Serpent Emperor's Bride

Chapter 179: The Pink Light Beneath the Sands

[Silthara Palace — Emperor’s Chambers — Dawn]

Dawn arrived slowly across Silthara Palace, not with brightness but with soft gold spreading carefully across marble balconies and sleeping courtyards while the desert sky shifted from deep indigo into pale amber.

The palace still rested in silence; most lanterns remained dim and most corridors still empty, but inside the emperor’s chambers, someone was already awake.

Levin stood quietly before the wide balcony doors, silver robes loose around him while dawn winds moved softly through his hair. One hand rested unconsciously against his abdomen, protective and habitual.

Behind him, Zeramet still slept or at least pretended to, because despite keeping his eyes closed, his enormous long silver serpent tail had remained tightly wrapped around Levin’s ankle the entire time.

As if even asleep, he distrusted distance. Levin glanced downward toward the tail and then sighed softly. "...possessive serpent."

Immediately the tail tightened proudly.

Levin stared in disbelief. "You were awake?"

A low, amused voice drifted lazily from the bed. "I became awake the moment my moonflower attempted escape."

Levin turned slightly.

Zeramet still lay against the silk cushions with eyes half-lidded, silver hair spread carelessly across dark sheets while morning light touched sharp, tanned features. Entirely too relaxed for someone currently imprisoning another person with his tail.

"I was not escaping." Levin crossed his arms lightly. "I merely wished to enjoy the morning quietly."

"Hm." Zeramet finally opened one eye suspiciously. "Without me?"

Levin genuinely looked offended now. "You are attached to my leg."

"That is because experience has taught me caution."

Levin blinked once, then slowly narrowed his eyes. "...you speak as though I vanish away from the palace regularly."

"You had a thought."

"That happened once."

"Still...you had a thought."

Levin immediately looked away toward the balcony again, and in the silence, then—Zeramet laughed softly beneath his breath, warm, sleep-heavy, and dangerously attractive.

The silver tail finally loosened enough for Levin to move, but not completely.

"Come here."

Levin sighed dramatically. "You command too much in the morning."

"And yet you still obey."

That earned him a look, but eventually Levin walked back toward the bed anyway because despite his complaints the warmth waiting there had already begun feeling like home. The moment he sat beside him, Zeramet immediately pulled him closer against his chest again without shame.

One arm wrapped around Levin’s waist while the silver tail returned possessively across both their legs.

Levin did not resist and for several moments neither spoke. They simply remained there while dawn slowly brightened the chamber around them.

Quiet and breathing.

Then suddenly three sharp knocks echoed outside the chamber doors.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Both of them looked up immediately from outside. Iru’s respectful voice echoed softly. "Malik...Malika...the bath has been prepared."

Levin blinked, and meanwhile, Zeramet only smiled lazily before pressing one quick kiss against Levin’s forehead.

"Come, my moonflower." His voice lowered warmly. "We still have an empire collapsing beneath paperwork and murderous orcs."

Levin smiled faintly and nodded.

***

[Later — Zeramet’s Office Chamber]

If dawn within the royal chambers had been peaceful, the emperor’s office felt like war, not battle war but administrative war.

Parchments covered nearly every visible surface once again. Fresh reports had already replaced yesterday’s stacks.

Trade maps remained spread across the central table while military markers, caravan routes, and eastern border sketches littered the chamber beneath flickering lanternlight.

At the center, Zeramet stood near the long strategy table dressed fully in dark imperial robes now, sharp, composed, and dangerous again.

No trace remained of the sleepy husband from earlier. Beside him stood Levin, calmer than before but equally focused, his silver robes layered elegantly while one hand occasionally rested unconsciously against his abdomen.

Nearby Iru quietly poured tea while several attendants organized reports into neat piles before quickly retreating from the increasingly tense atmosphere.

Then the chamber doors opened heavily. Raevhan entered swiftly, carrying a thick sealed parchment case; dust still clung to his dark armor.

Meaning the report had arrived recently.

Very recently.

He immediately bowed deeply. "Malik. Malika."

Zeramet’s golden gaze sharpened instantly. "The Sah’qir report."

Raevhan stepped forward immediately and placed the sealed documents carefully upon the strategy table as his expression darkened slightly. "The eastern knights sent everything they gathered before sunrise, and...they requested immediate imperial attention."

The chamber quieted instantly. Levin exchanged one glance with Zeramet before opening the first parchment himself.

The deeper he read, the colder his expression became.

"The village wells are nearly empty..." His voice lowered slightly. "Food reserves exhausted six months

ago."

Zeramet reached for another report beside him; his jaw tightened. "The caravans delivering emergency supplies never arrived."

Raevhan nodded grimly. "They disappeared along the eastern routes."

Levin’s gaze moved rapidly across another parchment, then suddenly paused. "...missing villagers?"

Raevhan’s expression shifted immediately—not fear but something worse. "Yes, Malika. Twenty-three villagers disappeared over the last month."

Silence.

Levin slowly lowered the parchment. "Orcs do not abduct villagers."

"Exactly." Zeramet’s voice came dangerously calm now, and the chamber air shifted instantly because now both rulers had reached the same conclusion simultaneously.

This was not random violence; this was organized. Intentional. Then Raevhan slowly unrolled the final parchment.

