TGS - Chapter 86
Chapter 86: The Bronze Mirror
“What are you looking at?”
Alyuin leaned in to see.
Lotus did not answer immediately. Her fingertips brushed over the small section of the golden, snake-patterned frame that had been revealed after wiping away the dust. She then continued to wipe, and before long, all the dust was gone from the bronze mirror, revealing its full appearance.
A golden snake pattern coiled in a circle, framing a mirror surface that could clearly reflect a person's image. The snake's tongue and tail met seamlessly, directly opposite a sapphire embedded in the frame.
This bronze mirror, seeing the light of day once more, perfectly matched an image from a distant, bizarre memory. It was that mirror, the one from the national museum that had brought her here.
Now, it had appeared before Lotus once again.
At an unexpected time, in a completely unforeseen place.
Lotus's gaze fell upon the sapphire, and her pupils suddenly contracted.
“…Is this mirror yours?”
Her tone seemed calm, but Alyuin keenly sensed something was amiss. She paused for a moment before replying, “I found it in the royal treasury when I was a child. I liked it very much, so I brought it out.”
At the time, Alyuin had competed against other children her age and emerged victorious. The former king, intending to reward her, had allowed her to choose anything she liked from the treasury.
The young princess bypassed the exquisite ornaments crafted by numerous famous artisans in the kingdom's history, ignored the various natural treasures accumulated by the royal family for generations, and finally chose an obscure, gold-inlaid bronze mirror.
The female official in charge of managing the treasury looked at it for a long time but couldn't say how long the bronze mirror had been gathering dust in the storeroom. In any case, it was an inconspicuous item within the treasury.
The mirror's origins were unknown, nor was it the work of a master. Moreover, snakes were not positive creatures in Solancian mythology, so a mirror inlaid with a snake pattern held little appeal to others.
However, the princess insisted on her choice, refusing to change her mind even after the official tried to persuade her repeatedly. In the end, she got her wish and brought the mirror back to her chambers.
After hearing the story, Lotus nodded.
If it were just her and the princess here, Lotus might have allowed herself to stare blankly at the mirror, lost in thought. But the lady-in-waiting from Horst's faction was following right behind them, so it was best not to lose her composure in front of her.
So Lotus lowered her eyes and said lightly, “It’s a rather pretty mirror.”
Alyuin said, “If you like it, then take it.”
The lady-in-waiting interjected, “Wait, Your Highness, things from here cannot be casually taken out of the royal palace—”
“Things from here?” The princess raised an eyebrow coolly. “This was the place where I once lived, and the ornaments in the room all belong to me.”
Her tone was light, yet it permitted no argument.
A chill ran down the lady-in-waiting’s back. She lowered her head and mumbled her assent.
They all said the princess was a god of slaughter on the border battlefields, so her temper must be terrible. It couldn't be her fault for being unable to stop her. She could only report it to His Majesty afterward.
Lotus deliberately avoided the mirror's reflection. After a moment's thought, she placed the bronze mirror in a leather pouch and kept it with her.
Afterward, as if nothing had happened, Alyuin continued to show Lotus her childhood residence.
Although everything was covered in dust, one could still vaguely see how exquisitely and comfortably this palace chamber had been furnished years ago. It had clearly been arranged with great care.
On the marble wall opposite the bed hung a portrait of the princess as a child.
In the frame, the little girl wore a sleeveless, belted tunic, a rose-red cape draped over her shoulders in a proper fashion, and a wreath of roses on her head. She carried a small bow and sat sideways on a pony the same color as her cape, her chin slightly raised with a proud and haughty expression.
The composition of the painting was beautiful, exuding the magnificent and elegant style favored by the royal city's painters.
It was also quite whimsical.
The moment Alyuin saw the portrait, she had a bad feeling. Sure enough, Lotus glanced at it a couple of times, then turned her head and earnestly suggested, “Since we’re here, let’s take this too.”
Alyuin: “…Alright.”
A moment later, the goddess and the princess, one carrying a bronze mirror, the other tucking a portrait under her arm, walked out of the former queen’s bedchamber with composed expressions.
The lady-in-waiting watching their backs: “…”
How was she supposed to report this to His Majesty?
The princess and her teacher had wandered around the palace, done nothing suspicious, and only taken a mirror and a painting?
I see. There must be some secret hidden in these two items.
Putting aside Horst’s speculations upon receiving the news, the princess’s party had already left the royal palace and arrived at the residential area for nobles within the royal city.
The former king had a residence here.
Though it was called the former king’s residence, it had actually been acquired and passed down by a king several generations ago. Strictly speaking, it was the private property of the direct royal line.
Horst had not touched this residence. Only a few servants lived here permanently, cleaning it from time to time. However, this maintenance hadn't been very effective; the estate looked almost as desolate as the former queen’s bedchamber.
As a diligent and responsible head maidservant, Kurda could not tolerate such a scene. She immediately gathered the servants and hired laborers and began to clean and tidy up.
Under the head maidservant’s command, everyone worked from top to bottom, from the main areas to the secondary ones, with incredible efficiency. In a single afternoon, they had the residence neat, orderly, and clean. Even the bushes in the garden had been trimmed.
Lotus was distracted the entire afternoon. She made no effort to hide this change, and Alyuin, seeing it, grew doubtful.
