"Annanu, this is for you."
In the corridors of Uruk's royal palace, Nanshe casually handed the love letter in her hand to Annanu.
As if she were passing him something utterly ordinary.
"Hm? Oh, okay." Annanu stared blankly at what Nanshe had handed him for a moment, then nodded and accepted it.
Nanshe said nothing. With her arms folded, she leaned against the nearby wall, a faint smile curling her lips as she watched Annanu, observing his reaction.
There was, in truth, a trace of hope in her eyes.
Though perhaps it really didn't matter anymore.
Annanu carefully read through Nanshe's love letter, wanting to see if he could spot any typos or grammatical mistakes.
Unfortunately, there were none.
It was a perfect love letter.
The sentences flowed smoothly, its emotions were expressed just right, and it fully—perhaps even perfectly—conveyed the writer's affection.
"You've grown." Annanu looked at the letter with satisfied eyes.
"...You fucking—" Nanshe's fists clenched.
She had thought she had prepared herself for every possible reaction from Annanu. Rejection was within reason too, but this bastard—
"This love letter really is well written." Annanu smiled innocently. "If it had been someone else, they might really have accepted it."
"...Then why wouldn't you?" Nanshe regained her composure and looked at Annanu with a curl of her lip. "Don't give me that crap again about how you're destined never to develop feelings like that."
"Right now, you're more human than I am. More human than some actual humans, even."
"Humans are creatures who live by their emotions. Even that King is the same, you know that. It's impossible for you not to have feelings."
Nanshe's attitude became increasingly aggressive.
"You mean Ereshkigal?" Annanu was no fool. Naturally, he understood what—or rather, who—Nanshe meant.
Nanshe said nothing, merely waiting for