Persephius

My first thought when I opened my eyes? That’s a bit difficult to explain, because it felt like two flames exploding simultaneously, creating utter confusion.

First, I realized I’d been left alone in the royal chamber, and while I did feel a justified sense of indignation, ah, despite that, I was in love!

How could I not be? She saved me, and I saved her. We kissed in darkness where not even stars shone, and our legs intertwined. 

I discovered how her skin could be both scorching hot and freezingly cold, how her body hidden beneath that indifferent black tunic shone brilliantly like the new moon on a winter night. 

Not only that, I learned what I could do as a man, which was something that evoked tremendous gasps and admiration.

Throughout my life, I had to consider the appendage between my legs a major defect. It was a part that shouldn’t exist on Demeter’s daughter. Because of this, my masculinity had been ignored, treated exactly like it didn’t exist. 

But not anymore!

Oh, it felt like someone blind from birth suddenly opening their eyes to see the wondrous sea of stars. I vowed to share this intimate part of my body and the pleasure it brought only with her. Forever. 

Now not even my mother, let alone some nymph, could deny that I was a man.

Ah, why must time flow and daily routines exist even in the underworld? I wanted to stay in bed with her eternally. I didn’t want to leave even if it meant death. 

After sharing a bed with the goddess of death, what was there to fear about dying? 

I had long forgotten all her words from last night meant to intimidate or persuade me. Something about marriage proposals and first times. 

What did it matter! She wanted me, and I wanted her. Wasn’t that the end of it?

So I loved Hadeia! Hades, the ruler of the underworld, who had lived hundreds and thousands of years longer than me, the goddess of death whom everyone feared and avoided!

And what does a young man fallen in first love typically do? The moment I regained my senses, I jumped out of bed and went looking for her. To insist that we get married.

Naturally, Hadeia was thoroughly disgusted.

“Nonsense!”

Hmm, not the reaction I had hoped for. But I was a bull who knew no surrender. I was a lover newly made a man! No trial could defeat me.

“You took my purity, didn’t you? Are you saying you won’t take responsibility?”

“Purity? Responsibility? Anyone listening would think I forcibly violated you. Is that what you’re trying to imply?”

“Absolutely not! But what matters is the result. The result is that I gave my chastity and honor to you, aunt… no, to you. I only expect the proper treatment, just like all beings with awareness would.”

I would no longer call her aunt. Initially, I just wanted to become close to her, hoping she would extend my adventure period generously instead of sending me back to my mother. 

So I tried to appear cute and pretty, emphasizing our family connection to hold on. 

But now, to hell with family relations. I am her man. I no longer need to cling to empty formalities. No one else is needed to connect us. I am her man!

Hadeia glared at me. She seemed to have thrown away all the burning sweetness she’d shown last night. 

Hmm, but that was fine. I straightened my shoulders and puffed out my chest, like a proud rooster.

“Marry me.”

“I told you, that’s nonsense.”

“You took my purity and that’s all you have to say?”

“Who asked for it? You barged through a closed door, climbed into my bed on your own, and now you’re blackmailing me?”

“I didn’t climb in. I’m quite tall, you know.”

“You stupid child!”

“A stupid child who wants to marry you.”

Normally, Thanatos would have intervened by now, grabbing my neck and shaking me. He would have threatened to throw me into one of the underworld rivers, bellowing that I should recognize who I was talking to and show appropriate humility. 

But thanks to Hadeia’s unexpected recovery through my efforts, today the great hall remained empty, just like yesterday. Everyone seemed crushed under excessive work, like the gods I’d seen in the office. 

Well, though her fever had receded, Hadeia didn’t need to return to work immediately. She shouldn’t overexert herself. Oh my, I like her so much!

I took one bold step forward. I could see her frowning on the throne. Her delicate face and elegant cheekbones stood out. Her uncombed black hair was sensual, exactly like sleeping snakes. 

The scent from that hair was still vivid in my memory. I felt a dull ache in my lower abdomen, but I tried to endure it manfully.

“I’m not a bad match, am I? My father is Zeus and my mother is Demeter. I’m certainly not inferior to you. Among all those unnecessary suitors, none had better lineage or finer character than me, right?”

And none had such a handsome appendage between their legs. They were all women! 

But I retained enough sense not to say this aloud. Quite remarkable discernment for a young man who had just lost his virginity the previous night.

“How many times must I tell you? It’s nonsense. Stop being annoying and get lost.”

“Marry me!”

“Marriage, marriage, he says!”

Hadeia rose from her throne almost explosively. I unconsciously closed my mouth.

“Marriage? Me? You don’t understand what becoming the Queen of the Underworld means. Do you think you know everything about the underworld just because you’ve played here for a while? No, you know nothing. The only reason you’re so happy and radiant is because you have somewhere to return to. You’re merely under the illusion that this place isn’t so bad because you can run back into the brilliant sunlight whenever you wish.”

“Hadeia, I—”

“Don’t speak that name. It’s a name the King of Gods, your father, erased long ago.”

She descended the steps. With each step down, we grew closer. I could feel her anger flickering like a blue torch. I swallowed dryly.

“You want to marry me? If Hades marries Kore, what do you think the world will say? You despised being called Kore, but you’re fine with being known as Hades’ wife?”

