TGS - Chapter 159
Chapter 159: The Kiss
The intermittent sound of a harp filled the banquet hall, where people noisily celebrated or reminisced. Yet, the seat of honor was deathly still, as if the very air had frozen for an instant.
Alyuin lowered her gaze to the exquisite set of smoking paraphernalia, appearing perfectly composed.
Had Lotus not been staring at her, she might have missed the fleeting panic in those eyes.
With others nearby, Alyuin couldn't speak to Lotus directly, so she asked the guard in a level voice, "Where did you find these?"
"From the mansion's storehouse, which is filled with things the Sanur plundered," the guard replied. "These pieces are brand new. Please rest assured, Your Majesty."
That wasn't what she was worried about.
Alyuin lightly pressed her temple, her expression unchanging. "That won't be necessary. Take them away."
Unquestioning obedience had always been a fine quality of the Royal Guard, and this guard was no different. "Yes!"
Alyuin glanced at Lotus's expression and added, "There's no need to prepare these in the future. I have no particular preference for Ritual Mist."
A powder made from a mixture of spices, mint, and a small amount of tobacco, its smoke was used by priests to communicate with the Rain God. Evolving from a ritual component to a common fixture at Solancian noble banquets in recent years, this substance was known as Ritual Mist.
Though bewildered, the guard obeyed. He bowed, covered the silver tray, and departed with the smoking set.
The other guards remained in their positions behind the main seat, at a distance where they could not hear whispers.
Only then did Lotus speak.
"What was that about, Alyu?"
Alyuin said in a low voice, "...It was an accident."
Lotus said gently, "I'm not blaming you, but I know your guards wouldn't bring you anything without precedent. You've used Ritual Mist before, more than once, haven't you?"
As she spoke, she felt their intertwined fingers stiffen slightly. The princess didn't answer immediately, a clear tacit admission.
Lotus sighed silently.
In terms of physical effects, tobacco and alcohol were never beneficial.
The alcohol in Solancia was another matter. The so-called honey wine and date wine were more like sweet beverages than true alcohol, drunk by adults and children alike, and were not the same as the spirits of later ages.
But Ritual Mist—when used as a ritual item, herbs were added that had a hallucinogenic effect on the priests. After it spread from the temples to the nobility, these herbs were omitted. The rich fragrance of the spices completely overpowered the smoke, and it became more varied. It was said to lift one's spirits, but it was easy to imagine it wasn't good for one's health.
The first time she had witnessed the scene at certain noble banquets, Lotus had told the princess that it was best not to get involved with either the Ritual Mist or the noble customs behind it. It might not be harmful, but it certainly wouldn't be beneficial.
Alyuin had, of course, agreed. And during the time Lotus was with her, she hadn't touched it at all.
As for why she started using it later, Lotus could roughly imagine the reason.
Come to think of it, it was not unrelated to Lotus herself.
Lotus raised her other hand and pinched the princess's earlobe.
It was merely the action of her spirit form, the sensation barely there, but Alyuin's eyes widened slightly as she looked at her with a hint of anticipation.
"I'm not blaming you. This isn't a mistake."
"But I went against your advice."
The advice? You mean the warning not to adopt the customs of the nobility?
Lotus chuckled and said soothingly, "I also broke my promise to you. I was the one who left first, though it wasn't my intention... Let's call it even."
"Besides, you won't touch it again, will you?"
Alyuin nodded, her voice very low. "I didn't use it much before, either. Most of the time, I just watched."
Lotus smiled, interpreting this to mean that Alyuin rarely used the Ritual Mist herself and mostly just watched others at banquets puffing away.
In fact, that wasn't the case.
Alyuin first tried Ritual Mist at a dinner party sometime after Lotus had left.
The host was the wife of a noble minister, a believer in the Goddess of the Yilu River, and all the invited guests were also followers of the River Goddess. This noble lady had invited Alyuin not only because she was the goddess's well-known favored one, but also because she had heard the princess was knowledgeable about health and wellness—a somewhat playful reason, and she hadn't actually expected Alyuin to come.
However, Alyuin, who at the time had not yet unseated Horst, arrived as invited.
In the summer garden, a gentle breeze scattered the scent of spices. The host remarked how lovely it would be if it rained the next day as she distributed smoking paraphernalia to her guests.
"Will Your Highness not be partaking?" the host asked with a smile. "You seem to be in low spirits. If you have a headache, you could try the Ritual Mist. It will ease the pain."
