However, there was no way the ill-tempered king of the sea would have laid her down to sleep in his own bed. The coral and pearl strands around the jellyfish were extravagantly beautiful, but it wasn’t unusual for the castle to have a few lavish rooms.

Livia decided to feign ignorance and closed her eyes again. Since she had just woken up, she wanted to sleep a little longer.

It was only when she heard shouting from outside that her mind became clear.

***

“Crazy Dionysus!”

Someone shouted loudly, startling the nymphs who were busy cleaning and causing them to rush over to her.

“Shh, Letis. Shh! What if someone hears you?”

“I want them to hear! How many days has it been now? The whole sea reeks of alcohol because of those drunkards!”

“Still, thanks to them, we’ve had plenty of wine to drink and enjoyed watching the festival.”

Dionysus had been at the sea for six days, which meant the wild drinking party had been going on for six days already.

The feast was so chaotic and filthy that those who weren’t drunk felt their eyes were being assaulted just by looking at it. That’s probably why there was an unspoken rule that only the intoxicated could attend the feast.

The only saving grace was that once the wild and dirty feast ended, everyone seemed to forget what happened as if waking from a spell.

Of course, the remnants of the feast remained, leaving the nymphs with the tedious task of cleaning up every morning. Thankfully, creatures like bugs and shrimp that fed on the leftovers helped clean up the mess, sparing the nymphs from the most unpleasant chores.

“At least it ends tomorrow. Anyone who wants to can attend the last day’s feast,” Audike said, trying to be comforting as she cleared away broken dishes, causing some of the nymphs to giggle with excitement. The more relaxed atmosphere was quickly shattered by Letis, who had been shouting earlier.

“Are you crazy? You’re not actually thinking of going, are you? You’re not Maenads, and you want to go to such a filthy, chaotic place?”

Letis’s eyes were filled with disdain. Born between a minor sea god and a sea nymph, Letis had a strong sense of pride in her divine lineage. Her loud voice and strong opinions often intimidated those around her.

“How vulgar. Can you really call yourselves nymphs serving Triton? Get a grip.”

Even when saying the same thing, Letis had a knack for making it sound unpleasant, and her words darkened the faces of the surrounding nymphs.

“Lord Triton said we could go if we wanted. And what, should sea nymphs be more noble? That’s hilarious.”

“Of course! Nymphs are supposed to be pure! Sea nymphs should serve the sea, just like forest nymphs serve the forest. Besides, unlike other promiscuous gods, Lord Triton is a faithful god who remains with only one partner. Do you want to become debauched while serving such a lord?”

“Oh, really? You think attending one feast will make us debauched and dirty? And you do know there’s another woman lying in Lord Triton’s quarters, right? A hu-man wo-man.”

At that moment, fire sparked in Letis’s red eyes.

“Are you insane? Nanai! Go wash that filthy mouth of yours right now! How can you put that vile human woman who threw herself into the sea with impure intentions on the same level as Lord Triton? Unbelievable! Lord Triton only has Lady Selene!”

“Isn’t it well-known? There have been many gods who kept humans by their side, charmed by their beauty. There’s no rule saying Lord Triton can’t do the same.”

“Oh my, have you lost your mind? Where did you hear such disgusting stories? And are your eyes rotten? Where’s the beauty in that human? You’ve insulted Lord Triton. Apologize. Apologize now!”

“Ridiculous! Apologize? To whom? Lord Triton? No, he didn’t hear this. Surely, not you?”

“Yes! You made my ears rot, so apologize to me. Right now!”

“You apologize first!”

Eventually, a fight broke out among the nymphs who were cleaning the dirty banquet hall.

“Oh, girls! Stop it! Don’t fight!”

“Stay out of it, Audike!”

Audike hurriedly tried to stop her companions, but she was overpowered and ended up falling backward.

“Ah! Did you just grab my hair?”

“Yeah, I did! So what!”

Whenever Letis was involved, a fight broke out at least one out of every three times. Audike, who had tried to intervene several times, eventually gave up and stepped back.

Whether they fought or not, she focused on tidying up the area assigned to her. However, the two were still fighting even after she finished her work.

‘Ugh, they’re like lunatics.’

Audike clicked her tongue in exasperation and quickly stepped outside. It was about time to stop them, but she couldn’t do it alone. She went to find the chief administrator in the main palace to report the fight.

“What? They’re at it again? Ugh, I’m so busy I could die!”

Chief Administrator Nephea quickly grabbed a thick broom and rushed to the conch palace banquet hall where the fight had broken out. Fortunately, the conch palace, which had been used as a banquet hall the previous night, was right next to the main palace.

With her unexpected free time, Audike thought about the human woman who had caused the fight.

Livia… that was definitely her name.

The human woman had been the center of attention since the moment she was captured.

In this grand and splendid palace where everything existed except for a single human, it had finally arrived. It was impossible not to be excited.

“A human snuck into the banquet!”

“They say the banquet was turned upside down because of that human!”

“Do you know what’s even more shocking? That human has Chrysaor’s golden dagger!”

“And she tried to attack Lord Triton with that dagger!”

“What?”

Some said the golden dagger had pierced Triton’s heart, while others claimed she hadn’t even gotten close before dropping the dagger.

Whatever the case, it seemed to be true that a human had brandished a dagger at a god.

“Wow! Is she brave or just out of her mind?”

“To think of attacking a god… is she foolish or impressive?”

No one believed their god had been hurt or received a fatal blow. Even if they were reborn several times, such a thing would never happen.

Gods were immortal beings.

Even if gods fought each other, they would only be sealed away, not destroyed. The worst outcome was merely being forgotten, but even then, they were simply replaced by the next generation of gods. They never truly disappeared. This was only natural.

Gods were the world itself.

They were the earth, the mountains, the rivers, the wind, the thunder, and the sun.

If there were no land, what would they stand on? Similarly, if it never rained and rivers didn’t flow, what would they drink?

For a god to die would mean the disappearance of the power they governed in this world. Just imagining a world without courage or beauty was terrifying.

The immortality of gods was for that reason, and for that reason, those who worshipped gods never worried about their deity’s safety.

The nymphs were just curious about that human, who seemed half-crazy with courage.

Could she be a half-blood offspring of some god, like Heracles or Achilles? Since she had a golden dagger, was she perhaps Chrysaor’s hidden daughter?

However, there was an even more astonishing story than the identity of the human who attacked a god.

‘Did Lord Triton really bring that human woman back alive?’

Rumor had it that the ‘God of the Sea’ had not only spared a human but also brought back the very one who had attacked him to the main palace.

‘Why? How? What on earth happened? That doesn’t make any sense!’

It was an unimaginable event. Wasn’t he the one who typically regarded humans as nothing more than filthy scum? Sure, there were times when he was in a good mood and allowed a trespassing ship to leave unharmed. But bringing someone to the palace was an entirely different matter.

Thus, those who worshipped Eros and had vivid imaginations began to whisper among themselves.

They speculated that perhaps the human woman was extraordinarily beautiful, and that Lord Triton had fallen for her at first sight.

There were countless stories of gods falling for stunning beauties. It seemed plausible enough, and they allowed their imaginations to run wild.

The whispers grew louder as they pondered how beautiful she must be for someone who had been indifferent even to the lovely Selene to fall for her at first sight. And when their master personally procured food that humans eat, those subtle rumors turned into certainty.