TGS - Chapter 184
Chapter 184: Be Good
Compared to Lotus, who had fallen silent thinking of the late king and queen, Alyuin herself hadn't thought of her parents at all. In her mind, there was no concept of needing to discuss her marriage with her long-deceased parents first.
Only one word echoed in the Princess's mind.
Engaged.
They were engaged. Lotus had said so herself.
Ignoring the preceding "it could be considered," Alyuin was now the goddess's fiancée. This secret change in her status stirred a storm of joy and love in her heart.
"Are you willing?"
The Princess was quiet for a moment before managing to utter the words.
Lotus, too, turned her thoughts from the matter of the late king and queen and chuckled. "Of course. But that's a question I should be asking you—Alyu, are you willing?"
Alyuin didn't speak, answering instead with another passionate, all-consuming kiss.
Her honey-colored fingers sank deep between Lotus's, lacing tightly together. The pads of her fingers slid unconsciously over skin. Their hands were entwined intimately yet gently, but their lips and teeth clashed with an irrepressible intensity, accompanied by wet sounds and rapid breaths.
Just then, Alyuin suddenly remembered something. Her movements paused, her fingertips trembling slightly as if suppressing a craving, and she made to pull away.
Lotus grabbed her wrist, her lips brushing against the Princess's flushed ones as she whispered, "You're running away again."
"I'm not—"
"You did it before, too. Why are you unwilling to continue?" Lotus pulled back a little, looking earnestly into Alyuin's moist, bright golden eyes, her tone tinged with helplessness. "Or must you wait until the day of the festival?"
The Princess had a strange fixation on this point. "That day is the most suitable. The priests will make offerings to you, the believers will pray to you, but only I—only I will be by your side."
...To offer her everything on that day, to be the only sacrifice that could approach the goddess.
What could be more satisfying than that?
Perhaps there was something—for instance, desecrating the goddess as a sacrifice. Although Lotus had said it wasn't desecration, merely being overcome by emotion, to Alyuin it was, and always would be.
Alyuin had wanted to complete a ritual she considered perfect, but at this moment, she found that pulling away from her long-cherished wish, now so close at hand, was far more difficult than she had imagined, more difficult than all the previous times.
She was caught in a dilemma.
She didn't want to let go.
Lotus could guess what the child was struggling with. She sighed and said gently, "But I don't want to wait until then."
"That's too long," she murmured, her voice dropping to a sigh-like whisper. "I want you too, Alyu."
A fiery cluster of flames quietly ignited in the depths of her eyes. Alyuin stared straight at Lotus, her voice hoarse. "You mean, now..."
Lotus paused for two seconds.
How should she put it? In truth, she wasn't exactly prepared either. After all, she had no experience; it was impossible to say she wasn't the least bit nervous.
Moreover, Lotus could sense that Alyuin was also a little flustered, though it was hard to tell from that naturally magnificent face.
But, what she wanted, she wanted.
Most importantly—she absolutely refused to wait five years!
Her mind made up, Lotus cupped the back of Alyuin's neck, nibbled gently on her chin, and then moved to her lips.
For once, she adopted a more aggressive approach, kissing her meticulously and earnestly while wrapping an arm around the Princess's waist. She moved her feet, starting and stopping until they reached the bedside.
Alyuin noticed, and a corner of her heart that revered the gods still protested, "Not here."
Lotus paused. "Why?"
"It should be in a temple, or the royal sacrificial chamber. A place like that—is worthy of you," Alyuin said with a frown.
Lotus was speechless. "..."
Did Alyu have some obsession with places of worship?
Or did she think it would be more thril—ahem.
But Lotus didn't think so. Being intimate in a place where a statue of herself was displayed felt strange no matter how she thought about it. But if Alyuin liked it, perhaps it wasn't so unacceptable.
No, her train of thought was being led astray.
Lotus pressed her lips together, leaned in, and whispered in the Princess's ear, "None of that matters. Wherever I am, that is the temple."
"You're already... you're already in love with a real goddess. Do you still care about the complicated rituals of mortals? Do you still care about a stone statue?"
Lotus cast aside all her previous reservations and looked directly into those brilliant, magnificent golden eyes. "A sense of ceremony... sometimes, you don't need to adhere to it so strictly."
She couldn't help but add, "And you don't have to wait five long years."
Alyuin was still immersed in the uncharacteristically forward declaration of love. Hearing the last sentence, she asked blankly, "What five years?"
"Didn't you say—"
Lotus's words stopped abruptly. Their eyes met, and both realized a certain misunderstanding had occurred.
Realization dawned on Alyuin. A cryptic smile touched her lips as she said languidly, "It's the day of the festival, in early spring of next year. Not during the festival five years from now."
Lotus felt a wave of what could only be described as social death. She coughed lightly, feigning nonchalance.
"I see. That's very suitable as well. Why don't we..."
"But you're right," Alyuin said, pressing closer and pecking the goddess's fair, translucent neck. With a little force, she left a faint, crimson mark. "Sometimes, one really doesn't need to place too much importance on a sense of ceremony, right?"
Lotus tilted her neck back slightly. It felt a bit like being pounced on and licked by a large cat she had raised from a kitten, yet it was completely different.
An undisguised plea of love and desire was suppressed beneath that sucking kiss.
Her last shred of rationality made her ask, "Your arrangements for tomorrow..."