Unlike the others, this one had been sealed urgently in black wax. "The survivors also described the creatures in detail."

Levin immediately stepped closer. "...show me."

Raevhan spread the parchment across the table. A rough charcoal sketch stared back at them. Massive orc-like figures, distorted bodies. Black markings spread across their flesh like burned veins.

Metal restraints were hammered directly into bone and their eyes; their eyes glowed crimson. The chamber fell deathly silent.

Zeramet’s gaze darkened instantly. "...those markings."

Levin froze beside him because he recognized them too, not fully but enough. Ancient serpent binding symbols, the forbidden ones.

Then Raevhan finally spoke the part he had clearly avoided saying earlier. "The survivors heard the creatures speaking before attacking."

Levin slowly lifted his gaze. "What exactly did they say?"

Raevhan hesitated only briefly and then quietly answered: "They were searching for an egg."

The lantern flames flickered violently across the chamber, and this time even Zeramet’s expression changed completely because suddenly the eastern attacks no longer felt distant.

They felt personal.

Very personal.

Then quietly...very quietly Levin asked, "...what kind of egg?"

No one answered immediately because the report itself had not clarified it. Raevhan finally spoke after a pause. "The surviving villagers claimed the creatures repeated the same phrase several times before attacking."

Zeramet’s expression hardened. "Repeat it exactly."

Raevhan nodded once, then unfolded another smaller parchment beside the reports. His voice lowered slightly while reading the witness testimony.

"Find the egg beneath the rose-colored star. The sleeping jewel must return. The pink light belongs to the abyss."

Silence, an absolute silence. Even the lantern flames seemed to dim afterward, Levin’s brows furrowed immediately.

"...rose-colored star?"

Zeramet slowly crossed his arms. "I have never heard such phrasing before."

Raevhan nodded grimly. "Neither have the eastern scholars. The villagers believed the creatures were speaking madness."

But Levin had gone still, completely still because somewhere deep inside his memory—something tugged faintly.

A strange discomfort like hearing a forgotten word from somewhere he don’t remember.

"The sleeping jewel..." He murmured quietly to himself then suddenly his hand moved unconsciously toward his abdomen.

Zeramet noticed immediately. "Consort?"

Levin blinked once and looked up quickly almost startled by his own reaction. "...it is nothing."

But it did not feel like nothing, not entirely. Meanwhile Zeramet reached toward the parchment again, studying the phrases more carefully.

"Pink light..." His golden eyes narrowed slightly. "...could this refer to some ancient relic?"

Raevhan shook his head slowly. "There are no records of treasures or sacred gems near Sah’qir Village."

Levin remained unusually quiet, still staring downward and thinking because the words felt wrong, not random, not meaningless but specific.

Too specific.

"The pink light belongs to the abyss..." He repeated softly then frowned deeper. "...why does that sound less like a warning...and more like a claim?"

That made the chamber colder instantly.

Zeramet looked toward Levin carefully now. "You think something is being searched for intentionally?"

Levin nodded slowly.

"Yes...and whatever it is..." His fingers tightened slightly against the edge of the strategy table. "...the creatures already believe it exists."

The wind outside suddenly howled violently against the palace windows. One parchment slid from the table onto the floor; no one moved to pick it up because suddenly the eastern desert no longer felt like a simple battlefield.

It felt ancient, forgotten, watching, and somewhere far beyond Sah’qir Village, buried beneath endless dunes, something connected to a rose-colored light waited silently in the dark.

Something no one inside the chamber yet understood, but whatever it was, the Black Serpents clearly did.

Zeramet slowly straightened beside the strategy table. The lanternlight cast long shadows across his dark imperial robes while his golden serpent eyes remained fixed upon the parchment mentioning the rose-colored star.

Then finally he spoke.

"We leave for the eastern desert immediately." The words landed heavily inside the chamber.

Beside him, Levin remained silent for a brief moment before slowly nodding because he understood it too now. Waiting longer would only allow the eastern situation to worsen.

And whatever searched for that "egg"...it was already moving faster than the empire.

Raevhan immediately stepped forward and bowed deeply. "I shall inform Captain Varesh at once."

His voice sharpened professionally now.

"We will prepare the imperial guards, desert scouts, supply caravans, and traveling physicians before sunset."

Zeramet nodded once. "No delays."

"As you command, Malik."

Nearby, Iru bowed immediately as well. "Then I shall prepare for the Malika’s departure."

Levin glanced toward him quietly then nodded once. "Thank you, Iru."

Around them the chamber slowly awakened into motion. Attendants hurried toward shelves gathering maps. Knights were summoned. Sealed orders prepared. Messengers dispatched through the palace corridors and at the center of it all—Levin stood beside Zeramet silently.

Their shoulders nearly touching.

Two rulers, two husbands and perhaps the only serpents within Zahryssar who still did not fully understand what waited beneath the eastern sands.

Zeramet’s gaze slowly shifted toward the distant desert visible beyond the palace windows. Far beyond the golden dunes.

Far beyond Sah’qir Village, toward something ancient enough to make monsters search beneath the moon.

Then quietly almost to himself he murmured: "...let us see what the desert has buried."

Outside the winds of eastern Zahryssar howled louder. As though the sands themselves had heard him.