Meeting again

The closer they drew to Leyndell, the richer the Erdtree's light became.

The sense of "Grace" in the air also grew stronger, even giving Horace the illusion that he was enveloped in warm water.

Deep within his soul, he could feel the thin, blood-colored mist from the Formless Mother around the Gate of Myriad Laws churning faintly, somewhat out of place in this environment.

At last, immense walls towering into the clouds appeared before them.

Leyndell, the royal capital of the Golden Dynasty, stood beneath the Erdtree's ceaseless illumination. Every massive stone seemed to glow from within-magnificent and sacred, yet with the somewhat rigid orderliness of a newborn empire.

The ceremony upon entering the city was solemn and brief. After being settled into a guesthouse specifically for foreign envoys, they faced several more days of waiting.

Only on the afternoon of the third day did a court messenger arrive with a summons: Eternal Queen Marika and King Godfrey would receive the Carian envoys in the audience hall beside the Erdtree Cathedral.

The audience hall was lofty and spacious, its floor polished to a mirror sheen, with simple yet imposing stone pillars lining both sides.

There was little lavish decoration, but an authority born of absolute power and a nascent faith permeated every inch of the air.

When Horace and Rellana were led into the hall and saw those two figures, Horace's heart still skipped a beat despite his mental preparations.

On the throne to the left sat Godfrey "the Golden."

He was even more powerfully built than Horace remembered, his bare torso knotted with muscle, his resolute face seemingly carved from rock. His long, dark brown hair and beard hung loose, and he wore a crown symbolizing the Elden Lord on his brow (though it actually looked more like a wig).

Most striking of all was the beast resting quietly on his shoulders-Serosh, the "Beast King," whose eyes were deep and wise.

Godfrey's gaze had been calm and slightly distant, like a lion looking down upon all living things. But when it fell on Horace, it seemed to flicker almost imperceptibly before becoming still as an ancient well once more.

On the right sat Eternal Queen Marika.

She wore a simply cut black gown patterned with gold. Her long golden hair fell to her waist like a waterfall woven from sunlight.

Her face was too perfect to belong to a mortal, possessing both divine compassion and detachment, yet retaining a characteristic of the "Numen"-big...

Horace suppressed the turmoil within him and, together with Rellana, paid his respects to the god and king upon their thrones.

He clearly conveyed Queen Rennala of Caria's congratulations and greetings, presented the gift list, and expressed their wish to establish friendly diplomatic relations.

His voice was steady and his wording appropriate, every bit that of a capable foreign dignitary.

He never looked Godfrey in the eye throughout.

And Godfrey merely offered a formal reply from his throne, in that voice befitting a "king."

Marika barely spoke at all, only nodding occasionally, her bearing flawless yet distant.

The brothers were within arm's reach, yet separated by a gulf called "status" and "occasion."

Horace discovered that even the words "big brother" caught in his throat, impossible to get out.

Serosh, the lion resting on Godfrey's shoulders, seemed to lift his eyelids and glance at Horace, for some reason harboring a measure of expectation along with the sympathy of a fellow sufferer.

The audience ended in a solemn and somewhat chilly atmosphere.

That heavy sense of estrangement lingered in Horace's heart until evening.

A Crucible Knight quietly arrived at the guesthouse and conveyed in a low voice, "The king and queen invite Asei... Lord Horace and Princess Rellana to the rear courtyard for a chat."

The rear courtyard was a relatively private garden deep within the palace, planted with vegetation suited to the highland climate, with a spring at its center.

It lacked the solemnity of the audience hall and had rather more of an everyday feel.

When Horace and Rellana were led there, the scene they encountered was entirely different from that afternoon.

Godfrey was squatting beside the spring without the slightest concern for appearances, noisily pouring water over his head with a large wooden ladle while humming some rough tune from the Wasteland.

His simple mantle and gold circlet, symbols of royal authority, had been tossed casually onto a nearby stone bench.

Marika had taken off her sumptuous gown and changed into a linen robe more like casual housewear. Sitting barefoot on a large, smooth rock, she held a parchment scroll that looked like a grain inventory, her brow faintly furrowed as she muttered, "Were the rations for the eastern outpost calculated wrong? Why are they thirty percent higher than last month? Serosh! Serosh, come take a look!"

Meanwhile, Serosh, the Beast King who had rested on Godfrey's shoulders that afternoon radiating majesty and wisdom, now lay before a small wooden table that had been brought over temporarily, his furry face miserable. Documents and scrolls were piled like a small mountain before him. One paw clutched a quill, laboriously scratching across parchment, while the other held down an open map.

Hearing Marika call, he raised his head and sighed as though he had nothing left to live for.

"Ahem." The Crucible Knight guiding them coughed awkwardly.

Godfrey and Marika turned their heads at the same time.

In an instant, the rough, easygoing look on Godfrey's face vanished, and he straightened his back.

Marika also swiftly hid the parchment behind her, instinctively tidying her hair and robe in an attempt to regain that sacred, inviolable air.

But it was already too late.

Rellana stared at the scene before her, dumbfounded.

The king who had been as imposing as a mountain that afternoon now stood with soaking-wet hair, droplets running down his muscular chest.

The Eternal Queen looked like an ordinary housewife fretting over the accounts... and then there was that lion doing paperwork?

The corner of Horace's eye twitched, his heart a jumble of feelings.

Just as I thought... this was the big brother I knew, and that slightly scatterbrained Marika who, in a certain sense, had never changed.

They had merely put on the outer trappings of "king" and "god."

"You're here?" Godfrey wiped the water from his face and stood. Ignoring the water still dripping from his body, he strode over and slapped a hand as broad as a palm-leaf fan straight onto Horace's shoulder, hard enough to make him stagger.

"You little brat, you put on quite an act! All that fancy talk this afternoon-I almost didn't recognize you!"

That familiar force, that familiar booming voice. Horace's shoulder ached, yet something inside him inexplicably relaxed.

"Big brother..." He finally got the words out, his voice a little dry.

"Yeah!" Godfrey answered emphatically, bringing his other hand down as well, almost gathering Horace into his arms.

"You've filled out! But what's with your hair? Dyed it like those flashy mages?" He leaned closer to examine the dark red hair at Horace's temples, his brow furrowing.

"Still, that color... looks a little sinister. Everything all right?"

"It's fine. Just a minor issue," Horace said vaguely, his gaze shifting to Marika, who was still working hard to maintain appearances.

"Your Majesty."

Marika seemed to give up the struggle as well. With a sigh, she slid off the rock and walked over barefoot.

She looked at Horace, much of the distance belonging to a "god" fading from her perfect eyes.

"Horace, thank you for making the journey." Her voice had softened considerably as well.

"And this must be... Princess Rellana? Thank you for accompanying Horace."

Only then did Rellana barely recover from her shock. She hurriedly bowed. "Your Majesty the Queen, King Godfrey."

"Oh, none of that in private." Godfrey waved his large hand, looked Rellana up and down, then suddenly nudged Horace with his elbow. Lowering his voice, though it remained booming, he asked, "This little girl with those skinny arms and legs... is she your wife? Doesn't look... like much of a fighter?"

In the earliest days of the Primeval Erdtree, Erdtree civilization had not yet come to regard the Aspects as a curse. Like other ancient civilizations, it even shared a faith in the Aspects possessed by the Crucible of Life, viewing this power as the Erdtree's primordial life energy.

Therefore, the Omen Twins should have been born during the War of the Giants. Or rather, apart from the elder and younger "Mei" and Godwyn, basically all the other demigods were born during this period.