Chapter 427: A Beauty That Topples a Nation

Though I said I would bring even a dead Divine back to life, there wasn’t much I was actually doing.

All I focused on was humoring Tyr and restoring her senses, just like I am doing now.

As a result, I started spending time around Tyr regularly.

And by spending time, I don’t mean just being in the same space…

“Sis! May I be so bold as to enter?”

“Come in.”

“Yes! Just for a moment, I’ll bask in the glory of your beau—”

The moment she got permission, Kavila gleefully opened the doors to the audience chamber—then immediately fell silent at the sight before her.

Tyr and I were sitting together.

If that were all, Kavila might have barely tolerated it.

But just one thing—

Tyr and I were sitting in the same chair.

That fact alone stopped Kavila in her tracks.

“…What… the…”

When something too ridiculous happens, even vampires are left speechless.

Reading Kavila’s thoughts as they gradually unraveled as she watched me holding Tyr in my lap, I calmly said.

“Please go ahead and talk. Don’t mind me.”

“How could I not mind?! Why are you holding sis like that?! Who said you could just go touching her—AGAIN?!!”

“Didn’t Tyr tell you? I’m currently restoring her senses. I need to stay close to her as much as possible.”

I wasn’t lying.

My hand, resting on Tyr’s shoulder, was actively imprinting sensations into her.

Even a Divine of Lightning can’t just implant stimulations into another’s body at will.

A Divine may understand the laws of the world, but not the details of a single human body.

If equations alone could solve every practical issue, the word paper pusher wouldn’t exist.

But I’m different.

The King of Humans who can read humans, now also understands knowledge of the Divines.

That means I can imprint sensations—tailored to a person’s body.

Granted, only if Tyr herself cooperates.

“Hmm… As I thought, there is still a psychological barrier when others are present…”

“Should I stop?”

“No. Continue. I would feel bad treating Kavila like a stranger. She is a child who has seen even my most embarrassing sides after all the times we have spent together…”

Tyr leaned into me further as she spoke. I nodded and placed my hand back on her shoulder.

The dress she wore had slender straps, leaving most of her shoulder exposed, allowing me to press my palm directly to her skin.

– Crackle.

A faint static sparked and I began massaging Tyr’s shoulder.

She shuddered softly, closing her eyes like a cat.

“How is it? Feeling any better?”

“Mm. Yes. I can feel it.”

“You’ve got a lot of knots. Why are your shoulders so stiff?”

“Do shoulders get knotted? I hardly strain them.”

“Ah, sorry. Guess my strength just isn’t enough.”

It sounded like a grandchild giving their grandma a shoulder rub.

Honestly, between the two of us, I probably look older.

And so, with my hand working over her shoulder, Kavila stood there, silently watching the entire scene with both eyes wide open.

“Sis…”

“That’s enough, Kavila.”

Still enjoying my massage, Tyr gently admonished her.

“I, too, do not wish to show such an indecent sight before others… but Hu is human. He needs sleep, food, and sometimes rest or a walk. I can not just demand more of his time.”

“You should demand it! It’s only proper for a consort to serve you with all his heart!”

“I do not want to. I refuse to see Hu worn out because of me, so please understand.”

When the Progenitor herself asks for understanding, there’s not much choice are there?

Kavila, though clearly displeased, decided to at least accept the situation.

｢To touch my sister so casually… That human has no idea how privileged that is! Grhhh! Enough with the flaunting!｣

Honestly though, is it really flaunting?

If you take away the preconceptions, all I’m doing is giving a massage.

At this point, it’s practically elderly care.

Just let it slide.

“Come, sit. So, what brings you here?”

“…It’s because of the Night Ebb Tide.”

“…Then it seems I returned at a good time.”

Night Ebb Tide?

I paused for a moment, unfamiliar with the term. Tyr, reading the slight hesitation in my touch, immediately noticed.

｢Ah. Hu does not know what that is. Even if he did not mind, I cannot talk all day about things he does not understand.｣

Yeah. Tyr does get it.

I can tell from her thoughts, but pretending not to know something you already understand is harder than you’d think.

Just giving me a heads-up makes things smoother.

It’s been a while since anyone showed me this kind of consideration.

｢Still, saying “Hu does not know, explain it,” would only embarrass him further. I should protect my companion’s pride.｣

I hadn’t expected that much consideration… but in any case, Tyr cleared her throat.

“Kavila. My memory is a bit hazy. Could you remind me what exactly the Night Ebb Tide?”

“As much as you wish, sister.”

Kavila launched into her explanation without a hint of suspicion.

“There are two Leviathans in the Sea of Leviathan that frequently appear on our shores—the Island Whale and the Cloud Manta. The reckless Cloud Manta beats the water with its wing-like fins to stun fish, then drifts along the surface to scoop them up. It’s a gluttonous menace, always causing trouble for us—but it’s nothing compared to the Island Whale.”

