TGS - Chapter 185
Chapter 185: Klotho
For the entire morning, the two of them did not leave the room. With no urgent matters to attend to, there were few people to disturb them.
It wasn't until lunchtime that a maidservant knocked on the door, carrying a tray. After receiving permission, she entered cautiously and placed the food and wine on the table.
Having done this, the maidservant faced the bed, which was draped with layers of linen gauze curtains, and bowed her head to ask, "Your Majesty, do you have any other commands?"
From behind the curtains came the faint sound of soft whispers, interspersed with the rustle of fabric. Then, the Princess's slightly deep voice, still tinged with a lazy cadence, replied.
"No, you may leave."
For some reason, the sound of that voice made the maidservant's face flush. She hastily curtsied and exited the room.
Standing outside the door, the maidservant felt she had overlooked something. After walking a few steps, she suddenly recalled the shoes by the bedside.
There were two pairs, not placed neatly, but askew and toppled over, tangled and messy.
It was as if—as if two people had come to the bedside and, without time to sit down and properly remove their shoes, had simply kicked them off casually. Like their owners, they lay close together, abandoned on the deep red carpet.
The maidservant: "..."
Damn it, what was she thinking? After serving by the God-Concubine's side for so long, even her thoughts had become strange.
Then again, the only one who could share a room with Her Majesty the Princess would be that female official.
She was Her Majesty's teacher, a relationship that began back in the border city of Kadera. Even if they slept until noon, it must have been because they lost track of time while discussing matters by lamplight last night, and that's why they woke up late.
Yes, that must be it.
Even after becoming a ruler and leading armies into battle, she did not forget to discuss academics with her teacher to enrich herself. Her Majesty was truly Her Majesty!
The maidservant was utterly convinced by her own speculation. After sighing in admiration at Her Majesty's respect for her teacher, she took her leave.
Inside the room, the milk-white curtains were pulled open from within.
When they had woken up that morning, they had already washed up. It was only because it was a rare day of rest that they had lain back down on the bed to chat and pass the time.
But now that it was noon, it wouldn't do to keep lying around. It was the perfect time to get up and eat.
Alyuin raised her wine glass, her gaze sweeping over the god's shoulders and neck, which were exposed outside her robes. She lowered her lashes, not quite satisfied.
As always, Surinia was bathed in ample light. The brilliant midday sun slanted through the window, enveloping Lotus and making her skin as white as translucent jade, without a single mark to be seen.
She had deliberately left marks last night—pale red and deep crimson, like petals fallen on snow. But due to the powerful self-healing ability of a god's body, those marks had already vanished completely.
Still pure and pale, untouched by dust.
This left Alyuin with a subtle sense of loss. However, when she glanced at the marks on her own shoulder, her mood brightened.
If she couldn't leave her mark on Lotus, then she would at least keep Lotus's mark on her. That was good, too.
Meeting the Princess's smiling expression, Lotus frowned. "Is your throat bothering you? If it is, don't drink wine."
The alcohol content wasn't high, but it was still wine. She should obediently drink some warm honey water to soothe her throat.
Alyuin said she was fine, but her actions were quite obedient. She put down the wine glass and was about to reach for the honey used for seasoning, which was in a small ceramic bowl, when Lotus handed her a prepared glass of honey water.
Alyuin didn't take it. "Your throat..."
She stopped mid-sentence. Lotus's voice was clear and bright, sounding nothing like someone who had just been through a passionate encounter.
Right, a god's self-healing.
The Princess took the glass, sipped from it, and, with the honey water still in her mouth, leaned in to give Lotus a deep, sweet-tasting kiss.
For the entire day, the two did not leave the residence.
After their meal, they strolled in the garden, then returned to read and relax. At night, they exchanged a goodnight kiss and fell into a peaceful sleep.
The short day of rest passed in a flash. The next day, they had to once again devote most of their time to their respective duties.
Alyuin remained in the City of the Sun God, while Lotus left her Snow Goddess avatar behind. Her true form returned with her companions to the Kingdom of the Gods to once again establish the god power field barrier that enveloped Solancia.
This way, if Perseus tried to appear on Solancian soil, the barrier would provide a degree of defense, and the main gods would detect her immediately.
For a time, everything seemed to be on the right track.
Without a foreign god eyeing them covetously, the Kasnie army within Solancia's borders could not gain the upper hand.
Ever since losing a large number of ships, the Prince of Kasnie had grown wary of Alyuin's tactical arrangements. Coupled with his inability to receive a divine oracle during this time, he never again dared to send out his remaining fleet in full force, nor did he dispatch any more large-scale armies. The situation devolved into a stalemate of small-scale skirmishes.
It was foreseeable that this stalemate would not last long.
A prolonged war meant a rapid consumption of military provisions and supplies. Even without fighting, just maintaining a standoff required a huge amount of resources for daily drills.
Neither Solancia nor Kasnie was willing to just burn through money like that.
One side would have to make the first move, unleashing a new wave of bloodshed.
