The Demon Realm had always been uninhibited, and for this same-sex wedding, they were going all out. Two nights before the ceremony, while trying on my outfit, I realized something was off. It was white, yes, but it was the Demon Realm’s wedding design.
Lucifer, that conniving man, wanted to trick me into marrying him as his wife.
I stormed off to find him and demand answers, only to turn around and see Mammon leaning against the doorframe. He seemed slightly drunk, his eyes glazed. His sharp ears were pale, the seven black pearl earrings glinting even more vividly than usual.
“You look great in that outfit,” he said, pushing himself off the wall, though he swayed slightly without realizing. “You look great in everything.”
“Thanks,” I answered, not sure how else to reply.
“You’re welcome.” He closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curled in a quiet smile. “I’m heading to Schmir Castle tomorrow. Might be gone for half a month. It’s urgent, so… I might not make it to your wedding. Sorry.”
“What about Belial?”
“He’s become quite the darling of the court lately. Doesn’t have time to deal with his discarded older brother.”
That left me speechless.
A few days before had been Mullin’s birthday. He had passed his exam and become Belial’s chief attendant. I had heard the two of them visited old friends from the slave ship that day, including the pirate-like Captain Jones. Then, Belial had thrown Mullin a birthday banquet in Rhodheoga. From the upper floor, I had seen Belial in the main hall, surrounded by scores of dashing young men. None matched Mammon in rank, but to any woman, or any bottom, they would already be irresistible.
Belial had long shaken off his self-doubt and shyness. His smile had been radiant.
Word is, if anyone dares to laugh at his flaws now, he simply raises a hand and handles it. He has learned to rely on no one but himself.
He is growing every single day.
Mammon, too, had grown up. Now he stood in front of me, curls falling over his broad shoulders, his features sharper, deeper. No longer that mischievous little sugarcane who used to drive me mad, no longer pawed at me like he once did. His smile hadn’t changed, but its meaning had.
He left gracefully, offering only a parting line: “I wish you happiness.”
His silhouette disappeared down the firelit corridor. For a moment, I had a strange, persistent feeling that Mammon won’t come back again.
And I had been right. Two weeks later, he sent word to Lucifer, saying he plans to stay in Fourth Hell long-term and hope to redevelop that ghost-town. Lucifer agreed. Mammon didn’t come back.
By the end of the month, Belial went to join him. What happened after that, I don’t know.
Years later, I suddenly thought back to the night Lucifer and I reconciled. My veins bulged from the memory.
Lucifer had said he’d take care of me well.
Take care of me well? What a joke.
I threw his words back at him. “So much for your credibility.”
Lucifer turned to me with that suggestive little smile. I asked what the hell he was smiling at. He said, “I thought after all these years, you would’ve changed. But one emotional outburst and you’re a child again.”
I’ve long been a grown man. I won’t stoop to squabble with this petty, vain, two-faced old foxy lil bitch. I grinned wickedly. “Someone cried like a baby because of my immature antics, so ugly.”
His Majesty, the Sovereign of Demons, replied coolly: “You begged me not to leave you.”
“You—!” I chucked a pillow at his face.
Years had passed, Lucifer had forgotten what tenderness is, his romantic vibe of those early days had long vanished. He hurled the pillow right back. We wrestled on the bed, and finally decided to have another child, to soothe this old ache between us.
“Hopefully a girl this time. We already have three sons.” I stroked my chin like I had any control over that. “What should we name her…”
“I already know which name you want.”
“With so many names to choose from, you’re that confident?”
Lucifer smiled cryptically, saying nothing.
I gave him a sidelong sneer. “You’re just playing mysterious. Say it if you dare.”
“Babylor.”
He startled me. Had his recent research into dark magic branched into telepathy? I pointed at him in alarm. He took my hand and gently pressed it down.
“You always think you love me more,” he said calmly. “But there’s so much you still don’t know.” (TN: the most widely accepted interpretation, by CN readers who have literally pored over every edition of the story – ‘8, ’12, ’15 – word by word, in the original language, is that Lucifer’s consciousness remained with Michael through his loops, instilling microscopic changes each cycle, to bring them toward this ending)
I admit I didn’t get it. So I smiled and blinked. “Like what?”
He answered by giving my forehead a push.
Three thousand years later, rain fell in torrents, washing the heavens clean.
The day after our daughter Babylor was born, I walked into the Sanctum. It was another Day of Creation. I joined countless angels in prayer for Heaven’s sanctity and future. Golden light swept the capital. Sacred bells rang loud and pure.