Her golden eyes lowered, inadvertently glancing at the leather pouch Lotus was toying with between her fingers. The bronze mirror from the bedchamber was inside.
The princess withdrew her gaze, propped her chin on one hand, and turned her face to the other side.
She sighed silently in her heart.
Insight, control, effortless mastery.
Alyuin was like this with almost everything. Only with Lotus did all uncertainty and fear of loss stem from the river goddess.
And this time, what was it that she didn't understand and couldn't intervene in?
The evening clouds glowed in the sky as dusk approached.
Most of the members of the Royal Guard were natives of Akhet. Some went home to live, while others remained at the residence, filling the empty courtyards to the brim.
The entire estate suddenly came to life.
Lotus bid Alyuin goodnight and prepared to return to her room.
Driven by a faint sense of unease, the princess suddenly called out, “Lotus!”
“Hm?”
“You won’t leave without saying goodbye, will you?”
Lotus was slightly taken aback. “Why would you think that?”
Alyuin: “…”
Alyuin: “Just a random thought.”
Lotus looked at her, her gaze suddenly softening.
It was as if, during the warmth of spring, the floating ice on the northernmost part of the Yilu River had shattered, and the current gently pushed the broken pieces along.
“I won’t just leave like this.”
Lotus took two steps forward, came before Alyuin, and tapped the tip of her nose.
“We made a promise. I will watch you achieve your heart's desire. Until then, I will stay by your side.”
“Don’t overthink it. Go back and rest. I promise I’ll be on time to wish you good morning tomorrow.”
With a soft click, the door closed.
Alyuin still stood outside, her eyes dark and unreadable.
She won’t leave before I achieve my desire.
But what about after?
Lotus entered the room.
The room was furnished in a simple and elegant style. To welcome its new occupant, all the furnishings had been replaced with a new set.
The decor was primarily silver-gray, accented with a simplified pattern of snowtu flowers. Even the textiles on the bed were the same.
There was only one window in the room, with a table and two chairs placed beside it.
Lotus sat on one of the semi-circular chairs, its style quite consistent with the other furniture. She lowered her head in silence for a moment, then took the bronze mirror out of the leather pouch.
She summoned a stream of water and rinsed the mirror. Washed by the water, the surface became astonishingly clear.
But Lotus only placed it flat on the table, letting the mirror's surface reflect the ceiling directly, avoiding her own face.
Often, an identical appearance doesn't mean it's the same object, but Lotus knew this bronze mirror was the very one that had sent her here.
As for why she was so certain…
Lotus raised her hand, her fingertips resting on her chest.
At that moment, her long hair fell loose, a soft, bright silver-white spreading from the ends as the goddess revealed her true form.
The necklace she wore suddenly trembled, and the large sapphire in the center detached from its setting, landing in her hand and floating silently.
This gem was the materialization of her godhead, containing the power of a primary water god.
Within the pale, frost-blue stone, a slightly deeper, brighter blue light pulsed, expanding and contracting like a breath, or perhaps a heartbeat.
A closer look would reveal that the sapphire embedded in the center of the mirror's frame was identical to the stone of her godhead; the only difference was that the gem on the bronze mirror had no flickering light within it.
Not only was the appearance the same, but her divine senses also gave the same feedback.
It was impossible for two identical godheads to exist in the world.
Just as there could not be two identical gods.
Lotus’s gaze shifted back and forth between the bronze mirror and her godhead, finally settling on the mirror.
After a long while, she suddenly stood up, found a wooden box, and placed the mirror face down inside it before locking it.
Although she didn't know how this mirror had managed to pull her to ancient Solancia, she was certain of one thing: it had the ability to cross time.
It could bring her here, and it could take her back.
And right now, Lotus did not want to leave.
The bronze mirror, shrouded in mystery, was put away safely. Until she needed to study it, Lotus would not open the wooden box again.
A few days later, it was the last day of the twelfth month.
In those few days, no one had come to visit, even though all the nobles and officials nearby knew the princess had returned.
…They were observing.
Alyuin was not anxious; she remained calm and composed.
Compared to the nobles who were still observing, she was more concerned with the movements of the Stubborn Faction, those who supported the direct royal bloodline.
The members of the Stubborn Faction were mostly older. In their eyes, it didn't matter if Horst took the throne—they agreed to it—but with one condition: the throne must eventually return to the hands of the direct bloodline.
For this very reason, this group of people was the most concerned about the princess's safety in all of Akhet.
Under normal circumstances, someone from the Stubborn Faction should have visited long ago. Their attitude toward the princess could be described as urgent; they wished she would marry on the spot to continue the bloodline.
But after several days, there had been no movement from them.
“Horst must have said something.”
Alyuin mused.
She detested the Stubborn Faction and disdained the idea of feigning compliance with them to gain their support.
Once they realized they couldn't make her compromise, they would transform into staunch opponents.
Compared to the face-conscious Horst, the stubborn supporters of the direct bloodline were the most pressing problem to be solved at present.
On the other hand, Horst could not tolerate the Stubborn Faction succeeding, and those old men ought to know this. They wouldn't easily listen to him.
What could Horst have possibly said to make the Stubborn Faction stay their hand?
Comments
Post a Comment