Book 5: Chapter 13: Stark Contrast


    It was a fish huge enough to block the sky and cover the entire city in its shadow. From the balcony of the pce, Lilith could only see part of its white underbelly.


    With the sunlight blocked, the city turned as dark as the night even though it was actually noon in the day.


    This sudden change confused everyone in the city. They lifted their heads up and saw the huge creature floating in the sky. The crowd that Lesiah had finally calmed down not long ago with her speech immediately grew rowdy again.


    “W-What’s… that?”


    “It’s so huge! Monster! That must be a monster!”


    “Why would a monster suddenly appear in the sky?!”


    “Everyone, please remain calm.”


    Lesiah’s voice echoed throughout the pce square. The calmness in it quickly settled the rowdy crowd down like a shot of tranquilizer, effectively preventing the chaos from worsening.


    “Everything is well within our expectation, so please remain calm.” Although that was what Lesiah said, her hands were already mmy with cold sweat.


    She raised her head and looked at the gigantic fish of unknown species floating in the sky and tried her best to suppress her panic.


    She could only keep telling herself over and over that Lilith had everything under control. This was part of the n she had prepared to ensure that Leniah’s ascension ceremony would go smoothly. This probably would not cause any major problems.


    Yes, probably…


    ……


    “What the heck is that?” Lilith asked. Her face was twitching as she looked at the gigantic fish in the sky.


    “Your Highness, that’s a White Kun. A legendary fish that Gulch, Kvass and I captured from the Sea of Origin.” Akarin replied proudly. He seemed extremely pleased with the shock that the creature in the sky brought to everyone.


    “White Kun? Why did you capture something like that?”


    “Of course, it is to reenact the scene about hiding a note in the belly of the fish! Your highness’ main objective is to make sure that little girl has a valid reason to ascend to the throne because of a prophecy, right? An ordinary fish could hardly do a job like that, so I made Gulch and Kvass finish their tasks as soon as possible so they coulde with me to capture the biggest fish in the Sea of Origin.”


    “Well, aren’t you guys devoted to your job?” Lilith sighed softly.


    Frankly, she was a little touched that these people would actually go all the way out to the Sea of Origin, just to catch a fish toplete this mission.


    She never had high hopes for them in the first ce, but they still tried their very best to help her, even if their efforts were always put in strange ces.


    No wonder why the imperial robes that Gulch had sewn and the statue that Kvass had sculpted looked so normal this time. It turned out they were rushing to finish it as soon as possible in order to help Akarin. That must be why they did not have the time to do anything weird to it.


    However, the feeling of unease was still growing stronger in Lilith’s heart after hearing Akarin for some reason. It was to the point that not only her face, but also her eyelids were twitching.


    “So… what are you guys going to do next?”


    Lilith asked cautiously.


    Akarin looked like he had been waiting for Lilith to ask him that question all this while. He pointed to the creature in the sky proudly, like a king showing his subjects thends he had just conquered.


    “We’ll cut open its belly to retrieve the note, of course.”


    “Cut open its belly… to retrieve the note…”


    “Yes, a document proving that Princess Leniah is the best candidate for the throne has already been stuffed into the belly of this fish through space-time magic. All we need to do now is just cut open the belly of the fish and let those mortals witness the miraculous scene down there. They’ll definitely be convinced that Princess Leniah is the rightful heiress to the throne and bow before her.”


    “Cut open… the belly of this fish?!” Lilith’s eyes slowly widened.


    She lifted her head stiffly and swept her gaze over the gigantic fish.


    Wait… Could it be that…


    Lilith started shuddering involuntarily.


    Finally… She finally realized what was going wrong and made sense of that uneasy feeling in her!


    “WAIT!”


    Lilith tried to stop Akarin, but it was toote.


    Akarin was totally engrossed in his so-called perfect n. Before Lilith’s voice could reach him, he already ordered Kvass and Gulch, who were just next to White Kun, to begin.


