A red mirror formed in the vast sky.
A clean firmament without a single cloud. The pinkish sky was truly fantastical, like the shore of a lake where peach blossoms were in full bloom.
Beyond the western mountain, the sun was bobbing and sinking beneath the waves. The Goddess of Fire breathed a *hoo* onto the horizon stretched along the ridgeline.
Then the evening glow began to spread across the shoulder of Mosin, who lay on the ground with his arm as a pillow, like a wildfire.
Red, ever redder.
As though it would burn even Mosin's curly hair scarlet.
“A swarm of butterflies is flying this way.”
Asteril murmured as if fascinated.
Even as the surroundings were being painted pitch-black by darkness, the movement of the butterfly swarm flying over the hill was dazzling, like the first snowfall.
“They are Lady Ananke's Messenger Butterflies.”
Aris glared at the scattering butterflies, which drew wide arcs in a fan shape.
“Nothing can be hidden before them. The moment you lie, they dig out your eyeballs and burrow in to suck your brain. I hear it is a horrifying sensation.”
Before it even became horrifying, wouldn't a human already be dead by the time their brain was eaten? Then again, for the immortal Keton, it might be no more than torture.
The sky turned deep blue. The surging sunset had long since retreated and vanished.
*Rumble!*
Thunder that pealed without lightning struck against their ears in succession.
*Crash!*
Aris looked toward the far side of the sky with a grave expression. The wind was rushing in as if enraged.
“How strange. It's so clear, yet where is that thunder coming from….”
“That just now was the Gale, messenger of Lord Uranos. He is delivering the chieftain's message to the whole clan. The Ojwa will arrive soon.”
As the Gale growled, the large trees started in surprise and cleared a path. Just as the moisture of the gorge formed fog, Uranos's message seeped into every corner of the world's soil and rivers.
“Brothers, celebrate! Truly, a joy opened once in a hundred years!”
The Keton who had been huddling in the shadows rose with reluctant expressions.
“As Soul and Ambrosia have borne fruit, Lethe is filled with the fragrance of unprecedented fruit. Let all raise your cups. The glory of Gaia, the festival of Ambrosia!”
The eyes of those who had been giving up and trying to fall into a long sleep snapped open.
“Ambrosia?”
“Has Lady Gaia returned?”
It was welcome news, like timely rain.
Lethe.
The land of oblivion sought by those sunk in sorrow and grief. Most considered it ominous and would not go near it, but given the current situation, they could not afford to be choosy.
“Let us hurry to Lethe.”
“We might not have enough if we're late.”
The outer walls and pillars of the black marble palace were decorated with the petals of Himeros like reliefs. When bathed in moonlight, they shone transparently like a mermaid's scales, elegant like crystals hanging from a goddess's garment.
“Oh my, the guardian of Hestia….”
“Have you come to find the master of Lethe?”
Aris reached toward the string of Himeros petals lined up like stitches, then quickly lowered his arm.
If only those damn mouths would shut up.
Though the fallen petals were not poisonous, touching Himeros still felt unpleasant. For it would whisper like a demon given the chance, planting all manner of negative thoughts.
As expected, only Lian could clamp their mouths shut like clams.
But why were they so afraid of Lian? Not just Himeros, but the wind spirits too; natural entities in particular revered and worshipped Kalian excessively.
“What is all this?”
Asteril asked, looking around with wide eyes. The palace, always pitch-black, was decorated in all colors. It looked awkward, like wearing a splendid yet ill-suited garland.
“Where is Kalian?”
“W-well, who knows?”
Aris looked off into the distance, playing dumb. He could feel Asteril, standing before the star palace quarters, glaring at him as if she wanted to kill him.
“Asphodelos was fine, though?”
“….”
“You lied.”
“It's just… um, well.”
As Aris couldn't easily open his mouth, Asteril relaxed the tension around her eyes. A somehow ominous premonition came over her.
“Lian has fallen asleep.”
Asteril's eyes grew round, as if asking what on earth he meant.
“At his request, I took the princesses left in the star palace to Poseidonia, but when I returned, his presence had completely disappeared. Feeling something strange, I went to Oceanos, and Lord Uranos and Lady Ananke told me an absurd story.”
Kalian had gone to Oceanos about half a month ago. So it was a week after Asteril was ambushed by Nyx.
The Oceanos Gorge, hideout of the Keton.
Incompatibly with the clan's disposition, romance bloomed there all year round. Moreover, on that day, rain fell like mist.
Beneath the peach trees surrounding the lakeshore, Ananke sat with Uranos on fluffy wool, watching the mist.
“What did you just….”
Wondering if she had heard correctly, she calmed herself and asked again.
“He said he would fall asleep.”
Ananke lost for words and stared at Kalian. Though called the Eye of the Clan and possessing the power to read fate, even she found it difficult to fathom her own child's heart.
“For how long?”
“At least a hundred years.”
That should be enough. No matter how long a human lifespan, it would be difficult to surpass a hundred years.
Ananke's lips pressed shut tightly like a cliff face carved from snowfields in anger. Uranos, who had been listening silently from the side, opened his mouth.
“Then what of Asphodelos and Lethe?”
“Asphodelos has borne Ambrosia, and Lethe should be managed by Nyx of Harmony as originally intended.”
“Nyx is searching for Gaia of the Earth.”
“I have searched every soil and river in the world, down to every gust of wind. If Gaia were sleeping somewhere, she would have been found by now.”
The Keton were essentially infrequent in meddling or interacting with one another. Mostly, their individual independence and ego were so immense that they could not easily take interest in anything outside themselves.
Kalian was peerless in that regard. Aside from the Ojwa, the only Keton he interacted with was someone like Aris. Even then, it was more that Aris clung to and followed him around; only then would Kalian barely exchange words with him.
“Why is Nyx so obsessed with Gaia?”
“Then why do you take interest in the matter between Nyx and Gaia? I have heard that Nyx visited Lethe several times.”
“….”
“Is the reason you are falling asleep because of Nyx?”
“Yes.”
“That is a lie.”
Ananke frowned and pressed him.
“A very foul stench emanates from you. Is this not the scent of those wretched flowers of Lethe… Himeros?”
“….”
“Kalian, what happened? Are you insisting that my powers do not work on you?”
Ananke barked at him, then showed an aggrieved expression and tried to soothe her son, but it was no use.
Asteril's existence must not be known even to the Ojwa. No, precisely because they were the Ojwa, he could not tell them. If the Ojwa, an organization solely for the clan, learned of her, they might capture her and who knew what they would do.
Kalian remained silent to the end. Ananke's interrogation wielded no power at all. Her son's abilities already surpassed his mother's.
Kalian had already set a remarkable precedent before reaching adulthood: creating a spirit body from the breath exhaled by a lake in the northern snowfields.
Having witnessed the winter wind, Ananke perceived that her child possessed hidden talents beyond the ability to command the atmosphere. She also sensed that this talent might soon surpass even her own.
“Very well. If that is your will, it cannot be helped….”
He was already an adult. Even if they were his parents, they had no right to interfere so long as he did not bring harm to the clan.
Aris let out a long sigh, as though he could guess Ananke's feelings at the time.
Kalian was not one to read the room or bend his will just because his counterpart was the Ojwa or his parents.
“It may already be too late. If he has fallen into a deep sleep from which there is no waking….”
“Then just wake him.”
“Do you think I would be so anxious if he could be woken so easily? The sleep Lian takes is not the kind where he merely closes his eyes lightly. It is a long, long sleep where he erects barriers on all sides and entrusts his consciousness to Erebos, the cradle of the clan.”
Asteril still did not understand why he could not be woken, but she could roughly gauge the severity of the situation from Aris's fierce expression.
“We are beings who have already slept all the sleep there is in Erebos before being born. In truth, unless severely injured and in urgent need of recovery and regeneration… there is no need to fall asleep.”
“Kalian slept?”
“What? When?”
“So, after spending the night with me… um, anyway, when we were together.”
“He was just feeling good and languidly closing his eyes!”
“Ah….”
Aris yelled “Argh!” as if furious. Then he pressed his forehead as if feeling a headache.
