Editor: dystxpix
Tonight, the people of Thebes brimmed with excitement. Every household was lit up with a torch, and looking at it from up high, the city of Thebes had become a sea of fire, interwoven with joy and laughter.
They were not only celebrating the fortunate and continued flooding of the Nile River, but also for the victory of Seti I against the Hittite Kingdom, who had been their oldest enemy for many long years. In addition to their victory, the seventeenth princess of the Hittite Kingdom had also fallen into the hands of Seti I and would soon become a concubine of the Pharaoh’s son, Bifitu.
Rumors spoke of the seventeenth princess’s extraordinary beauty, but some other people, however, thought of her as more of an arrogant princess. Making her a concubine gave them a hold against their enemy and was therefore an undoubted victory. The people were excited and looked forward to being able to witness the scene of their enemy’s princess becoming a concubine. The madly elated atmosphere that surrounded them came from a sort of binding motivation that supported every prosperous society, one of which Ivy had mentioned in her paper — the blinding worship of one’s monarch.
In the celebration hall of the most luxurious palace in Thebes, the royal family and dignitaries did not, however, share the same enthusiasm that their people had. The enthusiasm was instead replaced by a more calming and smug atmosphere.
After Seti I had announced that their enemy’s princess, Maathorneferure, had become Bifitu’s concubine, the Egyptian ministers couldn’t help but smirk. They each scrambled to offer words of blessings, but when they did, they were met with Bifitu’s cold and icy stare. They swallowed their words into their stomachs and instead waited to see how the situation would develop.
Bifitu didn’t speak a single word, evading his father’s instructions.
Representative messengers of the nations invited tuned down their conversations, all of them eagerly awaiting the Egyptian royal family’s next move. Seti I turned to Bifitu, slightly irritated.
What was Bifitu waiting for? Ivy looked at him from within the crowd. From their previous conversation, Ivy had fully understood the relationship between Egypt and Hittite. Although Seti I had little knowledge of diplomacy, he was quite smart to deal with Maathorneferure in this way. This not only vanquished their enemy’s spirit, but also provided the opportunity for the beautiful princess to fall in love with Bifitu. If she did, they could gain even more information regarding Hittite, and if they also had children in the future . . . that would give Hittite an even greater humiliation.
Bifitu, why the hesitation then? During her pondering, she suddenly noticed that Bifitu’s breathtaking eyes had swept to her again, and in them, she saw fleeting sorrow. What was he thinking about? Being able to marry such a beautiful princess, he would soon forget the previous obsession and infatuation he had for her. The type of contact and relationship they had twisted time and space, inherently wrong in all manners of wrong.
But at the very least, she had gained a lot from time traveling to ancient Egypt, and had even witnessed scenes that she would never even be able to dream of; the slave system, the monarchy, the religion, and the ancient architecture. Everything was excruciatingly rewarding! Once she arrived back home and told Brother Xian, he would surely be amazed. She could even write about this in her next paper. Ivy smiled, rejoicing inside her heart.
She looked back at the pharaoh’s young son. His handsome face was expressionless, but she already knew what his answer would be. For an ancient monarch, marriage was only a tool. If it brought territory, power, money, or momentum, then the marriage would be considered a worthwhile success!
Bifitu stood up slowly, stretching out his hands and motioning the crowd to be quiet. Ivy, in the meanwhile, sighed and took her bracelet out of her bag. After a long silence, Bifitu finally announced, “Maathorneferure, the seventeenth princess of Hittite, from now on, you will be my concubine. If your actions are deemed disrespectful to either Egypt or I, you will be sentenced to death.”
The ministers present cheered. The domineering words of Bifitu had highlighted Egypt’s power. The hesitant messengers were shocked by his words and their determination to support Egypt grew firmer.
On the contrary, Maathorneferure had almost collapsed to the ground, and was forced to get back up by several Egyptian maids who were ordered to bring her to the temple. Seti I nodded with satisfaction and raised his hand, declaring, “Place the rest of the Hittite prisoners in the dungeons and execute them tomorrow. Now with that out of the way, let us continue our celebrations!”
The atmosphere in the hall warmed up as though the awkward silence from before had never existed. The messengers and ministers toasted with one another. In the chaos, Ivy placed the bracelet on her left hand and waited quietly for the bracelet’s light to swallow her.