    “Damn it, this is the worst!”


    Even if she told Akarin to change his order now to stop Gulch and Kvass, she knew it would still be toote. Those two were eager to cut the belly of the fish open, so they would have already started doing it the next moment they got the first message.


    Communicating would take time and cause dys, so it was toote to say or do anything now.


    Lilith could do nothing but stare at the White Kun in the sky, hoping that she could at least salvage the situation even if she was powerless to stop the n.


    “Do you have an umbre?” Lilith asked the head of the maidservants, She, who was puzzled by her sudden question.


    “Huh? Well, yes I do, of course…”


    “Please fetch one for me as quickly as possible. Hurry.”


    After giving She an order, her golden eyes glowed. Her vision immediately zoomed into Gulch and Kvass.


    She could see both of them clearly and as expected, the two had started on the task as soon as they received their instruction. They did not bother to even wait for a moment in case there were further changes to their order.


    Gulch was responsible for stabilizing the huge White Kun, while Kvass pulled out a silver carving knife.


    Although the carving knife was small and exquisite, it turned into a terrifyingly sharp weapon in Kvass’ hand. He only had to apply a little force for the sharp de to sink into the belly of the fish and open a wound.


    With a manic smile on his face, Kvass ran wildly across the White Kun’s abdomen while dragging the silver carving knife along.


    “It’s the time to witness a miracle.” Akarin had an intoxicated look on his face.


    ……


    “Yes, a miracle indeed.” Lilith expressionlessly took the umbre handed over by She, then opened it and held it above her head.


    Akarin did not notice Lilith’s strange action beside him. He ced his hand over his chest, then sighed emotionally like he was delivering a heartfelt praise. “Ah, I bet no one will object to the ascension after witnessing a miracle like this.”


    Lilith took a few steps back just in case. Shepletely retreated from the balcony and stayed in the room.


    She then turned her pitiful gaze to Lesiah, who was still doing her best to reassure the crowd.


    “Don’t worry, Lesiah, Leniah, I will make sure these three fools pay for thister…”


    ……


    “Please remain calm, everyone. This could be a sign from the heavens caused by Leniah’s ascension to the throne.”


    Calming the crowd whileying the groundwork for Lilith’s next n was more work than what Lesiah had imagined.


    <em>Sheesh, what is Lilith waiting for?</em>


    The temperature at noon was at its peak and Lesiah was wearing a gorgeous but tight dress.


    She could already feel her back was drenched with sweat.


    <em>Ahhh, it would have been nice if it was raining right now.</em>


    <em>Huh?</em>


    While she was wishing for that, Lesiah suddenly felt a cold touch on her skin.


    A water droplet?


    Was it really raining?


    Since when did her wish starting true?


    Wait, no!


    Lesiah suddenly remembered that gigantic fish over her head. How could it rain if there was such a huge creature blocking the sky?


    Not only that, this rain smelled kind of fishy.


    Lesiah’s face gradually stiffened. Her hand reached up slowly and gently wiped the skin where she felt the cool sensation earlier, then she looked at her fingertips.


    Haha, how peculiar. This rain was actually red in color!


    ……


    The “rain” started pouring down.


    Akarin escaped the balcony to hide indoors. He waspletely drenched in bright red, with a strange fishy smell on him.


    He looked out of the window, admiring the stunning view of the world’s only red rainstorm. He must have thought that the overly quiet atmosphere in the room did not match such an amazing moment, so he gave Lilith a thumbs up and eximed, “What lovely scenery! Nicely done! Red is festive.”


    “Festive indeed.”


    Lilith smiled at him and said, “So I sent a special message to my mother. She will make sure to make things even more festive for you guys when you return.”


    “……”


    No one knew how long it would continue raining.


    But Akarin’s old face turned as white as a sheet. It made quite a refreshing sight, given the stark contrast it made with the red scenery.