Why did he have to explain such petty details? And that black-haired princess, why was she so calm?
“Are you fine with never seeing Lian again for the rest of your life?”
“….”
“Ha, Lian should have seen this situation right now….”
Why did he have to feel all sorts of contempt and humiliation between these two?
Meanwhile, he sat there giving every explanation as if he were frantic to connect these two, listening to all their worries, and taking on all the dirty work besides.
He had nothing to say even if that north wind looked at him with pitiful eyes. Of course it would; it would wonder what on earth he was doing.
He couldn't even convince himself; in the eyes of a carefree spirit, he would look like a half-madman. Or perhaps they would wonder if there were idiots among the Keton too.
“Lord Aris, I'm telling you this because you seem unaware… Kalian and I are no longer anything to each other.”
“What?”
“He said he would send me back to Demeter, that we would no longer be together.”
“Lian left you?”
Asteril lowered her head instead of answering. She could not affirm it aloud. Even now… did she need more time to accept it?
“Are you stupid? I thought something was strange… Black-haired princess. Do you really believe Lian abandoned you?”
“Even if I don't want to believe it, I heard it with my own two ears, so I have no choice but to accept it.”
“Falling asleep because of a human woman whose heart grew cold? Do you even know what falling asleep means to us?”
“I don't know the meaning, but you just explained how serious the situation is.”
“You… how can you….”
The more he looked, the stranger she was. Shouldn't a human usually cry and make a fuss in this situation, or fall into a panic?
Yet she was too serene. Of course, he had seen her shed tears earlier, but that alone felt somewhat lacking.
Judging by reactions alone, it wouldn't have been strange if the black-haired princess were the Keton and he the human.
“Anyway, if you force yourself to sleep without reason, there are cases where you never wake again. Originally, a Keton's sleep can only be broken by the bonded mate….”
“….”
“Anyway, think about it. If Lian's heart had grown cold toward you, he could have simply left you in Demeter and cleanly drunk the waters of forgetfulness. Why would he fall asleep for over a hundred years, waiting until you die? On top of that, he threatened me into taking even the princesses who were here back to their homeland.”
“So why? If he has feelings for me, why is he falling asleep without seeing me again?”
“It's because of Nyx. Lian is afraid that if he stays by your side, Nyx will take interest again.”
Aris let out a hollow laugh, bitterness filling him despite having spoken the words himself.
To think that Kalian of all people would fall asleep out of fear of losing a mere human girl….
He recalled the conversation from the day he had vented his anger on the guy like a child.
“What would a perfect being like you know of love, of anxiety, of despair? You'd dismiss this pain as none of your concern. I wish you would hurt like me, just a little….”
For an instant, Lian's gaze had wavered as if shaken. Perhaps he had already sensed it then.
“Sigh.”
Aris raked his hair and bowed his head. The shape of the shadowed ground within his own shadow was as cramped and dark as his heart.
Why was he chewing things over and feeling hollow anew? Hadn't he already accepted it all? Accepting Lian's feelings and heart, resigning himself like that….
When Aris opened his eyes, he flinched and stumbled backward. Asteril had come close and was staring intently at him.
“W-what….”
Why was she coming so close and making his heart drop like that?
“So, to sum up the conclusion… Callian forced himself to fall asleep because he was worried about me, and he might never wake again. Is that right?”
She asked in a soft, measured voice, unaware that Aris’s breathing had grown louder as he swallowed dryly.
“Yes. How many times do I have to say it? That’s why I carried you all the way here.”
Asteril calmly gazed down at the ground.
How strange. Why am I like this? A quiet ripple spread through her chest. At the thought that Callian had cast aside his own safety for her, that he had risked never waking again…
An irrepressible joy welled up inside her. She should have been worried for him, uneasy, even guilty.
It felt like watching a pebble arc through the air toward a still surface. Like a child delighting in the sight of mirror-clear water breaking with a splash…
That was the thrill she felt.
As if frightened, Asteril pinched her lips together. The corners of her mouth kept trying to rise.
“Would you be fine with never seeing Lian again for the rest of your life?”
Of course she would hate that. What he had done for her and the consequences that followed were completely separate matters. Never seeing him again would be dreadful for her as well.
But why was it? The fact that you endured such pain makes me so happy… so happy I feel like I’ll go mad.
Asteril buried her face in her hands. Like someone forcing herself into despair, she pressed both palms over her eyes.
Did love turn people into monsters? Or was this natural? Did others feel such contradictory emotions toward their lovers too? Could the despair and pain of the one you loved sometimes become your own joy and happiness?
Asteril’s muffled voice slipped out from between her palms.
“I understand the situation, more or less. Then where is Callian now?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I said I don’t know! Because I don’t know, I went through the trouble of bringing you all the way here. I can’t wake Lian, let alone even find where his barrier is. But you’ll be different. You’ll be able to wake him.”
Asteril lowered her hands and looked at Aris.
“How could I?”
“Well… I suppose you would know that.”
“…”
“In any case, hurry. The Five Seats will soon come barging in. We have to find him and wake him before that.”
Asteril still looked utterly bewildered.
“That’s what I’m asking—how am I supposed to find Callian and wake him? You seem to think I have some clever method…”
“What happened to that confident attitude you had when you said you’d find me the Cup of Oblivion? Lady Gaia is a legendary being even within our clan. No matter how exceptional Lian may be, compared to her he’s still a fledgling. And yet you are Lady Gaia’s one and only bloodline, are you not?”
Aris continued, agitated.
“You said it, didn’t you? That you wanted me to drink the water of oblivion as soon as possible. Then wake Lian and bring me a drop of his blood. That damned wretch said to me, of all things, that while he’s asleep, I’m not to take my eyes off you for even a moment in his place. If I don’t, he won’t give me a single drop of his blood. Is that something to say to one who has adored him all his life?”
Aris bent down to meet Asteril’s eyes and asked as if threatening her.
“Do you still not know? What kind of existence you are to Lian?”
A Keton’s barrier could only be found by someone with whom they had shared a deep emotional bond. A fated counterpart to whom they could offer both their soul and their pride. Was the black-haired princess truly that person for Lian?
Asteril blinked slowly. Suddenly, she recalled something the North Wind had grumbled about more than once.
—Princess of the South, you’ve now become the Despoina of Lethe. You’ve become the mistress of this palace.
—Yes, I understand.
—No, listen seriously. I’m saying that every spirit of Lethe, myself included, now has no choice but to obey your words. Do you understand how terribly fated that is?
Asteril rose to her feet. She took off the sandals she had been wearing and stepped barefoot onto the soil.
I’m sorry, Nodos. The truth is, back then I only said I understood because it was bothersome. You truly treated me as Despoina…
She looked toward the main palace garden, then pushed through the shrubs and glanced around. In a familiar direction, she saw a narrow little path.
The Spindle Tree Path. It was a short shortcut leading from the detached palace to the main palace. The North Wind had told her about it once. It was called that because the shrubs hanging down on either side intertwined like a spinning wheel.
As she stepped onto the shaded earth, a small wind burst up from the top of her foot in rippling waves. Asteril’s hair flared upward like flames before settling back down.
—Lil, welcome back…
—It’s been a long time.
The trees whispered as they greeted her. Even the shrubs bearing clusters of fruit were yawning, but upon discovering Asteril, they cried out in delight.
—It’s Despoina.
—Despoina has come!
—We missed you, mistress of Lethe…
The garden trees were timid. Whenever Callian appeared, they clamped their mouths shut like mutes, too busy curling even their leaves inward. Because of that, Callian had no idea how talkative the spirits other than Himeros and the North Wind were.
“Everyone, tell me. How was he when he returned here…?”
The silver poplar guarding the entrance to the main palace garden shook its branches as if in reply.
—Not well. He was far more terrifying than usual.
The willow, the oldest after the ash tree by the spring, also dropped its dangling leaves and spoke up excitedly.
