Action:

• Rite: The Missing Dancer

Hearing your footsteps, Arzuna turned with a smile. "Ah, my brother," she greeted, beckoning you over, "come and sit."

Beneath the tree, you settled beside her while an old servant brought snacks and hookahs. "What was that dance just now?" you asked—it was unlike anything you'd ever seen.

"Oh... that was my mother's dance."

She inhaled the smoke, then fell silent, switching topics. "I've been waiting for days, my brother, for you to take me to the palace. But you didn't... I suppose you convinced that mighty, unyielding Sultan?"

"Are you... trying to be nice to me?" She fiddled with her fingers, skeptical yet curious. "This is unusual; I'm used to pleasing others, not being pleased... My brother, is it because I'm still of some use to you?"

You assured her it wasn't about usefulness—she shouldn't be confined in a place like the harem.

She revealed a bitter smile. "Then where should I be confined? I don't even know... what I live for."

She swayed the bells around her wrist, listening to their clear chime. Then, in the silence, she rose and walked to the flowering tree, dancing alone without music.

This dance was unlike any you'd seen from her before; it wasn't smooth, but punctuated. Each sudden stop or frozen pose pulsed with raw emotion pouring from her eyes, unrestrained and sharp like a flood directed at you. Then you understood—it was hatred.

"Do you hate me, Arzuna?" you found yourself asking.

Arzuna smiled. When the dance ended, she was once again the gentle girl you knew. She stepped lightly to your side, answering you with that familiar, practiced smile until the topic drifted elsewhere. You took the hint and asked no more.

Conditions:

• Slot #2 = 1
• Slot #1 Has Tag (beevil) ≥ 1

Action:

• Rite: The Missing Dancer

"Do I hate you?" Arzuna smiled at your question. She came to sit beside you, but did not look your way. Instead, she lifted her face to the moon. "You've probably guessed," she said quietly, "my mother was a dancer. Our father noticed her at a banquet. But she wasn't a slave—she was free. He promised to love her, to cherish her, to make her his lawful wife. And she believed him. Then I was born. We lived in a small house that he provided. His occasional visits were like festivals, for my mother only smiled on those days. We lacked for nothing. No hunger, no cruelty. But..."

You waited quietly.

"At some point, he stopped coming. Four... maybe five years. Then suddenly he returned. My mother was overjoyed. She put on her old dress and painted her face, as beautiful as ever—at least to me. But he came to warn us. Never go to the capital. Never reveal who we are. We must not endanger my brother's future—the son who would inherit everything and walk into the Lapis Lazuli Palace!"

She looked at you, sharp and unflinching, before revealing the end of the story: "After that, my mother killed herself. She spent her life teaching me how to please him, how to please men, and how to please anyone who might love us... She always believed a man would love her! When she finally understood it was all in vain... living meant nothing either. That dance—the one you just watched—was her final lesson. It must be performed with hatred."

The old servant brought a plate of sliced peaches glazed with honey. Arzuna picked one up, turning it between her fingers without taking a bite.

"To be honest, I supported her death. Better that than watching her waste away or grow madder. After she died, I danced. I danced well. For a long time. I saved money—together with the small compensation our father left us, it was enough. So I came to the capital, the place he forbade. By then, he was already dead. And you, my brother, had inherited everything."

Before you could speak, she rose. She told the old servant to see you out. She was tired. She would rest now.

And so, you left her small house.

Conditions:

• Slot #2 = 1
• Slot #1 Has Tag (beevil) < 1

Action:

• Enable Event: 一个奇怪的请求