In these busy days, Lotus was faring well enough. She could split off an avatar to stay by Alyuin's side without delaying her own work.
As for Alyuin, she had finally achieved her long-held wish, but before she could enjoy it to her heart's content, she was forced by the situation to throw herself back into the chaos.
Fortunately, every few days, she could relax a little before sleep.
Each time was accompanied by immense satisfaction and even greater insatiability.
Lotus herself was not driven by desire and had no issue with the frequency or intensity. Concerned that the Princess had to rise early for her duties, she was always exceedingly gentle and considerate whenever she took the lead.
She would begin with caresses, a light tasting, bringing Alyuin to the peak before gently stroking her to soothe the afterglow. Finally, she would use clear water to wash away the day's fatigue. The next day, Alyuin would be refreshed and spirited, showing no trace of the night's events, ready to fell a man with every sword strike and every arrow on the battlefield.
Lotus was very pleased with this.
The Princess herself, waking up refreshed in the morning: "..."
In truth, she wasn't entirely fulfilled.
Alyuin loved extremes, whether in battle or in bed.
The former, of course, had to be a scene of dripping blood and flashing swords, using the most concise swordplay to take lives cleanly and efficiently.
If not for the past few years of preserving her health, the Princess might still prefer the frenzied fighting style of her youth, trading injury for an enemy's life—though there were few left who could force her to use such a tactic now.
The latter was the same. If she could, Alyuin might want to go until both of them were completely spent, able only to cling to each other and fall into a deep sleep. Unfortunately, circumstances did not permit it.
It wasn't just because of the busy wartime schedule, but also because Lotus was too gentle with her.
The streams of water and wet mist she commanded at will could have been important tools for more forceful play, but in Lotus's hands, they truly only served a soft, auxiliary role. It made one feel as if immersed in warm water, occasionally swept over by waves large and small, the ripples lapping comfortably past one's calves.
—To the point that Alyuin felt too embarrassed to be too rough.
She would even worry if she was being too forceful, wondering if Lotus secretly preferred a gentler style but just didn't say it to her face.
Even without considering all that, for a princess whose physical constitution far surpassed that of an ordinary person and a god who healed extremely quickly, achieving the goal of being utterly spent was no easy task.
Still, how things were now was wonderful.
As long as she could be with Lotus...
Pressing a kiss to the corner of Lotus's lips, Alyuin rose and dressed, piece by piece, covering her clothes with light armor.
The armor completely concealed the lingering red marks on her body. The Princess coiled her long hair, looking sharp and valiant. Her entire being was like a drawn longsword, making it difficult to imagine the scene that had unfolded on this bed last night.
At first, Lotus was still hazy with the fog of waking, but soon, her chalcedony-blue eyes cleared with remarkable speed.
She shot up to her feet, her gaze sharp as she looked to the southwest.
"A god is attacking the barrier. It's Perseus—no, her divine power shouldn't feel like this..." Lotus closed her eyes, then snapped them open a moment later, a stream of light flashing through their depths. "The barrier is already broken?"
From sensing the attack on the god power field to its shattering, the entire process was faster than the blink of an eye.
In an instant, the warm atmosphere of their morning intimacy completely changed.
Causing trouble so early in the morning—that Kasnie god, whether she was Perseus or not, really had terrible timing!
Suppressing the faint unease in her divine senses with a bit of sarcastic commentary, Lotus looked up at Alyuin. Before she could speak, the Princess said, "I'll wait for you to come back."
Lotus nodded. After a brief hesitation, she left the Snow Goddess avatar behind, then hurriedly departed the residence, her spiritual form joining the other main gods.
Sensing the shattering of the god power field, the main gods had all gathered near Surinia in an extremely short amount of time.
From the direction where the god power field was first attacked, the wind locked onto the intruder, and the sunlight monitored the figure's path. The target also had a clear objective, speeding towards Surinia.
At one point, the shadow passed over the Yilu River.
Through the distant surface of the water, Lotus saw the intruder's appearance. At first glance, it was not Perseus.
It was enveloped in a flowing mist of pale gold light, its figure tall and slender.
But its form was different from the Goddess of the Mind's, leaning more towards androgynous. Trailing behind it were thin wisps of cold smoke, retracting and swaying like tentacles, gone in a flash.
At the end of the image transmitted by the river, the Kasnie god turned its head, as if deliberately showing itself to Lotus on the other side of the river.
—It had no face.
The area where its features should have been was covered by a layer of a swirling, misty halo. The light-mist on the lower half of its face was twisted and frozen, like a deliberate smile.
Lotus was horrified.
She met the Sky God's gaze, while Suriel muttered in confusion beside them, "Why is this fellow made entirely of light?"
In Kasnie mythology, there was indeed a deity who matched this description.
The Creator God Klotho, Father of All Things, the Formless God cloaked in light and rosy clouds.
Not long ago, the Sky God had sworn with absolute certainty that the creator god would never join the war. The scene was still fresh in her mind.
Lotus was speechless for a moment, pressing her fingers to her temple.
Indeed, one should never tempt fate.
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