TGS - Chapter 69
Chapter 69: Legacy
Unlike the consistently grand and imposing architectural style of central and northern Solancia, the main hall of the royal villa was like a delicate and beautiful work of art.
The dome, walls, and floor were all built of white marble, with almost no visible seams, as if the entire palace had been carved from a single, enormous block of white stone.
The main hall was commissioned several generations ago by a King of Solancia. His queen, who hailed from the south, was melancholic and sleepless day after day, having been separated from her homeland.
To help the queen sleep peacefully, the king built southern-style palaces in the royal city and several royal villas. This bedchamber was one of them, preserved to this day, as white as new.
The palace itself was not large, consisting of only two rooms. From the outside, it was unremarkable, but upon entering, one would discover a small door hung with a curtain of layered, fragmented crystals, connecting the main chamber to a side chamber.
Lotus was staying in the side chamber.
"Side chamber" was merely a term to distinguish it from the main one. Historically, it had housed royal concubines or young heirs. The last time Alyuin had accompanied her parents on a tour, she had stayed here.
The room contained a small bathing pool, which a thoughtful maidservant had already filled with hot water, from which steam gently rose.
Dried, deep crimson petals floated on the water's surface. After soaking for a short while, they regained their lustrous, plump freshness, releasing the unique fragrance of roses.
In a sense, the Goddess of the Yilu River had no need to bathe; she herself was the personification of purity and clarity.
However, Lotus maintained the habit of bathing. She closed her eyes and rested in the pool, only rising to don her bathrobe as the sky outside gradually darkened.
Turning her head, she saw the princess's indistinct figure standing behind the crystal curtain. The silhouette was a bit strange, as if she were holding something in her arms.
"Lotus, may I come over?"
Alyuin symbolically raised a hand and knocked on the curtain.
The crystal beads collided, briefly parting to reveal the princess's bare, rounded shoulder.
Lotus averted her gaze, assuming Alyuin didn't want to dry her hair again, and nodded. "Alright."
The crystal curtain was then pushed aside. Unexpectedly, Alyuin was holding a pillow. Her black hair was half-dry, the ends no longer dripping. She didn't seem to need any help.
"The main chamber is too empty. I don't want to sleep there." The princess shifted her gaze to the large bed in the side chamber, which was covered with a soft cotton mattress. Her intention was perfectly clear.
Lotus said, "The furnishings in the main and side chambers are about the same." Empty?
The princess replied, "Alright, I'll be honest. I just want to chat with you."
This reason seemed perfectly acceptable, so Lotus nodded, and the princess moved into the side chamber with her pillow.
"I might have seen that head maidservant before. Eleven years ago, she should have been here."
By the flickering candlelight, Alyuin leaned against the headboard, recalling thoughtfully.
No matter how outstanding the princess's memory was, she couldn't possibly remember every single person she had met years ago. She remembered the old lord because he had made a deep impression, but she couldn't recall a maidservant stationed at the royal villa.
But…
"According to the head maidservant, the old lord met with her before he passed away, and he was certain I would come here." Alyuin's knuckles tapped a rhythm against the bedpost. "It seems I'll have to find an opportunity to speak with her in detail tomorrow."
Lotus turned a page of her book. "The current lord has already sent people to watch."
"Their concealment skills are too poor. They're nothing to worry about."
It wasn't just the princess and the goddess who had noticed the spies; the head maidservant was also aware. She seemed to have something she wanted to say to Alyuin but had ultimately remained silent, likely out of concern for the hidden eyes.
In a corner of the room, the hearth fire continued to emit a golden-red glow.
Lotus's gaze was fixed on the page, and Alyuin said no more, leaning over to read with her.
For a time, the only sound was the crackling of the fire. Outside, snowflakes continued to swirl, but the cold could not invade the house; the room was as warm as spring.
Alyuin subconsciously slowed her breathing.
Being so close, she could smell Lotus's scent. It was no longer just Snowtu flowers and water vapor, but also a sweet, rich fragrance like roses.
She instinctively disliked smelling other scents on the goddess, but this rose fragrance was somewhat similar to a balm she used to use, which sent the princess's mind wandering.
Even so, smelling it for too long was still a bit uncomfortable… Alyuin glanced wistfully toward the bathing pool, deciding to hide all the dried flowers tomorrow.
Lotus kept her eyes lowered for a long time before finally closing the scroll and setting it aside.
For some reason, she felt a slight sense of unease.
It wasn't quite the unique premonition of a god, but more like a non-urgent reminder.
Just then, Alyuin blew out the candle and slipped under the covers.
She watched the flickering firelight dance on Lotus's profile and said, "I'm a little sleepy… Good night, Lotus."
Lotus wished her good night in a gentle voice.
Alyuin had only brought her pillow, leaving her blanket in the main chamber. This meant they were now sharing a single quilt. The bedding provided in the villa was very spacious; it was more than enough for two people, even three.
However, the sensory experience was another matter entirely. Even with a small distance between them, the warm presence beside her was distinct.
A god's sleep was different from a human's. They did not suffer from insomnia and could fall into a deep slumber in an instant if they wished. Yet Lotus allowed herself to stare at the ceiling, showing no intention of sleeping.