But even after a few moments had passed, nothing happened! A trace of fear finally filled her heart and only one thought was left remaining in her mind: she couldn’t go back!
At this time Bifitu, who sat on the throne, felt bored as he accepted the toasts of the ministers. He didn’t know why, but a trace of uneasiness would always linger inside his heart. He scanned the chaotic crowd subconsciously, as if he felt Nefertari looking at him. But how could she be here? While thinking, his eyes stopped on Ivy, whose head was wrapped tightly wIthin a turban and a veil.
The whole hall was filled with laughter while everybody talked and toasted with one another. So why was the person in the veil standing there all alone? He couldn’t help but analyze her more carefully. At that moment, Ivy helplessly looked up at him, and Bifitu recognized her unique pair of aqua eyes.
He found out! Overwhelmed by her senses, she immediately turned and ran outside the hall.in a panic.
“Dammit! Why is she here!?” Bifitu cursed secretly, throwing his glass behind him to Mentus, and quickly stood up to chase after her.
Ivy ran outside to the hallways. Her long skirt made it difficult for her to escape, and she could feel Bifitu closing in on her with his anger. Why was he angry? With a puzzled look, Ivy instinctively sprinted faster. But suddenly, she tripped on her long skirt and fell forward uncontrollably.
“Ahhh!” She closed her eyes and screamed. Was it really necessary to have tripped at this time? But hopefully, however, it wouldn’t hurt too much.
After a second passed, her body had fallen into a pair of warm and strong arms instead of the hard ground as she had thought. A fierce roar rang through the air, “Nefertari!!!”
Ah, she got caught. Her face wrinkled with tension, and it took her awhile before she dared to slowly open her eyes. What she met was Bifitu’s own pair of furious amber eyes.
“Nefertari! Why didn’t you stay in the palace?”
Ivy whispered softly, “Didn’t you have me follow you to the festival though?”
Bifitu was momentarily lost for words because he had, indeed, been the one to force her to come. “No, why didn’t you go back to the palace afterwards instead?”
“You didn’t say that I couldn’t come here.” Ivy’s voice shrinked.
“But why are you disguising yourself and not informing me of it!?”
“If I hadn’t dressed up and disguised myself, my appearance would’ve definitely caused a commotion. And if that happened, the guards would escort me out and devoid me of the chance to see all of this excitement.”
Although her voice was small, Bifitu had heard her clearly. She was right and there was nothing wrong with her actions, so why was he so angry? Was it possibly because he hadn’t wanted her to know that he had obtained another concubine, which could make her sad and leave him?
“So, did you see all of it?” He asked tentatively.
“Ah, yes. The Princess of Hittite is wonderfully beautiful. Congratulations.” Ivy smiled gently.
“You don’t feel sad?”
“No.”
“Don’t you feel the slightest urge to stop her from marrying me?”
“Accepting her as a concubine is good for the country, so you’re right to do so.”
“Don’t you care about me at all!?” Bifitu couldn’t restrain the anger in his heart and shouted, holding Ivy’s face within his hands and forcing her to look at him.
Ivy looked at him and replied one word at a time, “I can’t reciprocate the kind of feelings you expect from me. I come from a place you can’t fathom, and we shouldn’t even be interacting, much less talking. Besides, in my heart . . .”
“Enough. That’s enough! Shut up! Shut up! I don’t understand what you’re saying!!!” Bifitu finally lost his temper and his body shook wildly. Her relentless and terrible words had almost shattered his heart. “Nefertari, why are you so cruel? I can give you everything you want, everything! So why are you like this?”
Even now, he was thinking of satisfying her with such material and superficial things? Ivy sighed softly. She couldn’t deny that for a moment, she had been moved by him. However, the differences between three thousand years of time and space created a gap between the two. At the celebration, she had fully realized this. From the moment she had put on the bracelet again, she had decided to close her heart to him, and bury their absurd encounter deep within her memories forever. “I . . .”
“What?” Bifitu hugged Ivy tightly like a drowning man and stared at her nervously, asking, “What were you going to say? What do you . . . What do you want, Nefertari!? “
But the next words she uttered had him fall into an abyss of despair.
“I . . . I want to go home.”
