As his strength grew from weak to powerful, Alaric became a leading figure in every world he entered, establishing his own forces.
No longer the solitary, ordinary man of his previous life, he gradually became something of a hedonist.
Since arriving in the Egyptian divine realm, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Alaric had kept an extremely low profile.
This forced him to endure an almost unbearable commoner's lifestyle for a long time.
Especially while traveling, his only means of keeping clean was magic. At the very least, it had been a long time since he had enjoyed a hot bath.
Now, lying in the bath prepared for Nitocris, it was a rare pleasure for him.
However, before he could enjoy it for long, the doors of the hall were opened once more.
"Your Majesty the Pharaoh, the water temperature is ready. You may bathe at any time."
The maidservant's voice rang out, causing Alaric to open his closed eyes again.
"You may withdraw."
A somewhat cool yet gentle female voice softly sounded.
Although he had never heard it before, this was clearly Nitocris. Different from her cute appearance, her voice was unexpectedly mature.
Thinking of Nitocris, Alaric recalled the girl he had seen during the day, both adorable and alluring.
Egyptian-style, revealing attire indeed made cute girls even more tempting.
For some reason, Alaric felt a stir of anticipation, and he turned his head to look toward the graceful figure slowly approaching from behind the curtain.
The maidservants scattering flowers and pouring water all obeyed the order and left the hall.
The steam-filled chamber soon became silent and empty, with only the soft rustling and clinking sounds of a girl undressing.
Egyptians truly favored gold ornaments.
Soon, a slender brown hand gently lifted the pink curtain, completely unguarded as it revealed her body before Alaric.
The girl from earlier in the day now bent slightly forward, cautiously testing the water temperature.
Only now could Alaric admire the girl's unadorned appearance up close.
The first thing to catch his eye was the pair of purple jackal ears atop her long purple hair.
As a manifestation of divinity, these extra ears were clearly not mere decoration. The cute ears twitching back and forth immediately drew Alaric's attention.
After that came her full, well-proportioned figure.
Moonlight streamed down from the carved windows beneath the dome, illuminating her body and making her naked form gleam like brown jade.
A faint pale halo rendered what should have been a heart-fluttering sight into something unexpectedly sacred.
The girl had bright purple eyes matching her long hair. Her brown skin appeared and disappeared amid the steaming pool, inviting endless imagination.
Unable to see Alaric's presence, the girl had no idea that the bathwater carefully prepared for her had already been occupied by a shameless man, nor did she know that her proud body had been completely seen by him.
Seemingly quite satisfied with the water temperature, Nitocris gently submerged her exquisite body into the pool filled with multicolored petals.
The beautiful scene before Alaric was covered by water, prompting him to let out a regretful sigh.
Fortunately, as the Pharaoh's bath, the marble pool was large enough, about five meters on each side, nearly the size of a small swimming pool.
Alaric and the girl each occupied one side; even if both lay fully stretched out, they would not touch.
Letting out a long, comfortable sigh, Nitocris leaned back and closed her eyes.
Yet, she showed no expression of enjoyment. Alaric could see that this female Pharaoh's expression was deeply melancholic.
Was she thinking of something sorrowful?
Just as Alaric grew curious, the girl suddenly spoke.
"You know, don't you? The reason I became Pharaoh is that I was pushed onto the throne by others. Simply put, I'm nothing more than a puppet."
Who was she talking to? Had she discovered me?
Nitocris's sudden words put Alaric on alert.
However, Nitocris kept her eyes closed, as if recalling past events.
"Merenre was my brother. But to me, he was also like a father. Father had many children, and I was just one insignificant among them, so I never received much attention.
But Brother Merenre, he was the one who cared about me the most. In my heart back then, he took Father's place, raising me as I grew up."
Was she recounting her past?
Though Alaric suspected that he might have been discovered, the power of a god was not to be underestimated, seeing that the female Pharaoh made no other moves, he chose to remain still and continue listening in concealment.
"He was a man of great ambition, always dissatisfied with Father's weakness and compromises.
He believed it was Father's weakness that plunged the country into such chaos.
He waited, waiting to set things right after ascending the throne and restore the Pharaoh's authority.
At that time, I was still young and ignorant, so I always thought that when I grew up, I would help him fulfill that wish.
Later, that day finally came. Father died, Brother Merenre became the new Pharaoh, and I gained the chance to help him, I became his queen.
It sounds ridiculous.
Because Father lived so long, Brother Merenre was already over seventy when he ascended the throne, and he already had someone to accompany him for life.
Making me, his sister, the queen was nothing more than a matter of Egyptian tradition. I was merely a figurehead to uphold appearances.
Unlike Father, at his age, what could he really do?
Although I knew that agreeing to his request might mean losing the chance to find my own love in the future, for the sake of helping him realize his wish, and for the sake of this country, I agreed.
I was prepared to become the Pharaoh's queen, to become the child of a god and the spouse of a god. The price was losing the chance at love, and I do not regret it."
Even as she said this, Nitocris's expression grew even dimmer.
That was understandable. At an age yearning for romance and love, becoming "married" for such reasons, only to then become "widowed", no one would be happy about that.
"But I still had my brother, Merenre, both father and brother to me. Just thinking that I could help him achieve his dream, help this country return to the right path, even that alone made me satisfied."
Thinking of her family, a trace of gentleness appeared on Nitocris's face.
"Yet my most important family member, my brother, died for no reason at all! Murdered by those who brought calamity upon this country and desecrated the gods."
At this point, Nitocris's voice carried a note of grief and indignation.