TGS - Chapter 117
Chapter 117: Concealment and Choice
Alyuin was awakened by a faint tapping sound.
The sky was already dark. The room was frighteningly empty and silent. Beside the bed was a bowl of medicine, its contents already cold.
Even in her weakened state, the Princess's alertness remained sharp. The moment her brilliant golden eyes opened, she looked sharply toward the source of the sound.
Outside the window, a white wild rabbit was half-squatting, half-standing, tapping on the window with its front paws. Its movements weren't urgent, and its rabbit eyes flickered with a human-like expression, as if pondering something.
Alyuin went to the window and opened it. With an unreadable emotion, she asked, "Are you the messenger of the Goddess Adia?"
"Indeed." The white rabbit tilted its head, speaking slowly. "I have been entrusted by Lotus to convey some words to you on her behalf."
As the messenger began its conversation with Alyuin, Adia stood before the River God's temple in the Kingdom of the Gods, also pondering how to explain things.
At present, Lotus's situation was not optimistic. Unable to maintain consciousness, she had already entered her temple and could not hear what Adia said.
In other words, what to say and how to say it was basically up to Adia to decide.
Through the messenger's eyes, the Goddess of Love and Desire's emerald gaze reflected the human princess's face. At first glance, she appeared quite calm and composed, but her lips were pressed tightly together, clearly not as serene as she seemed.
This was a bit difficult—
Adia sighed inwardly.
As Solancia's deity in charge of love and desire, Adia might not be able to interfere with the emotions of individual humans on a practical level, but she could certainly observe them.
The palpitations, affections, and adoration that crisscrossed between people... all these emotions wove into a complex yet clear network, like a web that would materialize before Adia whenever she wished to see it.
For this reason, the Goddess of Love had long since noticed certain connecting threads.
An ordinary person's threads would typically extend to different people. After all, from birth to death, from the first flutter of the heart to the final lingering attachment, humans experience so many emotions related to love and desire that it's rare for them all to connect to a single person.
But Alyuin was an exception. Every thread of affection extending from her name, in all its magnificent shades of red from faint to deep, connected to the points of light in the void that symbolized the gods.
Every inch was inscribed with the divine name in ancient script, a brilliant and vivid gold that could not be faked.
Adia had once found this discovery novel and interesting. After all, in thousands of years, this was the only such case. How bizarre, how fascinating.
Out of her mischievous and cynical nature, the Goddess of Love had once subtly hinted to Lotus: Look at that little princess you raised. Don't you really think something is off?
Unfortunately, the River Goddess was oblivious to romance and noticed nothing.
She had also, when sending a messenger to Lotus, told only half the story, watching as the human princess suppressed her conflicted expression, and then laughed idly to herself in her temple.
But all of this was based on the premise that only the human princess held a one-sided love for Lotus.
If Lotus also harbored the same feelings—
Adia stared fixedly at Alyuin, her expression inscrutable.
In the past, Adia would have basically never considered this possibility. However, after learning why Lotus's divine power had gone out of control, she was no longer sure.
If Lotus also harbored such feelings, even just a little, even as shallow as a puddle evaporated by the sun until only a thin layer remained, the Goddess of Love could no longer continue to watch from the sidelines for entertainment.
The gap between gods and humans was far more than just a matter of lifespan and abilities.
They were completely different forms of life. Even if Lotus had once been human, it was still... unimaginable.
What's more, Lotus was about to fall into a deep slumber, a long period of time measured in years.
If everything went smoothly, it would be fine. But if she were to sleep for a hundred years, by the time Lotus awoke, the human princess might have already been reincarnated.
Difficult, so difficult.
At this moment, the princess, having waited a long time for the divine messenger to speak, felt her gaze darken, a trace of turmoil flashing across her features.
"Excuse me, what exactly did Lotus say? How is she now?"
Adia's thoughts were pulled back by this question.
She couldn't tell the truth; Lotus had instructed her not to.
Then what should she say? In truth, if she were really considering future stability and safety, severing this connection here and now would be the optimal solution.
It would be simple, with no future troubles. A light, casual "Lotus doesn't want to see you again"—even if it wouldn't shake the princess in the short term, what about in five years? Or ten?
No one knew how long Lotus would sleep.
In all likelihood, before Lotus awoke, the princess would give up on her own. Humans were like that; because their lives were short and complex, they couldn't remain unchanged. Everything about them changed quickly, including their emotions.
Adia could have made that choice, but she watched the princess through the rabbit's eyes for a long while, and in the end, she silently shook her head before the temple.
That cold calculation from a divine perspective, after much thought, was gently cast aside.
"There is a matter in the Kingdom of the Gods that requires her to return. It is a major affair that cannot be shirked, and it may take a very long time."
"...Is that all?"
"That is all."
"I only came to tell you this on Lotus's behalf. Since you already know the situation, farewell."
