinging to her body, damp with lingering droplets of water, was little different from wearing nothing at all. It even possessed a strange allure, half-concealing and half-revealing.
Half-concealing, allure?
To even think of such adjectives was letting her mind wander. Lotus silently chided her own imagination, though her expression remained perfectly composed.
Perhaps to subconsciously prove she wasn't entertaining any other thoughts, Lotus didn't look away again. Instead, with an unfocused gaze, she said, "You should change. Don't catch a chill."
It was still winter, after all.
Alyuin took a long stride, stepping out of the tub.
Her legs were long and straight—slender but not weak, their lines smooth and beautiful, full of power.
"There's a charcoal fire in the room; it's not cold at all." —In fact, thick clothes might even be a bit warm. But one look at Lotus's eyes, and Alyuin conceded. "Alright."
She changed into a nightgown that was neither too thick nor too thin.
Lotus raised her fingers slightly, about to help dry the Princess's still-dripping black hair, when the God of Wisdom's warning suddenly flashed through her mind.
If possible, try not to use divine power to influence humans.
That being said, she had dried Alyuin's long hair dozens, if not a hundred, times. An act like this should be harmless.
The pause lasted less than a second, but Alyuin noticed it.
She paused, then smiled nonchalantly. "Lotus, could you help me dry my hair?"
Lotus looked up.
Alyuin's voice softened. "You can dry my hair, and I can tend to yours in return. We can call it sharing a moment."
"Ever since we started sleeping separately, it feels like we haven't been as close. I can't help but feel a little sad about it."
The Princess was openly and unabashedly expressing her longing.
Without much hesitation, Lotus took the clean towel, which carried the faint scent of aromatherapy, and gestured to the chair beside her. "Come sit here."
Alyuin immediately broke into a victorious smile.
The sky outside was growing dark, but a charcoal fire still burned in a corner of the room, providing warmth and enough light to see.
But Alyuin lit a lamp anyway.
The pea-sized flame flickered atop the lampstand, casting the shadows of the two, now standing so close together, onto the white stone wall from the most perfect angle.
The towel, though carrying the lingering scent of aromatherapy, couldn't mask Lotus's unique fragrance of snowtu flowers. With a steady, gentle pressure, she worked it through Alyuin's hair.
Alyuin leaned back slightly, causing their shadows on the wall to overlap. Looking at the two magnified silhouettes, it seemed as if Lotus were holding her in an embrace.
During this quiet time, neither of them spoke.
The silence lasted until Lotus withdrew her hands, carefully folded the used towel, and placed it among the clothes to be sent for washing.
Her gaze shifted, and Lotus noticed the cheap, old garment lying nearby, its fabric patched.
A garment that nobles and wealthy merchants wouldn't spare a second glance might be considered a rare, respectable piece of clothing to the poor.
Alyuin was waiting for her hair to dry completely.
A towel could only do so much; the rest was a matter of waiting.
Noticing the goddess's gaze fall upon the worn-out robe, Alyuin propped her elbows on the edge of the table and said, "Is there something you want to say?"
Lotus nodded silently.
She asked, "Alyuin, what did you encounter in the slums?"
The old garment was set aside, not put with the rest of the laundry; it looked as if it were about to be discarded.
The Princess probably wouldn't be going back to the slums anytime soon.
"Nothing happened. It was the same as the other times… I just feel that, at this stage, there's nothing I can do there, so I don't plan on going back." Alyuin paused, then carefully added, "At least, not before I return to Akhet."
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