Alyuin didn't have a headache. She looked at the long agate pipe offered to her and, for some reason, asked, "Can the Ritual Mist communicate with the Rain God?"
"I suppose it can? But we're not in a temple, after all, and it's not a priest lighting it, so it's hard to say how effective it would be."
On a strange impulse, Alyuin took the pipe and accepted the lit taper from a nearby handmaiden.
The Rain God was not an incarnation of the River Goddess, but according to legend, he was one of the subordinate gods under Lotus's domain. Born of clouds and mist, he governed precipitation and was a highly regarded deity. People believed the smoke from the Ritual Mist would rise straight to the sky and become part of the clouds, and it was through this that priests prayed for a response from the Rain God.
The Ritual Mist was like a concentrated version of spices, the mint scent a bit pungent, but the aroma was not what Alyuin focused on.
Her half-lidded golden eyes watched the smoke rise into the air, as if the ethereal, curling white smoke could fill the emptiness in her heart.
But after trying a few times, she understood it wouldn't work. The emptiness could not be filled by anything, let alone something as intangible as smoke.
Eventually, Alyuin simply stopped lighting the Ritual Mist. While other nobles puffed away, the princess would hold the long pipe between her fingers, lost in thought.
This scene once led many to believe that Alyuin aspired to be a sage—like the followers of the God of Wisdom who spent their days contemplating life and the principles of nature. They were, perhaps, the earliest philosophers.
However, after the princess took power, no one found her habit of holding a golden pipe without using it strange anymore.
This also presented a good opportunity for the handmaidens responsible for the royal living quarters.
Compared to nobles who needed servants even to help them dress, Alyuin was extremely independent and rarely allowed servants into her chambers. All they could do was bring meal trays, collect old clothes, and clean the room. During banquets, they would pour wine and serve food, then stand aside like pillars, not needed for anything else. For royal servants, this was unbelievable; they worried they might suddenly lose their jobs one day, as they were idle most of the time.
But now, the princess had, for some reason, developed a habit of holding a golden pipe while thinking at banquets. She would usually raise her hand naturally, palm up, and then instruct a handmaiden to bring the long pipe.
Eventually, it developed to the point where the princess didn't even need to speak. The moment her palm turned upward, a handmaiden would present her customary smoking case. Whether the princess took it was her business, but they had to be ready.
It was a rare oversight on Alyuin's part. She had placed her hand palm-up on the table, originally as a clever ploy to get Lotus to place her hand on top, hoping to achieve that moment of tacit understanding with their fingers intertwined.
However, for the Royal Guard who couldn't see the spirit...
Confirmed, Her Majesty needs a pipe. If she didn't bring one, find one in the mansion. Surely a mansion this large must have a pipe somewhere!
Alyuin's strange habit, which she had already been quick to correct and had intended to keep hidden forever, was exposed by a single oversight, brought to light by the loyal guard who was ever attentive to the princess's needs.
Lotus didn't know the full story, but she had her suspicions.
After confirming that Alyuin hadn't picked up any truly bad habits and wouldn't touch Ritual Mist again, Lotus gave a faint, ambiguous smile. She gave the other's soft ear another pinch before starting to pull her hand back.
Halfway back, her wrist was caught in Alyuin's grasp.
Paying no mind to how strange this gesture of grasping at thin air must look to the nearby guards and the people below, the princess's crimson lips moved slightly as she whispered, "It doesn't count."
Lotus asked, "What?"
"It doesn't count as even. You were the one who broke the promise first," Alyuin said at a measured pace. "Isn't that a bit unfair?"
Lotus followed this line of thought for a moment. "...It is quite unfair."
Alyuin smiled faintly.
Midway through the banquet, the princess, seated at the head table, slipped out through a side door at the back of the hall.
Some noticed, some didn't, but it mattered little. Was anyone going to approach her and ask what she was doing? Not even a fool would do such a thing.
Alyuin allowed no one to follow, not even her Royal Guard.
Or rather, especially not the Royal Guard.
The evening breeze swept through the garden, making the bushes rustle. Whether it was because the Sanur possessed an instinct for appreciating beauty or because there was simply nothing worth plundering, the garden was completely intact, as if it had never been touched by war.
Beneath a tall chestnut tree that looked ancient, a round table and stone stools stood quietly, their surfaces covered in a thin layer of dust.
Lotus first rinsed the table and stools with water. Just as she managed to dry their surfaces, Alyuin sat down on the edge of the table.
The tabletop was rather high, but when the princess sat on it, her toes could still touch the ground. The lines of her calves were sleek and slender, the curve behind her knee forming a beautiful arc.