—He sat on that old flat rock over there and stared at the Himeros flower field all day. If the tactless Himeros so much as began to sing, he would give them an irritated look and send a cold wind, sending their petals flying off in a shower as if he were lopping off their heads. The Himeros, left with only their flower stalks and bald as could be, got frightened and clamped their mouths shut like clams. Oh, how refreshing that sight was…
The chorus of the Himeros that rang out every night was a great source of stress for the surrounding tall trees as well. They could not say it aloud, but more than a few of them had wished that all those mouths would be burned shut.
Among them, a pomegranate tree whose body had been half-charred by lightning spoke in a regretful tone.
—But it did not seem as though our lord acted simply out of anger. When the Himeros petals scattered in the breeze and fell in spirals, fluttering down, our lord unconsciously reached out his hand and watched them as if entranced. For a very long time, without even touching the petal that had landed on the back of his hand.
—It has been quite some time since Lord Callian came to Lethe, but it was truly the first time he showed such sorrow…
A still-young shrub cautiously added.
—And then he would look toward the darkness in the west with a terrifying gaze.
—We, who were already holding our breath, were so frightened that we nearly dripped sap everywhere.
—It’s truly fortunate that Despoina has come.
—It feels as though we can finally breathe.
—That’s right. Despoina smells very nice.
—Like the scent of soil that has eaten plenty of fertilizer, perhaps?
Asteril laughed with a breathy sound.
“What, are you saying I smell like manure?”
—We don’t know. To us, it simply feels utterly blissful.
—So, Despoina, please touch our branches just once. With your own hand.
Even normally, the trees liked Asteril and showed her affection, but today it was excessive. It was to the point of worshipping her very existence.
“Not right now. I have to go wake Callian. Once I’m back, I’ll touch you as much as you like.”
Just then, Aris suddenly appeared from between the bushes and urgently grabbed her wrist, pulling her along.
“No, why again…”
“Shh. Someone is coming.”
The West Wind, who had been keeping watch at the palace entrance, was circling above Aris’s head.
The West Wind whispered in a low voice, as if warning them.
—They’re coming this way.
Aris narrowed his brow and stared intently in the direction the West Wind indicated.
He could feel the aura of his clan riding the air. An unstable yet savage power. One that had not yet become an adult.
But this tangled scent clinging to it… Is that the smell of human blood? I’d heard rumors that Nisa’s group received living sacrifices, but could it truly have been real?
Aris turned Asteril by the shoulders.
“You focus on finding Lian here. I’ll deal with that side. There’s no more time to delay. If you happen to see any Keton other than me, run straight to the Himeros flower field. No matter how mad for human blood they are, they won’t want to risk touching Himeros.”
Without giving Asteril time to answer, he disappeared down the dark footpath. The West Wind did not follow him and remained by her side.
“Have the other Ketons already arrived?”
—Yes. They seem extremely dangerous. Wouldn’t it be better to hide for now and look for the ruler of Haides later?
“They said it might be too late if we do that.”
—Your life comes first. If you go around like this and the Ketons outside the castle see you…
“Then I’ll run, just as Lord Aris said. To the Himeros flower field.”
—Do you not know that Himeros poison is even more fatal to you, a human?
“It doesn’t matter. My desire is so clear it’s practically transparent.”
—Lil, please… It is absurd for a mortal like you to be with a Keton.
“Isn’t it a little funny for you, the West Wind, a wind spirit of all beings, to say something like that?”
The West Wind let out a long sigh. Asteril was surprisingly stubborn. She had a gentle-looking face, but inside, she often harbored cold, resolute decisions. She was kind to believers and the sick, but merciless toward those who disturbed the temple. In that regard, she truly took after her mother…
“West Wind, stop it and look over there.”
Asteril pointed a finger toward the branches of the dense garden trees. The West Wind froze when he discovered the flock of jackdaws filling the branches of the tall trees.
“Nyx’s messenger birds, right?”
Asteril was calm. She no longer wavered in confusion. It seemed one could develop an immunity to fear as well.
Death seeped between the black feathers. Each time the flock of jackdaws cawed, the garden trees stirred uneasily and curled in their branches.
Whoooosh.
A soulless wind passed by bleakly. Her chest went cold.
—So you were alive, child of Demeter.
Asteril remained frozen where she stood and steadied her breathing. What a being more dreadful than the nightmares that repeated every night…
—What are you? Just what are you, woman…?
The black birds tilted their beaks askew and blinked. Their bloodshot eyes suddenly opened wide. They flapped their wings as if urging their master on.
Beyond their crimson pupils, Nyx was looking down at her with a gaze of interest. Though she could not see him, she knew. He was watching through the crows.
He’ll appear in person soon. I have to find Callian before that.
Her heart grew impatient. As if tugging at her ankles, a gentle chorus reached her ears.
—Welcome, you…
—What are you searching for?
Bathed in limpid moonlight, the Himeros flower field was dazzlingly bright. Today, it looked especially splendid. The hymn that caught the ears of those who wandered nearby was twice as tender and beautiful as usual.
—Closer, come closer…
—Pluck just one petal and take it with you.
The spirits sang their cunning song as they always did. The pale yellow petals filling her vision were fantastical, like fireflies drifting through a shaded forest.
As Asteril turned her gaze after their voices, she recalled what the garden trees had told her earlier about Callian’s recent state.
—If the tactless Himeros so much as began to sing, he would give them an irritated look and send a cold wind, sending their petals flying off in a shower as if he were lopping off their heads.
Meanwhile, Nyx, who had just been stepping out from within a black whirlwind barrier formed by the flock of crows gathered together, paused.
What is she doing now? Is she planning to throw herself into the flower field?
Asteril ran barefoot over the white stone path. As she sprinted, she glanced back through her wind-tossed hair. Nyx stood there draped in a black robe, staring at her as if watching a fire from across the river.
The sound of Himeros’s song drew closer and closer. The flower field rippled with light like a sea dyed by the setting sun.
Was it not strange? The flowers were in such full bloom, yet not a single petal could be seen drifting on the breeze.
—The Himeros, left with only their flower stalks and bald as could be, got frightened and clamped their mouths shut like clams. Oh, how refreshing that sight was…
Even she, listening to the story then, felt as if something had been cleared out inside her. Those monsters needed to be taught a harsh lesson at least once.
As if she had made up her mind, she launched herself over the flower garden. Her eyes squeezed shut above her tense lips.
Kallian!
At that moment, the dust floating in the ivory moonlight scattered over the hem of her clothes like splashing water.
Craaaack.
The air split as though a crack had formed, and the atmosphere, breaking apart like a shattered mirror, soon opened into a long vertical rift.
Nyx’s eyes flew wide in shock.
The surging wind swallowed her in an instant, then vanished as though being sucked into the gap in the air.
Whoosh.
The distorted atmosphere soon grew still, like the sea after a wave had passed. As if nothing had happened at all.
Only the Himeroses left behind remained there, giggling as they sang their repeated song in mockery.
—Welcome, my dear….
—What are you looking for?
Nyx glared at them with a stern gaze. The moonlight was an illusion. In truth, the golden sunset was brilliantly dyeing the sky.
Clenching his teeth, he walked into the flower garden. With each step his feet, clad in black leather sandals, took, the blossoms were crushed and crumbled beneath him.
Fake—this too is fake!
The flower garden that had shone beneath the moonlight lost its form in an instant and turned into shaded earth.
That he, who was responsible for his clan’s barriers, had been utterly deceived by the barrier of a brat who had only just reached adulthood!
He ground his teeth together. His furious gaze strained as he held his breath until his face went pale, then, as though something had suddenly occurred to him, he whipped around.
The place he glared toward was the detached palace where the Asphodelos stood. He had remembered that one of his followers had headed that way.
Sure enough, within the garden of the detached palace, two familiar voices were murmuring in conversation.
“Seat, what is that?”
Aris asked when he spotted the human woman the male Keton had brought in by the hand. Seat lightly shrugged his shoulders.
“She’s one of Nysa’s believers. I brought her here to keep her as a new attendant.”
Psyche swallowed dryly, her posture stiff with nerves. The green-eyed man was looking at her intently.
Aris tilted his head.
After Kallian took charge of Hades, Aris, too, had been frequenting Lethe, so he knew very well what the attendants of Lethe were.
