Chapter 73 The Dance of Cupid: "I lost, not because of love."...

The distinguished guest has arrived, and music immediately begins to play.

The delicate strings and a few drumbeats intertwine to create a cheerful entrance melody.

Eleanor took Andra's hand, and the two stepped into the bright hall together.

Bright? No, the palace was shrouded in darkness, like a muddy pond at night.

The main body of this hall is located in the lower middle part of the royal city, while the stands are made up of a series of "building blocks" on the upper level.

The main hall is surrounded by rooms of various sizes, forming a circular structure similar to a grand auditorium or an enclosed arena in later times.

The surrounding "private rooms" were dimly lit, with only a single light every long distance to faintly illuminate the way ahead, so that guests wouldn't step on the hems of their skirts.

Boom!

The stage at the very center was completely illuminated by oil lamps, and the jewels on the actors' bodies shone brightly with their enthusiastic dancing, reflecting a dazzling array of colors.

The dancers were the first to take the stage.

Most of them were extremely beautiful slaves selected through layers of screening. From childhood, their lives consisted only of training and performing on stage, and they dedicated their entire youth to nobles and the stage.

The dancers' skirts fluttered as they struck beautiful poses to the narration behind the curtain, then floated off the stage to the prompting drumbeats—dispersing quietly into the darkness.

The actor playing Cupid hurried past, carrying a luminous pearl symbolizing the power of life. He tiptoed to the left, then leaned to the right.

She ran to the music, swaying her head behind her and singing sweetly.

"Oh, my dear sister, why do you chase after her?"

"Love—life is born of love, two drops of blood meet in a river of blood, two hearts exchange their warmth."

"A brand new life, love is the reason for her continuation."

The goddess of love, who had temporarily seized power from her sister, fled swiftly, but the night belonged to Anne, the goddess of life and death.

Two groups of dancers dressed in black robes slowly emerged from behind the curtain, singing in unison.

"Naive—naive, naive!"

"Stupid—stupid, stupid!"

"My cunning and pitiful sister, please stop now."

The dancers in black robes dispersed, and An, with her long hair reaching her waist, slowly entered from the center.

Eleanor and Andra quietly took their seats, guided by their servants.

She noticed that there weren't many people in the hall, probably because the king only allowed some nobles of high status to stay and entertain guests, considering that Norlana and Hetuya were stronger.

According to the traditions of various countries, people of high status should sit in higher positions.

However, the best viewing seats in this opera house are actually in the front middle row.

So, to show respect to their distinguished guests, all the seats in front of and behind her were left empty, leaving the theater completely deserted.

Eleanor looked back at the stage and was surprised to find that even the opening dance was stunning.

The dancers must have shed countless drops of sweat to perfect such simple yet graceful movements.

In her previous life, she had never appreciated the dramas that the Belai people were so proud of, and she had never known that the Moonstorm Continent, which lacked entertainment, also had such vivid art.

Even though this drama could not reach the level of later operas due to technical limitations and contemporary aesthetics, its casting, singing, and choreography were already at their peak in its time.

"They're performing Cupid's Tale, ha, a special version of Cupid's Tale by Belle."

Andra spoke with great interest as she gently moved her lover's fingers in the darkness, their fingers suddenly intertwining.

Eleanor nodded, her gaze fixed intently on the stage.

Every country has its own version of myths and legends, and stories like gods descending to earth for trials and making bets naturally attract more attention and have more diverse adaptations.

However, they often start very similarly.

Perhaps it's because gods truly exist in this world that screenwriters dare not make arbitrary changes? At least no one dares to distort the origin of the story.

The theme of this play is a gamble between Lilia, the goddess of love, marriage and contracts, and her sister Anne, the goddess of life and death, cycles and reincarnation, for the power of "life".

The Great Mother Goddess gave birth to twelve children, and she allowed her daughters to exercise her authority on her behalf.

At the beginning of the story, the newly born gods are as selfish as newborn children. They believe that authority symbolizes a mother's love, so they instinctively fight for it.

In the beginning of time, there was chaos. They assisted the Great Mother Goddess in shaping the world, creating many races, and living with the gods in a dreamlike golden age.

The gods were in perfect harmony before the Great Mother Goddess, but as soon as she closed her eyes, they began a primal and bloody battle.

The Mother Goddess could indeed pull her children out of the river of blood and reshape them time and time again, but the ever-breaking daughters and the ever-breaking world soon caused the Great Mother Goddess to feel pain.

