Chapter 607 - 603 – THE EMBRACE ON THE PALACE STEPS, THE CONSORT’S REPORT, AND THE GOLDEN DRAGON’S MEMORY

Sol landed on the giant crystal plaza before the palace without making the slightest sound. His air-manipulation shield muffled the beat of his wings, and the crystal floor glowed softly beneath his golden claws like the surface of a lake welcoming an old guest. Hundreds of palace guards, servants, and citizens who happened to be passing the plaza all stopped in their tracks. Some dropped what they were carrying. A dwarf child held in his father’s arms pointed at the sky with wide eyes and cried out, "The golden dragon! The golden dragon from the statue!"

Sylvia leapt down from Sol’s back with her black dress fluttering gently, landing lightly on the crystal floor. She took off the wide-brimmed hat she had worn since Quiet Bay and held it in her hand. Her loose black hair fell over her shoulders, reflecting the light of the crystal lanterns lined along the palace stairs.

No one dared speak. Around her, hundreds of beings of many races stood frozen in awestruck silence, as if they had just seen something that for months had lived only in bedtime stories.

Then someone in the guard ranks cried out in a trembling voice, "The Queen... the Queen has returned!"

At once the whole plaza erupted in cheers.

"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN OF DEATH!"

"WELCOME BACK, YOUR MAJESTY!"

Spears were stamped on the crystal floor until the entire plaza shook. The dwarves threw their hats into the air, the elves scattered silver flower petals from the balconies above, and bushy-tailed beastkin roared with joy in voices that sent night birds flying from the towers. Sylvia, who was used to facing gods and kingdoms with a cold face, found herself smiling awkwardly as she raised one hand in a small, clumsy wave.

’You look like someone confused about how to hold a gift,’ Sol commented, shrinking back into a golden cat and leaping to her shoulder.

"Quiet. I’m enjoying the moment."

’You’re nervous.’

"I never get nervous."

’You’re tapping your knee.’

Sylvia looked down and only then realized her right index finger really was tapping the thigh of her dress. She pulled her hand away with a perfectly blank face. Noir, from within the shadow, let out a snort that sounded very much like suppressed laughter.

Sylvia’s gaze then rose, past the crowd, to the topmost step of the palace, where one figure still stood beneath the light of hundreds of crystal lanterns without moving at all.

Sofia.

Her eight golden wings were folded gracefully on her back, the tips of the feathers glowing softly like morning sunlight slipping through stained glass. The deep blue gown embroidered with silver that she wore fell perfectly to the marble floor, and her golden hair was coiled neatly with a small blue crystal ornament that Sylvia remembered well as her own gift from several months ago. Both of the woman’s hands were folded before her chest. Her smile was gentle, calm, and gave no hint at all of how she had stood there, waiting tirelessly, ever since she saw the golden dragon from afar.

Sylvia lifted her dress slightly and began to climb the stairs one by one. She walked, not ran. A Queen does not run before her people. But every step felt longer than the last, and when she reached the tenth step, her patience simply ran out.

Sofia opened both arms at the exact moment Sylvia leapt into her embrace.

There were no words for several seconds. Only two arms wrapped tightly, the scent of lavender and sunshine in Sofia’s golden hair, and a warm heartbeat that sounded so near. Behind them, the people’s cheers slowly subsided into whispers full of emotion, then fell truly silent, as if the whole city were giving private time to two people who had been apart too long.

"You came home," Sofia finally whispered. Her voice trembled slightly. "You really came home."

"I told you I’d come home often. The gate works, doesn’t it?"

"You said you’d come home every few days." Sofia pulled back slightly and looked at her with clear blue eyes glistening with tears, though her lips curved as if about to scold. "It’s been twenty days, Sylvia. Twenty. I counted. Stacia said you were busy with the port, then the sacred tiger, then the Legion, then that princess."

"Those were all important matters."

"I know they were important." Sofia puffed out her cheeks slightly, an expression only Sylvia and a handful of others had ever seen. "Still, I missed you, and I want you to know that a consort should not have to send a holographic message once a week to ask whether the Queen still remembers the way home."

Sylvia chuckled softly and pressed her forehead to Sofia’s. "I’m sorry. I’m an idiot."