Nyx sent believers who had been devoured by their own desires and become beyond saving to Lethe under the pretext of punishment, in order to keep them out of other humans’ sight, and Kallian periodically gathered such people and executed them.
Occasionally, there were those who came to Lethe of their own will. Rare though they were, they were the ones who had belatedly come to their senses. They usually went about tidying up the atrocities committed by their comrades, their faces full of repentance or remorse.
Seeing as her complexion looks good… is she the latter?
When Aris stared hard at Psyche, Seat changed the subject to draw his gaze away.
“By the way, when do you intend to raise the sacred flame?”
“Who knows?”
“We do not wish to stay here long.”
“Are you saying I should kindle Hestia in the brazier according to your schedule?”
Seat clenched his teeth.
Kallian was insufferable, but that brat, the child of Pontos, was no less irritating. After trailing after Kallian everywhere, he seemed to have even learned that arrogant, impudent manner of speech. The way he swaggered around calling himself Hestia’s guardian was truly unbearable to watch.
Forcing a smile, he continued.
“We will simply pay our respects to the sacred flame and go, so light the brazier.”
“Now?”
He nodded. Aris looked baffled.
“When the Five Seats haven’t even arrived?”
“We find it uncomfortable to meet the Five Seats.”
“Ah, well….”
If they met, the nagging would pour down in droves.
“What about the ambrosia? You’re leaving without eating?”
“Probably.”
“You’ll really get scolded.”
“Aren’t we beings who have already fallen out of favor with the Five Seats? We came to this ambrosia festival only because Lord Nyx urged us to attend.”
“You defy the Five Seats, yet obey Nyx? Do you realize how dangerous that line of thinking is?”
“…”
“Surely you haven’t forgotten that Nyx of Harmony is also one of the Five Seats? Or… are you planning to form an entirely new sect centered around Nyx?”
Aris’s father, Pontos, was in charge of punishment among the Five Seats. Even Ketons were judged and punished by the Five Seats if they committed crimes.
The punishment grounds were located in a land where fire and ice coexisted, and that place, laid with ancient sorcery, bestowed endless agony even upon Ketons. Pontos was both the gatekeeper and torturer of the punishment grounds.
Seat remained silent, his face twisted. In his lowered gaze, defiance was brimming. Aris shrugged.
There was nothing to be gained by engaging in a pointless argument here. Besides, if the black-haired princess was to find Rian’s barrier, he would have to divert this one’s attention elsewhere.
“Well, I’ll grant your request just this once. Are you going to bring the others too?”
“If you light the sacred flame, they will come on their own.”
Psyche felt as though she might suffocate from the tension flowing between the two Ketons. Seat glanced sideways to check her pale complexion.
He was recalling what Nyx had once said, when, drunk on black wine at Nysa’s altar, he had poured out the words as though humming.
—You mean the child of Pontos and Thalassa? The fellow calls himself Hestia’s guardian, yet knows nothing about the thing he protects. Just because he is the only Keton who can touch and handle Hestia, he only struts about in arrogance. He does not even know he was merely chosen as a vessel for storing Hestia…. Gaia vanished without telling him the most important thing.
—What is that?
—Hestia is a spark made for humans. Not for Ketons.
—What… do you mean by that?
—I mean only humans can handle Hestia. That sly fire spirit won’t so much as open its mouth in front of Ketons, but it obeys the words of lowly humans quite meekly.
Within the detached palace garden where the Asphodelos was planted stood a large three-legged brazier. It was as tall as a grown man.
When Aris stretched out his hand, a small scarlet flame bloomed at the tip of his index finger.
Fwoosh.
The flame, gradually growing larger, slowly transferred into the brazier. Once the fire had fully caught, a strand of hazy smoke rose into the air. The garden trees rustled their leaves finely, as though in communion.
Hestia, as always, remained meekly silent, but the roaring flame itself was full of vigor.
Aris turned back with a look that said, See that? and Seat gave an indifferent nod.
“By the way, the guardian of the Asphodelos is nowhere to be seen.”
“Ah, Rian? He’s a bit busy right now….”
Seat wore a suspicious expression.
Something is strange. Kallian, the guardian of the Asphodelos and the foremost contributor to the bearing of ambrosia, is nowhere to be seen?
At first, he had assumed Kallian simply did not want to show his face because he found the sight of those from Nysa displeasing. Yet even after they had entered deep into the palace, he could not sense Kallian’s presence at all, and it struck him as odd.
Because Seat had briefly tasted his power in Nysa, he was confident he would know at once if he detected even a speck of Kallian’s presence.
There is no way that tremendous power, impossible to hide even if he tried, could be this completely undetectable. Did he go out to greet the Five Seats? Or could it be… that he is not in Lethe?
Pretending not to know, he broached the subject with Aris.
“In place of meeting the Five Seats, I would like to pay my respects to Kallian, the administrator of Lethe.”
Seat’s gaze turned to the jackdaw standing with its black wings folded atop a tall tree.
The crow was watching quietly. That meant Nyx was nearby. The fact that he did not reveal himself meant he tacitly approved of the current situation.
“Why go so far as to pay respects? Just pay your respects to the sacred flame and leave.”
“Do you not know that he came to Nysa, crushed the bodies of my comrades, then cut off only their heads and left them hanging from every tree? If I simply come and go, who knows what calamity I may suffer next.”
Th-that happened? Rian, that bastard, really did vent his anger properly.
Aris pondered, concealing his troubled expression.
Should I return to the black-haired princess first, check the situation, and then come back?
“Fine. I will bring Rian, so wait here with the others from Nysa.”
“Understood.”
Aris glanced sideways at Psyche, who had been following Seat around while tightly holding his hand since earlier. Even her lips were bloodless, as if she was terrified.
Something feels off.
He had long since heard the rumors that the young Ketons of Nysa received humans as living sacrifices, drank their fresh blood, and tore them to pieces…. Surely they would not commit such atrocities even here?
Those bastards treated humans as literally less than livestock. They were absolutely not the sort to hold hands so kindly and treat them affectionately.
What are they scheming?
Turning his steps toward the main palace garden, Aris hoped that by now the black-haired princess had found Kallian’s barrier.
For the sake of all his effort, if nothing else.
Ψ
“Mm…”
Asteril sat up, clutching her head.
Where is this? She tilted her head back and looked up.
The sky, which had been touched by sunset only moments ago, was now dark, as though the goddess of dawn lay sprawled with her black hair spread wide.
The pale Milky Way streamed out like freshly drawn milk from a jar riddled with holes, spreading in drifting wisps.
The stars thickly embroidering the heavens were jewels the sun god, hurrying by in his sun-chariot, had failed to gather up.
Asteril gazed down at her feet.
Stars floating here and there in three dimensions shone dazzlingly between the dark blue expanses of air.
She was walking through the sky. Through a starry firmament where a night found nowhere and a beauty seen nowhere mingled together.
Her body, floating as if suspended in midair, bobbed lightly like dandelion seeds the north wind toyed with on its breath.
“Kallian?”
Her tense voice rang out as though echoing. Asteril calmly opened her mouth again.
“Where are you?”
She could not explain it, but she simply knew. That this was his space.
From afar, a cold breath blew toward her. It drew closer as though beckoning.
Asteril stretched out her arms in gladness. Then a hand that sprang out from the darkness seized hers and pulled her in.
Drawn forward as if sliding, she slipped neatly into Kallian’s waiting embrace.
“Ril.”
A low voice that suited his well-formed lips called her name as if admonishing her. Leaning against his broad chest, Asteril closed her eyes with her cheek pressed to him.
Her frozen breath melted away. His embrace, holding her for the first time in so long. How deeply she had missed him, how much she had longed to see him.
His elegant scent seeped into her nose. The fingers wrapped around her waist were still long and beautiful, and the hair brushing her eyelids shone with a deep luster like the night sky spread out on every side.
This night itself was his embrace, and the air of dawn itself was his breath.
Kallian, my god, carved from only the graceful darkness gathered in the deepest depths of Erebus.
“Why did you wake me, my dear?”
