TGS - Chapter 161
Chapter 161: You Exist
Priestess Rhea was on her way to the border, as had been arranged in a previous letter.
To be precise, she was on her way back.
Rhea was not coming directly to Digebia City, but was returning to the temple in Kadera, the place where she had grown up.
As the High Priestess, outside of festivals, Rhea could travel to Lotus's temples throughout the land for inspections. She only needed to report to the authorities before departing.
It was normal for the high priests of the major gods to leave Akhet for such tours; this was not a major issue requiring the Princess's remote decision.
Even during this special period, the few people temporarily in charge of the royal city had no reason to deny her passage—especially since Rhea had decided to leave the city only after receiving a message from the Princess's golden eagle. Perhaps Her Highness had some special arrangement.
They included this matter in a letter to be sent to the Princess as part of their daily reports. It traveled with a messenger and was finally placed before Alyuin four days after Rhea had left the city.
Alyuin, who had already learned this news from Lotus beforehand: "..."
Alyuin calmly finished reading the letter and immediately rose from the high table where she handled her official duties.
She walked to the windowsill, hugged Lotus's waist from behind, rested her chin in the crook of her shoulder, and asked in a muffled voice, "So, what is Rhea coming here for?"
Lotus was reading a book, her fingertip resting on the page. She asked casually, as if making small talk, "Would you want to become a god?"
The sudden jump in topic and the casual tone, as if asking what was for dinner, made the Princess pause for a moment. She blinked slowly and chuckled. "Of course."
In fact, Alyuin had long considered whether a mortal could become a god.
During the time Lotus was not by her side, she had pondered this question countless times.
At first, she just wanted to find a path to the Kingdom of the Gods. The Princess collected all sorts of myths and stories circulating within Solancia, including some little-known folk tales.
She searched for commonalities among them, hoping to find any possible way to reach the divine kingdom, but there were none. All the legends indicated it was a celestial realm that only deities could reach.
Perhaps before Alyuin, many nobles and royals had longed for divine favor, wishing to go to the Kingdom of the Gods. Some even attempted to deify themselves, especially kings—but they sought immortality, something higher than worldly power, whereas she only wanted Lotus.
For these still-unsatisfied mortal rulers, a folk poem offered this warning:
O sole king beneath the gods, You are already the master of mortals. The world bows at your feet, Treasures fill your storehouses, Travelers sing praises of your deeds. You already possess all that a person can possess, Why then pursue a realm not meant for mortals?
Gods and mortals are naturally separate; this is true for the myths of most civilizations.
The legends of some countries at least had stories of humans reaching the divine world on their own, though it required enduring countless hardships and near-death experiences. Alyuin didn't care about the dangers, but Solancian mythology didn't have a single useful record of it.
There was only the well-known fact that the Kingdom of the Gods lay between the snowy mountains and the canopy of the sky.
If Lotus had returned any later, if it weren't for the troubles of the Kasnie and Sanur invasions, Alyuin might have run off to climb the snowy mountains the moment she dealt with Horst and stabilized the situation in Solancia—
Alyuin pulled back her thoughts, her arms around Lotus tightening slightly as a dark shadow spread in the depths of her eyes.
Just then, Lotus reached a hand behind her. Without turning her head, she accurately ruffled the Princess's hair.
Ever since they had confessed their feelings and successfully started a relationship, Lotus no longer had to worry about things like maintaining an appropriate distance.
This big Princess was hers to ruffle and hug as she pleased. It was nothing like before, when she could only look at Alyuin's sparkling, cat-like eyes and rub her fingertips together to suppress the urge to pet her.
She ruffled it, then patted it gently. Her fair hand slid down the raven-black hair, idly twisting and releasing a soft, glossy strand at the end, like a playful little gesture.
Alyuin was strangely soothed. The gloom gathering in her eyes dissipated, and her eyes curved slightly as she said, "Do you want to appoint me as a subordinate god? Like the Goddess of Performing Arts and the God of Medicine?"
Yes, there had to be an explanation for how Solancia's human-born gods came to be revered as deities by the people of their time.
The most common explanation was that their unparalleled talent in their respective fields attracted the attention of a god, who was so impressed that they felt it would be a great pity for such a person to return to the cycle of reincarnation and become ordinary.
Thus, the god would appear before them, or take their soul after death, and appoint them as a subordinate god under their dominion, bestowing upon them a divine office.
Alyuin had never taken this seriously before. Through her time with Lotus, she could see that deities were subject to certain constraints; they couldn't just do whatever they pleased.
Otherwise, given how much Lotus cared for her—even if it wasn't a lover's care but the concern she'd shown for her as a child—she would have surely mentioned it.
Lotus indeed couldn't appoint subordinate gods. Not just her; none of the gods could.
For that very reason…
"Rhea is coming for this very matter."
Lotus said gently.
The topic suddenly jumped back to the priestess who was about to arrive at the border. Even with Alyuin's skill for deduction, she couldn't figure out the connection.
Lotus shifted, turning to face the Princess, her posture changing from relaxed to formal. "Before that, I need to explain the concept of human-born gods to you."
Lotus briefly explained the birth and awakening of deities, using the God of Medicine, Askle, and the Goddess of Performing Arts as examples to describe how humans became gods.
