Silence formed between them. No one opened their mouths. Both were waiting for the right moment to start talking.
In the end, it was her who had to speak.
"Lady Naeva, in the future I see, you are actually the one who repaired the Lyra."
"I know," Naeva replied quickly.
Cleopatra was slightly taken aback.
"Pardon?"
Naeva glanced at the confused Cleopatra.
"I already knew. From the beginning."
"Wh-What? How could you?" Cleopatra was confused.
Naeva raised her glass of tea that had turned into iced tea.
"Of course. After all, I'm sure there's no one in the Tower who can repair the Weapons of the Goddess of Music other than me, the creator. Even if it was Ophelia, she would have been able to do it because I taught her."
"But--"
Naeva glanced up at the night sky before drinking her tea.
"--I'm not sure I could trust someone else that much to teach such a secret technique."
After the tea in her glass was gone, Naeva put down her cup.
"I know."
"O-Okay..."
Cleopatra did not ask further. She felt she had no right.
"If it's like that... The conversation will become easier."
Cleopatra began a long story about the future she saw.
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****OOO****
Characters Information
Name: Naeva WinterNova: X PlatinumRace: Ice PrincessAge: 30 [https://img.wattpad.com/3f21f006faeb56abaed617fd05930b6c08bffcbc/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f52684b4e473354434b4861344e413d3d2d313333343431353231302e313739306564346235363839643332313136383732353438363831362e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Name: Naeva Winter
Nova: X Platinum
Race: Ice Princess
Age: 30.000+
Status: Irregular
Affiliation: None
-------------------------------------------------
Name: Cleopatra Ptolemaios AuletesNova: Unable to Access Nova Race: Anubis Age: 16Status: Second PrincessSun PriestessAffiliation: Ptolemaios Sultanate [https://img.wattpad.com/8fcf804a5362c8fd79fb9928c2519ad68ad8e8c6/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f336c4c6661664c357832314a43673d3d2d313333343431353231302e31373930656434386233363963663139353734333133313730302e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Name: Cleopatra Ptolemaios Auletes
Nova: Unable to Access Nova
Race: Anubis
Age: 16
Status: Second Princess
Sun Priestess
Affiliation: Ptolemaios Sultanate
****OOO****
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Cleopatra saw this future when she was 11 years old, approximately 5.5 years ago. At that time, she saw a future that took place in this year (currently) where two foreign Conquerors became honored guests of the Ptolemaios Sultanate after rescuing her who was in trouble. It was later discovered by the Sultan that one of the two was the Lady of the Grand Families, Calliope. So the respectful treatment the Sultan gave them increased dramatically.
The two Conquerors were none other than Ophelia and Naeva, of course without Bere, et al.
The two of them stayed in the Palace until the next floor exam time. And during that time, many things happened to them. One of them was when Naeva visited the Sun Temple and accidentally found Lyra Erato there. An investigation about Lyra Erato's origin was carried out. In the end, Naeva left the Lyra in the Ptolemaios Sultanate until she sent an Erato to take it back in the future. Naeva also did not forget to repair it and explain how it works to the two Princesses of the Sultanate, Berenice and Cleopatra to prevent unwanted things such as theft of the weapon or misuse of the weapon by people she did not know.
Little did she realize that her actions would backfire.
In another future that Cleopatra saw, a few years after Naeva and Ophelia left the Sultanate, the Ptolemaios Kesultanan was destroyed at the hands of the Calliope, Melpomene and Polyhymnia Families. But the original incident was not because the 3 Families were fighting over Lyra Erato. No, they did fight a bit, but the main reason was not because of that.
From her future vision, Cleopatra learned of her family's dark secret. Her uncle, the Sun Priest is currently neglecting his duties which affects her.
As a Sun Priests, they are required to give the Sun Energy that resides in their bodies at least once every two months in the innermost area of the Sun Temple, precisely at the sun sculpture carved like a giant magic circle.
It does not harm their bodies if it is done little by little as this tradition has been maintained until now. The Sun Priests would lose a great deal of solar energy when it happened, but not enough to endanger their lives. The solar energy they lose will be replenished in a few days by itself.
