TGS - Chapter 204

Chapter 204: Extra 1

It was an ordinary spring morning.

Sunrise and birdsong awakened the entire city. In the center of the royal city, the magnificent palace complex stood tall, its white stone domes reflecting the brilliant light of the rising sun as if coated in a layer of golden sand.

This vast cluster of buildings was awakening along with the city.

And in the courtyard of the most splendid and eye-catching palace, two golden eagles flew low, one after the other, across the flowerbeds, landing on a branch directly opposite a certain window. They patiently preened their feathers, making low cooing sounds.

Sunlight streamed through the linen gauze curtains, filling half the room. It also fell upon the canopy of the large four-poster bed in the center of the room, carrying the unique, gentle warmth of spring.

Behind the layered canopy, Lotus awoke right on time.

The silver-haired goddess slowly sat up and looked to her side. Alyuin had opened her eyes at some point and was half-turned, watching her with a smile in her eyes.

Ever since her official coronation, the Queen of Solancia's duties had visibly increased.

Normally, at this time, Alyuin would have already dressed and left, her destination being either the royal court or her office.

The queen would handle her affairs with great efficiency until noon, dine with Lotus, and continue working until the day's state business was concluded—a time that usually did not extend to dinner.

The rest of her time was her own to arrange, typically used for training in martial arts, archery, and swordsmanship, as well as for entertainment and relaxation. Alyuin was particularly fond of their private entertainment for two.

At the end of the day's schedule, she would retire before midnight to ensure adequate sleep.

Although theoretically, as a demigod and so young, the queen no longer needed to worry about her health, the habits of the past few years had remained, and her routine was quite healthy.

Of course, the above was her daily schedule on workdays.

But today was different. It was Solancia's fixed monthly day of rest, which meant Alyuin had the day off.

Her Majesty on holiday did not rise early, nor did she take the opportunity to sleep in. Alyuin leaned back against a soft pillow, watching Lotus without blinking.

"They've faded again."

She sighed softly, her tone tinged with regret.

Lotus said gently, "There's nothing to be done about it."

They were talking about the marks left during a certain kind of private entertainment. It had to be said that waking up in the morning to find bruises and red marks was something that basically never happened to Lotus.

After all, a god's body was like that. As long as the divine core was unharmed, any other injuries would heal rather quickly, including missing limbs, let alone the marks left in moments of passion.

In contrast, Alyuin's faded more slowly...

Lotus raised a hand to smooth the queen's hair. Beneath the long locks covering her shoulders, a few faint red marks dotted her honey-colored skin, like petals fallen on honeyed satin.

Alyuin caught her wrist, pressed a kiss to her fingertips, and licked them lightly with the tip of her tongue.

"I'm off today."

The hidden meaning was obvious.

Lotus paused. Suddenly, she heard a tapping sound from the window. Her divine power instinctively relayed the sensation: the golden eagle sisters were getting impatient waiting for breakfast and were pecking at the window frame with their beaks.

"The sisters are getting anxious. And really, aren't you hungry?" Lotus chuckled. "Later, we can—"

"I am hungry. So you have to feed me first before considering them. Let's be quick, shall we? Lotus."

The River Goddess indulged the young queen's morning antics.

By the time the two masters of the palace finished their entertainment and opened the window, the golden eagle sisters finally got their desired fresh meat. Once full, they flew contentedly into the sky to stretch their wings.

During breakfast, a royal guard reported that the former Crown Prince, Romuer, had left the royal city this morning. Someone was secretly following him, so his movements could be tracked at any time.

Lotus glanced at Alyuin, who showed no expression and merely gave a faint acknowledgment.

To speak of Romuer, one had to mention his father.

Before the war ended, Horst had been imprisoned. It was not until after the war, when stability was restored, a few days before Alyuin's coronation, that he was brought out of prison. The sentences for him and those involved in the assassination of the former king were announced and carried out immediately.

Horst, as the mastermind and final perpetrator, was guilty of the most heinous crimes. Alyuin had him taken to the mausoleum of the former king and queen, where she personally executed him, offering the traitor's head as a sacrifice to her parents.

Horst probably knew death was certain. He held on at the last moment, not begging for mercy, but trying to plead for his son.

Alyuin did not respond, only offering a smile that, in Horst's eyes, was cold and murderous. Amidst the usurper's sudden terror and regret, she swung her blade and took his head.

Horst would have no funeral. His body would be sent directly to an unmarked cemetery on the outskirts of the city. His unbaptized soul, trapped in his body, would have no way to return to the underworld and enter the cycle of reincarnation.

As the usurper's brother and an accomplice in the assassination, Taz could not escape death either, even though he had rendered meritorious service in the recent war.

Long before employing him, Alyuin had made it very clear: merits and demerits would not cancel each other out.

Taz calmly accepted his death sentence.

He was allowed a baptism and would be buried with the honors of a general after his death.

Also dealt with were the others involved back then; a group of people each received their due punishment.

And then, there was the unavoidable matter of Romuer.

Romuer had not participated in the events of that year. As Crown Prince, he had neither merits nor faults. But his father was Horst.

For that reason alone, even if Alyuin had executed him on the spot without giving any reason, the nobles and ministers would not have objected. They might have even helped find a justification.