"You’re not an idiot. You’re just... pulled in too many directions too often." Sofia smiled. She raised her hand and tidied a strand of hair that had fallen on Sylvia’s cheek with gentle fingers. "But it’s all right. Now you’re here. And that’s enough for tonight."

On Sylvia’s shoulder, Sol cleared his throat loudly.

’Ahem. This golden cat, exhausted from ferrying a heavy passenger, requests permission to enter the palace and find a silk pillow.’

"Welcome, Sol," Sofia said warmly, reaching out to stroke the golden dragon’s small head. "We’ve prepared a special room for you with three new pillows. And for Noir too, of course."

’Thank you,’ Noir answered from Sylvia’s shadow in a cold tone that was clearly relieved.

Sofia’s private study was in the palace’s eastern tower, and Sylvia did not recognize it.

It had once been a simple chamber with one desk and a small bookshelf. Now it was three times the size, its walls covered with giant crystal maps showing the whole of Nocture’s territory in three dimensions, with small points of light moving in step with the energy trains and trade ships. On the black-wood desk stood stacks of files arranged neatly by seal color, and in a corner of the room a large hologram displayed a long graph rising and falling in a very regular rhythm.

"You did all this alone?" Sylvia asked, looking around with a face half awe and half horror.

"Of course not." Sofia poured warm tea into two porcelain cups. "There are three hundred bureaucratic staff, twenty-two department heads, and a dwarf accountant named Durin who never sleeps. But all their reports end up on my desk, and I have to approve them one by one."

Sylvia took her cup and sat on the long blue velvet sofa. Sol immediately leapt onto the sofa’s back, curled himself into a small golden ball, and closed his eyes with the expression of a cat who has reached paradise. Noir slipped out of the shadow and curled up beside her.

"Report," Sylvia said, sipping her tea.

Sofia took a scroll from the desk and unrolled it in the air, summoning rows of glowing blue numbers.

"The main city’s population has reached thirteen million, up from six and a half million since you left. Refugees from the coastal regions of the Chimera Continent keep arriving, as do groups of survivors from small islands in the deep sea. We built twenty-seven satellite cities within a three-hundred-kilometer radius to house them, each with granaries, watchtowers, and clinics. All connected by energy-rail lines directly to the center."

"Twenty-seven?" Sylvia repeated quietly. "In less than three months?"

"With the help of the dwarves, the Death Legion, and a bit of earth magic from the elves, yes." Sofia smiled proudly. "Food production has increased two-and-a-half-fold. Our global food monopoly grows stronger. Trade ships from three different continents have already docked at the eastern harbor to exchange crystals and metals for Nocture grain."

"And security?"

Sofia’s smile thinned slightly. "That’s the strangest part."

"Strange?"

"There have been no attacks at all. Not from gods, not from sea monsters, not from any kingdom. Ever since Persephone and the World Avatar drove off Poseidon and Aegir, the sea around us has been as silent as a graveyard." Sofia lowered her crystal scroll. "Zark has doubled the patrols on the Storm Wall border, and the entire Death Legion is on full alert. But there’s nothing. I’m not sure whether to feel calm or worried."

"Be a little worried," Sylvia answered. "But don’t let it disturb your sleep. I have a feeling this calm isn’t something that can last forever."

"I know." Sofia looked at her steadily. "And now it’s your turn. Tell me everything. Stacia only sends me scraps of news, half of which are the words ’explode’ and ’spicy.’"

Sylvia laughed and began to tell her story.

She recounted it all, from the port city at Quiet Bay to the Council’s investigation fleet, from the white tiger chained beneath the marble mountain to the emperor who surrendered, from the blood ritual of three Hua descendants to the floating island that nearly fell before Stacia saved it with trembling fingers. Sofia listened without interrupting. Now and then she covered her mouth with a hand, now and then she smiled faintly, and at the part where Sylvia mentioned Baihu shrinking into a white cat in Zhaoyue’s arms, she laughed until her shoulders shook.

"A cat," she repeated, eyes watering. "A cat again. Do all the sacred beasts in this world really have that habit?"

"I’m starting to suspect it’s some kind of tradition."

