Aergia brought Nephele back to the Temple of Sleep.
She pondered where to settle Nephele; the divine steed possessed its own will and required ample open space to move around.
Moreover, given Nephele's proud nature, if she forced it to stand beside her Divine Seat all day as a mere decoration, it would likely throw a tantrum before long.
After thinking it over for a moment, Aergia decided to place Nephele in the garden behind the Temple of Sleep.
It was a place Hypnos had created on a whim once.
Later, because the God of Sleep lacked the patience to care for divine plants, he simply left them to fend for themselves.
After Aergia arrived, she took over managing the garden. Now, it was filled with the God of Sleep's sacred flowers, along with many peculiar plants that grew only on the margins of dreams.
Those blossoms remained perpetually on the verge of blooming, with an exceedingly faint amber divine radiance flowing between their slender branches and leaves.
Soaked in the authority over sleep for so long, the entire garden was shrouded in a hazy ambiance somewhere between waking and slumber.
There were no clear shifts in rules like the alternation of day and night in the outside world.
Here, there were only soft light, quiet winds, and flower buds that seemed frozen forever on the threshold of full bloom.
When Aergia led Nephele into the garden, the silver-gray divine steed froze noticeably for a second.
It first cast a vigilant eye around its surroundings, then gently twitched its nostrils, seemingly catching a scent that made it feel at ease.
Vast clusters of poppies swayed gently in the breeze.
The divine power of dreams drifting in the air vibrated subtly with Nephele's arrival.
It ambled forward, lowered its head, and lightly nuzzled the closest flower bud with the tip of its nose.
The petals quivered softly, dispersing a faint wisp of drowsiness.
Nephele immediately raised its head, a touch of novelty lighting up its pale purple-gray eyes.
Then, it lowered its head again and experimentally touched another flower.
Watching its movements, Aergia could not help but smile.
It seemed it didn't dislike this place.
“Will you stay here for now?”
She gently patted the side of Nephele's neck.
The divine steed turned its head and glanced at her.
It then raised its head to scrutinize the entire garden once more.
Finally, it gave a very reserved nod.
Aergia breathed a sigh of relief.
Yet in the next moment, as if having already claimed ownership of the place, Nephele held its head high and strode deep into the garden.
It first trotted a lap around several flower patches to inspect them, then carefully chose a flat spot where the poppies grew most luxuriantly.
Only then did it lie down in satisfaction.
Its pure white wings slowly unfurled on either side, their translucent tips softly brushing over the surrounding flowers.
Its silver-gray coat glistened with a soft luster beneath the amber divine light, and the subtle hues interwoven throughout its long mane grew even more dreamlike.
The divine steed appeared immensely pleased with its choice.
It even went so far as to deliberately adjust the position of its wings, spreading them fully to maintain its most striking posture.
Aergia found the sight rather amusing.
This fellow...
Even when preparing to rest, it cared so much about its image.
Still, for a divine steed so proud and vain, such behavior was completely natural.
Aergia did not bother it further, turning around to return to the temple.
Unexpectedly, the moment she reached the garden entrance, she spotted a familiar figure.
Thanatos.
The young God of Death stood there with his arms crossed.
The dark wings behind his back were folded, yet his gray-blue eyes remained fixed on her, his face wearing an unmistakable expression of urgency.
Aergia paused slightly in her tracks, a bad premonition suddenly washing over her.
“Your Highness Thanatos?”
“Settled in?”
“Yes, Nephele likes it here very much.”
“Then let's go.”
“Where to?”
Thanatos did not answer.
He strode right up to Aergia, grabbed her wrist, and turned toward the main hall of the Temple of Sleep.
Caught off guard, Aergia was dragged forward a couple of paces.
“Your Highness?”
“Don't speak, follow me.”
Thanatos answered with crisp finality.
Aergia stared at his back, which moved with noticeably more haste than usual, then glanced down at her gripped wrist. She suddenly realized that this young God of Death seemed utterly impatient to execute his plan to poach her.
Wait...
Was he really in such a hurry?
Hadn't they only just returned to the Underworld?
Shouldn't he at least let her return to her Divine Seat to rest for a bit first?
Aergia tried to speak up.
“Your Highness, I feel that this matter—”
“I know.”
Thanatos did not look back.
“You don't need to worry. I'll speak to Hypnos myself.”
“But—”
“No buts.”
“...”
Aergia finally gave up struggling.
Forget it.
She had already said everything she needed to say anyway.
As for the rest, the two brothers could figure it out between themselves.
With that thought, she simply stopped trying to dissuade him, silently adjusting her pace to follow Thanatos through the long corridor of the Temple of Sleep.
The vines on the stone walls on either side swayed gently as they passed.
The flower buds, ever lingering on the verge of blooming, quivered slightly as the draft stirred up by Thanatos's hurried steps brushed past them.
The familiar scent of poppies in the air gradually deepened, and Aergia soon caught sight of the massive obsidian couch deep within the main hall.
Hypnos was still reclining on his side there, looking as though he had never once changed his posture.
His soft long hair fell over his shoulders, and the pair of pure white wings on his back was quietly folded. One hand propped up his forehead while the other held that bunch of never-fading poppies.
Threads of amber light hanging from the dome drifted softly with his breath, and fine pollen floated lazily in the air, shrouding the entire hall in a soft, drowsy divine light.
His pinkish-purple eyes were half-lidded, looking as if he had already fallen asleep.
Looking at the familiar obsidian couch, Aergia felt a complex emotion well up inside her.
From her birth in the Temple of Sleep to her official advancement to Second-Rank Divine Power now, not a particularly long time had passed.
Yet to her, this place was no longer merely a temporary refuge.
This was her first true home since coming to the world of Chaos.
It was also where she had first discovered that her divine portfolio of Sloth, which she had once regarded as a burden, possessed such vast potential.
At this thought, Aergia reflexively wanted to stop in her tracks.
However, before she could speak, Thanatos had already taken large strides right up to the obsidian couch.
He finally let go of Aergia's wrist, planted his hands on his hips, raised his head, and looked brazenly at his twin brother, who still seemed to be asleep.
“Hypnos!”
His loud voice abruptly echoed through the entire hall.
Aergia's eyelid twitched slightly.
In the next moment, Thanatos boomed out with full vigor the line he had been brewing in his mind the whole way there.
“Hypnos, I've taken a liking to your subordinate deity—just grant us your blessing!”
The entire temple fell dead silent in an instant.
On the dome above, those threads of amber light that had been drifting with the divine power of sleep ground to a complete halt.
The poppy pollen permeating the air seemed frozen by an invisible force, hanging motionless in midair.
Aergia stood frozen in place, gazing at the God of Death who was still awaiting an answer, while that line echoed uncontrollably in her mind.
I've taken a liking to your subordinate deity.
Just grant us your blessing.
...
Aergia slowly raised a hand.
And covered her face.
Did this God of Death... have any idea what he was actually saying?
Hypnos on the obsidian couch finally reacted.
Those half-lidded, pinkish-purple eyes slowly cracked open a slit.
He first looked at his twin brother standing before him with an air of complete self-righteousness.
Then, he glanced over at Aergia, who was standing nearby with her hand covering her face.
Silence.
A long, profound silence.
Only after a good while did the God of Sleep finally speak.
His voice remained low and soft, bearing that characteristic lazy quality as if soaked in warm water.
Yet at this moment, an exceedingly rare, almost awake sense of bewilderment tinged his tone.
“...Say that again?”
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