Unfortunately, there is one exception among the descendants of Sultan Agung. That exception was Cleopatra herself. Her lost Solar Energy could be replenished in a similar way as Cultivation or raising Nova. However, as an Immune Tower sufferer, from the moment she was born, Cleopatra's Nova could not increase. Because the Nova obtained in the Tower is also included in the System Tower.
If we were to think of it, solar energy is like tap water that flows endlessly and the container that holds it is the body of the Sun Priest. Giving that energy to the sun circle is like pouring the water collected in the container into another larger container. And Cleopatra's tap water, will only flow once until the container is full and stop for good.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
The solar energy provided, played an important role in the survival of the Ptolemaic Sultanate. In fact, far and away in the past, the Ptolemaic Sultanate was nothing like the Ptolemaic Sultanate of today. In the beginning, the Ptolemaios Sultanate was just an empty desert with a cold eternal night sky, so cold that no one could live there.
The Conqueror who had the hot and bright Nova changed everything. She chose to live there and founded the Ptolemaios Sultanate. That's right, the Conqueror was the First Sultan of the Ptolemaios Sultanate. The First Sultan who has the power of the sun does have powers that are not much different from a God. It was the Sultan who made the 2nd Floor of the Tower a livable place by distributing his Nova solar energy throughout the 2nd Floor and creating artificial daylight and fake sun.
After that, to maintain daylight on the 2nd Floor, the Sultan required his descendants who inherited the Power of the Sun to channel their solar energy at the Holy Shrine at least once every 2 months. Not only to keep the daylight lasting, but also so that their lives would not be endangered by running out of solar energy due to overuse.
This secret is only revealed to Sun Priests once they have reached adulthood and are ready to inherit the Sun Priests destiny.
However, the Sun Priest before Cleopatra, her uncle, was a cowardly bastard. It was true that channeling energy into the Sun Temple was as painful as having all your bones crushed at once. But that couldn't be the reason he neglected his responsibilities when he had already received the full luxury of his rights.
Especially since the uncle didn't just do that once or twice. This uncle, since the first time he felt the pain of channeling energy, he had never, ever channeled solar energy after that. Not at all. For over 20 years, not once did he channel solar energy into the Sun Temple.
Because of this, the Ptolemaic Sultanate experienced a severe solar energy crisis. At the moment, the impact is not obvious because the solar energy supplies from previous generations are still a little bit left, so little that they are almost gone. But in three years, that energy would be gone. Before that happened, her uncle quickly handed over the seat of Sun Priestess to his niece Cleopatra when she was 17 years old.
When Cleopatra learned the truth. It was too late. The remaining solar energy had run out and the Sun Circle went on a rampage, absorbing Cleopatra and her uncle's solar energy in the middle of the inauguration ceremony. The uncle who had run out of solar energy died instantly. Meanwhile, Cleopatra, who was abundant in solar energy, was sucked dry and almost died if only Berenice, her sister, didn't stop it.
As a result of being ignored for 20 years, the Circle became savage and unsettled. Although it had sucked out her uncle's and Cleopatra's solar energy, it was not enough. Only <15% of it had been replenished. Since normally the energy would be replenished little by little by the Sun Priest over a long period of time, it was impossible to replenish it in such a short time. An ordinary Sun Priest could only replenish 5% each time. While Cleopatra herself could fill up to 10%.
Unfortunately their time was not enough. It took about 80%> to make the Sun Circle calm again. If the energy replenishment did not go normally again, the artificial sun in the sky would explode and destroy the Ptolemaios Sultanate at once. Then the explosion would make the artificial sun disappear and eternal night would come again.
Berenice in the future didn't think about any of those things. The only thing she was worried about was her sister who could die that very second. Berenice saved Cleopatra using Lyra Erato and utilized the Lyra to channel other energies to the Temple of the Sun to keep the Ptolemaic Sultanate safe.
The energy received by the Sun Temple through Berenice and Lyra Erato is the energy of life, Nova.
With that Lyra, Berenice forcibly seized the Nova of many people outside the Sultanate. Nova that has been seized cannot return. With the help of her two brothers, Berenice was able to keep the Ptolemaios Sultanate safe although in return, she became a great enemy of the Conquerors.