Too bad the first words I heard that morning were utterly deflating:
“Raphael, last night’s thunder and lightning, I thought you were flying overhead again. Aha.”
Raphael didn’t dignify Metatron’s teasing with a reply. He just smiled.
But Gabriel, ever the sharp one, pierced through Metatron’s thinly veiled affection without mercy. “What you really mean is, Raphael’s too thin and you want him to eat more. Say it straight, sissy.”
Metatron’s face turned red to his ears. He stammered. “Little Michael, you know I didn’t mean it that.”
“I know, I know.” I waved him off, slipping on my feathered coronet for the morning assembly.
At that moment, the Lord glanced at the old clock outside the window, then turned to me and smiled:
“Congratulations, Michael. The spell is lifted.”
“Spell?”
He offered no explanation. He simply returned to His place at Father’s left hand.
Puzzled, I glanced at the archangels behind me. They were just as lost.
He recited aloud:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to the Father; and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Me…” (TLN 1)
Sancta Faylia gleamed gold from end to end—God’s wings incarnate. The divine bird circled the Sanctum, the cross, and the blossoms of the Beauty of God. Beneath us lay the City Without Night, radiant and ever-thriving. Its brilliance and hope the sun of the divine race.
Golden chariots, petals, glimmering water, winged steeds…
Everywhere they pass is etched with the traces of time, weathered by the ages.
In the brightest Heaven, in the deepest Hell, we are but dust. Rising and falling in history’s tide. We are holy angels, the divine race of light, seeking hope amidst a thousand years of lost pride.
We do not fear. We do not despair. We strive.
God is our faith.
No matter how dark the skies or how fractured the earth, our inner selves rise.
We move hearts. We fix our gaze on divine light. We release power that shakes the cosmos.
Father God is just. For every sorrow, He grants joy ever more.
After everything, I believe that Lucifer and I, like all blessed lovers of Heaven, will hold hands until the end of life, never letting go.
No matter the past, present, or future, no matter the border between history and prophecy, dream and reality.
In the veil lifted by time and face lit by memory—
In Heaven and in Hell, I have finally found eternity:
The sacred traces of you and me.
This is our story.
From the first days of creation to the rise and fall of countless berduth, it has no end.
Author’s note (translated):
At long last, The Right Wing of God has officially concluded.
Since many readers have always favored the Sacred Traces ending, I decided to merge Sacred Traces with Eternity into a super-powered version of the happy ending. Not only that, but Metatron x Raphael and the Mammon x Belial pairs also found closure (well, Mammon and Belial’s is more open-ended—but you did see the hope there, didn’t you? ^-^).
Did I move you to tears? Hehe.
As for why there was a three-year hiatus in the middle of this novel—by now I’m sure many of you already know the reason. These past few years, my editors and I have been working hard to get The Right Wing of God published. But due to publishing policies here in our divine dynasty, any release would have required major changes: the religious and queer romantic content would have had to be cut, and even the title would need to be changed.
And then I thought about it carefully: what would even be left? Just some descriptions of stars and moonlight? OTL…
So, after countless failed attempts, I finally gave up on publishing……
At first, I felt pretty unwilling. The sunk cost was just too high. But this year, I realized something: it would be a pity if this story never became a book, but true love doesn’t depend on format. What matters is that this story reached you all, just as I intended.
Besides, I’ve published more than enough other books over the years, what’s one more or less? So I decided to serialize it on my site, for free, all the way to the end. I just wanted to make sure you could see the protagonists happy with your own eyes. That, at least, would fulfill my youthful dream of writing a story about angels.
(Everyone: “You have the nerve to say free after plucking all our feathers? We’re bald now, okay? ==”)
Now that The Right Wing of God is finished, I’ve officially filled in all my BL pits. Time to throw some celebratory confetti for myself! As I said years ago, from now on, I’ll only be writing BG (boy-girl) stories.
That probably means saying goodbye to the few fans who only read BL—but I know a large part of you Tuanzi read everything. So I won’t get all sentimental here. ^-^
I also know that no matter what genre I write, you’ll hold my work to a high standard, which is exactly why I can’t slack off. I have to keep improving and make sure that every single book carries 200% of my sincerity.
The Right Wing of God was the foundation of my writing style. It’s the work that helped me grow the fastest. I will always remember this novel, and everything it brought me—bitterness, sweetness, hardship, and growth.
