The King and the Priest[Comprehensive]

Except for an unexpected episode in the middle, this year's Opate Festival ended smoothly as usual.

The statues transported to the Luxor Temple were sent to the holy ship at sunset, and returned to the Karnak Temple a few kilometers away.

On the way back, the water in the river was stable, and there were no more disturbing disturbances.

After the ceremony, the pharaoh and all the noble people also returned along the same road.After a day of celebration, the people who received gifts such as bread and beer from the temple also followed them back to the city.

After a full day of celebration, everyone felt tired at the moment, and the road along the way was naturally not as lively as in the morning.

Only the poets who shuttled through the crowd were still excited, because although their voices were hoarse and busy today, they got the most wonderful creative materials.

The pharaoh's divine appearance needs to be sung every day, but who doesn't like to listen to new content full of ups and downs?

It is worth singing about the high priest breaking the treacherous spell, and his appearance that makes people lose their minds at the first sight must be praised.

It is conceivable that after going back today, it will not take long for the rumors about how the high priest of the Karnak Temple is like a god-man to spread longer and farther.

——Next year, the front row position on the shore of the Opate Festival will become even more sought-after without any surprise.

Everyone is generally very content today.

Except that there are still some people who have regrets in their hearts, and only because the high priest showed his face for a short time, they floated away with the holy ship. When all the priests appeared in front of the Luxor Temple to distribute the gifts of God, no one saw him. .

It is said that the high priest predicted in advance that there would be evil magicians lurking among the crowds participating in the festival, trying to cast spells on the statues and holy ships, so he responded accordingly and resolved the huge crisis.

After undoing the evil spirit, he felt a little tired, so he stayed in the holy ship to rest, and then returned early with the ship.

What a—what a loss!

The flowers in the eyes of women withered.

The flowers that some men quietly hid behind their backs also withered.

...Wait, why are there men? !

It seems that there are some very strange and unspeakable things.

Although to a certain extent, it intuitively shows the charm of the High Priest who crosses genders, but it also makes (very few) people who accidentally discover this point first surprised, and then inexplicably stunned.

"Don't think too much, isn't it normal for people to send flowers to respected people?"

"I was thinking too much—no, what was I thinking?"

"It's okay, just treat it as me not you who thinks too much."

Ugh.

Dazed by his adoptive brother's unpredictable expression, Moses, who couldn't tell the truth out of concern, could only say so.

In fact, it's not just out of "concern for the foster brother whose obvious thinking has not gone there".

In a rather helpless situation, Moses looked at his righteous brother's stinky face for a long time and almost pulled it down. Even if this expression appeared on a deliberately disguised face, it was extremely lethal.

The main purpose of their—no, mainly Moses—coming here was to get together more easily with the common people enjoying the festival.

Moses likes the atmosphere where all suffering is abandoned and everyone is unrestrained, free and happy.

But he didn't expect that Ramses would come to him and scare away countless children who wanted to play with him with his cold face that turned out to be more ferocious after a little disguise.

What's the matter? This is, no matter how unhappy Ramses is, it can't affect the happy mood of the children.

After thinking for a while, Moses finally spoke: "Dear Ramses, although I'm glad you didn't hesitate to go to Tahir, but thought of me first..."

"Could it be, did you unilaterally have a conflict with Tahir?"

The gentle and gentle words uttered from the mouth of the gentle and gentle white-haired young man were as sharp as needles.

Ramses (suddenly returning to his senses): "What? How can it be—Moses! Why did you just acquiesce that I unilaterally had conflicts with him!"

Moses sighed, but in the end he continued to save his brother's face, and didn't say it directly. Based on the experience of these years, Ramses, you are unilaterally angry dozens of times more than Tahir.

and.

——In matters related to that high priest, your mind can return to six years old in a second.

Do you still use an example? What is ready-made today is an example.

His Royal Highness may not be recognized as a real person because of his childish behavior that does not conform to the "majestic image of Prince Ramses" even if he does not pretend to be a prince.

At night, the young people in the long queue back to the city seemed to suddenly feel bad, and everything they encountered on the road was not pleasing to the eye.

He saw the men and women walking out of the temple with flowers in their hands, and their faces were full of regrets that they seemed to have not met anyone and sent flowers, so their faces became a little dark.

He listened to the discussion of the people around him who were still immersed in the wonderful day, and one person was mentioned repeatedly in those unsatisfactory words. The handsome face turned cold and couldn't help but turn darker.

He also heard the unwilling poet stepping on the high platform, singing the last song of the day intoxicated.

It is natural to praise God and the king, so there is no need to worry about it. It is the latter part that attracts the attention of the prince in the crowd.