Whether intentionally or not, Lotus avoided mentioning herself during the explanation, but she didn't want to keep hiding it from Alyuin forever.
After steeling herself, just as she was about to speak, the Princess asked earnestly, "Are you one too?"
Lotus froze. A moment later, she gave a slight nod.
"Yes," Lotus said calmly. "I was once human, too."
Alyuin stared straight at her.
As the Princess grew, she became more adept at concealing her thoughts, making her difficult to read. Even though she didn't deliberately control her expression in front of Lotus, she unconsciously maintained an instinct for inscrutability.
This expression, which revealed no specific emotion or thought, left Lotus feeling a little helpless.
Although she had prepared herself and trusted Alyuin's feelings, there was always the 'what if'.
What if the one Alyuin loved was the mysterious, distant goddess, and not Lotus?
The moment was fleeting, yet it seemed to stretch on forever. To Lotus's surprise, Alyuin suddenly burst out laughing.
It started as a low, breathy sound, soft and raspy, then gradually rose into a clear, bright laugh. Her normally low-pitched voice seemed to take on some of the bright, gentle quality of her girlhood, sounding incredibly light and pleasant.
Lotus was a bit baffled by the laughter.
What was wrong? Was the shock too great for her to accept?
The next moment, Alyuin leaned forward abruptly.
"I've been thinking for a very long time, how could a god be so good."
"So that's how it is. It really is."
Her golden eyes were terrifyingly bright, like in the dream of her first encounter with the goddess as a child, the moment the little princess placed her hand in the goddess's outstretched palm and grasped it tightly.
"That was the temple in Kadera, the very first temple. Lotus, is that where you awakened?"
Without hesitation, Lotus nodded.
Thinking she should also take this opportunity to confess her initial concealment and deception, she lowered her head and said, "At that time, I had just awakened in the temple, knowing nothing of the mortal world or the Kingdom of the Gods. And then I met you."
Alyuin murmured, "So, I was the first person you met..."
The look in the Princess's eyes was a little strange now, as if a river goddess had fallen from the sky while she was walking down the road, or like the lightheaded bliss of being tipsy after drinking. It was a situation she had never imagined, yet it was more unbelievably wonderful than any fantasy.
Lotus remained silent.
To be precise, the first person Lotus had met was Rhea's mother, that stern and rigid priestess. Only after that did she meet the silent, stubborn little princess who refused to worship the gods—but there was no need to say that. In any case, it was true that Alyuin was the first person to see her.
Wait, the point wasn't the order in which they met.
The key was the past concealment and the bluffs she'd made up on the spot!
"O Princess of Solancia, we have always been watching you."
—A bluff. The other major gods couldn't be bothered, and she had known the Princess for less than a day at that point.
"Then please accept the trial of Nierde, the God of Wisdom."
—A bluff. She had used the name of a colleague she hadn't even met yet to give the little princess placement tests, one every week, like a stern, merciless proctor—the kind who only invigilates a single student.
"Tomorrow, follow my guidance, and you will see what you need. It is not a blessing; you can consider it a gift."
—A bluff. The so-called gift from a god was just an empty field she had found in the mountains by taking advantage of her spiritual form's mobility. If there hadn't happened to be such a place nearby, she wouldn't have even had a gift to give.
Back then, Lotus was a goddess with zero savings, even poorer than the little princess!
...Although even now, her wealth in the mortal world was still less than the Princess's.
Lotus looked at Alyuin, feeling she should remind her.
Even if she didn't remember right away, she would eventually. It was better to lay it all bare now.
Her dishonesty back then held no malice and was indeed the most convenient and effective approach under the circumstances.
But, having made that choice, she should rightfully bear any potential consequences when the truth came to light.
Lotus was prepared for that.
However.
Alyuin leaned in and silenced the impending reminder with a kiss. She didn't quite control her strength, and they both tumbled backward, about to fall to the floor.
Lotus reacted quickly, releasing her divine power. The frost-blue energy formed a soft, jelly-like chair that caught her back and stabilized them.
Neither of them stopped because of this accident. Their fingers had intertwined at some point, half-sinking into the seat of divine power, as if wet with water, and yet not.
The soft, subtle sound of water echoed in the room.
After a long moment, Lotus ended the kiss with a gentle bite. Stroking the Princess's hair, she said in a placating tone, "Alright, alright, wait a moment. What I wanted to say was—"
"I know what you want to say." Alyuin nonchalantly ran her tongue over the corner of her lips, her gaze soft. "If you're asking for my opinion, I can only describe it with a rather presumptuous word: very cute."
Lotus: "...What a coincidence. I thought the same thing when I saw you back then."
Alyuin laughed. "Then I am truly honored."
Lotus half-lidded her eyes. Thinking that Alyuin probably hadn't guessed what she was about to say to give such a response, she continued, "Back then, I deceived you. That's not something we can just gloss over."
At this, Alyuin's expression turned serious.
"You believe that was a deception?"
Lotus: "It was."
"But I don't think so," the Princess said, picking up the amulet hanging on her chest. The blue chalcedony bead glimmered faintly in the center of the snowtu flower. "No matter what words you used, everything you gave me was real, and your companionship was real."
"Most importantly, you exist."
"That's enough."
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