I'm back with a new chapter translated. Luckily it wasn't as long as the last one so I didn't have to spend as much time on it. We get to see Tameri develop a backbone against her detractors and a semi-romantic scene between her and her Pharaoh ...
For those who can vote today in the U.S., please do so. Heh, I've already done it.
NeferNeferi - You'll get that answer right now.
WaterGoddessMizu - I guess, but love is stronger than that, isn't it? And you have a keen eye. Yes, Seto and she will fall in love with each other but it's much later in the story.
Proxima Centauri - Yeah, she mentioned that the chapters around here were much better than the earlier ones because she wrote them when she was older and more experienced. It seems it shows in her writing style.
I'd assume that Atem was too busy worrying about how to get away from his suitors so he didn't pay Tameri any special attention at the time. And he was clearly looking for Seto so he'd notice the other immediately. As for Seto not telling Atem about Tameri, I guess he was miffed at Atem's teasing and decided not to mention it just to spite him.
Chapter 33
The lively banquet continued towards the evening, when everyone reluctantly departed from the hall. But from a certain person's point of view, it was also the beginning of another nightmare ...
"By the gods ... aren't they a bit too persistent?" Atem was hiding behind a stone column as he shot frequent looks behind him to check if someone was coming. He had originally thought that he'd be off the hook once the banquet had ended, but he didn't think that the women would block his exit as they pestered him. Feeling at his wit's end, he decided to forget about his own image and ran off, just as the women began to chase after him for dear life. This scene had the palace guards and maids all staring dumbly, as they thought, 'Where will our Pharaoh's reputation go now?'
What was even more abominable was he had been expelled from the temple by Seto when he had thought of going there to avoid the girls.
"I will not allow those mediocre women to sully this sacred place." He had said coldly.
When Atem thought of that, he couldn't suppress a sigh. 'How can the formidable Pharaoh of Egypt have such a fate?' He suddenly heard an excited voice from the distance that was gradually approaching the stone column he was hiding at. "This is bad." Atem quickly left the column and headed towards the rooms in the far side of the hall. Just as he was going by the door to one of them, it unexpectedly opened. Atem met the gaze of the person inside the room.
"What?"
"Shhh --" Feeling panic, Atem promptly covered the other person's mouth with his hand as he went inside the room. Unfortunately, as he was closing the door, his hand slipped and the door closed with a harsh sound.
The group over at the stone column were alarmed by the unusual sound and followed it to the source, which was a door.
"Open the door!" The leader of the group, Benghazi, shouted impolitely as she knocked on the door loudly. The person inside heard the noise and went to open the door.
"Excuse me but what brings you all here?" Tameri asked, not understanding why the other girls were all here at her room in this late hour.
"Is the Pharaoh at your place?!" Benghazi asked pointedly, as her beautiful face was full of jealousy. Her bearing seemed to be similar to the lady of the house interrogating her husband's mistress.
"What? The Pharaoh?" Tameri looked around her in shock. "No, that's impossible."
"I don't believe you! Move out of my way!" It looks like Benghazi wanted to rush into the room with force to do a search of it herself. However, a slender and beautiful hand stopped her. The hand's master is Tameri herself.
"Forgive me for speaking bluntly, Princess, but what authority do you have that allows you to forcibly enter my room?" Tameri was no longer the mild person she usually was. She looked more like a lioness ready to vent her anger, as a dignified air seemed to emanate from her body. "This is the royal palace, a place ruled by laws. If you want to force your way in here, don't blame my loyal soldiers when they act harmfully towards you. It would be very scandalous for you if word of this incident were to leak out."
Once she finished speaking, the soldiers assigned to protect her appeared from all directions. The expressions on their faces and their movements all were very clear to the girls.
