I'm back with another update.
NeferNeferi: Not yet ... at least not in this chapter.
WaterGoddessMizu: I'd like to update more often but, unfortunately, I have things to do in my real life away from the computer and translating chapters. I'll try to do it as fast as I can though.
Proxima Centauri: Hmm, you seem to like changing your pen name pretty often. Guess you didn't like the other name.
I think Youlan overdid it a bit with the numbers of assassinations and the like but the anime, at least, did show that he had enemies who wanted him dead.
Not only that, they want him to marry one of the girls! That's what you get for being the most eligible bachelor in the country.
ANYWAY, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 25
After the two had left, Tameri returned home, a lively feeling in her footsteps.
"Tameri ..." A voice spoke from behind her.
"Huh?" She turned around. "Shebi 1? What is it?" She stared at the girl who was running up to her.
"Look!" Shebi handed her the announcement she was holding.
"Oh? The Pharaoh is choosing a wife?" Tameri read the title.
"Tameri, let us go try it out. Maybe one of us will end up being the Queen." Shebi said, excited. "Ahh, I think the Pharaoh must be very handsome ..." She seemed to be already in her own little dream world.
'Ugh ... here we go again ...' Tameri watched her friend with a helpless look.
Shebi started looking around them. "That reminds me, where is Uro? He's not here? I have something to ask him."
Tameri answered carelessly, "Something came up so he just left."
"What?! Why did this happen?!" Shebi cried out, disappointed.
"What did you need Uro for?"
Still disappointed, Shebi replied, "... I originally wanted to ask him to take me to Cairo with him ..."
"Cairo?!" Tameri stared at Shebi, her eyes wide. "Why do you want to go there?"
"I want to join in the chance of becoming the Pharaoh's wife, of course!" The other girl answered, excited again.
"But ..." Tameri wanted to persuade her against going, but Shebi stopped her.
"No buts! Go home and get your things packed up. We're leaving tomorrow." She left.
Tameri sighed helplessly, deciding that it was useless to stop her friend because Shebi was the kind of person to do exactly what she said she would do.
"Oh well ... I better have a talk with my mother ..." She went into her home.
"Mother?" Tameri called out.
A gentle voice replied, "What is it?" The voice belonged to an elderly female. She was the same servant who once served the Queen of Egypt. "Didn't I tell you not to call me 'Mother'?" The woman raised one eyebrow.
"But ..." Smiling, Tameri moved to stand by her. "It's become a habit."
"I don't know what to do with you anymore ..." The woman smiled herself and asked, "What's wrong?"
Tameri looked up at her. "Shebi says she wants to go to Cairo. She hopes that I can go with her."
"Cairo? Why?" The woman asked, confused.
Tameri answered, " ... Shebi wants to become the wife of the Pharaoh ..."
'Wife of the Pharaoh?' The woman repeated in her mind. 'Hmm ... looks like an opportunity has come ...' She glanced at Tameri. 'I should let her go back there now ...'
"Then go with her."
"What?!" Tameri stared at the woman. 'Why did she agree to this so quickly?!' She found herself unable to believe what she just heard.
The eldery woman went into her own room. From under her bed, she took a cloth bag that had been there, covered with dust for sixteen years. When she returned, the woman handed it over to Tameri.
"Open this when you arrive in Cairo. What's inside is the truth." She told the girl.
'The object inside this bag is the truth?' Tameri didn't understand what that meant.
"Alright, you can stop looking at it now." The woman commented. "Are you two planning on leaving tomorrow morning?"
"Probably." Tameri answered.
"Then you better go take a bath, eat your dinner and then get some sleep." As she spoke, the woman was pushing Tameri towards the bathroom, where hot water was waiting. "You'll need it because it won't be so easy to pass through the desert." She left the bathroom, closing the door. The woman leaned against the door and closed her eyes.
'Princess Tameri can finally return to her real family now ...' She thought happily. 'Now, my mission would be complete ...' In the end, she turned around and began to walk away. As she did so, she spoke very softly.
"Princess, you may not be able to accept what will happen to you in the future, but ..." She stopped for a moment before continuing. "Please, you must make yourself pass this test ... so you can return to the place where you belong ..."
The wheels of fate has quietly begun to roll. For Atem and Tameri, they are about to enter the unfortunate destiny that had been decided for them since their birth. And now, the prelude song for this story is now about to be performed ...
Translator's Note:
1 Yet another changed name. Let's see, the original was 'Ya Li' or elegant jasmine.
Author's Corner:
Youlan: Hehe, the best part is about to appear now.
Tameri: Hmm ... (reading the script)
Seto and Pharaoh: ...... (already practicing the private conversation they will have in the next chapter)
Youlan: That's weird ... why have they suddenly become so enthusiastic about this? They used to all hit me and say ...
Tameri, Seto, Pharaoh: ... We've already hit her, so we don't want to do that again ... just let her do what she wants ...
Posted on October 3, 2004.