The Rolling Stone
Enki, the god of wisdom.
Sunya had heard that name before.
He was the god who, alongside Ninhursag, had created humanity — the guardian of mankind, and the problem-solver among the gods.
It was distorted, corrupted information from a far distant future, so he did not place much stock in it.
"You must be Lord Enki. It is an honor to meet you."
"Oh, surprisingly calm, aren't you? Looking at me — son of An, creator of humanity — and not even a flicker of surprise."
"That's enough bragging. What are you doing here, Grandpa Enki?"
Inanna eyed Enki with open suspicion as he tried to act familiar.
"Come on, why the cold shoulder? I was curious. Who's the brave man who stole our little one's heart enough to send her all the way down to the Underworld?"
"What? How do you know about that, Grandpa Enki?"
"The divine realm is a small place — how wouldn't I know? There's not a single god who doesn't know that you, Inanna, went to conquer the Underworld and got chased out naked. The humans down below will find out eventually, too."
"Tch."
"Just coming back from the Underworld alive is a major achievement, so don't feel too bad about it."
Enki turned his gaze to Sunya.
"So there were some interesting rumors about our nephew-in-law as well. Mind if I ask a few questions?"
"If it is something I can answer, by all means."
"Good. Then I won't hold back. Setting our little one aside — I heard that not long ago, some being went down to the Underworld, offered nothing, and came back perfectly fine. Was that you, by any chance?"
"The Queen of the Underworld simply looked upon me favorably and let me go."
"Got on Ereshkigal's good side, did you?"
"Don't you dare bring up that widow! You're going to ruin my mood."
"Haha…"
Sunya managed an awkward smile at Inanna's threat.
Enki continued to observe him as if nothing were amiss. Unlike when he had stolen a glimpse before, Sunya was now radiating a subtle divinity — just enough for those around him to recognize him as a god.
At first, others had taken interest in the fact that he was Inanna's hidden man, but upon sensing only mediocre divinity, they quickly lost interest and looked away.
Enki guessed that Sunya was deliberately restricting the divinity he emitted. It made no sense that a god powerful enough to subdue Inanna would possess only this much divine rank.
The important question here was not how, but why.
For what reason was he hiding his divine rank?
Divine rank was status and power in the society of the gods. To keep it concealed even in ordinary times was like a monarch or a wealthy man in human society discarding all power and fortune to live as a mere wanderer with nothing.
By Enki's common sense, it was incomprehensible.
In truth, if one considered the concept of ascetics that would exist in the future, it was not particularly strange. Sunya had indeed once abandoned his status as a prince to live as an ascetic — but Enki had no way of knowing that yet.
Sunya hid his divine rank partly because the life of an ascetic was familiar to him, but also simply out of habit. Born human by nature, surrounded mostly by ordinary people, he had no choice but to restrict his divinity and conceal his divine rank in order to live among them.
Inanna knew because Sunya had told her, but Enki had no way of knowing, and so his misunderstandings only grew deeper. It would have been better if he had simply asked outright — but Enki was far too cautious a personality for that.
"I'm hardly in a position to say this, but you'd do well to be careful with your actions. Look around — a few of the gods are watching you right now."
Even as he piled up suspicions inwardly, Enki acted as if nothing were wrong on the surface. Just as he said, several gods' gazes were directed at Sunya.
Each gaze carried a different meaning.
Enlil, with his long white hair and dark skin, looked at him with suspicion. Winged Ninurta offered a look of sympathy. Utu, Inanna's twin brother, regarded him with anxiety and fear.
Some of the lesser gods, including the attendants, seemed to look upon Sunya with something like admiration.
But what bothered Sunya most was a young man staring at him with a gaze mixed with jealousy and a sense of defeat. The young man held a long staff, and small spirit-creatures resembling sheep circled around him — so this was likely Dumuzi, the god of shepherds.
Come to think of it, Lady Inanna was originally fated to marry Dumuzi.