The poem written to the high priest was replaced with new content so quickly, and the exaggerated description fell into his ears, and he didn't realize the true feelings that touched the bottom of the heart, but made him feel extremely irritated.

I thought to myself, what the hell is this writing, I kept piling up vocabulary, and it was not close to the broken poem written by the person with the same name I borrowed from Tahir a few years ago!

Ramses (angry and inexplicable): "I really want to gag their mouths!"

Moses:"……"

Ramses didn't notice that he dragged up the poem of the guy also named "Ramesses" for comparison, obviously he has always been hostile to that "Ramesses".

It can only be said that compared with "Ramesses", who has always disliked but occasionally magically resonates, the level of the poets is so bad that the prince can't bear it at all.

Fortunately, the masterpieces of the poets were not completely rejected by the picky prince.

Without knowing it, they quickly saved themselves. In order to avoid trouble, they wittily promoted another young hero, and sang together with the high priest who is very popular today.

——The most beautiful young man in Egypt is none other than Tahir, the high priest of the Sun Temple.

——The most heroic young man in Egypt is none other than our Pharaoh's son Ramses.

——One is the sun in the future, and the other is the high-hanging moon.

——Whether it is day or night, the warm or peaceful light shines on the lucky people...

Ramesses (with inexplicable mood improvement): "Well, it doesn't seem too bad to hear this, bear with it."

Okay, he's a little bit happier.

Moses:"……"

"I think I can write myself, and I can write much better than these people."

"Then you try to write it?"

"I'm not in the mood, too lazy to write."

Moses:"……"

At this point, Moses became more and more sure that Ramses, who was acting moody tonight, was definitely stimulated by the high priest, and it was definitely something he asked for.

"Rameses."

"Ok?"

"Between friends, no matter what misunderstandings occur, we should tolerate each other..."

Moses said: "But (Tahir has tolerated you too many times), shouldn't you take the initiative to resolve the misunderstanding with him this time?"

Ramses: "?"

Moses:"?"

Very abruptly, the two brothers stopped and looked at each other in silence for two seconds.

Moses soon discovered that he had misunderstood.

Because, Ramses looked at him with a real inexplicable look of "I don't know what you are talking about": "Moses, what are you talking about? There is no conflict between me and Tahir, it's fine."

Moses (shocked): "!"

This was an unexpected development, but if it happened, Moses would be confused again.

Since the pair of good friends who have been together for more than ten years have not had any conflicts, then, Ramses——

"Then why don't you go find him?"

"What did I ask him for?" Ramses continued to look back with more confused eyes than Moses: "Isn't Tahir feeling unwell?"

"........."

"what happened?"

"...No, it's all right."

It turned out that the righteous brother only thought of the poor righteous brother who had been wandering away all the year round because his good friend was unwell and it was inconvenient to disturb him.The poor brother-in-law never mentioned that he was a little hurt in his heart.

After sorting out his emotions, Moses first cared about the specific condition of the high priest's body, and he was relieved when he learned that there was nothing serious and that he was just a little tired as the rumors said.

The topic just happened to turn back just right.

"So, Ramses, why are you emotionally unstable? Is there any specific reason that makes you feel unhappy?"

"If you have to say it, I don't think... Wait a minute, Moses, don't you want to play with those children? Am I—"

"It's all said and done, it doesn't matter if the playing time is shortened."

Moses, who is gentle and sensitive to other people's emotions, is a very suitable person to talk to.

In addition, he has a deep relationship with Ramses, and on the premise of trust, Ramses can tell his brother what he would never tell others.

That's right, even Tahir couldn't listen to these words.

Probably because——it is impossible to tell the person concerned about the topic.

The opening remarks of the formal heart-to-heart talk are as follows:

"I just realized recently that sometimes, when I encounter things related to Tahir, emotions are always easily affected."

"How to say?"

"What else, you just found out, I don't seem to be happy to hear about Tahir from others—whether it's the name or the things he has done."

As Ramses spoke, he couldn't help but frown: "In short, no matter what you hear or see, you'll feel extremely irritable."

Saw someone looking at him.

I heard someone praise him.

I found that someone admired him very much, loved him——

what.

The performance mentioned to Moses is only here, and the key point seems to be subconsciously hidden later.

Ramses only remembered it afterward. His most irritating moment seemed to be after he realized that groups of people suddenly appeared in love with his "best friend".

The shouts that echoed in the sky on the shore were extremely ear-piercing, and the flowers held in the hands of men and women seemed to be fading, but they stared at them for no reason.

Ramses couldn't figure out what was going on.

The more he thought about it, the more puzzled he became, and the more he thought about it, the more depressed he became, that's why he piled up a wall of irritability.