“I… woke you?”
Before she knew it, their surroundings had changed into the main palace garden, and behind Kallian stood a sleek marble bed.
He looked as though he had just risen from sleep, his appearance disheveled. The loosely draped chiton and chlaris exposed his bare chest and shoulders, making him nearly half-naked, and his carelessly tied hair had stray strands falling over his forehead and cheeks, giving him an air of decadence.
“In truth, I could not sleep because I was thinking of you.”
Kallian collapsed against the nape of Asteril’s neck and kissed her. As though barely suppressing his surging desire, he closed his eyes and halted his movements for a moment.
“That’s why I came. Like this.”
He tilted his head slightly and seized her hair in his hand. Then he gazed steadily at his lover’s face.
“What did Aris tell you, my dear?”
“Is that important right now?”
“…”
“I told you to stay by my side.”
Asteril looked utterly furious. Her reddened eyelids were taut as she held back tears that seemed about to fall at any moment.
“If you were going to tell Lord Aris to protect me and then fall asleep, I’m saying you should have stayed by my side instead. Do you really not know what I truly want? I, I…”
“It does not matter what you want. Every priority changed completely on the day you nearly died because of Nyx.”
“…”
“I saw with my own eyes what your death was like. The feeling of blood soaking both my hands—I never want to…”
He paused for a moment. Then, steadying his breathing, he opened his lips again.
“I never want to experience it again.”
“…”
"Do not remind me that keeping you by my side was my arrogance and greed."
"Why? Because you are a Ketton and I am a human?"
"To me, you are a being that crumbles as easily as a wildflower."
"But I am not a wildflower."
"You are even weaker than that. Wildflowers do not die in a storm. But do humans not die just from being caught in a downpour?"
He suddenly grew solemn. Asteril looked at him, at a loss for words.
"What I want to do with you is not merely a pretty act like flower viewing... You must know that well too."
"...."
"It is not solely a matter of Nix. It means I could ruin you with my own hands."
"I don't care."
"I might kill you."
"It's fine."
"No."
"...."
"It is not fine, for me."
"But..."
"Lil."
Kallian grabbed her shoulders. His eyes, meeting hers straight on, repeated softly.
"I cannot be fine. Not for a single moment, not even right now."
"So you're going to leave me and go to sleep? For a hundred years at that?"
"...."
"What about me, who will be left alone? How could I meet another man, marry, and have children? After you or I die, meet another Ketton and live happily ever after? I will take care of my own life. I don't need any man other than you in this life. Even if I have a child, it will be your child, and when I die, I will die by your side. If watching my death is cruel, it can't be helped. It's the burden you must bear for choosing me."
"...."
"Did I really want to marry another man, have his child, and live like that?"
"Because only by doing so would I be able to see you."
In the faces of those children, in their eyes, in their voices—the image of you that would remain.
"Of course, I regretted it."
Kallian held Asteril and spoke as if in penance.
"The moment I imagined you in another's embrace... I imagined tearing out the bones connecting that person's neck and spine, and shredding the flesh and innards of their entire body to pieces."
Asteril was at a loss for words once again. Do people... normally use such expressions?
"Only I can possess you. Only my lips can touch, only my hands, my flesh, my body heat can enter you. And only I can make you ring like this. Isn't that so?"
He asked, stroking her reddened eyes with his hand.
"That's right. Even while knowing... even while knowing it so well, why did you do it? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me?"
How could he explain? That the only thought he could muster upon seeing her covered in blood was just that.
"Your safety came first."
"You just have to protect me."
"I am also included among those that threaten you."
Kallian grabbed Asteril's jaw and said.
"If I just put a little strength into this hand right now, you will..."
...be severely hurt. Not just hurt, but you would draw your last breath. If I hold you just a little tighter, if I kiss you just a little rougher, if I mix our flesh just a little deeper...
"I trust your restraint."
Kallian pulled Asteril's waist into an embrace and lowered his head, pressing his forehead against her chest.
"Do not trust it."
"I will trust it."
"Kettons have no such thing as restraint."
"You are different."
"...."
"You're holding back right now, aren't you?"
"...."
"I know you've always been like that. Because I didn't hate it."
Asteril grasped both of Kallian's cheeks and firmly pressed her lips against his. He widened his narrow eyes.
"See? You're holding back just fine."
Her laughter seemed to burst against his upper lip. She mixed her breath with his and laughed excitedly like a child. It was very playful.
"You are... a cruel being."
Kallian rested his chin on his hand and murmured indifferently. Asteril stole a sidelong glance at his face. His shaded lips seemed to have softened a little.
Did it mean he couldn't beat her? With a feeling of resignation? Or had he finally accepted something he had been holding back?
His eyes, having lost their tension, looked refreshed.
"How could you think that you alone wouldn't be enough for me?"
When he heard those words from her, even someone as cold and composed as he felt a surge of anger rise.
"That's because you said the poison of Himeros hadn't been neutralized..."
"That is because I still have not possessed all of you."
"You've already taken all of me..."
"No, it is not enough."
"You've had me so many times."
"Only your flesh."
"You have my heart too."
"Only superficially."
"Huh? No, I'm telling you I like you?"
"It is not enough."
"Kallian, I like you."
"It is not enough."
"What..."
"It is far from enough. I want to know and feel everything—your emotions, your needs, your desires, even the sensation of every single cell. Without missing a single moment, not even a fraction of an instant, entirely."
Asteril was at a loss for words. How could he think of such a thing...? Did he want them to become one body?
"That's impossible."
"It is possible."
Kallian reached out and stroked her lips, then firmly pressed her lower lip with his index finger. And then, pushing his finger past her teeth, he invaded her mouth.
"Mmm..."
Rubbing the inside of her mouth, he leaned his upper body down and overlapped his lips with hers. Elegant, like a leisurely approaching leopard. The tongue that entered deep grew rough, as if wanting to reach the root of her throat.
"Ugh... K-Kal..."
Asteril clung to his neck and gasped for breath. After parting his lips, Kallian licked her slick, wet mouth again with a smacking sound.
Then, pressing her plump, swollen lower lip firmly from side to side, he slightly flipped her upper lip—which she had pushed out—with his index finger and rubbed it.
"What... what are you doing?"
His fingers constantly slipping in and out between her lips were planting shameful fantasies in her mind.
"I am gauging what this part of you feels like. As I said before, I am endlessly curious about you..."
How it differs from between her thighs which he had pierced so many times, what kind of climax this mucous membrane will bring.
His clouded eyes slowly took on heat.
"Ah... hah..."
Before she knew it, his other hand had slipped between her thighs, digging into her inner flesh like a hook.
Her buttocks lifted and bounced.
His fingers scraping the inner walls inside grew from one to two, and then three. With his fingers stretched out, he rubbed and slapped to stimulate the sensitive inner flesh.
Asteril twisted her waist and shrieked.
"Stop... no, please..."
The fluid pooled between his fingers going in and out splashed in droplets. When the hand rubbing her parted flesh was covered in slick mucus, he flattened his palm and began to rub the entrance.
Her legs trembled and spread apart to the left and right. Asteril raised both arms to cover her flushed face. Through the overlapping elbows, she could see the gaze looking down at her intently.
Kallian, having withdrawn his hand, slowly licked his soaked palm and the back of his hand with his tongue. As the sour taste mixed with his breath, his clouded eyes trembled with excitement.
"This is as far as my restraint goes."
A voice, cracking like metal, whispered. Asteril turned her head away with burning cheeks. The gaze she was stealing glances at met his directly.
Kallian grabbed her slender ankles with both hands and lifted them, spreading them apart.
Squelch!
As he thrust his waist in all at once, her hair, loosened like seaweed, swayed and scattered. Her round breasts, like the moon, jiggled, repeatedly softening and gathering.
Thwack! Slap...
Her soaked inside made a watery sound like a puddle. Kallian, wiping the moisture splashed on her thighs with his knee, pulled out for a moment, and then, to thrust deeper, rubbed himself against her red, spread flesh. It was a sensitive area. Asteril flinched and bit her lower lip hard.
"Lil..."