"Tomorrow there are no arrangements, only you and me," Alyuin said in a low voice.
She had been campaigning for over half a year. Since there was no news from the Kasnie army's encampment and nothing had happened in the royal city, it was time to take a proper day of rest.
With Lotus.
A God Power Field rose up, blocking any possible perception from the outside world, however minuscule the possibility.
A domain of water spread out, washing away only the light dust accumulated from a day spent outdoors.
Within that small space, the fine linen bed was snow-white and soft.
Whispers, soaked in honey, seemed to lure one into a fall—down beneath the earth, into the deep waters, where no other person or thing existed, only each other.
"Today, I am the only sacrifice. You can do whatever you wish."
She wanted to kiss, and to be kissed.
She wanted to possess, and to be possessed.
In that case, it didn't matter what they did. No matter what, the final result would be what the Princess wanted, and only what she wanted.
Trembling slightly from excitement and eagerness, the person lying submissively beneath her breathed a little heavily, the honey-colored chest under her half-open white robe rising and falling a bit too quickly. Lotus mistook all these unusual signs for nervousness and uncertainty.
Seeing her partner so nervous, Lotus's own embarrassment vanished, and she focused more of her attention on her lover.
"Don't be afraid, I will teach you," Lotus soothed in a gentle voice, determined to take on the role of a teacher in this unfamiliar territory.
Alyuin smiled. "Alright. You must teach me well."
The air gradually heated up.
Lotus carefully controlled the flow of water, soothing gently, touching patiently. She was undoubtedly the most tender, meticulous, and methodical of bed partners. However, before she had even finished the steps from the parchment scroll, an accidental touch was met with a clear wetness.
They looked at each other.
Alyuin shrugged, frank and poised. "I told you before, it's really hard to control."
She added, "You'll teach me what to do, won't you, Lotus?"
The harp strings in her mind, which had been playing a gentle and soothing melody, all snapped at once.
Lotus closed her eyes. When she opened them again, a deep darkness surged in the depths of her frost-blue irises.
"Be good."
Alyuin was a beauty; Lotus had always known that.
But to see her from this angle, honestly, was a first.
It was only today that Lotus truly realized just how much unspeakable sensuality was mixed into that beauty.
She had grown up in the palace, but also in the bitter cold and on the battlefield. Her natural beauty was paired with a honey-colored body as lithe as a leopard. The contradiction and the extremity of both had cultivated this precious and strong flower.
And now, she was blooming within the goddess's barrier.
...From the very beginning, she was the sole plant placed in the goddess's garden, and she had bloomed completely and perfectly.
As everyone knows, a current of water, regardless of whether it's controlled by a river goddess, will soak its surroundings.
The linen bed was soaked and dried, again and again, until it was a complete mess.
With a short, low moan, Alyuin's gaze went vacant. A moment later, she recovered and buried her face in the crook of Lotus's shoulder, acting spoiled.
It was a mystery how her naturally low, jade-like voice could produce such a sweet, coquettish tone, but whatever the case, Lotus was helpless against it.
Brushing the dark hair stuck to the side of the girl's face back, and after smoothing it all out, Lotus asked softly, "Are you tired? Let's wash up and get some proper rest."
She felt incredibly satisfied, but also a little guilty, wondering if she had been too rough on the child. She couldn't help but worry.
Alyuin drew out her words. "Tired? That's impossible."
Lotus blinked. "Hmm?"
Alyuin gave a half-smile. "I can ride at a gallop for three days and nights, and I can fight for three days without sleep. Am I tired? You tell me."
Lotus didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "There's no comparison... wait—"
Her words were cut off abruptly.
Alyuin rubbed her fingertips together thoughtfully. "You seemed to enjoy it a lot, too."
"..."
Lotus shifted her gaze away, then quickly brought it back, feeling as though she still needed a transition period.
The next moment, however, their positions were reversed. Lotus was pressed into the pile of fabric, her eyes wide as she was met with a rain of kisses.
After pulling back a little, Lotus met the Princess's gaze and saw what looked like a large cat stalking its prey, its eyes filled with absolute certainty.
—So how on earth had she mistaken that look for nervousness and uncertainty earlier?
In stark contrast to her almost forceful actions, Alyuin's voice was soft, her body still flushed with a light red that was less obvious due to her skin tone, her tone seductive.
"Didn't you say you would teach me? Now that you've taught me, won't you let your student practice?"
"I want to make you feel good too, Lotus."
Who could resist that?
Who could refuse?
Lotus certainly couldn't.
Raising a hand to cover her eyes, Lotus thought to herself that no matter how much she taught, she couldn't teach her how to control water.
As it turned out, Alyuin didn't need the assistance of water, and she was a fast learner in everything.
She had even taught herself a certain kind of play without any instruction, using a mix of hard and soft tactics to make Lotus recite the short poems she had written for her. When the goddess, exhausted and exasperated, turned the tables and demanded she recite the ones the Princess had written, Alyuin would slowly and unhurriedly whisper them into her ear, word by word.
In a moment when the world fell silent and empty, Alyuin wrapped one arm around Lotus and murmured in her ear.
"I love you so much."
The next day, the two of them slept until the sun was high in the sky, both violating their usual routines.
"..."
So this is what it feels like to be debauched, Lotus thought.
Comments
Post a Comment