Beneath the brilliant moonlight, Uruk's king rejected the love of Uruk's goddess.
Ishtar did not care about Gilgamesh's disrespect. Instead, she smiled, hooked a stray lock of hair with her little finger and tucked it behind her ear. Her face, untainted by desire, seemed all the more beautiful.
"So that is your answer? Well, it was more or less what I expected."
Smiling, Ishtar turned around.
"I hope you won't regret what you've done, Gilgamesh." Ishtar's gaze was not focused on Gilgamesh, and her voice was calm. "What you rejected was a god's goodwill."
With that, she climbed aboard Maanna, intending to fly away.
"Stop right there."
Yet at that moment, Gilgamesh suddenly called out, bringing Ishtar's movements to a halt.
The instant Gilgamesh called to her, Ishtar's body gave a nearly imperceptible tremble before she turned her head slightly.
"What, are you planning to accept me after all?"
A smile had already crept onto her face of its own accord.
She was even considering how she should turn Gilgamesh down in return later.
But Gilgamesh's next words left her utterly dumbfounded.
"Repair my palace." Gilgamesh's eyes were filled with unmistakable anger.
He had just finished work and sat in the front hall to rest for a moment, when some precious idiot suddenly came crashing down from the sky.
After spouting nonsense, that idiot wanted to run off, leaving behind a pile of wreckage.
—Did she think Gilgamesh was made of clay?
Ishtar had never expected Gilgamesh to say such a thing. She froze for a moment, looking somewhat incredulous.
"They're just a few stone houses. Can't you repair them yourself? There are so many people in Uruk—can't you have them repair them?"
Gilgamesh took a deep breath and clenched his fists.
"This is not some stone house. This is