And I can say this to you with confidence:
You can watch me for ten more years.
I will not stop here.
And I will not let you down.
Thank you for standing by me all this time.
Thank you for loving The Right Wing of God.
Thank you for your patience, your support, your criticism, and your encouragement throughout the years.
For this great kindness, words are no longer enough.
From here on, I’ll repay you with even better works. 🙂
—The bride, Shan (^_^) (TLN 2)
Translator’s note:
- The Word of the Lord, Philippians 4:6 – 7. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- “The bride, Shan”: The author’s nickname (the author’s full pen name is 天籁纸鸢 Tian Lai Zhi Yuan, while “Shan” or “Shanshan”, meaning “shiny / shining,” is a nickname between her and her beloved readers. She was indeed getting married at the time of this chapter :).
Thank you for reading! Check out the Hyacinth Bloom discord at: https://discord.gg/AvAeqq2u if you have any questions, or just want to discuss anything related to the story ^^
Author: A fan of TLZY & JZYZ
Translating
Hi! I just want to say that I’ve been a big fan of Tian Lai Zhi Yuan for 3 years, and I’m so happy to find out that somebody does have translated her work here! I really wish that more and more foreigners could approach her masterpieces ^^ This is one of my most favorite Danmei, I read it last year and could only manage to find the Chinese version. Anyway, this author also has another series which is 莲翼系列, consisting of 2 also very great works which are 花容天下 and 琼觞, I haven’t read 花容天下 yet but 琼觞 is really amazing! If possible, I hope you could make a translation for this novel too ^^ Thank you so much
Hi and thank you so much for reading! ^^ It’s awesome to meet another fan of TLZY!! I hope this translation was to your liking because I wanted to do justice to her beautiful writing and nuanced characters so much T.T (still not there and will probably never get there, but alas). I’ve read 琼觞, too! (as well as 花容天下 and the later 天王 hehe). As for translating 琼觞, I’m flattered by your request! The coming year is looking to be a frantic one IRL, however, so I realistically wouldn’t be able to pick it up 🙁 I would hate to say yes and then have to drop it after after only a few chapters. 温采 and 弄玉 are as memorable as Michael and Lucifer though – your love for them shows and and I hope they get the English adaptation they deserve!
Many warm and well wishes to you!
Hi! It’s so happy to finally find somebody with a great love for TLZY works 🥺Personally, I think she’s too underrated when it comes to foreign readers, though I heard she was once considered a very famous Danmei author in China back then… maybe because of cultural difference or her works are too old to fit people’s taste these days?
I would love to share with you my experience about her novels:) Well, so far I’ve only dared to read 2 novels of hers and only when I’m most ready for the dog blood, though her writing always amazes me ^^ The first one I read is 琼觞 (simply because of the name, it gave me an elegant, antique Chinese vibe!), and actually I got too impressed by the characters that I began to do a translation for it. However, just as when I finished translating chapter 1, I stumbled across the translation for my native language of Rucifel and Isaar book (actually, in that version, the translator translated as Lucifel and Israel). The translator said the rest of the book is too angsty, and she couldn’t bear translating them all, so she could only translate these 2 books from the Eternity part.
Uhm… SPOILER ALERT, because I want to share my view about part of the story here.
To be honest, when I first read Rucifel book, I thought the main couple is Lucifer and the Creation God (创世神, I hope I’ve used the right word 😅 ). I think that’s why my view towards the Creation God differs from other readers. Since the first part I read was written in the POV of God, not Michael, I didn’t blame him like some readers (at least in my country) did. Instead, I feel sorry for him because he couldn’t love or bias someone or have normal emotions for someone like normal beings do due to his high position. For me, Michael is not the Creation God as a whole, but he is surely the Creation God that Rucifel/Lucifer loves. I’m not saying that Michael is simply a substitute for the Creation God, I do believe Lucifer loves him simply because of who he is. (Actually, I once read the interpretation of one reader on Weibo, saying that we can took Creation God as the former life of Michael (or actually, Isaar), and I think that’s an interesting idea). When I first read Rucifel and Isaar book, I also noticed how the author sophisticatedly included the corresponding metaphorical details for plot-serving purpose. For example, the red hair that the Creation God used when disguised as “ordinary being” later turns out to be Michael’s hair color. And Rucifel also said that he liked Creation God with this hair color best though silver was supposed to be his natural hair color. This means Rucifel loved the passionate part of the Creation God, which is Michael! (Red seems to be a passionate color too, while silver seems “calmer” and “lighter”, what a metaphor!) I also noticed some other parts (I hope my memory still makes it right, I might get it wrong because I’ve read the novel one year ago already), such as how both the Creation God in Rucifel book and Michael in Isaar book struggled with flying and Rucifel/Lucifer taught them how to fly by holding them up to the sky. But the Creation God could not and dare not or need not fly, while Michael did fly, right? Another great metaphor to me!