But I didn't want this wall to be built outside my heart, perfectly enclosing my thoughts, so I could only turn around and crush each other even more aggrieved, directly encircling and suppressing the correct thoughts that had finally grown up, and there was not even a single sign left. down.

If at this critical moment, a witty person who is comparable to a life mentor stepped forward and woke him up with the simplest sentence, Ramses would surely be enlightened, and all the gloom in front of him would be wiped away.

But, it's a pity.

No one can tell his true hidden thoughts. Moses can see people thoroughly, but his focus is fundamentally wrong, and it is impossible to suddenly realize it.

Although Moses really tried hard to think about the distress of his righteous brother, he came to a conclusion that looked very reliable: "I think it may be because Tahir is your most important—"

"- let's be friends."

Ramses: "Huh?"

"Because they are the most important friends."

"Ah."

"So, there will be the idea of ​​'I don't want to see people who don't know Tahir at all like him just by looking at him'..."

"Ah."

"Should... also make sense?"

"...Huh? Is that so?"

"I tried my best, think about it for yourself?"

Moses really tried his best.

He tried his best to sort out the meaning clearly. He probably wanted to say that the reason why you are not happy seeing anyone should be because of your desire to monopolize your "friends".

Um, um, that's right, the word "possessiveness"!It sounds pretty accurate.

There is a "desire for monopoly" among friends, and friends with a good relationship are no exception, and the possibility of such emotions will be greater.

The desire for monopoly may arise in many ways.

For example, seeing a good friend seems to have a better relationship with someone other than yourself, a good friend who was cared for by himself before is suddenly cared by too many people, a good friend is liked by too many people, a good friend is too busy I don't have time to take care of myself...

There are too many reasons for this complex emotion, but the symptoms are very unified, nothing more than being extremely displeased with people who seem to have the tendency to take away their only friend (in fact, they don't).

Moses felt very similar to the current Ramses, well, it was exactly the same.

"Well... Let's argue again. When you hear others praise him, besides being angry, don't you at least feel happy?"

Ramses frowned and pondered.

He groaned and pondered, and actually reluctantly admitted: "It's a little bit, probably."

Because the irritability and anger dominated, the satisfaction that came with it seemed particularly inconspicuous. If Moses didn't say it, he didn't realize that he would still be happy.

The world recognizes, appreciates, and loves his best friend. Ramses should have been satisfied.Because that's what he wanted from the start.

Tahir is capable and talented, and he has gathered everything worthy of everyone's admiration and admiration. He should be known by everyone, instead of being bullied and buried in obscurity.

With hard work to this day, Ramses' expectations more than ten years ago can be said to have been fully realized.

but.

but--

Although the saying "It's only because you care too much about your friends that you don't like to let more people know about your friends' goodness, and you will be happy for them if you really achieve something" sounds fine at first glance...

It still doesn't make sense!

Don't ask him what doesn't make sense, Ramses said.

If he knew, he wouldn't continue to worry and frown.

I don't know where it doesn't make sense, but I just feel that something is wrong subconsciously, and there must be something wrong with some important link.

"..."

"Forget it, if you think about it carefully, there seems to be no problem, so I'll just accept this conclusion."

Ramses reluctantly accepted it in the end, and planned to think about it after going back.

Moses is happy for his foster brother who (presumably) has the answer.

"It's just Ramses, what about the sense of distance you just mentioned?"

"What, did I say it?" Ramesses was startled at this moment, and he accidentally said something that he had also kept in his heart for a long time.

Having said that...it doesn't matter.Although this was something he cared about very much, it was not the most important thing after all.

Ramses simply went on to talk to Moses, only knowing that for some reason, he felt that the distance between him and his best friend had lengthened, as if he was not as close as he was when he was a child.

"...Are you really sure that this is not what you think too much?"

"Probably not, this feeling is much more obvious."

The main reason is that Ramses is more aware of the existence of "distance" than "exclusive desire for good friends".

That is, in recent years.

He and Tahir are still very busy, and the number of meetings and correspondence is very small.

Ramses had always believed that his friendship with Tahir would not be affected by time and place. After all, they had communicated in similar ways for a long time in the past.

however.

Instead, Ramses felt a little lost after he was free and finally able to return to the royal city.

The topic of his chat with Tahir seems to have become a lot less all of a sudden.

Talk about change.

Could it be that the reason that really gave him a "sense of distance" was...

"Rameses, since you feel that there are fewer topics to talk about, what do you usually talk about?"

"I was the one talking most of the time, and he occasionally added a few sentences. Well, about my experience in the barracks, how many enemies I killed, the first spoils I collected, and—"

"Hey, no wonder it happened."

Even Moses would be speechless to this righteous brother whose IQ had dropped in front of the high priest.

"Change to a topic that both of you are interested in. Or, it would be good to talk about the past. How come there is nothing to say, but you just ignored it."