There was a soft knock at the study door. Sofia turned. "Come in."

A woman with long silver hair floated in, her half-transparent body shimmering like moon mist. Alicia, Spirit Empress and absolute healer of Nocture, wore a simple white gown with gold thread embroidery at its edges. Behind her, stepping gracefully with a single crystal horn glowing softly, came a creature with the body of a dragon-scaled deer wrapped in holy light. Qilin.

"Sylvia," Alicia greeted with a warm smile. She floated closer and hugged her sister gently, her spirit body feeling like a breath of spring wind. "I heard from Sofia that you might come home tonight. Qilin has already made a medicinal porridge that he says is suitable for those who are tired."

’Greetings, Your Majesty the Queen,’ Qilin said, bowing deeply, his crystal horn nearly touching the floor. ’This servant heard that you have met a fellow sacred beast in the north of Tianhua.’

"You’ve heard already?"

’Stacia told a little through the Holographic Bracelet. This servant is glad the Guardian of the West is free.’ Qilin’s clear eyes shone with sadness. ’This servant is a disciple of a younger generation, and met them only once or twice. But I know how important they were.’

"Qilin," said Sylvia, setting down her cup. "There’s something I need to tell you. And I need Alicia to hear it too."

After Alicia and Qilin sat down, Sylvia told them about Baihu, who had believed the other three guardians were gone, about Zhuque’s faint pulse in the south, and finally about the memory that had returned to her in Zhaoyue’s study. Alicia closed her eyes for a moment. She, who had once stood beside Sylvia and Stacia in that obsidian chamber, needed no long explanation.

"Azure Dragon," she murmured. "I remember. It said it was sealed together with its brothers. I had even forgotten to remember that sentence."

"We all forgot," Sylvia answered. "So much has happened since."

Qilin was already standing, his body trembling faintly and his crystal horn flashing. ’It is... still alive? After all this time?’

"It was still alive then. Asleep and bound, but alive."

’This servant begs permission to come along, Your Majesty.’ Qilin’s voice cracked. ’If there is the slightest possibility of helping to free it, I am willing to be the lowest of servants.’

"Sit down first," Sylvia answered gently. "We’ll decide together."

On the sofa’s back, Sol’s golden eyes opened slightly. He was no longer pretending to sleep. His small body stayed curled, but his breathing sounded shallower, and Sylvia, who had been watching him quietly from the corner of her eye, saw his tail stop moving.

"Sol," she called softly.

’Hm.’

"The Azure Dragon once mentioned the Golden Dragon as one of the sacred beasts. You already knew that, didn’t you?"

’I knew.’ Sol’s telepathic voice sounded much smaller than before. ’I never thought about it seriously. I was born from the last egg of the ancient Golden Dragons, and all I remember is darkness, the corruption that gnawed at me for years inside the rift near Silvermist, then Alicia’s blue light that finally pulled me out. There is no one left to tell me who my parents were, how they lived, or what happened to them. I always thought I was just... a remnant of an age that was already over.’

The room fell quiet. Alicia and Sofia exchanged glances with gentle faces. Qilin bowed his head.

’But if the Azure Dragon knew the Golden Dragons,’ Sol continued softly, ’if it once stood beside them, perhaps it knows something about them. And perhaps about me.’

Sylvia rose from the sofa, stepped closer, and lifted the golden cat’s body in both hands. Sol did not resist. He only looked at her with glinting golden eyes, without grumbling, without sarcasm, without his usual pretended dignity.

"In that case," Sylvia said, stroking his small head with her thumb, "we’ll ask it directly. And this time you don’t have to carry anyone’s shopping bags."

That night the Nocture palace held a small family dinner far simpler than any royal feast.

The long table in the private dining room was filled only with those closest to Sylvia. Sofia on the right, Alicia on the left, Qilin seated on the floor on a silk cushion near the table’s foot, and Sol and Noir, who had received special small plates of grilled meat seasoned to each one’s taste. The food was warm and fragrant with spices, and for a while no one spoke of gods, kingdoms, or ancient chains.

Only after the plates had been cleared and warm tea served did Sofia place a small crystal scroll in the middle of the table.