His heated breath reached her ears. A low groan, as if suppressing his excitement. His expression, clenching his teeth as he braced his hands against the floor.
Every time he thrust his lower body to the very end of her iris-like inner walls, the way he barely maintained his restraint, his Adam's apple bobbing, was unbearably beautiful.
A drop of sweat rolling down the nape of his tilted neck fell right into her cleavage.
"Kallian?"
His member, stuffed tightly inside, bulged once before driving in even deeper at an adjusted angle.
Startled, Asteril firmly pressed the center of her pubic bones with her hand, urgently defending herself.
"W-wait... It's too deep, it's touching everything. Just a moment... Kal!"
She arched her back and screamed. The hard pillar, blocked by her hand, throbbed and halted its entry.
Kallian lifted his head and looked up at her. His eyes, seemingly having barely stopped, lost their focus.
"You can't."
"Hah..."
A growling moan spilled from between his crushed lips. He lowered his head and caught his breath.
"It didn't all go in, right?"
"...."
"Is it hard to hold back?"
Asteril raised her body to comfort him. Then Kallian flinched and pushed her shoulder as if to lay her back down.
Asteril, propping herself up on her elbows, looked at him quietly. Covering his face with his arm, he exhaled roughly.
"Strength."
"Pardon?"
"Relax, you..."
She was unconsciously clenching her lower stomach and buttocks. Kallian, who had been gritting his teeth, finally let out a low groan and braced himself against the floor as Asteril relaxed.
"Ugh..."
Holding back and holding back again, the rushing climax swept over his entire body like a breaking wave. His low voice, laced with heavy breathing, leaked with pleasure.
He braced his hands as much as possible so she wouldn't be crushed underneath him. At the moment of ejaculation, swollen with pleasure and then bursting, his vision was covered in black.
The low voice scraping past his Adam's apple continued as if it would break.
"Asteril..."
Her body could never stay composed like this. Entangled with uncontrollable desire and pleasure, she would shake her body like a beast and lose her mind.
"Kallian?"
He held her tightly, as if someone might snatch her away. Of course, it was only a very weak force compared to his actual grip strength.
"Become my Anteros, you."
"Ante... ros?"
What was that? The ancient language of the Kettons was hard to deduce, unlike the characters of old books.
Kallian raised his head.
His eyes, normally like amethysts, were red like heated glass. It was a look where his excitement had not yet subsided.
"I will give you all my breath."
"...."
"What is that expression for?"
"I don't quite understand what you mean."
Kallian thought for a moment and then asked.
"Where do humans consider the most important part of their body?"
"Well... People usually say it's the heart."
To the immortal Kettons, words like 'heart' or 'a lifetime' might not have much meaning.
"You are my heart."
His eyes looking up at Asteril gradually grew dim. It was because her reaction was lukewarm. His eyelashes drooped lower and lower as he sank.
"In Cocytus, when a man proposes to his lover, he brings an armful of pomegranate branches. And after thickly paving a small hill or knoll with flower petals, he reads a love poem or verse."
Kallian's expression changed subtly. He seemed to be wondering what love poems and verses were, let alone the flower petals and pomegranates.
"Are you proposing to me right now?"
"Proposing?"
"Are you asking to form a pact? I mean, to become husband and wife..."
"It is different from the social act you humans perform. It is a ritual to swear to Erebus and become one for eternity..."
Asteril chuckled. It sounded similar, but it seemed different by his standards.
"I'll do it. That."
"That?"
"I'll become your Anteros."
Kallian, who had been dazed for a moment, slowly raised his body. He spread his arms and hugged Asteril as if to crush her. Of course, it was probably with hardly any strength from his perspective, but Asteril felt a suffocating embrace for the first time.
Bending his waist, he whispered in her ear, containing his intensified emotions.
"I will prepare the ritual, so wait here quietly, you."
As he turned away, Asteril anxiously snatched his collar.
"Come back, Ah..."
Asteril loosened her grip awkwardly. Without realizing, I just...
Kallian looked at her for a moment before calling Hanpung.
"Bring a dagger and the Kiritis."
The quick-witted Hanpung swiftly disappeared outside the barrier.
"Normally, we should prepare various things and perform the ritual according to the clan's customs, but..."
In truth, there was nothing special to it. They would lie naked on a cloth sprinkled with pearl powder. After mixing their bodies all night and reaching their climax, they would pour white Peach Blossom Wine into a silver Kirites and drink. Then, if they mixed their blood in the empty wine cup and drank it, the ritual to welcome Anteros would be complete.
It was simple. An incredibly simple process and a straightforward ritual, but strangely enough, doing it with her... made him want to package it as if they were doing something grand.
"It wouldn't be a bad idea to try Demeter's way as you suggested."
As Kalian raised his hand, the dark blue sky began to brighten from the other side. The surroundings grew bright as if dawn was pushing in, and in an instant, it was dyed in the peach-blossom hue of a pre-sunset sky.
Asteril tilted her head back to look up, then glanced around in wonder.
Before they knew it, they were sitting on a small hill. The surroundings were entirely a peach orchard scattering flower rain, and the soft soil shone golden, as if dyed by the golden sun.
Amidst the full bloom of peach blossoms vibrantly blooming all around, a gentle breeze blew. It was as soft as gently swaying hair, making her eyes close naturally. The pale pink petals drifted down to the ground as if swinging on a swing in mid-air.
Asteril fumbled to grasp the petal that landed on the bridge of her nose, then murmured in admiration.
"I can... touch it?"
To dismiss it as a mere illusion, the tactile sensation was too vivid.
"It even smells like flowers."
Kalian sat leaning against the peach tree and took out a wine jar from who knows where. Then, he steadily poured clear wine into the two Kirites Hanpung had brought.
"What is this?"
"Peach Blossom Wine."
"What's that?"
Kalian offered a cup to Asteril as well. Asteril quickly took it and brought it to her nose. It had a sweet scent. Closing her eyes, she focused on the fragrance wafting from the wine cup, then snapped her eyes open and exclaimed.
"Is this wine brewed from peach blossoms?"
Ketons tended to enjoy alcohol. However, the wine they drank was usually undiluted grape wine, and apart from that, they rarely drank anything other than apple wine.
Peach Blossom Wine was Ananke's favorite wine. According to one account, Gaia, who was her friend, brewed the wine for Ananke, who loved peach blossoms, and Ananke, captivated by its sweet taste and fragrance, fell deeply in love with Peach Blossom Wine.
Overseeing the Anteros ritual was one of Ananke's duties, so the Ketons later performed the ritual with Peach Blossom Wine instead of grape wine to win Ananke's favor.
"It's really delicious. Come to think of it, there were so many delicious wines in the Star Palace. Were they yours?"
Did he know that she had drunk half of the wine jars in the storage? The other half was probably touched by Princess Melinoe.
"Those belong to my mother."
"Your mother?"
"She hid them behind my father's back."
"If it's your father, then could it be... Father God Uranus?"
Kalian glanced sideways at the term 'Father God'. Asteril's eyes were sparkling with curiosity.
"I actually heard it before. Nyx calling you Uranus's child..."
According to oral mythology, Uranus's wife would be Gaia, but given the circumstances, that seemed highly unlikely. Instead, the story Tethys had told her came to mind.
"Then your mother is the Goddess of Destiny, Ananke...?"
Kalian emptied his wine cup instead of answering. Asteril ended up dropping the cup in her hand.
Oh my god, it was true?
The man sitting in front of her, the lover who had made love to her countless times and mixed his breath with hers... was truly the son of the Father God, a being born from the womb of the Goddess of Destiny?
"T-Then... will I also be able to meet Lord Uranus and Lady Ananke someday?"
"I suppose so."
"Really? Truly? Oh my goodness!"
Kalian felt a strange sensation as he watched Asteril squealing in delight.
For some reason, she seemed more excited at the thought of seeing his father, Uranus, and his mother, Ananke, than the fact that she was becoming his Anteros.
Should he not introduce them?
He wasn't sure about his father, Uranus, but his mother, Ananke, had tastes similar to his in every way. She might like her so much that she'd want to keep her by her side. There was no need to show her to them...