In the end, the verdict for Romuer was—exile.

He was stripped of his royal status and exiled from the royal city, forbidden to ever return to Akhet for the rest of his life, and could not be pardoned under any circumstances.

This sentence was not harsh; it was even considered light given Romuer's status.

After the trial, Romuer and Alyuin had a brief conversation.

"I'm sorry," Romuer said.

Alyuin was unmoved. "If it's for Horst, you should take it back. I don't accept it."

Romuer gave a bitter smile. "No, it's for myself. For my foolishness, blind faith, and ignorance."

"Even if Your Majesty hadn't announced this sentence, I would have no face to appear here again... In the future, I will probably become a wandering poet, travel as much as I can, see as much as I can, and also atone for my father's sins."

With that, the revenge that had been nearly twenty years in the making finally came to a close.

The day after Alyuin's coronation, the souls of the former king and queen returned to the underworld with the Death God to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

Although they still felt a lingering reluctance to part, they no longer had any worries. Everything about Alyuin was wonderful, far exceeding their past expectations—be it her intelligence, her abilities, or her lover.

The former king and queen departed in peace.

And today, Romuer left the royal city. According to the verdict, he could never return.

In fact, right after regaining her memories as a god, Lotus had realized that Romuer bore an eighty percent resemblance to the city lord's brother from Alyuin's past life.

According to Suojia, the Death God Emute and the cycle of reincarnation in the underworld had come into being within a few decades of Solancia's founding. Given the time of the first Solancian king's death, it was indeed possible for him to have entered the cycle.

Similarly, the petite young girl whom Lotus had saved a thousand years ago and who later became the first priestess of the River Goddess was the ancestor of the current priestess of the Kadera temple.

And Rhea, who came from this lineage, was almost identical to that girl.

Were Rhea and that girl the same soul?

Was Romuer truly the reincarnation of the first Solancian king, or did he merely look similar?

These two questions could perhaps only be answered by the Death God, but neither Lotus nor Alyuin, who had also recovered her past life's memories, asked.

There was no need.

Even if it were truly the reincarnation of the same soul, after countless cycles, they were no longer the people they once were. This was different from Alyuin's situation. The Queen of Solancia had never entered the cycle of reincarnation. She and Lotus had slept at the bottom of the Yilu River for a thousand years, their memories merely sealed, not erased. In essence, they had never changed.

The news of Romuer leaving Akhet did not stir any particular feelings in Alyuin. She ordered the trackers to continue following him and report on the former Crown Prince's whereabouts periodically, then put the matter aside.

The royal guard bowed and departed.

As he straightened up, he stole what he thought was a very discreet glance at Lotus.

After the divine wedding, Lotus continued to stay in the royal palace under the identity of the lady-in-waiting, Lorja.

In her view, even without explicitly stating it, at least the maids who tended to the bedchambers and the royal guards who followed the queen all day would notice the connection between "Lorja" and the River Goddess.

But at some point, the guards and maids had indeed guessed, but they had guessed in a different direction—they believed that the lady-in-waiting Lorja had become a vessel for Lotus's divine descent.

If Lotus hadn't appeared in person on the day of the divine wedding, some might have made even more outrageous guesses, such as the River Goddess being merely a cover, and that Her Majesty and the lady-in-waiting Lorja were the true lovers.

In any case, the palace court now believed that Lorja was that Lotus, but since it hadn't been confirmed, they couldn't just call her "Goddess." So they simply addressed her as "Your Excellency" or "My Lady," which was not impolite whether she was a god or not.

However, older retainers around Alyuin, like Motis, vaguely realized that this lady-in-waiting, who had hardly changed since they first met her, was probably the River Goddess or her incarnation from the very beginning.

The few of them silently reflected on whether they had ever been disrespectful to the goddess in the past. After confirming they hadn't, they breathed a sigh of relief and decided to continue treating the lady-in-waiting with the same—or perhaps slightly more polite—attitude as before.

The guard who had come to report knew none of this. Naturally, he also didn't know that soon after he left, Lotus reverted to her silver-haired divine form and played beast head chess with the Queen of Solancia.

On this day, someone left the royal city, and someone returned to it.

The latter was, of course, Naimaer, who was finally able to leave the city of Surinia.

Some time ago, Alyuin had issued a decree abolishing the God-Concubine system, fulfilling the promise made when they formed their alliance.

Naimaer couldn't wait and had fled the City of the Sun God by night.

Her visit to Akhet this time was only temporary. She would soon find a city that was cloudy and rainy year-round, with little sunlight, to settle down in. In Naimaer's own words, she was going to live out her golden years.

Alyuin chatted with her only remaining blood relative for a short while before Naimaer took her leave, saying she needed to go back to her light-proof residence to hole up. When night fell, she would go to the royal mausoleum to pay respects to her brother.

For the rest of the day, no one else came to report news or request an audience. Alyuin was finally free, leaning against Lotus's shoulder and squinting her eyes contentedly.

The description was the same as always: like a large cat lying lazily after a hunt.

"The weather is really nice today," Alyuin said.

"Mm," Lotus replied.

She raised her hand and stroked the queen's hair.

It was indeed a nice day.

Previous Table of Contents Next