“You still want to leave me? Because of what? Is it because of that Maathorneferure? It’s just a political marriage, so I can place her in the cold palace and never have to see her again! Nefertari, I only care about you. Stay with me.” The young prince panicked. Although Nefertari was in his arms, he always felt that she would disappear at any time. An uneasy feeling slowly eroded his heart. He couldn’t help but hug her even tighter. For all his life he’d always been calm, but he had difficulty controlling his fear. As long as she stayed with him, he’d do anything!
Ivy shook her head. For the sake of his country, he would inevitably marry more concubines . . . And would they all just enter the cold palace? What if he married to consolidate power and gain alliances? Moreover, her pride wouldn’t allow her to be one of the many concubines of a man. Even if that man was Brother Xian, once he was married, she would do the same and forget him despite her tears.
Her self-esteem would never allow such things to happen, not to mention that her feelings for the man in front of her weren’t even one-tenth of what she had for her brother.
“Nefertari?” Bifitu’s voice was no longer as forceful as before. He had never been so afraid of such an unknown emotion.
Ivy stroked the bracelet on her left hand and sighed gently. Even so, how could she return to the modern age?
Suddenly, the ruby eyes of the golden snake on her bracelet began to glow strangely.
Ivy stared at it blankly. That familiar light, was it . . .
Bifitu suddenly felt that Nefertari had become lighter within his arms, to the point where she seemed to turn into air. He noticed the shiny bracelet on her left hand, and his instincts told him that that bracelet would take Nefertari away from him! He quickly reached out and tried to tear off the bracelet he gave her. But when he finally caught the bracelet, the only thing he managed to grab was air.
“Nefertari!?” The light gradually grew stronger, gently enveloping Ivy’s body. The radiance pierced Bifitu and his eyes closed, blinded. He could only scream in panic, “Nefertari! What is this!? You aren’t allowed to disappear! Nefertari!!!”
Ivy only felt that she was surrounded by a warmness, and everything became exceptionally calm and relaxed. Bifitu’s call gradually faded away, and her vision became blurred . . .
If everything was just a dream, she would rather not wake up.
This was the last thought that flashed within her mind before Ivy lost consciousness.
Editor: dystxpix
Tonight, the people of Thebes brimmed with excitement. Every household was lit up with a torch, and looking at it from up high, the city of Thebes had become a sea of fire, interwoven with joy and laughter.
They were not only celebrating the fortunate and continued flooding of the Nile River, but also for the victory of Seti I against the Hittite Kingdom, who had been their oldest enemy for many long years. In addition to their victory, the seventeenth princess of the Hittite Kingdom had also fallen into the hands of Seti I and would soon become a concubine of the Pharaoh’s son, Bifitu.
Rumors spoke of the seventeenth princess’s extraordinary beauty, but some other people, however, thought of her as more of an arrogant princess. Making her a concubine gave them a hold against their enemy and was therefore an undoubted victory. The people were excited and looked forward to being able to witness the scene of their enemy’s princess becoming a concubine. The madly elated atmosphere that surrounded them came from a sort of binding motivation that supported every prosperous society, one of which Ivy had mentioned in her paper — the blinding worship of one’s monarch.
In the celebration hall of the most luxurious palace in Thebes, the royal family and dignitaries did not, however, share the same enthusiasm that their people had. The enthusiasm was instead replaced by a more calming and smug atmosphere.
After Seti I had announced that their enemy’s princess, Maathorneferure, had become Bifitu’s concubine, the Egyptian ministers couldn’t help but smirk. They each scrambled to offer words of blessings, but when they did, they were met with Bifitu’s cold and icy stare. They swallowed their words into their stomachs and instead waited to see how the situation would develop.
Bifitu didn’t speak a single word, evading his father’s instructions.
Representative messengers of the nations invited tuned down their conversations, all of them eagerly awaiting the Egyptian royal family’s next move. Seti I turned to Bifitu, slightly irritated.
What was Bifitu waiting for? Ivy looked at him from within the crowd. From their previous conversation, Ivy had fully understood the relationship between Egypt and Hittite. Although Seti I had little knowledge of diplomacy, he was quite smart to deal with Maathorneferure in this way. This not only vanquished their enemy’s spirit, but also provided the opportunity for the beautiful princess to fall in love with Bifitu. If she did, they could gain even more information regarding Hittite, and if they also had children in the future . . . that would give Hittite an even greater humiliation.