Beside her, the princess's breathing gradually became even and slow.
Lotus had expected Alyuin to move closer as she had before, like a cat instinctively seeking to cuddle, but she didn't.
She quietly raised her eyes to look. The princess was sleeping quite properly, her hands relaxed naturally at her sides, showing none of her former dependent posture.
Lotus's wish had been fulfilled. After they started sleeping separately, the princess no longer exhibited any insecure behavior. She was already quite used to sleeping alone.
The one who was not used to it now was Lotus.
The river goddess let out a silent sigh that she herself did not notice. After a moment of thought, she very gently lifted the covers, picked up her own pillow, and tiptoed toward the main chamber.
Lotus's back disappeared behind the crystal curtain.
Alyuin did not open her eyes, but her lips pressed together, forming a tiny downward curve.
She silently scooted over to the now-empty spot beside her. After a moment, the corners of her mouth curved up again.
The current lord's methods were not very sophisticated, and the spies he sent were easy to handle. The next day, Alyuin easily evaded his eyes and ears, finding a time to meet with the head maidservant alone.
The head maidservant's name was Kurda.
She confessed frankly, "The old lord knew long ago that you would return, so he stored something here and instructed me to deliver it into Your Highness's hands personally."
Alyuin looked directly into her eyes. "I am grateful that you have waited until now, but I wish to know why the old lord trusted you so much."
An important item that had to be given to the former king's daughter was not left with a close personal attendant, but instead entrusted to the head maidservant of a royal villa. This was a move that greatly increased the risk of exposure.
"The lord may not have trusted me completely, but at that time, there was truly no one around him he could trust," Kurda said with a bitter smile.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. Even if it costs my life and my faith, I would never betray you. If the former king and the lord had not saved me during their travels and placed me here, I would have died a horrible death long ago."
She owed them a debt for saving her life, one she could never repay, so she could only swear her loyalty before the gods she believed in. When the two people who had shown her such kindness passed away one after another, the only one she could be loyal to was Alyuin.
—The princess who carried the hopes of His Majesty and the lord from when they were alive.
Alyuin nodded, indicating she had no further questions.
"Back then, after the lord passed away from illness," the head maidservant continued, emphasizing the word "illness" with a flash of hatred in her eyes, "guards came to search my room. However, I had already hidden the item the very night I received it, so they found nothing."
The princess's brow furrowed, her expression questioning.
The head maidservant looked out the window.
The tallest tree in the courtyard had long since shed all its leaves, leaving only a tree of bare branches.
That afternoon, an inconspicuous deep pit was dug beneath the tree, and a wooden box, once buried deep in the earth, saw the light of day again.
"The lord said that he was leaving his life's learning to you. Although he could not teach you personally, he believed that you now possess the experience to truly understand it."
"—There are many things one will never understand without experiencing them."
The old man's words still echoed in her ears.
Alyuin carried the wooden box back to her room alone. Opening it, she found it neatly stacked with scrolls. The strong scent of wood, used to prevent insect damage, was potent.
She picked up a scroll at random and unrolled it. Every page was filled with annotations.
The old lord, who had once served as the former king's tutor, was widely recognized in Solancia as a wise man and a virtuous official. All the books he had written, whether publicly circulated versions existed or not, were placed in this box.
"I was thinking before that when I met Your Highness, I would implore you to accept the lord's things, no matter what, and then call him 'teacher'."
Kurda said this, then suddenly shrugged with a smile, adding before Alyuin could speak, "But now I've changed my mind. Your Highness, I see you already have a teacher. She is the mentor you acknowledge, is she not?"
Alyuin replied, "You are very perceptive."
She had barely exchanged a few words with Lotus in front of the head maidservant, yet Kurda had already sensed it—though her line of thinking had strayed somewhat from reality.
Kurda remarked with emotion, "The former king used to say that as well, but I have no confidence in it. Even though I often notice the beginnings of things, the direction of my guesses is always wrong."
Alyuin said nothing.
She glanced, seemingly casually, toward Lotus, who was completely oblivious.
While feeling wistful, Kurda was also genuinely happy. "It's wonderful that I wasn't wrong this time."
The princess smiled politely and decided not to offer an opinion on the matter.
For the entire afternoon, Lotus and Alyuin worked together to sort and organize the scrolls.
Perhaps books could never fully replace the role of a good teacher, but a quick flip through them revealed the old lord's diligence, thoroughness, and attention to every detail. His annotations encompassed numerous possibilities, enough to shorten the gap between the book and the person as much as possible.
The hasty, slightly trembling handwriting might have been penned in the final moments of his life.
Why the old lord held such high expectations for Alyuin, whom he had only met once, Lotus could not know.
By comparison, she couldn't help but feel that her own title as 'teacher' was somewhat undeserved…
Before Lotus could conduct a deeper analysis of the issue, an invitation from the current lord arrived at the royal villa, delivered by the hand of an official.
The invitee was not the princess, but the owner of the caravan.
Alyuin skimmed the letter, utterly amazed.
Truly remarkable.
—After passing through so many cities, the first lord who actually dared to treat the princess as a mere caravan guard had finally appeared.
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