"Reporting to the Lady."
The voice echoed through the vast, opulent throne room,a chamber of gilded pillars and floating candelabras that cast dancing amber light across a floor polished to a mirror sheen.
The speaker, a robed herald, bowed low as he continued.
"Over the recent years, many of our Sovereigns have failed to influence Avalon.
The situation is dire!"
He paused, swallowing hard.
"Three have fallen into depravity and switched sides.
Two touched what should not be touched and have gone mad.
One was influenced to see what cannot be seen and has been transformed into a vengeful wraith."
His voice dropped to a whisper,with a look of appreciation to Hannah,he spoke.
"Only Cassius remains."
Hanna,known affectionately to a select few as "Melon" sighed softly. She glanced to the side, her eyes catching the disappointed expression weighing down Aurelia's delicate features.
The goddess sat upon her throne, a figure of impossible beauty wrapped in robes that shimmered like captured starlight, yet her brow was furrowed, her lips pressed thin.
This had been going on for quite some time. In this opulent throne room, memorial after memorial was read to the goddess Aurelia, each one an appeal for her to make decisions, to intervene, to reverse the slow decay eating at the edges of her divine kingdom.
Beneath her throne, the room was divided into two distinct sides. To the left stood the scholars,with robes of white and gold, faces lined with ink-stained worry.
To the right stood the generals,armor burnished but not recently bloodied, hands resting on sword hilts worn more from ceremony than combat.
All had something to report. Some had questions to ask of her. Others brought matters that required her direct judgment.
But what Aurelia saw was different.
Within this assembly,these men and women she had once believed to be her confidants, her trusted aids, the loyal backbone of her reign,she could feel despair.
It clung to them like a second skin. It whispered in the pauses between words. It lived behind their respectful bows.
Even as Hanna continued reading memorandums,reciting losses, shortages, and defections in a measured tone,Aurelia's heart was breaking, little by little.
With each report, she felt the faith of some of her trusted aids diminish further. Not all at once, but like sand slipping through an hourglass. Grain by grain.
And some,some,had actively become spies for other pantheons.
The thought kindled anger inside her.
A hot, righteous fury that made her fingers tighten on the armrest of her throne.
But she would not make a move. Not yet. These people, despicable as they had become, remained the backbone of her divine kingdom.
Replace them too quickly, and the entire structure would collapse.
It would take too long to replace them, she reminded herself, forcing her breathing to remain steady.
For now, however, a faint, sweet spring aroma began to waft through the throne room.
It carried the scent of fresh rain on fertile soil, of blossoms opening after a long winter, of morning light piercing through storm clouds. With every sniff of the scent, a tiny seed of hope was being planted into the hearts of the ministers,unbidden, unconscious, but it was effective for now.
Hanna smiled as she noticed the subtle shift in the room's atmosphere.
Eyes that had been downcast lifted slightly. Shoulders that had been hunched relaxed a fraction.
"My Lady is indeed magnanimous!" Hanna praised aloud, her voice ringing clear and bright.
But inwardly, her thoughts took a sharper turn. Your days are numbered. In those whom the seeds of hope will bloom will be spared.
The rest will be executed the moment replacements are found.
Her thoughts, however, were her own. The ministers had no idea that Aurelia held dominion over the very concept of hope.
She was guiding their thoughts,gently and invisibly in the direction she desired.
This was not mind control or coercion. It was simply... nudging. Encouraging the seeds she had planted to grow toward her light.
Aurelia looked at Hanna and smiled. It was a small, private expression,one reserved for the woman who knew her best.
The ministers, sensing that something must have happened to elicit Hanna's praise, all followed like sheep in a flock,eager to align themselves with whatever had pleased their goddess.
"My Lady is magnanimous!"
"My Lady is magnanimous!"
"My Lady is magnanimous!"
The chant swelled, filling the throne room with its hollow yet fervent rhythm.
A slight smile escaped Aurelia once again.
Then, with a dismissive yet commanding tone, she spoke.
"Grant Cassius more support. Offer him three Sovereign-rank beast cores, he is to discreetly raise his realm to the peak of the Sovereign realm."
