TGS - Chapter 118
Chapter 118: A Kiss of Stone
Lena walked quickly along the corridor, heading for a room deep within the main wing of the City Lord's mansion. She looked at the closed door and asked the maidservant standing guard outside:
"Is Her Highness the Princess still in her room?"
The maidservant lowered her head. "Yes, Her Highness hasn't come out for most of the day. She didn't eat lunch either."
"Didn't you call Her Highness to eat?" Lena frowned.
The maidservant's voice wavered with nervousness. "I... I did call, and I knocked, but Her Highness didn't answer. I didn't dare go in on my own, so I don't know what to do..."
Lena averted her gaze with a headache, saying nothing more.
It wasn't just the maidservant, a native of Senna City; even Lena herself felt a sense of dread when looking at the current Alyuin.
If she hadn't known the Princess for so long and understood that she posed no real threat, every muscle in her body would have instinctively tensed in defense against the terror of facing a cold, savage beast. This fear wasn't psychological; it was instinctual.
Not long ago, the Princess had been attacked at a noble's residence. She hadn't been seriously injured. They had returned to the City Lord's mansion with the attacker and the snake's corpse. Although the Princess had seemed a little weak, she had fully recovered to her usual good condition within two days.
Over the past several days, the situation in Senna City had gradually stabilized. They had also rooted out several individuals who had been inciting the slave rebellion from within the crowds.
This was thanks to the slave leader, Shalu. When she had first taken control of Senna City, she had decisively ordered the city gates sealed to prevent further unrest. In doing so, she had inadvertently trapped those with ulterior motives who had planned to stir up enough trouble and then flee.
After all the instigators were captured, the Princess personally led the interrogation. Lena, who had come to report on a matter, witnessed a small part of Alyuin's interrogation. The Princess's beautiful face was as fierce as a demon's. It was no wonder the man being questioned was terrified and confessed everything before long.
The one who had instigated them was a man living in the city's outskirts.
"He didn't seem like a northerner. He said that if we did as he said, he would give us a lot of money."
"But if we didn't follow his orders, or if we revealed his whereabouts to anyone, he would kill us. We had no choice—"
Threats sow chaos, and wealth tempts the heart. Coupled with the fact that the Lord of Senna City was truly no good, it was inevitable that these slaves would choose to follow his orders.
The Princess sent for an artist, who sketched the man's appearance based on the slaves' descriptions. After several revisions, the resulting portrait indeed lacked the features of a northern Solancian, looking more like a southerner.
With the mastermind identified and the unrest quelled, everything was moving in a positive direction—except for one thing.
The lady-in-waiting who was always by the Princess's side had disappeared.
Since that day, Lady Lorja had vanished without a trace. No one had seen her, alive or dead; it was as if she had evaporated into thin air.
The Princess never mentioned it, but this was undoubtedly the main reason for Alyuin's sudden change in demeanor.
Lena had previously discussed it with Motis in private and sent her own people to search for Lorja, but they found nothing, not even a single potential clue. In the end, it was the Princess who called off the search.
"Stop looking," Alyuin had said, her tone indifferent. "You won't find her. Don't concern yourselves with it anymore."
That was the first time Lena had ever seen such a weary expression on the Princess's face.
Pulling her thoughts back from her memories, Lena braced herself, stepped forward, and knocked on the door.
"Your Highness, it's me."
No response.
"Your Highness, please come out and eat something when you're finished. Otherwise, how will we explain it to Lady Lorja when she returns?"
After a moment, the door opened.
Alyuin stepped out of the room. The room behind her, with its heavy curtains drawn, was very dim. In front of her, an arc of sunlight streamed in from the corridor's arched window. The overlapping light and shadow created a strange, disorienting effect.
—It also cast a lingering gloom over the Princess's face. To put it more dramatically, it was sinister.
But the feeling quickly dissipated. Alyuin casually raised a hand to tie up her dark hair and said, "Let's go."
"Ah?"
Where are we going? Is there an urgent mission?
Alyuin said, "To eat. You're right, I should indeed take care of my health right now."
"..." Lena didn't know which of her words had broken through to earn the Princess's agreement, but regardless, it was a good thing that Her Highness was willing to eat properly.
Alyuin walked ahead without looking back.
After a moment, she murmured as if to herself, "I do need to live a little longer."
Hearing a young woman not yet twenty say such a thing was somewhat incongruous, enough to make a bystander chuckle in disbelief.
But as Lena listened, she could sense a kind of earnest determination, bordering on obsession.
What exactly happened that day?
Even someone as thick-skinned as Motis hadn't asked, so Lena could only keep her mouth shut. For them, it would perhaps remain an eternal mystery.
By the time the situation in Senna City was largely under control and the Princess's party was returning to the royal city along the same route they had come, autumn had already arrived in Solancia.
The sky was high and the clouds distant. Flocks of blue herons flew overhead. As Alyuin rode forward on her horse, she looked up at the high-flying figures of these spirits of the Yilu River, then calmly lowered her gaze.
Akhet would be stirred by the Princess's return. After dealing with a wave of welcoming parties, each with their own agenda, Alyuin and her retinue returned to their residence.