But still, the main energy that the Sun Temple wanted was solar energy. To prevent Cleopatra's death from losing too much solar energy, Cleopatra was locked up in the Palace by her own twin sister. Berenice teamed up with her two brothers to lock Cleopatra up and search for Nova's supply.
Berenice climbed the Tower and absorbed the Nova of many people. A small portion of the Nova that Lyra Erato sucked in settled in her body, which made Berenice become much stronger quickly. Unfortunately, Berenice used that power for the wrong things. After several years passed and there were already millions of people who fell victim to Berenice, the girl became a big fugitive in the Tower and earned the nickname...
Desert Sucker Woman
Her head was highly valued and many people were after her life. But Berenice always managed to win or escape from whoever was after her. She always managed to return to recharge at the Sun Temple. Well, maybe it was also because she never targeted Ranker or members of the Grand Families and the 5 Big Guilds. On one hand she was a fugitive criminal that ordinary Conquerors feared. On the other hand she was a hero who protected her home.
But either way, Berenice was still a criminal who did heinous things. Karma will definitely come to her. Berenice was destroyed 3 years later. All because she targeted the wrong people. One of Berenice's victims was a person close to Ophelia Calliope, the rightful heir of the Calliope Family as well as the famous Conqueror with a spirit of justice.
Ophelia Calliope, who had officially become the family heiress, led the Calliope Family troops to stop Berenice and her family. They fought at the Sultanate because Berenice always managed to escape if fought elsewhere. When the Grand Families fought a large Sultanate, of course the impact would be tremendous. There wasn't a single person in the Tower who didn't know about the war.
And for the record, no one had seen Naeva Winter, Ophelia's partner on her journey. Cleopatra don't know what happened between them during that time.
The war ended after a few long days. Of course with the Calliope Family as the victors. In that war, the First Princess of the Ptolemaios Sultanate, Berenice Ptolemaios Auletes was killed by Ophelia Calliope. Ophelia was instantly considered a hero by the Conquerors. But she herself did not think of herself as such.
Ophelia was still responsible for everything, because she knew Berenice even though their meeting was very short. As a form of responsibility, Ophelia worked with Cleopatra who was locked up in the palace to stabilize the situation.
Hmm? Does Cleopatra not hate Ophelia for killing her twin sister?
The answer is easy. Cleopatra couldn't hate her. She knew her sister had taken the wrong path and she couldn't stop her. Cleopatra felt she had no right to hate Ophelia.
The new sultan (First Prince) was deposed from the throne and exiled with the Second Prince. With the exile of the First and Second Princes and the death of the First Princess, the only person who could inherit the sultan's throne was the Third Princess, Arsinoe Ptolemaios Auletes. Since Princess Arsinoe was not yet an adult, Cleopatra accompanied her until Arsinoe was truly ready to become a Sultan. Fortunately, by the time that happened, the Temple of the Sun already had enough energy to remain calm until the next Sun Priestess was born.
Happy ending? Maybe so if we stop there.
Unfortunately, it's not that easy.
As Cleopatra had explained earlier, there was a leaky mouth that let the Melpomene Family know the details about Lyra Erato. Just before things really stabilized, an even bigger war broke out again in the Ptolemaios Sultanate.
The war between the Calliope Family who tried to protect Lyra Erato from the hands of the Melpomene Family. Which also invited the Polyhymnia Family who wanted to intervene but ended up getting caught between them. The scars of the war between the Sultanate and Calliope were not 100% repaired. Now add the impact of the war between the 3 Grand Families. There was no way the location of the war would be okay.
In just a few days, the Ptolemaios Sultanate was devastated and the people of the Sultanate were scattered. In that situation, no one could stop them.
Yes, no one.
Except for one figure who accidentally created the situation.
In the middle of the battlefield, there appeared a teenage girl with snow-white hair and a short-skirted, long-robed blue docker dress. In no time, the girl stopped the war between the 3 Grand Families by freezing the entire 2nd Floor. No one could move in that situation, the only thing they could do was watch what she was doing. Seizing the momentum, the girl walked casually over to pick up the object that triggered the war, Lyra Erato. And left the battlefield just like that, without saying a word.
Since then, no one had ever heard of this figure named Naeva Winter. Although almost all of the Grand Families were looking for her.