After catching up to Isis, the rest of the flight till their destination point of the great tower was pretty uneventful in summary.
This came from the fact that while Isis could be a handful at times, she was not so careless that she was unable to notice the somber mood that hung between Sol and Nefertiti.
Though this atmosphere seemed to mainly originate from Nefertiti rather than being a concentrated aura converging from both as a pair.
Isis had never been particularly close to Nefertiti during all her time in the Phoenix realm. The two of them were from different factions and while they weren't enemies, they were in no way friends either. So, keeping tabs with her was never in either of their priorities.
However, Isis knew for a fact that this circumstance was bound to change now that they fell in love with the same man.
'I am joining a harem after all.'
Isis didn't believe for a single second that a group of strong and independent women – she had no doubt about that fact about Sol's women – could all equally enjoy the love of a single man with no conflicts and only happiness and cooperation.
Time was a precious resource and the larger the harem became, the less time Sol would be able to provide or alot to everyone involved. He could do nothing about this, his hands were tied when it came to this problem.
There were also the thoughts of future children that would surely come with enough passing of time. Isis had been at the helm of the underworld alongside Anubis for a long time and she knew very well how merciless the battle for succession or power could be.
The saving grace here was the knowledge that only a Blessed, chosen by the goddess of sin— lust, could become a crown prince or princess and her children would obviously become the ruler of the underworld one way or another.
Succession wasn't really a problem in this case but one could never know of the unpredictable future. Throughout history, siblings had killed each other for far too less.
Simple pettiness for the others could turn into an all consuming jealousy for not being the better or more lucky of the lot. This, in turn, would surely lead to a deadly feud that could threaten to harm the very foundation of the family.
This was why she needed a companion or rather companions. Like-minded girls who would join her to create a faction to not yield to the others.
'Me, Nent and Nefertiti. Perhaps we can also put Kiyohime into the mix? What should we be called? The Phoenix faction? Though with Kiyohime present, that seems unfair. Then perhaps we could be the Astral realm faction? Seems good enough, I guess…'
She giggled at the thought, gathering strange gazes from both Nefertiti and Sol. Sol couldn't help but think if the girl had gone cuckoo from anger or not, but was quick to dismiss that thought and focus more on the journey ahead.
———
At the speed they were traveling, undoubtedly high due to all of them being in the Duke realm, it did not take long to reach the tower. Sol was honestly becoming pretty tired of traveling all this distance. Perhaps he should ask for the authority to directly enter the different Heavens as he wished from his grandmother? He did not know if Tiamat would grant him this request but it was definitely worth giving a try at the very least.
"So this is the Tower of Babel, huh?"
Nefertiti muttered, great curiosity brimming in those enchanting eyes of hers. The term phoenix eyes were eponymous after all. The tower was a striking monument that went so far above, directly piercing the clouds in the air, that it seemed to be without an end.
"You knew about it?" Isis exclaimed in wonder.
"Indeed. Since I knew we would come here, I decided to explore the history and custom of this territory in order to not make a fool of myself."
"Seriously? You are quite studious. I didn't study anything. It was quite interesting to have Kiyohime tell us the story and the history of this realm."
Isis laughed a little embarrasedly. She realized that she had been quite carefree when coming to a territory she knew nothing about.
"I am sorry but not everyone has a powerful father or mother that makes us more important than we can ever hope to be."
The atmosphere suddenly froze solid. Chilliness permeated in the air due to the phoenix girl's sudden remark. Nefertiti's words, dripping with utmost bitterness, surprised both Isis and Sol quite a bit.
But the one that was the most surprised among them all, was none other than Nefertiti herself.
She couldn't believe that she said something like that out loud.
"I… I am terribly sorry. I…"
The poor girl was utterly lost as to what to do. She wanted to apologize, wanted to say that she did not mean what she said, but she did not want to lie either about the true feelings that was brewing in her heart.
Nefertiti was truly envious of Isis.
While she was never mistreated nor forced to do anything, there was no lying that she was not born from love or anything of the like. She was not even born for war. Simply for the machinations of one woman who had a very selfish goal. She was one of the many pawns, simply a means to an end.
From the moment of her birth, she had been assigned to a single role and while she had the choice to reject it, there was not much else she could do with her life either.
Unlike her, Isis was born from two powerful parents who loved each other while receiving the blessing, albeit slightly unwillingly, of Gabriel.
Some phoenixes might despise or even hate Isis, but there was absolutely nothing they could do to her. After all, even without her parents supporting her, she was still stronger and more talented than all of them combined. Another trait she received due to her heritage and parents.
No matter how one looked, at least on the surface, Isis’s life seemed to be far more beautiful than hers.
