10 Purification

Since the last time he spoke with Raheris, Boy hadn’t sought him out alone until it was his turn to teach on Monday again. Only then did he calmly appear before the young Pharaoh.

“I thought you were lying again,” Raheris said with a slight twist of his mouth.

After talking, Boy would vanish without a trace; who wouldn’t be suspicious, especially since their goal was to overthrow an opponent like Meret?

Boy raised an eyebrow slightly. “What is my request?”

Raheris fell silent for a moment before responding decisively, “...I apologize.”

Their cooperation hinged on one premise: to firmly choose to trust Boy. Yet, from the start, he had already broken the rule.

Todd hurried forward and pulled out a chair for Boy, who nodded slightly and sat down.

Seeing he was no longer needed, Todd bowed and stepped back, retreating all the way outside the palace. He had not forgotten the sacred task entrusted to him by Lord Ai.

“What shall we do?” Raheris’s expression remained composed, but the question betrayed the urgency in his heart.

He was eager to know what the man before him intended to do.

A desk separated them, but perhaps due to the emotional charge, the young man didn’t notice that his leaning forward brought him slightly closer to the other.

His dark golden eyes reflected Boy’s figure, along with the light pouring through the stained glass.

Boy’s brow twitched slightly as he extended a single finger.

Raheris didn’t understand the gesture and wondered if it was some sort of secret code.

Boy smiled faintly. “First, always maintain social distance from me. I hate it when people get too close.”

Unfamiliar with the ancient Egyptian unit of length, he drew a line across the desk with his hand—about one and a half meters.

“That is social distance.”

This was not the first time Raheris had seen such open disdain from this man. Unlike those who loved to put on airs, this man’s dislike was plainly displayed on his face.

Often, when Raheris wanted to get angry, this frankness made him reconsider whether he was being too petty.

He endured it and nodded, stepping back two paces as Boy requested.

Satisfied, Boy nodded slightly and then got down to business. “Our goal is a long process requiring extensive planning. It’s like a game of chess—one wrong move, and the whole game is lost. Treat it as a battlefield to fight on.”

When he and Raheris made their agreement, Todd and Amante were blocked by the public on the road, so no one else knew about this matter except the two of them.

Of course, Raheris might tell others, but as long as it wasn’t Meret, it wouldn’t affect him much.

After all, in the eyes of the temple, he was now one of their own. Overthrowing Meret was the temple’s ultimate goal at this stage!

Perhaps to keep today’s conversation secret, not even the palace attendants remained. The hall was so quiet that even their breathing could be heard.

Raheris struggled to understand Boy’s words. He knew well how difficult it was to shake Meret’s position.

Boy spread out teaching materials on the desk. “First, I need to know your relationship with the temple and whether you have any other trump cards.”

Raheris thought for a moment. “The temple wants to overthrow Meret. They think I’m a useful pawn, but if they have any plans, they won’t communicate with me unless it concerns me directly.”

“And your trump card?” Boy asked lazily, as if just casually.

Raheris shook his head. “My mother was a foreigner with no influence in Egypt, just a fallen minor noblewoman from her homeland. She committed suicide when I was four. After that, Meret helped me ascend to Pharaoh.”

In just a few words, he summed up his entire life so far.

Boy looked at him, his gaze wandering over the boy’s face. The youth seemed uncomfortable with such direct eye contact and lowered his eyes with some unease. Boy withdrew his gaze indifferently.

“I have one more request,” Boy said.

Raheris looked up. “What?”

Boy said, “You may refuse to answer things you don’t want to say, but you must not lie.”

If the desk got dirty, he could clean it, but he disliked wasting effort cleaning only to find the desk was coated with waterproof paint.

Raheris was stunned and instinctively clutched at the hem of his clothes.

“Is your trump card the temple?” Boy asked directly, as this would determine whether his plan could succeed.

Raheris denied it. “No. In their eyes, I’m just a puppet.”

Boy nodded in understanding.

“I don’t care what other cards you have, but whatever I tell you, you cannot share with anyone.” When he said “anyone,” Boy’s tone grew heavier.

Both knew exactly who “anyone” referred to.

“I can guarantee that,” Raheris promised.

He didn’t know how Boy had guessed, but he felt relieved that the other did not press further.

“What do we do now?” This was Raheris’s main concern.

He wanted to know what the slave who claimed he could overthrow Queen Meret was prepared to do.