The head maidservant, Kurda, was already waiting outside the gate. The other guards and attendants who had remained at the residence waited in the courtyard, craning their necks, their concern plain to see.
"Welcome back, Your Highness." The head maidservant gave a deep bow. As she raised her head, she suddenly noticed a familiar companion was missing and asked, puzzled, "Why isn't Lady Lorja here?"
In Kurda's mind, with Lady Lorja by the Princess's side, it was impossible for anything to have happened to her on the battlefield. And indeed, the reason for Lotus's departure had nothing to do with the campaign to quell the rebellion.
In fact, it was a meticulously planned accident.
The moment the question was asked, Lena and Motis were startled. From behind the Princess, they mouthed words and gestured frantically, signaling for the head maidservant to stop asking. It was a minefield.
The head maidservant: "...?"
However, to the surprise of her escort, Alyuin merely paused for a moment before a smile touched her lips. In a voice that could be described as gentle and refined, she said, "My teacher had some matters to attend to back in her hometown, so she returned. It's a long journey, so I don't know when she'll be back."
"I see. I hope Lady Lorja returns soon," the head maidservant said, half-sincere and half-bewildered, while glancing at the guards.
Wasn't that lady-in-waiting someone the late queen left for Her Highness? Hometown? Wasn't her hometown Akhet?
The guards were just as confused. This was the first time the Princess had offered an explanation on the matter.
Alyuin didn't wish to say more and dismounted.
The warhorse had been with her for several years and was very perceptive. As if sensing its master's mood, it lowered its neck, nudged the Princess's arm, and nickered softly, as if in comfort.
Alyuin patted the horse's long, soft mane, her eyelids half-lowered.
What she said wasn't entirely wrong.
Lotus's hometown... it was indeed a very, very distant place.
The Princess walked forward, loosely holding the reins in one hand, her emotions well hidden beneath a smile. But some things couldn't be concealed, like a burning fire that, despite its heat, sent a bone-deep chill through people.
Among the guards who had stayed behind, Luca couldn't help but shiver, his messy, straw-yellow hair trembling along with him.
"Somehow... Her Highness feels a little different..."
Luca felt something was very wrong but didn't know where to begin. It was worth noting that the young guard followed the advice his father, the city lord, had once given him, which included the saying, "Only those with a guilty conscience speak in a mumble." Thus, his voice was anything but a mumble.
Alyuin walked past without a glance, as if she hadn't heard him.
Lena and Motis, walking behind, gave Luca a sharp elbow each, exasperated with him.
After putting down her things and tidying up a bit, Alyuin prepared to go out.
The head maidservant looked at the sky and advised, "Your Highness, won't you have dinner first? You've had such a long and arduous journey; you must eat something."
The Princess shook her head. "I won't be long. I can eat when I get back."
"You're going to—?"
"The temple of the River Goddess."
The temple complex was indeed not far from this district. The head maidservant calculated the round-trip time and felt relieved.
When Alyuin arrived at the temple, the sun was setting in the west, dyeing the clouds a magnificent pale red and stretching brilliant lines of light across the sky.
Hearing the news, Rhea rushed over at once. First, she said formally, "The High Priest is unwell and cannot come out to greet you. Please forgive him, Your Highness."
Then, a small smile appeared on her face. "Your Highness has returned from the campaign. Congratulations on your triumphant return—oh, did the Divine Envoy not come this time?" As she spoke, she craned her neck to look behind the Princess, as if expecting Lotus to magically appear.
Alyuin cut her off. "The Envoy has returned home."
"Ah, I'm sorry..." Rhea lowered her head, unable to hide her disappointment.
The Princess glanced at her, her expression unreadable.
This was Rhea, the successor to the High Priest of the River Goddess, the future High Priestess. When the current priest, Saige, passed away from illness, Rhea would naturally become the person closest to Lotus in the eyes of the world.
As for the ethereal, god-favored Princess, how many people would truly believe in that?
Besides, she could hardly be called favored by the goddess now.
As these thoughts churned in her mind, Alyuin had already walked into the sacrificial chamber. With her back to Rhea, she said, "I wish to pray to Lotus alone. Make sure no one comes near."
With that, she closed the door behind her.
The windows of the royal city's temple were set high up on the walls, long and narrow. The pale crimson light of dusk shone through them into the sacrificial chamber, casting a scattered pattern of mottled light and shadow. The marble statue at the far end of the room was cast in deeper gloom, appearing serene and sacred.
Alyuin slowly approached the statue, the light and shadows shifting with her steps.
When she stopped before the statue and tilted her head up slightly, a patch of bright light fell on her face, seeming to cast a faint, blood-red glow over her honey-gold eyes.
The statue's eye sockets were also inlaid with blue chalcedony beads, its gaze seemingly fixed on some distant point, unable to see the figure before it.
After standing there for a long time, Alyuin suddenly gave an abrupt laugh.
The Princess placed her palm under the statue's slightly lowered hand, pressing them together gently as if their hands were clasped. She raised her thumb and slowly caressed the stone wrist from left to right.
"Please forgive my offense," though you may not see it.
"My eternal goddess and beloved," though you may not admit it.
Alyuin lowered her head, her vibrant lips pressing against the cold marble surface.
"You are the only one I can never let go of."
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