"There’s one report I want to show you," she said softly. "Zark submitted it three days ago. I actually wanted to wait until you came home."

The scroll opened, summoning a three-dimensional map of Nocture’s northern territory. At the very top edge of the map, a glowing red point pulsed slowly.

"That’s Eldridge, the largest human mining city in the north," Sofia explained. "It lies four hundred kilometers from our border. The Death Legion’s scouts have been watching it for a long time because in the rocky hills outside its city walls there is a dimensional rift that has never closed. But until now the rift has been stable. It hasn’t grown, hasn’t shrunk, hasn’t released monsters."

"Eldridge," Sylvia murmured. The memory of that misty mining city came back, complete with its paranoid ruler, the forced miners, and the disguise seal Stacia had once placed at the mouth of the rift. "Until now," she repeated sharply.

"Since two weeks ago, the rift has begun to pulse irregularly." Sofia touched the red point on the map, and the image of a giant blue-violet vortex appeared above it. "Its diameter has grown eleven percent in a short time. Zark’s scouts report that purple mist has begun seeping from its edges and blanketing the streets of the nearby city. The townspeople are fleeing south, but their gates are shut out of fear of newcomers."

Alicia covered her mouth with transparent fingers. "The rift... is opening?"

"Or someone is trying to open it," Sylvia said quietly. Her right index finger began tapping her knee. She made no effort to hide it this time. "Or something inside it is waking up."

’The Azure Dragon itself said that at the core of the rift there is something even it didn’t dare touch,’ Noir added from the shadow. His voice was as cold as ever, but his black ears stood alert. ’If the rift is becoming unstable, it may not be only about a trapped dragon.’

"Then we leave tomorrow morning," Sylvia declared. "Me, Sol, and Noir. Alicia, you’re coming. Your spirit healing may be needed if the chains on the Azure Dragon’s body are as cruel as Baihu’s. Qilin, you too."

’This servant is grateful and thankful, Your Majesty.’ Qilin bowed deeply, his crystal horn gleaming beneath the lamps.

"I’m coming," Sofia said quickly.

Everyone turned. Sofia stood with both hands on the table, her eight golden wings slightly spread. Her eyes blazed with resolve, far from the gentleness she had shown earlier.

"You can’t leave the city," Sylvia answered softly. "Thirteen million lives depend on your signature, remember? And Zark needs someone who can give orders if something happens here."

"I know." Sofia lowered her shoulders, and her wings folded back. "I know. I just..." She shook her head slowly, hiding a small tremor in her voice. "Every time you leave, there’s always something big and dangerous at the end of your journey. I’ve gotten used to it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t worry."

Sylvia rose from her chair, walked around the table, and hugged Sofia from behind. Both arms circled the consort’s waist, her chin resting on her shoulder.

"I’ll bring my whole family with me," she whispered, "and I’ll come home. That’s a promise."

"You always promise that."

"And I always keep it."

At the end of the table, Sol closed his eyes and pretended not to hear anything, while Alicia smiled faintly behind her teacup.

That night, after everyone had gone to rest, Sylvia and Sofia sat side by side on the balcony of the master bedroom overlooking the expanse of city lights. The night wind carried the scent of silver flowers from the hanging gardens. Sofia leaned on Sylvia’s shoulder, her eight wings wrapping them both like a warm blanket scented with sunlight.

"I don’t want to hold you back," Sofia whispered. "I know you won’t stop just because I ask. But there’s one thing I want to ask."

"What is it?"

"Are you happy? With all of this?"

Sylvia fell silent. The question was simple, but she hadn’t answered it honestly since the earth changed. She looked at the millions of lights below, the work of the many hands of the people she protected, and the laughing faces among them.

"Yes," she finally answered. "I’m happy. And that’s why I’ll keep moving, so that no one can take it from me."

Sofia smiled, closed her eyes, and said nothing more.

Meanwhile, far to the north, in the mining city of Eldridge, which stood near the pulsing dimensional rift, a tower guard stared at the giant purple vortex above the stone hill with a pale face. The mist had seeped all the way to the base of the tower. And from the depths of that vortex, for the first time in decades, came the sound of chains slowly clinking, as if something very large were moving behind the darkness.