"Are you going to change back?" Alyuin asked, turning her head. "There's no one else here, and no one will come."
The commanders were all in the banquet hall, drinking and celebrating, and the patrols wouldn't come this way.
Lotus fell silent for two seconds before materializing her physical form. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were having a secret rendezvous behind everyone's back. Looking at their surroundings, the feeling became all too real.
Honey-colored fingertips covered hers, their fingers intertwining. It was no longer the barely-there touch between a spirit and a mortal; the shared warmth was palpable, and she could clearly feel the supple, delicate skin and the subtle bones beneath.
"What are you thinking?"
"That this feels like a rendezvous."
"Hm?"
"..."
The unexpected honesty made both of them pause for a moment.
Lotus cleared her throat lightly. "The wind is a bit strong. If you don't want to return to the banquet hall, let's go back to your room."
"Staying outside feels like a rendezvous, so what would going back to the room feel like?" Alyuin tightened her grip on their intertwined fingers and chuckled softly.
Perhaps because they had lived together for so long with her as a spirit, Lotus had no particular associations with being in a room together—a situation that should have been far more intimate than being in a garden at night.
Hearing this, she replied without hesitation, "Keeping watch."
The smile on Alyuin's lips faltered. She stared at Lotus for a moment and realized she was serious—the goddess genuinely thought that being in a room together was like keeping watch over someone.
The princess's smile flattened. A little resentful but unable to refute the statement, she could only mutter to herself, "We'll see if you still think so in the future."
Lotus shook her head, an unconscious smile gracing her lips.
Alyuin narrowed her eyes. "You're doing that on purpose."
"No, I'm not," Lotus said.
"You are. You don't usually smile like that."
Whether it was intentional or sincere was a very difficult question to verify.
Lotus preferred to return to a more familiar, stable environment rather than the intensely intimate night garden, but Alyuin was determined not to go back to the room. A joke, she thought. Would the atmosphere be this good if we went back?
Just then, the indistinct sound of soldiers talking came from nearby, along with synchronized footsteps and the faint light of a lantern.
Weren't the patrols supposed to avoid this area?
Seeing the squad of soldiers approaching, Lotus instinctively thought to revert to her spirit form. That way, Alyuin being alone by the table wouldn't seem out of place; the soldiers would simply assume the princess had come out for some fresh air and wouldn't disturb her.
However, she felt a distinct pull on her wrist.
Lotus froze. Her plain white skirt swirled in a near semicircle against the night sky, and before she could fully react, Alyuin had pulled her behind the tree.
The trunk of the chestnut tree was wide enough to hide their figures, but Alyuin had no reason to hide from the patrolling soldiers, so long as they couldn't see Lotus.
A small voice whispered, So what if they did see?
Lotus was startled by the thought. By now, turning back into a spirit would be pointless—after all, they were both already hidden.
The patrol passed by not far away, and they could hear the soldiers chatting idly—complaining about being on duty during the celebration, looking forward to the dinner they would have after their shift, and remarking on the recent battles.
To avoid any potential glances, lest a corner of their clothes or a strand of hair be seen, the two stood extremely close, near enough to hear each other breathe.
The Solancian princess who wielded royal power and the revered Solancian goddess both had a thousand ways to leave with composure, yet here they were, hiding behind an old tree from their own patrol. A patrol that hadn't even come close—the secluded grove was not on their route, merely a place that could be vaguely glimpsed from it.
The scene was utterly absurd, but neither of them could spare it a thought.
It was unclear who lowered their head first. Perhaps there was no thought behind it, just an irresistible impulse that brought their lips together. But once they touched, emotion briefly overwhelmed reason. It was difficult to control, nor was there any need for control.
It wasn't skillful, merely driven by instinct and whatever knowledge could be gleaned from books and images. Light kisses, gentle licks, soft bites, intimately entwined.
Their breathing inevitably quickened. The cool scent of roses and the faint heat of their breath teased the senses. The lips upon which her gaze had once unconsciously lingered were indeed as moist and soft as she had subconsciously imagined.
In Solancian mythology, the Goddess of Love, in a debate with the God of Wisdom, firmly believed that love had nothing to do with reason. Neither its birth nor its progression could be controlled by human rationality.
Perhaps, in many cases, this assertion was correct.
It is born unintentionally and grows without notice. It transforms from a seed into a graceful, flowering tree, its splendid corona burning away reason like fire. It is an emotion from which not even gods are immune—
It had already become a towering tree.
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