The wooden house was silent, with only the cat's breathing. The wooden window opened onto the sky, and moonlight fell from the night. Faint Divine Smoke curled around Xolotl, making the mind drift far away. He gazed at the jade incense burner before him and planted the Divine Smoke in his hand into it, like a lit offering incense dedicated to distant gods.
"After waking, I knew not that the bright moon had risen; my body was covered in flower shadows, and I needed a lovely one's support..."
Thinking back on this long night—celebrating the fall of Stone Carving City, drinking with many generals and subjects, and finally the pleasure after getting drunk with Irene—Xolotl's expression grew complicated as he looked up at the river of stars overhead. He seemed to see a pure white, beautiful cloud, imprinted in his deep eyes, yet also seeming to gaze at him from afar, coldly.
"Yesterday's stars, yesterday's me; today's blazing sun, today's no longer..."
Xolotl lowered his eyes and murmured softly. This night of unbridled pleasure was different from any before. He seemed to have drunk himself into a stupor before overturning phoenix and dragon, but in truth his heart had been incomparably clear, clear enough to remember every cry of the cat.
In reality, he had long since been able to control his desires at will. Tonight he had not been driven by lust, but by the desire for power in his heart. Tonight's choice, the beginning of this final decision... also meant that he had finally, completely set foot on the ruthless emperor's path, becoming a political creature chasing power!
"To resist Avet's pressure, to subdue all the tribes under heaven as quickly as possible, I must lay hidden pieces... marriage alliances and children, claims of inheritance, unifying the tribes...