"........."

"right?"

Ramses: "...Moses! You are worthy of being a wise man!!!"

Whoops!

There was a little turmoil in the mighty crowd, and a young man who seemed to be really enlightened suddenly burst out laughing, the voice was really loud enough.

"Hahahahahahaha - thank you Moses, I know what to do, you play slowly, I'll go first!"

After laughing and talking.

The young man whose laughter was particularly eye-catching took off the covering cloth wrapped around his head and wiped a handful of dust—he himself painted it on his face as a camouflage. When he strode forward, his eyes were extraordinarily bright.

Everyone who saw him could clearly see those iconic golden pupils at a glance.

"..."

"His Royal Highness Prince?!"

Pretended for a long time.

The result is perfectly exposed, dear Prince Ramses.

……

The night is already deep.

The light in the temple will not be extinguished, but it is indeed a little dimmer than the day.

The annual grand festival had just ended, and the priests who had been busy all day were exhausted and fell asleep early.

Even the guards outside the temple were affected, and they became dizzy with consciousness.

Because of this, they didn't notice the shadow passing by.

That black shadow was obviously familiar with the road, and he didn't know that he had sneaked hundreds of times like this swaggeringly.

How to walk and how to go around are all under control, the black shadow avoids the patrolling guards familiarly, and comes to the wilderness far away from the main temple, where he can see the only stone house standing in it at a glance.

"Black Shadow" went in alone, and was spinning around in the room trying to light the lamp, when he suddenly heard a movement from the door.

Originally there would be no sound.

The person who came later walked very lightly, and he was so light that he seemed to have no weight. The sound of his footsteps could not be heard outdoors at all.

But this time, the voice was clearly heard.

It seemed that someone came from quite a distance, and because of anxiety, he couldn't help but make the falling steps aggravate, and accidentally bumped into the door.

There was a bang, and the wooden door was pushed open.

The lantern carved in the shape of a lotus swayed, and first sprinkled orange light into the dark room.

"Black Shadow" is no longer a black shadow, but a brown-haired young man with his hands folded and his expression slightly restrained.

He watched the light come in, and watched the person who carried the lantern step into the door in a hurry, from a noble priest with a cold face during the day, to someone who was simply his best friend.

Of course, it's not the same transformation as a complete change of person.

The blond-haired, blue-eyed High Priest hadn't changed out of his solemn white robe, and only half of his hair ornaments had been taken off.

His temperament is still cold and unattainable, which cannot be melted away at any time.

However, when he looked up at Ramses, what appeared in his eyes was not indifferent calm, but unexpected—an instant deterrence only for Ramses.

"what happened?"

Ramses: "Uh."

I can feel this powerful deterrent force, so that he can't do it without losing face.

Therefore, His Royal Highness, who was also extremely proud outside, gave in very frankly.

"It's nothing, I just accidentally got into the crowd, accidentally exposed my identity, caused a commotion, and accidentally caused an accident because the people were too enthusiastic. The child in my life was accidentally knocked down, and his left hand was probably broken..."

"That's all."

Listen, how simple it is—and how humiliating it is.

Ramses didn't want to tell anyone.

But since he didn't think about going back to the palace at the first time, he chose to send a letter to his best friend in the temple, asking him to come to the secret base to help him heal his hand...

Be prepared to withstand the storm.

Tahir: "..."

Tahir would not "storm" him.

After hearing the ins and outs, the blond high priest raised his eyelids slightly.

He first let the eagle that had been sitting on his shoulder after delivering the letter fly up and land on the shelf in the corner of the house, instead of caring for his dear friend who was so miserable that his hand was broken.

The lotus lantern was also casually placed on the shelf. Turning around at this time, the brown-haired young man who was reasonably ignored was looking at him with very stubborn eyes.

"Tahir, there is indeed a distance between you and me."

"..."

The blond high priest didn't speak, but Ramses saw the meaning in his eyes: What are you talking nonsense again.

Ramses was a little annoyed and a little annoyed.

Just a moment ago, Tahir was forcibly pushed away by the prince because he was moved and satisfied because he rushed here for him.

He thought, this is absolutely not possible, it has to be said——

"...!"

Caught off guard, Ramses found that a blond young man who was as spotless as an ice lotus had walked in front of him at some point.

And, the heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

Tahir actually raised his hand, as if he was about to reach out and touch his...

"..."

"........."

"Master Mejed, did you run over my head again?"

"Ah."

The high priest skillfully removed Lord Mejed from the top of the prince's head. Only this meticulous and careful action still carried a little warmth.

"Master Mejed, today's Ramses is too stupid to look directly at him, it's better that you stay away from him."

"...I'm really going to be angry!"