His biggest concern was that she might end up liking his parents more than him. Given her slightly peculiar tastes, it was a highly plausible development.
He thought that as soon as the ritual was over, he should go somewhere no one knew and set up a barrier.
And all day long, as the celestial chariots traversed the sky countless times, they would join their bodies, rubbing and mixing their flesh together. Once they were lost in ecstasy, they would forget all about Uranus and Ananke.
Once she became his Anteros, they could make love naked like that for days, even weeks. They would even do the acts she had waved her hands at, deeming them too embarrassing. He even planned to do it in very bright places.
For as she said, they were becoming husband and wife.
Meanwhile, Hanpung began to proceed with the ritual in place of the two who had gotten completely sidetracked. He blew a breath, sharpened his nail, and carefully scratched Asteril's index finger.
"Ouch."
Asteril stared at the droplets of blood welling up round like beads. Meanwhile, Kalian picked up the wine cup and wiped the blood beading on her index finger into the rim of the cup. After that, he grabbed a dagger and sliced his own palm.
Blood trickled out from the deeply cut wound. His blood, caught in the wine cup, spread like a heat haze in the clear liquid before dyeing the entire cup red.
Asteril watched the scene with a fascinated expression. The wound on his palm from the dagger was already healed and perfectly fine.
Although she wouldn't lose to anyone when it came to healing abilities, a Keton's regenerative power could only be described as omnipotent.
"Now, you become my Anteros. I shall lay the brilliance of a lifetime and the eternity of darkness at your feet..."
He set the sacred wine cup on the ground, then gathered her long hair and rolled it into his hand. Closing his eyes, he reverently kissed the tips of her hair.
"Asteril of Demeter, will you accept my proposal, Kalian?"
She felt her heart pounding wildly.
"I would like you to worship me even more than my followers do."
The image of him looking at her in bewilderment at those words came to mind.
The man who was the bloodline and successor of Uranus and Ananke, the highest among the gods.
Such a man was kneeling before her with his head bowed.
She made up her mind. She would never forget this moment. And even if she were to die tomorrow, she would leave not a single ounce of regret for choosing him.
"I will accept."
Asteril smiled with tears in her eyes.
"Kalian of Hades, I accept your proposal."
She slipped down and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her voice, moistly brushing against his ear, gradually grew closer to a mumble.
Kalian said nothing. Instead, he stared at the wine cup for a moment before gulping it down.
His side profile as he tilted his head back and swallowed the blood was so sensual that it would have made even the ascetic priests of Side blush.
His thick throat made a gulping sound as he swallowed. It was incredibly titillating, reminding her of the times during their lovemaking when he would often go down and roughly suck her depths.
It felt as if her heart had been plunged into a cold block of ice. The sensation of being caught in his warmthless grasp.
Less than half a shichen ago, she had tangled her legs around his waist and mingled bodies with him, yet her body grew hot all over again. She felt like she was becoming increasingly addicted to his touch.
"Um..."
Kalian staggered as if dizzy and braced himself against the ground. Asteril quickly supported his shoulder in surprise.
"A-Are you okay?"
He raised his gaze and stared at Asteril. Within his eyes looking at her, wonder was contained. As if mesmerized by a breathtaking spectacle he was encountering for the first time in his life, he gazed at her face for a long time.
"Kalian?"
"Is this... your pulse? It's incredibly fast and unstable."
"That's because I'm worried and startled right now. But my pulse...? Can you hear my heartbeat too?"
"Not just your heartbeat, but your breathing, body temperature, emotions... everything..."
As if his body felt languid, Kalian embraced her as if collapsing into her.
A massive current swept through his entire body like a wave. He felt like a fish caught in a confluence. All his nerves were sucked into an irresistible current.
Was she always in this state when she was with him? A frantically beating heart, irregular breathing, fluctuating body temperature...
"I want to hold you. Right now, exactly as this feeling."
"We just did it."
"Yes, only once."
"..."
"I'll do it slowly and gently."
"Liar."
"I swear it on Oceanus."
"You claim to be a descendant of a god, yet you lie every time you open your mouth. So shamelessly with such a handsome face... More importantly, give it to me quickly too."
"Give you what?"
"The Kirites. I have to welcome you as my Anteros too."
He abruptly stopped talking. Sensing a serious atmosphere from his tightly pressed lips, Asteril furrowed her brow.
"Why?"
"You don't have to do it."
"I don't want to. I want to feel your pulse, breathing, breath, body temperature, emotions... everything too."
"It is impossible."
"Why...?"
"My blood is poison to you. You must never taste it, absolutely never."
"..."
"Do you remember the innkeeper who died back then?"
"The innkeeper who attacked me?"
"Yes, that is the fate of anyone who tastes immortality."
A chill ran down her spine as she recalled the innkeeper who had aged instantly and died looking shriveled up like a white silkworm cocoon, recalling the whitened hair and the age spots left like blemishes on the skin.
"Then you can't become my Anteros?"
Asteril's expression darkened. Kalian stroked her cheek as if gently caressing her.
"What does that matter? You are my Anteros, no different from my heart. Now I will feel all your well-being and emotions as if they were my own, and I will even share the journey of life and death with you. So you don't need to worry about anything. I will be by your side even when you dream."
"Huh? Wait... what do you mean by that?"
Asteril pushed Kalian's shoulder away and demanded to know.
"Share the journey of life and death?"
"A Keton is connected to their Anteros as one body, sharing a single lifetime. Thus, the Anteros's joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness become my joy and sorrow, and the Anteros's life and death inevitably lead to my own life and death."
"What do you mean... You are immortal. Ketons don't die."
"Ketons sometimes do perish. Though it is rare."
"So you're saying if I die, you die too?"
Asteril collapsed to the ground with a blank expression. She stared at the dirt as if her soul had left her body.
"So by making me your Anteros just now... you threw your life away?"
"Ril, that's..."
"You're crazy... Are you crazy? I'm human, so of course I'll die, but why would you? Why go out of your way to make me your Anteros and court death? Why?"
"..."
"You could have just kept me by your side without making me your Anteros. Just play lovers like you did at first, and spend a few decades that would feel like a fleeting moment to you. That would have been fine!"
"Ril."
"This is really, what is this... If I had known, I would never have done it. I absolutely wouldn't have done that Anteros ritual or whatever!"
Kalian grabbed Asteril's shoulders. He bent down toward her, who was already sitting on the ground crying.
"Calm down."
"If it were you, could you calm down? When I'm saying I'll throw away my eternal life and follow you to death?"
"I didn't even know I wanted it either."
Asteril gazed into his wavering eyes. Within those violet eyes sat a man who didn't even know how to smile with curled lips.
The moment she saw that face, she was rendered speechless. Anger surged within her. She wanted to strangle herself. For her own foolishness in being swept up in the romantic mood of Anteros and whatnot, asking nothing, seeing nothing, and blindly accepting his proposal...
"There is a story in Demeter. The story of a lion who fell in love with a sheep. Have you ever heard of it?"
Kalian shook his head as if curious. His gentle attitude made her feel as if her insides were being corroded.
“One day, a lion who came down to the grasslands fell suddenly in love upon seeing a sheep grazing peacefully. The lion immediately ran to the sheep and begged it to become his mate. But the sheep jumped in fright, crying out that his teeth were too scary, and ran far away. Shocked, the lion put stones in his mouth and chewed, breaking all of his teeth. The lion went to the sheep again and opened his mouth, showing nothing but bare gums remaining. When the lion asked if it was alright now, the sheep, still with eyes full of fear, said, ‘I’m scared of your sharp claws!’ Without hesitation this time either, the lion ground his claws against a rock until they were all gone. Only after the lion’s teeth and claws had all disappeared did the sheep snuggle into the lion’s embrace. The lion was so happy he roared loudly. But hearing that roar, the shepherd was startled and came running in a single stride. Seeing the lion, the shepherd shouted and beat him to death with a large club. The lion died without resisting even once, and the sheep rubbed its cheek against the dead lion’s forelegs and wept endlessly. Resenting her own foolishness for making the lion break all his teeth, and regretting her selfishness that even made him grind away his claws….”