“That’s—”

“Didn’t you want to be an adventurer? A real man, a hero commemorated in songs? If you marry me, you’ll be forever preserved as poor Persephone, fragile Kore. I am Hades, so you cannot be Persephius. Being known only as the pitiful maiden abducted and forcibly married by the sinister Hades. That’s all there is to it.”

Her words certainly had merit. The wisdom she displayed was as high and lonely as a sharp spear. I nervously clasped my hands together.

When I couldn’t continue speaking, she soon quieted. She spoke gently, like someone soothing a young foal.

“It’s time now. Go out and boast that you escaped hell, explored the underworld, and put Hades in your debt. My treasury remains open, so take whatever you desire. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity for you to live as Persephius? By now, your mother would swear on the Styx that she’ll grant whatever you wish, as long as you return safely.”

The only treasure I wanted to take was Hadeia herself. But her logic was calm and sharp, so I had to take a detour.

“What about the fever?”

“What?”

“We need to confirm your fever is truly gone.”

She seemed confused by this somewhat abrupt topic. Her eyebrows nearly touched, and her eyes, always languid with fatigue, sparkled with a deeper green.

“Fortunately you’ve recovered this time, but nothing is certain, right? Whether the disease has been completely eradicated or if this is simply a one-time cure. I can’t leave until I’m sure your fever will never return. Once I start something, I need to see it through to the end.”

I grasped her hand. Her skin was flawlessly smooth and cold.

“If you’re completely cured, it’s thanks to me, so marry me. If you’re not cured, I’ll help with the next fever too, so I’ll stay here.”

Hadeia seemed frozen with excessive surprise. She looked like someone who had just witnessed a mouse stabbing a foot with a knife, or a butterfly spewing crude profanities.

Not missing the opportunity, I rose on my tiptoes to kiss her on the steps.

“You need me.”

She needed me. Just as I needed her. I didn’t doubt this fact.

Hadeia was difficult to persuade. But I was a lover who knew no surrender, so I tirelessly pressed my courtship. 

The only moments I paused my proposals were when she attended to her royal duties, and even then, I clung to her side like a barnacle. 

Whether in the great hall or the office, there was no place I didn’t follow her! Isn’t this how courtship works?

How did Hadeia respond? She still showed disgust, wrapping herself in a cloak of cold, dispassionate dismissal. She acted like she had no memory of our night together. 

When she found me unbearably annoying, she would grab my neck and lock me in an empty hall or a pointed tower. I always found a way to escape. 

Then came the time for negotiation and seduction. She would tell me to return to the surface, and I would say I wouldn’t go anywhere without her. Our differences of opinion seemed destined to repeat infinitely.

However, through these repetitive situations, I was able to gather some clues pointing toward hope. The most prominent among these was the attitude her servants showed toward me.

I grew up experiencing only simple disagreements, such as whether it was acceptable to mix primroses and violets in a wreath, or whether one should prevent the unfair monopolization of golden lamb incense by a single nymph. 

More complex social discussions would have unfolded in my mother’s temple. But neither my mother nor her priests ever allowed me duties more adult than flower arrangements and silk garments. 

They seemed worried I might suddenly become a full-grown man the moment I learned about complicated politics and appointments. Even though I was already a mature young man without needing scrolls full of numbers.

Anyway, I should mention that I was somewhat dull regarding such multilayered and complex relationships, especially the intricate connections a ruler might have with their servants. 

This is to emphasize how much the underworld residents had changed, noticeable even to someone like me.

Of course, I never expected what happened between Hadeia and me—how I chased away her fever, how we kissed and embraced each other, all those thrilling, sweet, and sensual acts—would remain secret.

Remember when she consulted with Morpheus? Didn’t he instantly see through what I was considering? What about Eris’s hints as she pushed my back and whispered in my ear? 

Most powerful gods clearly already knew the only method that could cure their queen. They simply lacked a surface-world youth who was healthy, handsome, passionate, and of excellent lineage enough to meet the requirements. 

But I was here, and Hadeia rose from her sickbed, so what explanation was needed?

‘Everyone must know, right?’

The entire underworld knows we spent the night together! 

This realization struck me around the time she rejected my eleventh marriage proposal. Simultaneously, I noticed her close associates treating me somewhat differently.

First, Thanatos, who was practically my archenemy. That giant couldn’t stand me from the moment I first set foot in the underworld. 

Didn’t he suggest tying me up and rolling me back to the surface? What about locking me up and starving me until I gasped for breath? 

He clearly selectively erased from his mind that I came to the underworld because of his master. 

Otherwise, why would he try to intimidate me every time he saw me, with his glaring eyes, bulging his burly shoulders, bull-like neck, and chest muscles?

Of course, I wasn’t intimidated at all! It was actually exciting that someone like Thanatos, hardened by battle and death, a literal death god, tried to intimidate me! 

I felt like a hero coming to win the dark-haired beauty hidden by a ferocious red dragon.

Anyway, this man who used to bare his teeth at me like Cerberus now acted like he couldn’t even see me. Even when I literally loitered right in front of his nose, he would pretend not to notice, turn around, and disappear instantly with his soldier-like gait. 

And this person, nicknamed “Hades’ right arm,” who always stood by Hadeia, was nowhere to be seen except during official duties and when summoned. 

It was exactly like he couldn’t bear to watch me begging her to marry me. The usual Thanatos would have lunged to grab my collar rather than tucking his tail and avoiding me!