Boy raised an eyebrow. “Wait and do nothing.”

“What do you mean?” Raheris wondered. Did that mean to do nothing at all?

Boy leaned back in his chair, relaxed. “A hunter’s steps are light because he knows he is part of nature.”

Raheris remained silent, vaguely understanding the meaning behind those words.

Egyptian nobles hunted, but most of the time Raheris watched from a high platform. His real experience with hunting came before he became Pharaoh.

He once accompanied an old hunter into the wilderness, hiding motionless in the mosquito-infested grass clad in a grass cloak all day.

That day, he saw with his own eyes a strong leopard pierced through the neck by an arrow, powerless to resist.

It didn’t even realize its enemy was the two-legged beast it had always looked down upon as weak and feeble.

Boy generously explained further: “We wait for the prey to come within our range.”

Before then, all they needed was enough patience and to avoid being detected by the potential prey.

In this regard, they currently held a great advantage.

A powerless male favorite and a Pharaoh stripped of authority—no one in the palace was easier to ignore than them.

“Who is the target?” Raheris asked.

He wasn’t foolish enough to think their first target was Meret.

Boy shrugged and smiled. “Hunting requires some luck; sometimes it’s a rabbit, sometimes an antelope. Who knows?”

Raheris nodded. “I understand.”

In short, just wait.

“Lord Ai.” Amante approached hastily and stood at the foot of the steps waiting.

Boy turned his head to look at him. Normally, his teaching hadn’t finished, so Amante wouldn’t return so early unless something had happened.

Raheris also looked up, curious about the little attendant’s business.

Amante hesitated, glancing at Raheris uncertain whether it was appropriate to speak now.

“Speak,” Boy said, unconcerned about sharing Amante’s message with the young Pharaoh.

Amante bowed slightly. “I just encountered Priest Akres of the temple. He asked me to bring a message to you.”

Boy recalled, but the name was unfamiliar.

“The priest said you have not reported to the temple and reminded you that tomorrow is the Day of Baptism. You must attend.” Actually, Priest Akres had said many mocking things about Lord Ai, but Amante omitted those to avoid spoiling his master’s mood, only conveying the essential part.

Only Batbal and a few high priests knew his true identity as a secret agent. To others, Boy was still Meret’s despised male favorite.

Boy was momentarily stunned. Report to the temple?

Seeing his confusion, Amante kindly reminded him, “Lord, don’t you forget, besides being a prophet, you are also a priest...”

Boy thought for a moment. “What does a priest have to do?”

He had only been a priest for a day before volunteering as Pharaoh’s prophet, so he didn’t know priests had to report and had other duties.

“The most important is daily rituals,” Amante said. “The temple usually assigns other tasks too—managing temple accounts, overseeing funerals, observing the stars, and more.”

Boy understood and nodded. “Alright, I’ll go tomorrow. Anything else?”

Amante bowed. “No.”

Boy said, “Then go rest in the side hall. Your Majesty still has lessons here for a while.”

Amante replied, “Yes,” and left the palace. Once sure no one was watching, he briskly set off.

Halfway, he was stopped by Priest Akres. Afraid of suspicion, Amante returned. He still needed to chat with the minister’s servants.

“This is your assigned homework.”

A stack of papyrus was handed over. Boy glanced down; hieroglyphs were already abstract, and with the boy’s further stylization, it was nearly impossible to discern the content.

“Are you slacking off on me?” Boy asked.

Raheris’s face darkened immediately. “You’re a slave, yet you demand so much.”

In fact, this was the tenth version he had written. If time allowed, he might practice even more.

Boy clicked his tongue disdainfully, waving his hand without looking. “Then hand it to me when you’re done. I have a headache and can’t look at ugly things.”

Raheris clenched his teeth and snatched back the papyrus forcefully. “Enough. I won’t rewrite it.”

Boy shrugged nonchalantly. “Suit yourself.”

Seeing this attitude, Raheris was even more annoyed. He thought, good thing this slave only has me as a student; otherwise, how many lives would he be responsible for?

He was furious.

“What are we learning today?” Worried that continuing the previous topic might give him a heart attack, Raheris changed the subject.

Boy flipped through the teaching materials on the desk, just like last time, turning two pages. “Copy these two pages.”

Raheris imitated Boy’s tone. “...Are you slacking off on me?”

