Epsilon Twilight

93. Past

It all started more than half a century ago, back in the reign of my mother, the sultanah Kira-al-Ydaz. Not many people remember it after decades of peace, but this country used to be quite belligerent. Kyra was not a good ruler. Yes, she managed a lot of victories in battle and gained the countr...

92. Karaim

No rebuttal left Aloe’s mouth; she accepted her destiny in silence. She took a minute to fix her clothes and then followed the foreign maid into the inner palace. The sky was already tainted with the orange tinge of twilight, streaks of purple slowly growing as the night closed in.

The ma...

91. Deal

It was impossible to not be intimidated by Aaliyah-al-Ydaz, her whole existence exuded a royal aura. The Sultanah and her daughter locked gazes as Aloe knelt, not daring to look.

“I already told you what I told you,” Rani responded. “It is not my fault you created false expectations i...

90. Sultanah

As the knocks awakened Aloe, her mind still wandered to the memories of that gazebo. It had been barely a few hours ago, and her mind would not let it pass.

“Yes?” Aloe groaned, trying to make her way out of bed.

“Venerable scribe,” an unknown female voice talked through the d...

89. Debauchery

Her presence wasn’t felt across the gazebo, the garden structure was big enough to support twice as many people inside. Aloe sat close to the maid – who was standing up – yet opposite to the sultanzade. Fatima was surrounded by nobles, one woman at each arm. The relaxed posture with the cur...

88. Quicksand

“Hmm, quite a simple abode for Rani’s first companion.” The unknown woman waltzed into Aloe’s room with a confidence that made quite obvious her status. “What is your name, girl?”

Aloe kept her mask up and sturdy, not letting the woman’s openness and intrusiveness bother her. ...

87. Palace

The scribe’s eyes keep darting from place to place, trying to devour everything in her line of sight. The capital was expansive, and she wouldn’t have enough time to even get out of the palace, so she wanted to see as much as she could even if it was from her limited position.

The path ...

86. Asina

“...up... Wake up...” A melodious voice broke through the nothingness. A soft caress on a frigid winter night, a candlelight on a moonless night. Night was the common denominator. “Wake up... otherwise... I may have to...”

Aloe’s eyes shot wide open, not daring the voice to finish...

85. Sleep

To say that she was uncomfortable with Rani’s decision, was an understatement. Right now, outside of the encampment site, only she and a soldier remained outside. It was this man’s turn to keep guard, no one wanted to be outside on a desert night even if they could rest beside a campfire. If ...

84. Road

The promised date soon arrived. Though dreadful would fit the description better.

Aloe had done her best to ready the palace for her absence, and Rani’s. She personally discussed with Fayruz and Idris so they could maybe deviate the weight of audiences towards themselves and prepare some ...

83. Blush

It wasn’t hard to continue with her duties the next day as she had arrived at Sadina quite early. Aloe had enough time to take the promised long bath and undo the layers of grime, dirt, and sand she had gathered these three days. As soon as her return became noticed, Lulu was quick to serve her...

82. External

Whether she wanted or not, her time in the oasis quickly ran out. There wasn’t much she could do, and even if there was, a day was not enough. The rest of her time was spent on trying different concentrations with the Grace’s Exaltation nectar, barely managing to make something she was please...

Cultivating Plants Bulk Art #2

It was time to publish it, now that all plants have been revealed.

Minor spoilers for the grown version of Nature's Bounty and Chlorotrophy, I guess?

Art done by @kissfortheelves on X (formerly known as Twitter)!

81. Aphrodisiac

Aloe caressed her neck as she juggled the waterskin with the other hand. “Ugh, I got used to the bed in the palace... My body is killing me after sleeping in that wooden slate Karaim had for a bed.”

The scribe’s breathing was slow, almost painful. She exhaled with exhaustion. With her...

80. Night

After having a simple lunch consisting of the leftovers of her previous lunch – because why cook for three days when you had imperial-level cooking that only needed to be reheated – and drinking her weight of water, Aloe was ready to continue working. She had barely two days and a half left a...

79. Addled

“Hmm~” Aloe bit her lip with all the strength she could muster. “This... itches... are...” She panted; words stopped coming from her mouth as she was out of air. “I...”

At some point, she removed her dress. She couldn’t recall when, but it was too drenched and gave her off too...

78. Itch

A lot of ideas and half-baked plans had been concocted in Aloe’s brain, but she left them on the back burner for now. These weren’t things she could apply in a single day, maybe not even a year. A whole lot more planning would be needed to even start.

For now, she returned to the shack,...

77. Healing

After having washed her hands on the oasis, Aloe returned to the greenhouse, her body tumbling in a mixture of giddiness and worry.

“Please don’t catch fire. Please don’t catch fire.” She muttered in a mantra, her mind set on the Blossomflame.

Foresight wasn’t exactly her st...

76. Fake

“Uh...” Aloe didn’t know what to make out of the leaf. “Rani... She’s... not human?” Air cycled in and out of her mouth in a fast motion. Her head turned dizzy.

She was hyperventilating.

A myriad of voices whispered in her mind. Some asked how, others reaffirmed themselves...

75. Discovery

Aloe felt exhausted, that was what using up twice one’s maximum vitality did to a girl. But this wasn’t her first time, far from it, so instead of passing out, she was just a bit tired. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t have time to rest.

“Fikali!” The scribe shouted at the blitzi...

74. Work

The promised week quickly passed by. Whilst mentally demanding, the position of the scribe of commoners wasn’t a difficult job. Aloe’s memory was constantly being challenged as she was forced to remember the names of multiple individuals related to the city’s upkeep and management, plus her...

73. Clearance

To say that her feather danced across the parchment would be an overstatement. Even though her dreams of ink monopoly had died as quickly as they spawned, Aloe still had some ink pots that someone had to use. Aloe Veritas ink was practically indistinguishable from normal ink, the main difference ...

72. Abuse

Lulu tiptoed behind Aloe as if her movements were about to disturb the archives. It was surprising for the scribe to see this aspect of the maid. Until now, Lulu had almost been the perfect idea of what a maid should be, the role model, so seeing the actual person behind the job comforted her. 2024-01-20 14:30:54 +0000 UTC View Post

71. Archives

A blurry deadline was the only thing that really mattered in Aloe’s future. Work had gone from tricky to menial in a matter of days. Tamara had been right when she said she wasn’t qualified for the job.

She was overqualified.

The role of the scribe of commoners, especially common ...

70. Control

For a moment, Aloe thought Tamara was joking. But she soon became aware that wasn’t the case. It makes sense. She told herself. From her understanding, I’m just a girl messing with normal plants and found a recipe to make ink from them. There’s nothing wrong with that. So I sho...