Bifitu, why the hesitation then? During her pondering, she suddenly noticed that Bifitu’s breathtaking eyes had swept to her again, and in them, she saw fleeting sorrow. What was he thinking about? Being able to marry such a beautiful princess, he would soon forget the previous obsession and infatuation he had for her. The type of contact and relationship they had twisted time and space, inherently wrong in all manners of wrong.
But at the very least, she had gained a lot from time traveling to ancient Egypt, and had even witnessed scenes that she would never even be able to dream of; the slave system, the monarchy, the religion, and the ancient architecture. Everything was excruciatingly rewarding! Once she arrived back home and told Brother Xian, he would surely be amazed. She could even write about this in her next paper. Ivy smiled, rejoicing inside her heart.
She looked back at the pharaoh’s young son. His handsome face was expressionless, but she already knew what his answer would be. For an ancient monarch, marriage was only a tool. If it brought territory, power, money, or momentum, then the marriage would be considered a worthwhile success!
Bifitu stood up slowly, stretching out his hands and motioning the crowd to be quiet. Ivy, in the meanwhile, sighed and took her bracelet out of her bag. After a long silence, Bifitu finally announced, “Maathorneferure, the seventeenth princess of Hittite, from now on, you will be my concubine. If your actions are deemed disrespectful to either Egypt or I, you will be sentenced to death.”
The ministers present cheered. The domineering words of Bifitu had highlighted Egypt’s power. The hesitant messengers were shocked by his words and their determination to support Egypt grew firmer.
On the contrary, Maathorneferure had almost collapsed to the ground, and was forced to get back up by several Egyptian maids who were ordered to bring her to the temple. Seti I nodded with satisfaction and raised his hand, declaring, “Place the rest of the Hittite prisoners in the dungeons and execute them tomorrow. Now with that out of the way, let us continue our celebrations!”
The atmosphere in the hall warmed up as though the awkward silence from before had never existed. The messengers and ministers toasted with one another. In the chaos, Ivy placed the bracelet on her left hand and waited quietly for the bracelet’s light to swallow her.
But even after a few moments had passed, nothing happened! A trace of fear finally filled her heart and only one thought was left remaining in her mind: she couldn’t go back!
At this time Bifitu, who sat on the throne, felt bored as he accepted the toasts of the ministers. He didn’t know why, but a trace of uneasiness would always linger inside his heart. He scanned the chaotic crowd subconsciously, as if he felt Nefertari looking at him. But how could she be here? While thinking, his eyes stopped on Ivy, whose head was wrapped tightly wIthin a turban and a veil.
The whole hall was filled with laughter while everybody talked and toasted with one another. So why was the person in the veil standing there all alone? He couldn’t help but analyze her more carefully. At that moment, Ivy helplessly looked up at him, and Bifitu recognized her unique pair of aqua eyes.
He found out! Overwhelmed by her senses, she immediately turned and ran outside the hall.in a panic.
“Dammit! Why is she here!?” Bifitu cursed secretly, throwing his glass behind him to Mentus, and quickly stood up to chase after her.
Ivy ran outside to the hallways. Her long skirt made it difficult for her to escape, and she could feel Bifitu closing in on her with his anger. Why was he angry? With a puzzled look, Ivy instinctively sprinted faster. But suddenly, she tripped on her long skirt and fell forward uncontrollably.
“Ahhh!” She closed her eyes and screamed. Was it really necessary to have tripped at this time? But hopefully, however, it wouldn’t hurt too much.
After a second passed, her body had fallen into a pair of warm and strong arms instead of the hard ground as she had thought. A fierce roar rang through the air, “Nefertari!!!”
Ah, she got caught. Her face wrinkled with tension, and it took her awhile before she dared to slowly open her eyes. What she met was Bifitu’s own pair of furious amber eyes.
“Nefertari! Why didn’t you stay in the palace?”
Ivy whispered softly, “Didn’t you have me follow you to the festival though?”
Bifitu was momentarily lost for words because he had, indeed, been the one to force her to come. “No, why didn’t you go back to the palace afterwards instead?”
“You didn’t say that I couldn’t come here.” Ivy’s voice shrinked.