Boy shrugged. “Do what you want. I assigned the homework...”

Before he finished, Raheris interrupted with a dark face. “If I do the homework during class, what do I do during rest time?”

Other prophets lectured during class and assigned homework afterward to be submitted at the next lesson.

Boy pondered briefly. “Rest?”

How can it be called rest if you don’t rest during rest time?

Raheris: “...”

Quite a point.

The lesson lasted until dusk. When Todd appeared, Boy immediately stood and said, “Class dismissed.”

Raheris looked up, still holding a reed pen, glancing outside where the fiery clouds fiercely painted half the sky.

“See you next class.” Boy always avoided overtime. If he had to work extra, it had to be for extra pay.

Before Raheris could say “see you next time,” Boy had already disappeared.

Raheris: “...”

That slave has no sense of rank!

Watching him leave, after a moment, Todd approached. He had been waiting in the antechamber and naturally overheard their conversation, so he lowered his voice to ask, “Your Majesty, why didn’t you just deny it just now?”

He referred to when Lord Ai was asked if he had a trump card. Knowing Lord Ai well, Todd thought it would be easy to hide this.

The facts proved that over the years, Lord Ai had done very well.

“What kind of person do you think he is?” Raheris’s expression was calm as he gazed softly in the direction Boy had gone.

Todd was startled, thinking carefully before answering, “Cunning and arrogant.”

After a pause, he added, “No respect for rank.”

Raheris looked at him. The young man’s dark golden eyes were like a December desert—calm on the surface but hiding unknown dangers beneath. Todd felt a chill down his spine.

“Ra grants wisdom to humans, yet you never show gratitude for it.” Raheris withdrew his gaze, lowering his eyes to the papyrus on the desk.

All afternoon, he had done nothing but copy text.

“He has eyes sharper than Nehebbet,” Raheris said, “Few can deceive him, including me.”

More often than knowledge, Raheris trusted his instincts. Just now, his instinct told him not to lie.

Todd didn’t quite believe it but wouldn’t contradict the Pharaoh’s words—his loyalty was unwavering.

“Bring more papyrus,” Raheris said.

Todd immediately fetched more from the bookcase and placed it on the desk. He glanced at the books. “Your Majesty, what are you going to do?”

Raheris snorted coldly. “Redo the last homework.”

Todd: ?

You just said otherwise.

Meanwhile—

Boy left the palace, and Amante immediately greeted him with a cloak and veil.

“Lord Ai, how did the lesson go?” he asked.

Boy took the cloak and draped it over himself. “Not bad.”

After a moment, he curved his lips and corrected himself. “Actually, much better than I expected.”

Boy had seen too many liars. Most who came to him for lawsuits initially concealed truths they couldn’t reveal, but in the end, they confessed honestly because they wanted to win—and had to win.

He could tell this young Pharaoh was hiding something, but at least the boy kept their promise—not to lie to him.

That alone satisfied him.

This client was quite good, a worthy partner.

“That’s wonderful,” Amante smiled, happy for his master.

Boy climbed into the sedan chair arranged by the temple. Amante said no more. Over the years in the palace, he had learned when to speak and when not to.

The sedan chair swayed with each step. Boy closed his eyes, feigning sleep. The evening’s orange light streamed through the window, casting a warm hue over his long lashes.

Amante noticed and instinctively held his breath, afraid to disturb the other. Only when his lungs ached from lack of fresh air did he remember to breathe.

He couldn’t help but marvel once more at such a magnificent face.

About half an hour passed.

“This doesn’t seem to be the way to Menew,” Boy opened his eyes, noticing the unfamiliar surroundings and the different road.

The sedan chair carrier grunted, “Priest Akres instructed that after your lesson, you be taken first to the purification lake to avoid delaying your temple visit tomorrow.”

“Purification lake?” Boy showed rare confusion.

Amante had already inquired earlier. Seeing Lord Ai’s ignorance, he quickly explained, “The priests must purify themselves before going to the temple. The purification lake is where they do this.”

“Purify?” Boy raised his eyebrows.

This word did not carry pleasant connotations in Huaxia.

Amante, unaware of Boy’s thoughts, cleared his throat softly. “It means shaving. To show respect to the gods, priests must maintain purity, starting with shaving all body hair.”

Boy was silent for a moment. “All of it?”

Amante nodded, “All of it.”