After speaking, the white rabbit gave a slight nod and prepared to turn and leap from the windowsill.
"Please wait—" Alyuin suddenly called out. "How long is 'a very long time'? In human time, or in divine time?"
The white rabbit was silent for a moment before replying, "I cannot be certain. However, given the gravity of the matter, it will likely be measured in our time."
Perhaps the meaning in the white rabbit's eyes was too obvious. Alyuin clenched her fingertips and said in a low voice, "You are the Goddess of Love and Desire. You must have known all along."
She didn't specify what Adia should have known. Adia thought for a moment. "I could see it, but I never told Lotus."
"Lotus already knows. As of today."
Adia: "..."
No wonder the threads connected to the princess had suddenly brightened for a while today. So it was out in the open now. It was unclear whether it was an accidental exposure or a deliberate confession.
Hiss. Since Lotus already knew, did her behavior before falling asleep mean—?
Realizing her companion might actually have feelings for a human, Adia drew in a sharp breath.
She gave the princess one last look, then directed the white rabbit to leap from the windowsill and hop away with complicated feelings.
Alyuin watched with a blank expression as the white rabbit's figure disappeared. She closed the window and returned to sit by the bed.
It was clear Adia hadn't told the truth.
Although one couldn't discern much from a rabbit's expression, she could still sense a hint of incongruity. It was true she would have to wait a long time, but the reason for Lotus's departure was likely not so simple.
—Actually, it was also possible that Lotus simply didn't want to face her and had asked a colleague to deliver the message.
Alyuin understood Lotus, but more as a "child," in the role of a junior.
And when it came to matters of love and affection, the few times Lotus had shown a response, it was to not respond at all. Faced with the feelings expressed by someone she had always seen as a child, leaving like this, from a great distance, was indeed a method of handling it that she might choose.
But even if she thought about these things, what could she do?
Regardless of the reason, she had no way to ask Lotus in person.
A time that might be long even for a god...
Alyuin gently held her amulet, her fingertips sliding over the cool blue chalcedony bead in the center, a gesture that seemed both tender and sorrowful.
She sat silently for a long time before picking up the bowl of medicine from the bedside and downing the cold liquid in one gulp.
The bitter, cool liquid slid down her esophagus, settling cold and heavy in her stomach, yet it also seemed to ignite a dark, gloomy fire that seared her heart.
The bitter taste lingered. Alyuin took a linen cloth from a nearby shelf and wiped the brownish medicinal liquid from her lips.
She crumpled the cloth, clenching it tightly in her palm, and lifted her gaze diagonally forward, in the direction of the royal city.
Worry, sorrow, grief.
Overgrown vines, burgeoning paranoia.
These were all things to be suppressed deep in her heart, to be savored and recalled alone in the future, etching them ever deeper.
But now, a deep, terrifying, and sharp enmity clamored once more in her mind. New hatred piled upon old. In Alyuin's eyes, her irrepressible killing intent was like the tip of an iceberg showing above the sea.
"—Horst."
Alyuin enunciated each syllable.
The princess did not know that at this moment, in the Kingdom of the Gods above the clouds, outside the River God's temple—the temple of the god she longed for—the gazes of several major gods were fixed squarely on the Goddess of Love.
No one spoke, but the look in every god's eyes clearly said: That's it?
Adia spread her hands helplessly. "Lotus didn't want the human princess to know the truth. I could only say that much."
The Sun God and the Moon Goddess looked at each other.
Anmila asked bluntly, "What was it that you never told Lotus?"
...It was the god-human romance that she didn't know would ever come to fruition.
Adia thought to herself, then put on her usual languid and charming Goddess-of-Love-style smile and said lazily, "Just a small matter concerning the future. Before I had a chance to say anything, Lotus already knew."
After Adia sent out the messenger, the other gods beside her could only hear her voice, not the princess's questions or her answers.
Suriel: "And then?"
Adia: "And then? Then I'm going back to my temple."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Goddess of Love turned and strode gracefully toward her own temple. Aided by her divine power, in the blink of an eye, she was nothing more than a black speck the size of a grain of rice.
The gods left behind: "..."
With her back to the other deities, Adia's expression faded.
The sun and moon twin gods present this time were easier to fool. If it had been Nierde, she probably wouldn't have been able to brush it off so easily.
And Suojia.
The Goddess of the Earth might have already guessed something.
Oh well. Whether they had guessed or not, none of it mattered until Lotus woke up.
Recover quickly, Lotus.
The major gods left one after another. The God of Medicine, who had been sitting nearby mixing a potion, couldn't confirm its efficacy. He had wanted to deliver it to the temple but was blocked by the doors, which had sealed themselves for the god's slumber.
With no other choice, he had to leave with the potion.
The River God's temple, nestled amidst the lush forest, returned to its usual tranquility, waiting for the day its doors would open once more.
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
Comments
Post a Comment