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, soone 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 abdon, protective and habitual.

Behind him, Zerat 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 ti.

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

Imdiately the tail tightened proudly.

Levin stared in disbelief. "You were awake?"

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

Levin turned slightly.

Zerat 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 soone currently imprisoning another person with his tail.

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

"Hm." Zerat finally opened one eye suspiciously. "Without ?"

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

"That is because experience has taught 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 imdiately looked away toward the balcony again, and in the silence, then—Zerat laughed softly beneath his breath, warm, sleep-heavy, and dangerously attractive.

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

"Co 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 ho. The mont he sat beside him, Zerat imdiately pulled him closer against his chest again without sha.

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

Levin did not resist and for several monts 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 imdiately from outside. Iru’s respectful voice echoed softly. "Malik...Malika...the bath has been prepared."

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

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

Levin smiled faintly and nodded.

***

[Later — Zerat’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.

Parchnts 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, Zerat 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, calr than before but equally focused, his silver robes layered elegantly while one hand occasionally rested unconsciously against his abdon.

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 parchnt case; dust still clung to his dark armor.

aning the report had arrived recently.

Very recently.

He imdiately bowed deeply. "Malik. Malika."

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

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

The chamber quieted instantly. Levin exchanged one glance with Zerat before opening the first parchnt himself.

The deeper he read, the colder his expression beca.

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

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

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

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

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

Silence.

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

"Exactly." Zerat’s voice ca dangerously calm now, and the chamber air shifted instantly because now both rulers had reached the sa conclusion simultaneously.

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

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

Levin imdiately stepped closer. "...show ."

Raevhan spread the parchnt 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.

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

Zerat’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 flas flickered violently across the chamber, and this ti even Zerat’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 imdiately because the report itself had not clarified it. Raevhan finally spoke after a pause. "The surviving villagers claid the creatures repeated the sa phrase several tis before attacking."

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

Raevhan nodded once, then unfolded another smaller parchnt 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 flas seed to dim afterward, Levin’s brows furrowed imdiately.

"...rose-colored star?"

Zerat 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 sowhere deep inside his mory—sothing tugged faintly.

A strange discomfort like hearing a forgotten word from sowhere he don’t rember.

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

Zerat noticed imdiately. "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. anwhile Zerat reached toward the parchnt again, studying the phrases more carefully.

"Pink light..." His golden eyes narrowed slightly. "...could this refer to so 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 aningless 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.

Zerat looked toward Levin carefully now. "You think sothing 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 parchnt 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 sowhere far beyond Sah’qir Village, buried beneath endless dunes, sothing connected to a rose-colored light waited silently in the dark.

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

Zerat 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 parchnt ntioning the rose-colored star.

Then finally he spoke.

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

Beside him, Levin remained silent for a brief mont 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 imdiately 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."

Zerat nodded once. "No delays."

"As you command, Malik."

Nearby, Iru bowed imdiately 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. ssengers dispatched through the palace corridors and at the center of it all—Levin stood beside Zerat 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.

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

Far beyond Sah’qir Village, toward sothing 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.