“But why are you disguising yourself and not informing me of it!?”
“If I hadn’t dressed up and disguised myself, my appearance would’ve definitely caused a commotion. And if that happened, the guards would escort me out and devoid me of the chance to see all of this excitement.”
Although her voice was small, Bifitu had heard her clearly. She was right and there was nothing wrong with her actions, so why was he so angry? Was it possibly because he hadn’t wanted her to know that he had obtained another concubine, which could make her sad and leave him?
“So, did you see all of it?” He asked tentatively.
“Ah, yes. The Princess of Hittite is wonderfully beautiful. Congratulations.” Ivy smiled gently.
“You don’t feel sad?”
“No.”
“Don’t you feel the slightest urge to stop her from marrying me?”
“Accepting her as a concubine is good for the country, so you’re right to do so.”
“Don’t you care about me at all!?” Bifitu couldn’t restrain the anger in his heart and shouted, holding Ivy’s face within his hands and forcing her to look at him.
Ivy looked at him and replied one word at a time, “I can’t reciprocate the kind of feelings you expect from me. I come from a place you can’t fathom, and we shouldn’t even be interacting, much less talking. Besides, in my heart . . .”
“Enough. That’s enough! Shut up! Shut up! I don’t understand what you’re saying!!!” Bifitu finally lost his temper and his body shook wildly. Her relentless and terrible words had almost shattered his heart. “Nefertari, why are you so cruel? I can give you everything you want, everything! So why are you like this?”
Even now, he was thinking of satisfying her with such material and superficial things? Ivy sighed softly. She couldn’t deny that for a moment, she had been moved by him. However, the differences between three thousand years of time and space created a gap between the two. At the celebration, she had fully realized this. From the moment she had put on the bracelet again, she had decided to close her heart to him, and bury their absurd encounter deep within her memories forever. “I . . .”
“What?” Bifitu hugged Ivy tightly like a drowning man and stared at her nervously, asking, “What were you going to say? What do you . . . What do you want, Nefertari!? “
But the next words she uttered had him fall into an abyss of despair.
“I . . . I want to go home.”
“You still want to leave me? Because of what? Is it because of that Maathorneferure? It’s just a political marriage, so I can place her in the cold palace and never have to see her again! Nefertari, I only care about you. Stay with me.” The young prince panicked. Although Nefertari was in his arms, he always felt that she would disappear at any time. An uneasy feeling slowly eroded his heart. He couldn’t help but hug her even tighter. For all his life he’d always been calm, but he had difficulty controlling his fear. As long as she stayed with him, he’d do anything!
Ivy shook her head. For the sake of his country, he would inevitably marry more concubines . . . And would they all just enter the cold palace? What if he married to consolidate power and gain alliances? Moreover, her pride wouldn’t allow her to be one of the many concubines of a man. Even if that man was Brother Xian, once he was married, she would do the same and forget him despite her tears.
Her self-esteem would never allow such things to happen, not to mention that her feelings for the man in front of her weren’t even one-tenth of what she had for her brother.
“Nefertari?” Bifitu’s voice was no longer as forceful as before. He had never been so afraid of such an unknown emotion.
Ivy stroked the bracelet on her left hand and sighed gently. Even so, how could she return to the modern age?
Suddenly, the ruby eyes of the golden snake on her bracelet began to glow strangely.
Ivy stared at it blankly. That familiar light, was it . . .
Bifitu suddenly felt that Nefertari had become lighter within his arms, to the point where she seemed to turn into air. He noticed the shiny bracelet on her left hand, and his instincts told him that that bracelet would take Nefertari away from him! He quickly reached out and tried to tear off the bracelet he gave her. But when he finally caught the bracelet, the only thing he managed to grab was air.
“Nefertari!?” The light gradually grew stronger, gently enveloping Ivy’s body. The radiance pierced Bifitu and his eyes closed, blinded. He could only scream in panic, “Nefertari! What is this!? You aren’t allowed to disappear! Nefertari!!!”
Ivy only felt that she was surrounded by a warmness, and everything became exceptionally calm and relaxed. Bifitu’s call gradually faded away, and her vision became blurred . . .
If everything was just a dream, she would rather not wake up.
This was the last thought that flashed within her mind before Ivy lost consciousness.
