Bright candlelight lit the goddess's side hall, and the woman moaning in agony on the white bed. The faint smell of oil candles, the sharp reek of alcohol, the blood stench that could not be covered, the anxious smell of sweat, and the soothing scent of Divine Smoke all spread through the side hall together, like an ill-omened coil of fate.
After High Priest Itoya finished speaking in a low voice, she glanced at His Highness, whose eyes were reddened, then immediately lowered her head, solemn and silent. At this moment, the feeling of facing a dangerous wild beast head-on rose in her heart, as if, in the depths of night, she had encountered a jaguar enduring pain and about to erupt.
Xolotl pressed his lips together, his fists tightening, as though he stood on the verge of exploding, silently roaring for a long while. Yet the terrifying outburst did not come in the end. Only after quite some time did the silent prince breathe out a long breath and let out a pained sigh.
"Hah! Fate! My child!..."
"Prince Xolotl?"
"High Priest Itoya, things have come to this. Then I ask you—no, I command you—to save my woman!"
"Ah? Main God be witness! You wish to choose the mother?"
Hearing such a choice, a trace of astonishment surfaced on High Priest Itoya's face in an instant. She hesitated for a while, then asked again, somewhat carefully. Because the choice before them was of great importance, she had no choice but to obtain His Highness's promise from his own mouth, to avoid as much as possible any anger that might come afterward.
"Your Highness. This child is a male infant, the bloodline of the royal family and of you. If you choose the mother, then we must dismember this prince