Chapter 103
Eros, grumbling after receiving orders from his mother Aphrodite, flew to the mortal world.
Flapping his small white wings, he headed towards a palace where Psyche was said to be.
A high window naturally opened, creating a passage for the god of love to pass through,
and the intruder, hiding his appearance from humans, slipped into Psyche's room...
"Wow..."
Even Eros, who saw the goddess of beauty and love Aphrodite every day, was amazed by the beauty before him.
What are goddesses compared to this? The one before his eyes might truly be a goddess.
Seeing Psyche sleeping peacefully in bed, Eros fell in love at first sight...
His body, which had been that of a young boy, instantly grew into a handsome young man.
Gods are immortal and usually maintain the personality and body they were born with.
But sometimes, their divine status changes or they transform due to certain triggers.
This is why the young god who just realized love became a young man.
'I should inflict divine punishment as Mother said, but... she's too beautiful. Do I really have to?'
Eros was torn. To abandon this human woman he fell for at first sight.
Should he obey his mother's words unconditionally? Unlike other gods, he wasn't even married yet...
His deliberation didn't last long. The god of love, falling under love's spell for the first time, took out a vial from his chest.
It contained bitter water that steals the power of love and sweet water that enhances beauty.
'The woman who will be my wife shouldn't marry someone else.'
Eros sprinkled the bitter water from the fountain in Aphrodite's courtyard on Psyche's lips.
With this magic bitter water sprinkled on her, no one would propose to Psyche.
'...Maybe the bitter water was too much. But to make up for it...'
Eros reached into his chest again and took out a vial of sweet water.
This had the effect of making the target's beauty shine even more, and Psyche sprinkled with this would receive even more praise from humans.
'What excuse do I give Mother.'
The god of love kissed the sleeping Psyche's forehead lightly and returned.
***
Eros, returning to Aphrodite's palace, avoided his mother's glaring eyes.
Of course, she had told him to inflict divine punishment, but he returned grown up instead, so it was natural.
"Eros...?! It seems you have a lot to explain to me...!"
"Well... As I was about to pierce Psyche with the lead arrow..."
"About to?"
"I accidentally pricked myself with the golden arrow. That's why I grew up like this."
Nonsense. Aphrodite was flabbergasted.
A mistake? Accidentally pricked by the golden arrow? A god who can fully control his body, not even human?
Even if it was a mistake, the golden and lead arrows were Eros's sole power that even Aphrodite couldn't handle.
Is there a god who suffers from their own power? Even if they did, couldn't they shake it off?
Of course, Eros's arrows had the power that even he couldn't escape, but this didn't register in the excited Aphrodite's mind.
Surely Eros must have fallen for a human and lost his mind.
The fact that he grew from a child who didn't know love into a young man proved that his mindset had changed.
"I'd rather believe the nonsense that God Thanatos was subdued by a mere human!"
"...It's true."
"Sigh... Adonis! Are you there?"
"Yes! Lady Aphrodite. What can I do for you?!"
When Aphrodite, holding her head and sighing, called for an attendant, a young man's voice was heard.
He was an incredibly handsome and beautiful man in his 20s, and as soon as Eros saw him, he grumbled.
"...Mother, you can't resist handsome humans either... Someone like that..."
"How is that the same! This human is just an attendant, but you've completely fallen for a human, haven't you?! Adonis. Go fetch a glass of nectar from outside."
"Understood, Lady Aphrodite."
Adonis, receiving the order, went back outside.
Surprisingly, Aphrodite's words were true.
She really just kept Adonis around because she liked how handsome he was. She didn't harbor other feelings for the human.
Although Adonis was more handsome than all the humans she had seen...
"He has quite exceptional beauty for a human, but the man I desire for a night isn't like that."
"Is it Lord Ares then?"
"...Ares is one thing, but his status is another. It would be even better if it were a male god with a good personality, trusted by everyone, and charismatic..."
Aren't there almost no male gods who fit Mother's taste? No, wait...
A single male god who met all those conditions came to Eros's mind.
One of the Big Three so high in status, recognized by both humans and gods as a god of mercy,
trusted even by Zeus, the king of gods, and with the dignity of ruling the Underworld...
"Like Lord Hades?"