"You ..." Benghazi knew that the other wasn't just trying to scare her off but felt very unresigned to the idea of submitting to this commoner. "Humph!" She glared at Tameri with a vicious look. "You win this time, but just you wait! I'd like to see just which one of us will bring disgrace and ruin upon themselves in the end!" Benghazi sneered as she waved her hand, signaling to the other girls that they were leaving.
Tameri closed the door and turned around to face the person sitting on her bed.
"They've all gone. Now will you please explain to me what is going on, Uro? Or should I address you as Your Majesty?"
"You know my identity?" Atem smiled wryly.
"I know it now, but that isn't the point here." She creased her brows slightly, clearly troubled by the visit she had from the uninvited guests at her door.
He sighed. "It's a long story ... to put it simply: After the banquet ended, I was surrounded by them and had no choice but to run away from them. I didn't think I would run into you."
"You didn't have to go hiding in my room ..." She thought, 'And bring me more problems to deal with ...'
Atem shrugged his shoulders innocently. "I didn't have any other choice. Under those circumstances, I was only thinking of a way to get out."
"Forget about it ..." Tameri walked over to sit down next to him. She turned to face him and asked, "Why didn't you tell me your true identity when we first met?"
He muttered to himself for a while before answering, "Because I thought it would be impossible for you to believe me. It would have been useless for me to bring it up. Also the situation at that time didn't allow me to tell you." He smiled at her. "Besides, I had sneaked out of the palace. If I had been discovered, it would have been a big problem for me."
"What?! Snuck out of the palace?! Then ... what about your duties?" She asked him, surprised. 'How could there a Pharaoh who does not attend to his work?'
"Seto would help me deal with them." Atem thought as he said this, 'But afterwards, that guy made me do work anyway ... Ugh! Why am I fussing over this?'
"Is Seto ... a good person?" Tameri suddenly asked, almost making Atem fall onto the ground in shock.
"If someone like him is considered a good person ... then there aren't any scoundrels in this world." He thought, 'Eh ... I think I went too far here ...'
"Achoo!" Seto, who was at the Temple of Light, sneezed at this moment.
"Is that so ..." Tameri's beautiful eyes were wide open, a confused look in her purple orbs. "Then why did he help me back there ..." She commented to herself.
"Oh? So the girl with him was you?" Atem finally understood why. 'Hmm ... if it was Tameri, then he had a valid reason for helping her.' "It's probably because he met you before." He then unintentionally said with a sarcastic voice, "I never thought that guy would have such inappropriate thoughts. I was worried that he had an abnormal sexual orientation too."
"Achoo! Achoo!" Seto sneezed again. The clerks working next to him were all staring at the man with strange looks.
'... It's likely that Atem is badmouthing me behind my back ...' His intuition told him.
"What?" Tameri didn't hear everything the other said. 'Abnormal? Normal? Is he saying that Seto is ... that way?' Once she thought of that, her face became red with embarrassment. She looked out at the sky, noticing that it was getting darker. "Eh ... the time is late. You should be getting back now."
"Hmm? That's true. Those women should have given up by now." Atem stood up and headed towards the door. "Thank you for helping me earlier."
"It was nothing. I only hope there won't be a second time." She smiled. "Good night."
"Good night ... hmm?" He abruptly looked down at her arm, noticing the bracelet she was wearing. "You're still wearing this bracelet?"
"Hmm? Of course, since you gave it to me." Her other hand moved to touch the bracelet tenderly.
"Is that right ..." Atem's eyes had a soft look as he lightly kissed her forehead. "Good night."
"Eh ..." Seeing him leave, Tameri touched the part of her head where she was kissed with her hand, a embarrassed look on her face.
In another part of the hall, a shadow was quietly watching and committing to memory everything that had occurred. The woman found it difficult to hide her jealousy as she tightly balled her hands into fists. It was so tight that she drew blood from the fingernails poking into her flesh.
"How hateful ... why ... why can such a common girl win your heart?!" She said resentfully. "I won't permit this to continue! I won't!"
Posted on November 2, 2004.