The thought left him with a peculiar feeling. In a way, he had unintentionally committed what he hated most — stealing another man's lover. NTR. He never expected that he himself would end up doing the very thing he despised.
Of course, fate was not something one had to follow, so he quickly erased such trivial thoughts entirely.
"What are you thinking about?"
Inanna spoke up at just the right moment.
"Just some trivial thoughts. It has been a long time since I have drawn this much attention from others."
"Hmm… does it bother you?"
"Not to that extent."
Enki patted Sunya on the shoulder as if to reassure him.
"It's fine. You'll get used to this sort of thing with time."
Then he popped a grape from a nearby plate into his mouth.
"Politics and power are complicated by nature. That little one Inanna may look the way she does, but she's one of the Seven Great Gods — so even marrying someone carries meaning."
"Ah, yes…"
Sunya closed his mouth. At times like this, staying quiet was the best policy. He knew full well how ugly the nature of politics and power could be. But contrary to what Enki had said, he had no particular desire to get used to it. He simply intended to keep a moderate distance.
"Don't act like you know things while spouting nonsense. You think Sunya doesn't know that?"
"Isn't it stranger that he would know? Especially for a lesser god whose name isn't well known. Or does he have some background that would make him familiar with this kind of atmosphere?"
"…"
Inanna's expression turned cold.
"It feels like you're needling me. Is it just my imagination?"
"Don't get worked up, little one. I was just asking. Just in case."
"I see. Thank you for the advice, Lord Enki."
As the atmosphere threatened to heat up in an unpleasant direction, Sunya stepped in once more.
"Lady Inanna, today is a good day, is it not? Could you please let it go, for my sake?"
"…Fine."
Inanna roughly downed the cup of wine beside her to swallow her anger. Meanwhile, Sunya continued speaking to Enki.
"I do not know if something about me has offended you, Lord Enki, but I intend to live as quietly as possible. Unless people are seriously hurt or Lady Inanna's safety is at risk, I have no intention of changing anything. Coming here, meeting Lady Inanna — it was all mere coincidence."
"…"
"We will take our leave, then."
Sunya led Inanna away from the gathering.
Ninhursag approached Enki, who was left alone.
"Why did you deliberately provoke him? Weren't we going to leave him alone for now?"
"I figured this much would be fine. We had too little information."
"Well, a clever one like you will figure things out however you like. So, did you learn anything?"
"I did learn something."
Enki casually slipped his hand under Ninhursag's arm and began fondling her breast. Squeeze. Squeeze. The pleasant weight in his palm put him at ease.
"Have you lost your mind?! Just because we did it once doesn't mean you can keep doing it! And at someone else's wedding, of all places?"
"It's fine. I'm only touching your chest for now."
"Haa?"
"Anyway, getting back to the point…"
"Don't change the subject."
"It seems he thinks I know a fair amount about him. And given that he barely reacted, he doesn't particularly seem to be trying to hide anything."
"So you're just going to leave him alone?"
"No. We need to prepare. Gods can't lie, after all."
Sunya had said he would stay still unless Inanna's safety was compromised or people were seriously hurt. Conversely, that also meant he would act if those conditions were met.
To say something like that so boldly right in front of Enki himself — he was far more audacious than his impression suggested, even more so than Inanna. Perhaps that was precisely why Inanna was drawn to him.
"Arrogance, or confidence? I'd prefer it were the former…"
Enki's deliberations grew deeper.
Ninhursag found it absurd watching him put on airs for no reason.
"Fondling my chest while saying that doesn't make you look cool at all."
After the ceremony ended and the other gods returned to their respective residences, Inanna and Sunya entered their bedchamber and prepared for sleep.
"Well, there were a few things that grated on me, but the ceremony finished without incident. Now we're 'officially' husband and wife, huh?"
"That is right. It does feel like everything was handled rather swiftly."
"Let's do it once before we sleep."
"There is something I need to tell you first."
Inanna stopped mid-undress.
"Ah, you can keep taking your clothes off. We can talk while you undress."