"Yes, exactly like... Eek! This wasn't what we were supposed to be talking about! We were in the middle of discussing you and that Psyche girl!"
Eros's expression became awkward as he tried to change the subject, and he watched his mother's reaction.
A stern command fell from Aphrodite's lips as she hardened her face again.
"I understand you falling for that girl who damaged my honor... but I absolutely cannot accept it!"
"But... Please watch a little longer. I'm sure you'll come to like Psyche too."
"Hmph. Who likes whom? Well then, why don't you test her? I'll allow it based on her attitude."
If it were before, she would have inflicted divine punishment immediately,
but perhaps thanks to her recent divorce from Hephaestus, Aphrodite had become somewhat more lenient as she spoke with her arms crossed.
Perhaps she was overlapping Eros, who had fallen in love with a human... with herself, who had been forced to marry and sought out Ares?
Thus, Psyche unknowingly received a task from the gods.
***
The praise for Psyche, the third princess of the kingdom, grew day by day.
Of course, this was due to the power of the sweet water Eros had sprinkled.
"Princess Psyche must undoubtedly be the most beautiful person on earth."
"Of course. That beauty surpasses even Goddess Persephone taken by God Pluto, or Goddess Aphrodite..."
"That's what I'm saying! But somehow, I don't feel like proposing to her."
"You feel that way too? Her beauty is lovely, but..."
However, due to the power of the bitter water, no one proposed to her.
As rumors praising the princess grew daily, but no suitors appeared, the king and queen, finding this strange, finally visited the Delphi temple.
The oracle given by Apollo of Delphi was as follows:
That child is destined not to marry a human, so abandon her on the mountain.
"Th-then what will happen? Who will my child marry?"
"My daughter Psyche... How could this be..."
A wicked monster surpassing vipers and beasts will take Psyche away.
Psyche's parents wept.
To think their daughter was destined to marry a terrible monster, and it was set by prophecy...
But they couldn't go against the prophecy. Didn't they know the stories of King Oedipus and Perseus?
Wait, but... Wasn't King Perseus, that famous great hero, able to avoid the oracle?
"Darling... Do you remember the story of King Perseus?"
"The hero who received an oracle that he would kill his maternal grandfather? Ah... Could it be!"
King Perseus was able to send his maternal grandfather peacefully after receiving an oracle from Pluto, the god of the Underworld and mercy.
The story of this great hero who escaped the fate of becoming a terrible criminal who would kill his relative was widely spread here too.
"That's right. Didn't God Pluto, who pitied mortals in unfortunate fates, show a way to twist the prophecy?"
"Then our Psyche too..."
Strictly speaking, it was circumventing the prophecy rather than twisting it,
but with hope of saving their child from a monster, they headed to Pluto's temple.
This was the situation of the people making a commotion at my, Hades', temple in Thebes.
They've been prostrating themselves at the temple and pleading like this for a week, so I couldn't help but hear.
"God Pluto! Please show mercy to our daughter."
"Our youngest daughter, whom we cherish more than our own eyes, marrying a monster... Please take pity on us..."
The story of a country's king and queen personally visiting the temple and wailing spread instantly...
Yesterday, the gods belonging to the Underworld came to me and suggested helping these humans.
"Hades... How about helping those humans who pray prostrate at the temple every day?"
"Goddess Lethe?"
"They prayed in front of my statue yesterday too... I heard their daughter is incredibly beautiful..."
"Those humans really do cherish their daughter terribly."
"Hypnos, what's the matter?"
"Morpheus, who visited those humans' dreams last night, said their minds were full of worry for their daughter..."
Many humans thought oracles were predetermined fates that could never be defied, but the reality was a bit different.
In the cases of Oedipus and Perseus, it was indeed predetermined fate.
An absoluteness that even Zeus, the king of gods, could never change... only allowing slight bending.
But this oracle... What? A woman destined to marry a monster?
As far as I, the lord of the Underworld, knew, there was no woman destined to marry a monster in this time period.
Then the conclusion is clear.
The oracle given to Psyche is not a predetermined fate, but the will of Apollo, the master of Delphi.
"Morpheus, go to Olympus and tell Apollo I'm looking for him. I need to ask him directly what this is about."
"Have you finally decided to help? Well, those humans were quite pitiful."
Who's playing strange games in the mortal world again?