A wine cup was rolling on the floor. Kirites, once brimming with romance, now looked like a terrifying poisoned chalice.
Priests of Demeter were not allowed to shed tears. It was believed that a priest’s tears were contagious like a plague.
Therefore, even when patients died in her arms, Asteril could not cry. When her eyes turned red, she would smile until they narrowed into slits.
Not realizing that everyone knew and pretended not to see, not realizing her insides were rotting away, she lived wearing only a gentle smile like a goddess. Perhaps because of that, she developed a strange habit of smiling when she was sad.
“I shouldn’t have come here. I should have just let you fall asleep as you wished…”
Hesik whimpered, her lips trembling. Kalian let out a shallow sigh.
“Making you my Anteros does not mean I have grown weaker. It is merely akin to walking around with a heart that cannot regenerate exposed to the outside.”
“….”
“Ketons wander through infinite time searching for their Anteros, and that is our cruel fate. Finding someone to make one’s Anteros is a rare occurrence in itself, and even if we wish to make them ours, it is common for the other party to refuse. I am very satisfied right now. So much so that even if I were to die tomorrow after welcoming you as my Anteros, I would have no regrets about my decision.”
Perhaps she would never understand for the rest of her life. The feeling of desire spreading like a cobweb in the darkness, and lust struggling like a butterfly caught in a net, slowly tightening around one’s neck.
A Keton’s inner self is always swirling with madness. It is merely a matter of how well it can be hidden beneath the surface.
Thus, Gaia fashioned the cup of oblivion, telling them to rather forget everything, and created Ambrosia to suppress their surging desires.
“By your standards, I have already lived for an unfathomable amount of time. Eternity without you would be the penalty of rotting alive, and I am sick and tired of having to live because I can breathe, and having to exist because I cannot die.”
Kalian murmured, holding Asteril tightly in his arms.
“If I were to say I understand that lion’s actions…. Would you call me crazy? Or would you get angry again?”
Asteril wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She felt a little calmer, but still melancholic.
“You have given me very meaningful moments. Moments that awaken me to the fact that I am alive. That is enough.”
“Enough for what?”
“Enough to lose my heart to you and commit all sorts of crazy acts.”
“….”
“Though, of course, I consider it the best thing I have done in my life.”
It felt like the first snow settling on her shoulders. As if the cool yet incredibly soft pure-white crystals were fluttering down upon her skin.
His cheek, where his hand rested to prop up his chin, felt stiff.
The great Kalian, being nervous.
Asteril let out a hollow laugh. Petals fluttered down softly. As if representing her softened heart.
“Just think of it as forming a bond with a human man. Then wouldn’t everything become clear?”
He leisurely reached out his hand. Her fluttering hair entwined around his tickling fingers.
“If a lion pulls out his teeth and claws, does he become a sheep?”
“He can pretend to be one.”
He continued speaking nonchalantly.
“In front of you, I will try my best to be a gentle beast.”
“A gentle… beast?”
Asteril let out a laugh, as if crumbling from within. It was a weak smile, but not entirely sad. A sense of happiness pressed down heavily on her chest.
“If you can’t believe me, shall I show you how gentle a beast can be?”
“Don’t.”
“Lift your hips, my dear.”
“No. Ah… I told you not to… I don’t even have the strength to get on my hands and knees.”
Asteril, who had burst into laughter at his mischief, soon found her chest pressed firmly against the floor. Kalian, digging underneath her, kneaded her soft, rounded breasts and pinched her tautly erect nipples.
“Ah…”
With her hips raised and lying face down, she squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment at the moans squeezed from her throat. Through her dulled ears came the sound of slick flesh slapping.
Between her legs, his hand was vigorously rubbing and stimulating her sensitive parts. Her legs trembled as if cramped and lost their strength.
“You’re still this soaking wet, do you really want me to stop? It feels like it would slide right in just by putting it against you.”
“Ah, aah… Ah-uht…”
“You’re wetter and prettier than before…. Just how far are you trying to drive me crazy.”
His low voice rang deeply, filled with delight. When doing obscene acts, he was a more mischievous man than anyone else.
“To soak my hand like this and tell me to hold back, do you want to torture me, my dear?”
Kalian, repeatedly inserting and removing his long fingers inside her wet entrance, then bringing his own member to gently rub against it, suddenly flinched as if startled.
It was because her pelvis, moving as if attacking, had swallowed his manhood to the hilt. Kalian grabbed her hips and threw his head back, veins popping on his neck.
“Uuht…”
A low voice, sounding as if it would break, leaked out. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried his best to endure, but low groans continued to spill out as if reflecting the stimulation.
“Ha…”
Keeping her upper body pressed against the floor and her hips raised high, Asteril moved her body back and forth. Slick, slapping sounds rang out. It was the fastest speed she could manage. Every time her hips swallowed his member, made slick by her fluids, she could see him tilt his head back slightly, flinching and clenching his jaw.
“Ril, stop…”
He felt like he was going crazy. The pleasure, combined with the sensations she felt as his Anteros, was several times more stimulating than before.
When Asteril, moving with moans, twisted her pelvis from side to side, Kalian, unable to endure any longer, grabbed her waist and roughly pulled her towards him. With a heavy, wet slapping sound of flesh hitting flesh, moisture splashed between her thighs.
“Aheut… Ah, ha-eung, Kal…”
The squelching sounds grew faster. While moving his hips roughly, Kalian pulled his center of gravity back as much as possible, lest she get hurt. Pressing against the floor to control his strength, he suppressed his violently surging lust and runaway instincts.
Truthfully, he wanted to fuck her until her body broke, pounding into her again and again. He wanted to ravage her so fiercely that she would scream, cry, and eventually pass out, collapsing limp.
He wanted to mate for hours, days, weeks even, until he was sick of it, ejaculating his lust. He wanted to feel the pleasure pierce straight through his spinal cord.
But he couldn’t do that. It was impossible. Her frail body wouldn’t be able to endure it and she would die. Every joint in her body would shatter and break, her internal organs would rupture, and she would become a mangled mess.
“Why are you so…”
Why do you drive me to the edge like this and make me crazy? My only oasis, my heart, my breath, my moon, my lover, my Anteros.
Asteril’s body, lying face down with her chest against the floor, was shaken even more mercilessly for a long time. His movements, grabbing her waist and thrusting into her, were intense, as if fighting a battle with his reason every moment.
The heavy slapping sounds of flesh colliding mingled with ragged breaths, then briefly paused as he squeezed her breasts and sucked on them fiercely until they bruised.
Her pupils, having reached climax so many times that she could no longer even let out a moan, were clouded and dilated as she looked up at the sky where time had stopped.
What it feels like to be loved by a god…
Is it this feeling, where a fleeting moment feels like eternity, and a momentary scenery is drawn like a halo?
All the seasons of the world approach and kiss. The most tender and softest parts of her body were being firmly bitten, yet healing without pain. Viciously possessed, fiercely caressed, and protected like a heart of glass.
His breath touched her entire body. His tongue lapped at her slickness. A cold hand most gently stroked the nape of her neck, grasped and released her round breasts and hips, and with eyes that seemed driven mad, he sucked on her perky nipple inside his mouth and rubbed his lips against it.
The corners of his mouth bore clear traces of having tasted her shameful places. He wiped away what had smeared from her dripping wet inside onto the back of his hand without hesitation, then sucked and tasted it again. With the trembling voice of a male god, he whispered, “No matter how much I consume your body, I never tire of it.”
Before her dizzying eyes, a rainbow was unfurling. Her soaring consciousness had long since reached beyond the clouds.
So that’s it.
She suddenly realized.
This was the hill where the lonely lion fell in love upon seeing the sheep. The slope where the red-haired Pandora descended carrying her jar. The forest where the goddess of the moon discovered the youth shooting his bow. The cliff where the maiden, disobeying her mother, finally plucked the black narcissus.
It was a place where love, begun even while knowing it was a tragedy, engraved itself as if resurrecting in radiant glory.