Overall, I think Lucifer’s love has never changed, the person Lucifer loves is always Isaar. At first, Isaar appeared in the Creation God form, but the responsibility of a God made him struggle, so he became another form, separated from the God, which is Michael! Although Creation God and Michael both have the “passionate part”, but God is affected by many other things, so he cannot show this part clearly, while this part is actually Michael nature! And since the “passionate part” (let’s say the so-called original sin Isaar) is what Lucifer always loves, he actually always loves Michael ^^
That’s just my thought on the book, it took me one year to finally get this part on my own, actually haha~ I hope I didn’t make it too messy to you 😀
I’m so honored by you taking the time to share your thoughts! May I ask if you speak Chinese? I just noticed because you mentioned translating 琼觞 yourself and reading Weibo ~ I am always surprised and delighted to hear that readers make it all the way to the end of Eternity and have so many interpretations on it! I must organize my own thoughts first before replying to your observations!
I’ve just been learning it for 4 years, so I can only manage to handle generally normal conversations. I can use Weibo, Zhihu and some other Chinese apps to read the fans’ discussions, but sometimes I still need the help from translate tool ^^ As for 琼觞, actually there’s a complete translation for my native language already, and I use it as a reference when I struggle with the words and grammar while translating the original text (I still mainly used the original version for my translation, as I believe by doing that I can grasp the closest messages the author wanted to convey). To be honest, at that time, I felt really sad because very few people care about TLZY and her works, so I gave up later on since that thinking kept haunting me. That’s why you really amaze me by your patience and resilience for bringing her work close to a wider range of readers 🥺 I really cannot thank you enough for this, I really get motivated by your work. Maybe someday, I will find my will to continue mine again, who knows 😆!
By the way, I would love to hear your opinion about my observations too, I love discussing with TLZY fans, though I hardly ever get a chance to do it 😅
She definitely was legendary, #1 on JJWXC for YEAAAARS, like there was no competition. While not very many know her stories in the Western world, many, many Chinese readers still love and miss her! As for her not being more in the spotlight in the Western world, I personally think there are multiple reasons, some cultural, some lost in translation, some having to do with her transition from TLZY into JZYZ – none of them relates to her actual storytelling abilities xD Plus, the way tropes are portrayed in her novels can be experimental (?) and may not just be to the taste of Western audience, and that’s totally ok 🙂 Don’t let that continue to discourage you, fellow fan! Your love for her novels are so apparent, and as long as they make you happy, it doesn’t really matter if the rest of the world appreciate TLZY to the same degree <3<3<3 If anything, you aren't the one missing out, hehe ~.^ + 😛 I shall cheer you on if you ever decide to continue translating 琼觞 again ~
And YES Lucifer has always loved Michael is my thought too ToT Argh, they are so sweet, those two. I was just telling another friend the other day that I'm so glad they got married in the end ;-; I also love how TLZY stacked metaphors and recalls them throughout the story, giving them a new layer of meaning each time they appear, I'm so glad you also noticed!!
She is!! At first I didn’t know she was a legend in China, when I first read her book, I thought: “How could a genius like this get so little attention?” And when I found out she was once well-known in the Danmei community in China, I didn’t get surprised at all, because I know she deserves it! Thank you so much for your motivation ^^ Maybe I will try to work on 琼觞 again, well, I’m not sure how far I can go, but I’ll try!
By the way, do you know how to post novel on this web? I’ve only found it in the past few days, so I’m totally new to all the features. Maybe I will post my already-translated parts here : D
Of course 🙂 Always love to see another appreciator of great stories ~
As for the website, it’s a privately run group so it’s more of a site for the group rather than the public platform like Ao3. I believe the current owner isn’t accepting new translators at the moment but they can be reached at https://discord.gg/BVEVZ7hF. If not, I saw that, for instance, other translators have their own, individual simple pages where they post! As long as you link your translation on Novel Updates under the specific title, people would be able to see and access.