"It's ready!!"
Shin's voice, clear and confident, cut through the smoky haze of the kitchen. The servants, who had been watching him with a mixture of awe and terror, now stared at the three plates he had prepared. On each was a generous portion of a golden, fluffy scramble, studded with colorful vegetables and chunks of the savory cured meat, all topped with a sprinkle of the sharp, grated cheese. It was simple, rustic, and it smelled like heaven.
He picked up the first plate and walked towards the two divine beings who dominated the room. He handed it first to Luna, whose smile was a beacon of warmth. Then, he offered the second plate to Solara.
She sniffed haughtily, turning her nose up. "I told you, I don't eat mortal slop."
"You haven't even tried it," Shin said, his patience unwavering.
Before their standoff could escalate, the timid maid, Mystia, stepped forward, her eyes still wide with wonder. Shin turned to her, his expression softening.
"And what's your name?" he asked.
"M-My name is Mystia, Your Majesty," she stammered, bowing her head.
"This is for you, too," Shin said, holding out the third plate.
Mystia recoiled as if she'd been struck. "Oh no, no, that's not allowed, my King! I am just a servant."
"It's quite alright," Luna interjected, her voice filled with a gentle authority that left no room for argument. She placed a reassuring hand on Mystia's shoulder. "Please, accept it as a kindness from my husband."
The combination of the Queen's touch and the word "husband" seemed to overwhelm the poor girl. Her face flushed, and she took the plate with trembling hands. "Th-thank you, my King!!" she stammered, before quickly scurrying out of the kitchen, overcome with a mixture of gratitude and embarrassment.
Now, only two plates remained. Shin held one out to Solara again. She looked from the plate to Shin's calm, expectant face, then over to Luna, who was already taking her first bite.
The moment the food touched Luna's lips, her eyes widened. A soft, involuntary gasp escaped her. It was a look of pure, unadulterated shock, followed by a wave of pure bliss. She closed her eyes, savoring the taste as if it were the most exquisite ambrosia she had ever tasted.
The sight was too much for Solara. Her pride warred with her curiosity, and her curiosity was fueled by the incredible aroma and the look on her sister's face. With a huff of indignation, she snatched the plate from Shin's hand.
"Fine!" she declared, her voice a mix of defiance and surrender. "I'll do your rite! Just let me eat this!"
She shoved a large spoonful into her mouth, her expression still defiant.
And then, she froze.
Her eyes, the color of a summer sky, went wide. The spoon clattered from her hand, landing on the floor with a loud clatter. It was an explosion of flavor she had never conceived of. It was warm, comforting, and complex. It was the taste of a hearth, of a home she had never known. It was, in a word, divine.
Luna opened her eyes, a single, happy tear tracing a path down her cheek. "Shin... this is... this is not just food," she whispered, her voice filled with reverence. "It's memory. It's care. It's a taste of your world, of your soul."
Solara, meanwhile, had abandoned all pretense of dignity. She was now eating directly from the plate, shoveling the food into her mouth with her bare hands, her face a mask of pure, gluttonous ecstasy.
"MORE!" she yelled, her mouth full. "SHIN! MAKE MORE!"
Shin just stood there, a small, tired smile on his face. He had faced down a warrior, been proclaimed king, and argued with a goddess. But watching the Sun and the Moon fight over a simple plate of scrambled eggs... that, he decided, was the most surreal moment of his new life. And somehow, it felt like his first true victory.
For a while, the only sounds in the room were the clinking of cutlery and Solara's increasingly enthusiastic groans of pleasure. The Sun, the untamable force of nature, had been utterly defeated by a plate of scrambled eggs. When the last morsel was gone, she leaned back in her chair, a look of pure, unadulterated bliss on her face, a stark contrast to her earlier fiery defiance.
Luna dabbed her lips with a silk napkin, a serene, satisfied smile on her face. She looked at her sister, who was now practically purring. "Well, Solara," she said, her voice laced with amusement. "A promise is a promise."
Solara's eyes snapped open. The blissful haze vanished, replaced by a sudden, panicked clarity. She remembered her bargain. She looked from her empty plate to Shin, who was calmly gathering the dishes.
"W-w-wait a minute!" she stammered, her blush returning with a vengeance. "I was... I was delirious from hunger! It doesn't count!"
"It counts," Luna said, her voice leaving no room for argument. "And the Void is not going to wait for you to digest your breakfast."
Shin, who had been enjoying the brief moment of normalcy, felt his stomach clench again. He looked at Solara, who was now fidgeting in her seat, her bravado completely gone, replaced by a squirrelly embarrassment.
He took a deep breath, channeling the kingly authority Luna said he had. He walked over to her, his expression calm but firm.
"Are you ready, Solara?"
Her head snapped up, her sky-blue eyes wide with a mixture of fury and terror. "don't ask!!" she yelled, her voice cracking. "It's embarrassing! Just... just do what you know!"
She squeezed her eyes shut, her face a burning crimson, bracing herself as if for a blow.
Luna guided them from the dining chamber to a more private, opulent room—a bedchamber with a large, canopied bed draped in silks the color of a sunrise. The air was thick with tension.
Shin looked at Solara, who stood stiffly by the bed, her hands clenched into fists, her entire body radiating nervous energy. This was different from Valeria. Valeria was a wall of cold, hard steel. Solara was a furnace of raw, untamed power.
He reached out and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
The moment he touched her, a surge of energy shot up his arm. It wasn't the cold, formidable will of a warrior; it was pure, unadulterated, chaotic power. It was like grabbing a live wire made of sunlight. The room temperature skyrocketed. The air crackled.
Solara gasped, her eyes flying open. The energy wasn't just radiating from her; it was pouring into him, wild and uncontrolled.
He remembered Luna's words. Don't meet her on the battlefield of strength. Meet her in here. And in here.
This wasn't about breaking her. It was about taming her. About becoming the focal point for her boundless energy.
He pulled her closer, ignoring her startled squeak. He didn't try to overpower her. Instead, he let his own divine aura, the cool, steady power of a king, flow into her. It was like pouring cool water onto a raging fire. The energy didn't stop; it began to circulate between them, a chaotic loop of solar fire and kingly control.
The Rite began. It wasn't a battle of wills, but a symphony of convergence. Clothes were shed not in violence, but in a frantic need to close the distance, to complete the circuit. He guided her to the bed, not as a conqueror, but as a conductor guiding a wild, beautiful orchestra.
As their bodies joined, the loop closed. The energy became a vortex, a contained supernova of golden light and raw life force. Shin was at its center, the calm eye of the storm, channeling Solara's immense power. He wasn't just taking it; he was shaping it, directing it, giving it purpose.
With a final, shuddering cry that was part pleasure, part release of immense power, Shin let the energy go. A blinding pulse of pure, golden light erupted from the room, shooting through the castle walls and racing across the sky towards the east, towards the Sunken Plains.
In the aftermath, they lay tangled in the silks, both panting and utterly spent. The room was warm, bathed in a soft, golden afterglow.
Shin turned his head to look at Solara. Her fiery hair was spread across the pillow, her face was flushed, and her eyes, when she opened them, were no longer defiant or embarrassed. They were soft, hazy, and filled with a dawning, reverent awe.
She looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. Not as a soft-faced man, not as a ridiculous king, but as the one who had done the impossible. He hadn't just tamed the Sun. He had become its master.