The Mother Goddess used her great power to forbid her daughters from fighting each other and from killing one another.

The Mother Goddess's power took effect immediately, but the wise deities soon discovered a loophole. They began to use all things in the world for a new round of divine war, even going so far as to create races solely for combat.

The earth was ravaged by carnage, mountains and rivers were shattered, and pools of blood overflowed. Countless cries once again awakened the Mother Goddess.

So He made a covenant with the stars in the sky, forbidding His daughters from using any violence to seize power, and redistributed authority to them.

The wager between Cupid and Death took place at the beginning of the Bronze Age.

In some way—in the Bael version, it is by promising the Sun King that she will be given a perfect lover and a powerful offspring, and that the King of the Underworld will help her steal Anne's life.

"Theft" was not within the Mother Goddess's prohibition, and the God of Love obtained the power of life as he wished, but found that he could not merge with it.

Death pursued her, and she used her great power to stop Cupid from taking her away. But as intelligent as she was, she naturally knew that Cupid had already formed a certain resonance with the power of life.

If Lilia refuses to relinquish control, Anne's authority will be compromised.

So the two deities reached a consensus after a heated argument—they would make a pact and wager on each other!

An on stage sneered.

"Alas, do not praise love with me."

"The love you advocate is just one of many desires. Human beings' love for new life cannot even compare to that for inanimate objects!"

Anne's words greatly angered Lilia.

Cupid responded with a passionate dance and words: she firmly believed that love was the most powerful force and the most precious gift that all creation possessed.

As the goddess of love, she must be the most important deity besides the mother goddess!

So Lilia initiated the divine covenant, and the two sisters made a bet under the witness of the stars.

The goddess of love needs to temporarily relinquish her unparalleled divine power and beauty, and attract a true princess solely with her "most lovable soul in the world".

If Cupid could obtain a princess's lifelong true love within five hundred years, then Anne would be willing to let Cupid take away the power of life. Conversely, Lilia must completely relinquish the power of life—never coveting it again.

Lilia questioned that the bet was too difficult, so they made another agreement: as long as the princess developed true love for Lilia, the god of love would regain a certain amount of his divine power whenever the affection accumulated to a certain level.

Cupid thought he had discovered a loophole in the bet: desire is also love!

Although she cannot reveal her identity as the goddess of love, as long as the princess knows that her lover can bring endless benefits, that love will only grow deeper and purer... and last a lifetime!

What link is stronger and more powerful than one of shared interests?

She didn't see the mockery in her sister's eyes and couldn't wait to jump off the stage to be reincarnated.

The set flips rapidly.

The stage was covered with gauze curtains that resembled ocean waves, which rustled as the dancers tumbled over them.

Eleanor had read Baley's version of the myth, and she knew that Cupid originally turned into a very, very ugly fish.

How ugly was she? So ugly that she had no scales. She drifted desperately in the sea for hundreds of years before finally encountering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, using her enormous body to save the princess who had fallen into the water.

This princess was clearly a princess: she was exceptionally beautiful, her jeweled crown had sunk into the sea, but her wet golden hair still shone brightly.

Whether their meeting was aided by the goddess of hope, Ashe, or the goddess of reversal, Anara, is another matter.

Lilia was clever; instead of directly asking the princess to love her, she asked to become friends with her.

The princess readily agreed, and she built a huge pool for the ugly Lilia, keeping her in her own palace.

Lilia is a goddess; she possesses vast knowledge and a broad perspective, and she can tell captivating stories with her beautiful singing voice.

The princess became fascinated by Lilia's knowledge, stories, and songs, and the two grew increasingly fond of each other.

Lilia felt the restraints loosen, and she couldn't wait to use her divine power to transform herself into a human-headed fish.

Lilia happily exploited the loophole: she didn't rely on her looks, you know? Because she had become a mermaid—how could she, no matter how beautiful, compare to the goddess of love?

To speed up the story's development, the stage play couldn't drag on like this.

The actress playing Cupid was initially in mermaid form, and she naturally rescued the princess from the sea and then moved into the palace.

The princess quickly fell for the beautiful mermaid.

The continuous goodwill she received helped Lilia regain even more of her magical powers.

Lilia began to deliberately guide the princess to use her power to gain more benefits: gold and pearls, loyal subjects, her mother's favor...

The princess became increasingly inseparable from her and loved her more and more.