Nefertiti knew it was an illusion. The pasture was always greener on the other side after all. She knew Isis didn't have some idyllic perfect life. There was bound to be a moment or a string of moments she hated. Moments she regretted with all her being and her fair share of pain and suffering.
No one had a perfect life.
But knowing this did not stop her from being envious.
Using reason and logic to fight against envy and jealousy was the most laughable and useless thing to do in the world.
They were fierce and ugly feelings that burrowed deep in the heart and once they took root, gradually polluted it until there was nothing left but darkness.
It was a slippery path that could lead to a point of no return if one did not act fast. She knew all that. But it changed nothing.
In the end, all she could do was hang her head down in shame.
‘Why am I being like this?’
Tears were forming at the corner of her eyes. She did not wish to act like this. At least not in front of Sol.
She did not wish to show her ugly and petty self.
Her beauty was all she was worth to anyone and she hoped that she could at least stay as the most beautiful in his eyes.
But now…
Isis, far from being angry, gave an awkward laugh instead, "Well, there is no need to apologize. It was indeed careless of me to not do research to at least know what kind of place this was."
She did not wish for the atmosphere to deteriorate further.
“Well, shall we go?”
The door of the elevator opened and Sol entered, not commenting on anything.
The two women gave a look at Sol, but he was surprisingly impassive and his face a mask of indifference. So all they could do was follow him and enter as well.
Nefertiti had been focusing on keeping her tears from spilling out and was at least partially successful. Though, there was no hiding how her eyes had reddened due to her emotions.
Isis wondering if the space in this elevator had always been so small. The atmosphere was slightly suffocating as Sol continued to stay silent.
Isis opened her mouth, but one look from Sol made her shut up immediately.
It was the first time Sol had looked like this in front of her. She could tell that he was well and truly pissed. She couldn’t help but feel a little wronged,
‘Why the hell am I also getting punished?’
Still, she did not wish to take the fall for whatever was about to happen now.
Nefertiti was feeling even worse. She felt like a criminal walking toward her just execution. She knew very well that she was the cause of Sol’s current mood.
‘Is this it? Will he give up on me?’
Such negative feelings kept forming in her head, causing her to feel like she was about to suffocate from all the anxiety.
It was the first time Nefertiti realized that breathing was such a hard thing to do.
But, unlike what Isis and Nefertiti were thinking, Sol was not angry at any of them.
He was more angry at himself.
‘I have been too careless.’
A harem.
It was the dream of many men. At least, if it was a fully functioning one where everything remained in idyllic harmony.
That was but a fool's dream…
But in reality, a harem was not such a beautiful thing.
The women in his harem were not robots devoid of emotions that would smile no matter what he did.
They had their own thoughts, goals and feelings, like any other beings capable of reasoning.
Sol couldn’t help but berate himself for not thinking more deeply about how Nefertiti must have felt when he took Isis over here and left her all alone in the Phoenix realm while leaving with Isis and Nent.
He could not imagine how she must have felt, but one did not need to be a genius to know that it must have been truly a bitter and awful feeling.
Even then, Nefertiti did her best to show a happy face.
Sol remembered what happened when he asked her to come with him to the Dragon realm.
Back then, Nefertiti had refused, claiming that she would only be a burden and wished to become more useful.
Sol had picked up her feelings of inferiority but, after being around many independent women, he had simply nodded and did not pursue further. He respected Nefertiti's goals and ambitions.
This was a mistake on his part. A mistake that had reared its ugly mouth at this moment.
‘I shouldn’t deal with all the women as if they were the same.’
It didn’t take long for them to reach their destination.
“Girls, let’s go. We will talk later about what happened a few moments ago.”
No one was perfect. Mistakes would always happen.
The most important thing was to rectify them before it was too late.
Too late to look back and think that something could be done better…
(AN: I think this is the first time I portrayed true jealousy in his harem. Though there is also Milia. At the end of the day envy and jealousy are feelings few can escape from. By the way, I am currently ranked #32, just a little more and I can reach my goal. A magic castle would be appreciated XD)
My goal is to reach the top 25 in trending (All time/monthly). I know we can do it. If you want to read my other works, join me on P@treon: https://[email protected]/HikaruGenji (Replace the @ with a for those who don’t know about the site)
Bonus for Gifts:
A Car = 1 bonus chapter
A Dragon= 2 BC
A Castle= 6 BC (spread over a week, otherwise I would die.)
Bonus for Priv unlock
1K unlock= 1 Bonus Chapter
3K= 2 BC
5K= 4BC (Spread over four days)
15K= 8 BC (Spread over a week, otherwise I would die)
Bonus for Golden Tickets
500 GT= 1 Bonus Chapter
1500 GT= 2