I still remembered that tidal wave.

It nearly swept away the humans who’d come during the ebbing tide to gather food.

What could have been a devastating disaster had only been the aftermath of a Leviathan’s hunt.

But even that paled in comparison to the Island Whale.

Even Kavila, recalling it, seemed to feel a faint sense of awe.

“Once every four years, the Island Whale surfaces from the deep sea around this time and enters the Sea of Leviathan. What’s deep to us is shallow to it—when it lies belly-down, its back juts out of the water like an island. It wedges itself between two islands like a dam and opens its mouth toward the current. Then…”

“The water meant to fill the sea passes through the belly of the Island Whale.”

“Exactly. The Island Whale devours the seawater as if possessed, filtering out its prey to eat, and releases the leftover water through its massive gills and blowholes.”

Perhaps words weren’t enough—Kavila conjured a demonstration using Bloodcraft.

A whale, shaped from blood, blocked the current like a dam and opened its mouth.

Blood poured from that mouth.

The blood-made whale gulped down waves, filtered them, and expelled the water behind it.

“Still, the amount of water it lets through is far less than normal. As a result, the Sea of Leviathan suffers from a shortage of water, which causes an enormous ebb tide like none seen otherwise. That’s the Night Ebb Tide—a phenomenon where the seabed plains are exposed.”

Stories of the Sea of Leviathan were passed down like legends.

Difficult to picture in words, and few had seen it for themselves.

But hearing about it from a vampire’s mouth… even knowing the details, still felt mythical.

What even is that?

So the Island Whale is named for its island-like back, it blocks the ocean like a dam, swallows seawater, eats the prey inside, and filters the rest through its body?

So much so that it causes massive tides and exposes the ocean floor like a plain?

The scale of the phenomenon here is terrifying.

Things like that are why ships can’t float here, aside from rivers or lakes.

It can no longer be categorized as a beast… it’s a living calamity.

Kavila folded her arms with a disapproving sigh.

“I don’t particularly like it, but it’s a rare chance for the livestock to earn a lump sum. Far too many go after coral or shells.”

“Didn’t they mostly sell them to the Golden Empire in the past? That kingdom’s gone now—who’s left to buy them?”

“There are still plenty. Traveling merchants from the Mage Federation still show up, and even the Kingdom used to secretly buy them as dueling prizes. The black mages down in the Savage Lands also used them as ingredients…”

Like Valdamir, Kavila was used to explain everything to Tyr, who often returned after decades, even centuries of seclusion.

No wonder she seemed so practiced with her explanations.

“So before the Night Ebb Tide comes, humans and vampires from across the Duchy will gather here. Like night falling, dragging darkness with it.”

The Night Ebb Tide was a rare chance for every human and vampire across the Duchy to come together.

“And… Valdamir has scheduled Lyre Nightingale’s trial for that time.”

There it was—the real reason Kavila had brought up the Night Ebb Tide.

It wasn’t just any matter, but one concerning an Elder.

Naturally, they’d need to make the announcement when all the vampires were gathered.

The Crimson Duke had discussed setting the trial for that day with Kavila…

“Of course, only if you permit it, Sis!”

And now she’d come to receive the final approval.

Tyr nodded without hesitation.

“Let it be done.”

“You don’t object to it?”

“It is reasonable. There is no reason to change it. It is, after all, a day when all conscious vampires will be gathered and things will be busy afterward, so it is better to finish before that.”

Efficient, as always.

That’s why Tyr trusted Valdamir with the Duchy, and Valdamir served her with complete loyalty.

Honestly, it wouldn’t be wrong to say Valdamir managed all state affairs.

Kavila nodded as if she had expected this answer.

“…Then I’ll make the announcement.”

“You have my thanks. I’ll entrust it to you, Kavila. Ah, one more thing, if I may ask.”

“As much as you like.”

Tyr glanced at me and smiled.

“The food you made was truly delicious. Regaining my sense of taste and eating your cooking was both a blessing and a curse. My standards have become so high that nothing else satisfies.”

“You flatter me.”

“Not at all. So, next time, would you cook for both me and Hu? I wish to share that delight together.”

A late bloomer indeed.

She just regained her taste and already has an interest in gourmet cuisine?

What must it feel like to serve a dish to your revered Progenitor, to your beloved sister?

It’d be overwhelming, heart-pounding—maybe even make you faint with emotion.

But Kavila is a vampire.

No matter how moved she is, her body doesn’t falter.

Cooking wasn’t a skill she picked up to feel joy or empathy.

It was to placate human complaints.

It used to be different.

In the past, Tyr was aloof but hollow, and Kavila, her vassal, was bound by her power and emotions.

She tried desperately to bring even a speck of joy to Tyr.

Back then, it was one-sided—Kavila clinging alone.

But now…

“For you, sis, anything!”

A smile crafted by a thousand years was all she had left to give.