With the help of the mermaid, the princess finally ascended the throne and became queen.

The grand wedding commenced as scheduled. The beautiful mermaid extended her long, slender legs beneath the blessing petals, and her last trace of fish-like form vanished completely.

Wang asked the mermaid:

My dearest wife, I am so grateful for all you have helped me! Is there anything I can do for you?

The mermaid—the beautiful queen—smiles surrounded by flowers.

"I want your love, and I want to spend my life with you."

Seeing Wang Jingying's tears, Lilia was certain of victory.

A year later, the Queen took the initiative to share the King's burdens, selecting the virtuous ministers she should be close to and the petty people she should distance herself from.

Three years have passed, and wherever the king goes, the queen follows him closely, making the right decisions for him and preventing one dangerous assassination attempt after another.

Seven years have passed... Lilia was shocked to find that the king's love for her had waned.

Why is this? She's still beautiful, intelligent, and amazing!

Lilia scrutinized everyone with a suspicious look, and finally found proof of the king's betrayal: the king actually had a lover and a child outside!

She drove away the lover who was destroying her marriage with arrows that severed their love, and then cornered the king in the room.

Once captured, Wang swore to the heavens that he would love only her from now on, or else he would make her die a violent death and never be reincarnated.

The agreed time was no longer enough for Cupid to find another person, so she reluctantly accepted the king's apology.

Wang held her hand and whispered, "If only we had a child."

Lilia was no longer able to create a perfect successor from the River of Blood, but she still tried her best to find an outstanding child to give to the king and designate as the heir to the kingdom.

The king said nothing, and Lilia grew weaker and weaker as time went by.

She watched numbly as her fish tail grew back, and she returned to the wide pool.

Wang never came to see her again after that—until one day, an ugly big fish surfaced in the pond, looking helplessly at the figure who pushed open the door and entered.

Wang Shuang approached the pool with his sword in hand, and the ugly fish raised its face and shouted at the ceiling—

"I lost—I lost!"

A graceful maiden leaped from the water, and the longsword easily came into Cupid's hand. With a gentle push, she pierced her lover's heart.

Lilia took out the power of life and held it in her hands.

"Sister, give me her soul."

An looked at her sister with pity, but said nothing.

A wisp of ghost materialized as a pearl and was tossed toward Lilia, while the pearl symbolizing the power of life was simultaneously released from her hand, and the exchange was completed in mid-air.

Lilia carried the king's soul in her arms.

Anne, having completely surrendered her life's authority, sighed softly: "Is this the kind of love you admire?"

Cupid shook his head and retorted, "I lost, it wasn't love."

"But you are Cupid."

Ann cast a sarcastic glance at him.

The actor playing Cupid responded with a long, lyrical song.

"Oh, it's all a gamble."

How can one expect to gain genuine affection through pretense?

"What I'm looking for isn't a true lover, but merely the illusion of victory."

"I don't love her? I don't love her, I don't love her."

As Lilia spun around gracefully, the actor playing Death raised an eyebrow slightly: "Really? You don't love her?"

"I don't love her."

"Then cast her soul aside."

Cupid stumbled in his final turn, and the story came to an abrupt end.

...

As the red curtain fell, Andra turned to her lover with a smile and said, "The stories of the Belai are really interesting. Our love legends aren't so complicated... Eleanor?"

She softly called her lover's name.

Eleanor... was already in tears.

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The author says: This story is a microcosm of many myths and fairy tales.

I feel that the moon and stars, like the blue planet, will gradually form a vast and complex system of legends, creating a strong sense of déjà vu even when they are far apart.

However, since gods truly exist on the Moonlit Continent, it's impossible for a god to suddenly appear in a story and seize power through marriage or blood ties.

The Great Mother Goddess delegated her authority to her daughters in the form of deities, but she herself still retains all powers. (Note: The term "He" and "She" are sometimes used interchangeably when describing deities, especially the daughters of the Mother Goddess.)

The mythology of that world would certainly not contain the chapter of "daughters devouring their mother's flesh and blood to gain power"—who would dare to write such a story is truly courting death.

Therefore, most of the chaotic plot points are attributed to clones, amnesia, bets, and the ancestors of humanity.

Incidentally, if a gacha game similar to Flying Dogs were to exist in the future, Eleanor and Andra would certainly have many unusual personalities: Is Andra a yang being or possessed by a war god? Is Eleanor Eva or the incarnation of Anne... and so on.