Murmurs rippled through the assembly.
"Send two tickets to allow him to sit in for the Spirit Lord of Black and Yellow's lecture."
The murmurs grew louder, eyes widening.
"Send two divine ministers to offer strategy and economic support."
She paused, letting the weight of her words settle.
"Avalon must not be lost !"
All the ministers were bewildered. The Spirit Lord's lecture? Isn't that... too much for a mere Sovereign? Even they,after decades of faithful service had never been granted such an opportunity.
Their minds raced, jealousy and intrigue intertwining.
Avalon must have something we don't know. Is it really just a Sacred Land?
I must report this back.
The thoughts flickered behind respectful faces. And Hanna watched their expressions,the micro-twitches, the barely concealed greed, the subtle resentment with barely disguised relish.
She knew which seeds would bloom and which would rot.
"We trust and obey!"
"We trust and obey!"
"We trust and obey!"
They all hurriedly bowed, with Hanna at the forefront, gracefully returning to read other memorials about other points of interest.
***
The session continued for a long period,reviewing, amending plans, debating points of action. The atmosphere gradually stabilized, the earlier tension settling into a manageable hum.
Then, without warning, everything changed.
Aurelia frowned.
The shift in her mood rippled outward like a stone dropped into still water.
Throughout the divine realm, thunder cracked across a sky that had been clear moments before. Lightning forked between clouds, threatening to rupture the heavens into pieces. The air grew heavy and....
Something had changed.
She had just felt it, a distant, unmistakable pulse: the aura of Resonance Evolution.
A very dangerous situation. Because if she could feel this aura,even though Norlan was located in a space sealed by the Tower of Celestial Providence,then so could her enemies.
Her figure vanished from the throne room, leaving behind only the fading echo of displaced air.
She reappeared an instant later at the edge of her divine kingdom,the boundary where her realm met the chaotic void beyond. The barrier shimmered before her, a translucent wall of interwoven divine law.
She reached out her hand, then stopped.
For an excruciating ten seconds, she stood frozen, her thoughts in turmoil.
Should she help? Or let it be? Even if her enemies felt this aura, it wasn't as if they could directly interfere with the trials of the Tower, right?
But they could send in their elites. Hunters, distinguished assassins, their champions disguised as via the effort of artificial dungeons!
Should she risk revealing her hand? Or risk losing him?
Hanna appeared beside her, having followed the moment she sensed her Lady's departure.
She had already guessed,correctly that the only thing capable of moving Aurelia to such a raw, exposed state could only be him.
The one and only person who shared the same name as her.
Norlan Aurelius Grimblade.
Thinking about him, Hanna couldn't help but glance down at Aurelia's stomach. A flicker of something; was it jealousy, longing, envy or some forbidden emotion,passed through her eyes before she masked it.
Aurelia felt the weight of that gaze. Like a bolt of lightning striking the same place twice, her mind reeled and then shut down.
Her heart began to palpate, pounding against her ribs. Unconsciously, her hand drifted to her stomach, touching it tenderly through her robes.
The decision crystallized.
She made up her mind.
Her hands pressed against the barrier and she disappeared from sight, crossing the boundary between divine kingdom and mortal world.
***
Back in the throne room, the ministers exchanged glances. Then, slowly, their lips curled into smiles.
The goddess was out of her divine kingdom.
This was tremendous news,and even greater merit to deliver to the masters they now served as spies.
How long had they waited for such an opportunity?
Their blood boiled.
However, not all from the same reason.
Alas, not every fruit in the orchard had spoiled. Some remained ever resplendent, untouched by rot. And for those ministers,the loyal few,their blood was boiling for a different reason entirely.
Were they not going to be on the defense any longer? they wondered, hope kindling in their chests.
Are they finally going to fight back?
Maybe there is hope after all.
They all exclaimed silently in their hearts, each knowing,with a certainty that transcended logic,that the effect of this single cause would be greater than the storm formed from a butterfly's flap of its wing.
The wheel was turning.
And no one could predict where it would stop,nor could they even dare guess the cause was but a mortal !