It was strange how he was trying to accommodate her this much, but his heated body left him no choice. Yet the woman shook her head defiantly, not realizing how much he was holding back.

“You don’t want to do it inside or outside…. How picky.”

Though he could have forced her at any time, he deliberately held back. There was no guarantee she could endure if he forcefully spread her legs and thrust in while she whined about pain. Even if she could somehow endure it, he hadn’t revealed his weakness just to forcefully take her when she complained about pain.

“Perhaps the real problem is that you’re too weak.”

Muttering in dissatisfaction, Triton suddenly lifted Livia’s reddened palm. The small palm, which could never be called beautiful even as a lie, was covered in calluses. Curious about how it would taste, he rolled it in his mouth, but there wasn’t much flavor. Though that didn’t mean it was unpleasant to have in his mouth.

A pathetic body that gets wounded when it falls, develops calluses or wears down when used frequently…

Triton bit Livia’s calluses with his teeth while giving her a disapproving look.

“No matter how much you strike rocks with these measly hands, it’s useless, Livia.”

Livia, who had been staring at him blankly, stiffened her face at his reproachful words and pulled her hand away, saying:

“It’s better than doing nothing.”

“I don’t think I told you to do nothing? When you’re leaving aside the most effective method.”

He subtly pushed his thigh between Livia’s legs. Though the hot, moist feeling against his bare skin was pleasant to him, the woman didn’t seem to feel the same.

“Just embrace my thing and excite me, Livia.”

“I-I know. I’m not saying I won’t do it, just that not today…”

Does that mean it’s not possible today, but tomorrow would be fine? Even if not tomorrow, it would be possible once her strength recovers.

After brief consideration, Triton decided to show mercy. Well, what’s a few days…. Though he didn’t like it, it wasn’t an unreasonable amount of time.

“You’re quite leisurely, Livia. You probably don’t have that much time…. Well, I’ll respect that.”

He clicked his tongue as if regretful and pulled away his body that had been clinging to her. The woman, who seemed to have remembered something at his words, rolled her eyes and carefully asked:

“How much time exactly is left? I can’t keep track precisely because I keep fainting and waking up…. You can at least tell me that much, right?”

Time….

Though he had threatened Livia with it, time wasn’t really that important to Triton.

From the start, this bet didn’t need to follow the terms set with Livia. Though he was playing along appropriately to build excitement, he could manipulate it however he wanted if he wished.

Breaking the contract would have some consequences since contracts are sacred, but he was willing to pay certain prices if it meant satisfactory entertainment.

‘But… if she fails to successfully attack within 100 days, doesn’t Livia become mine?’

Thinking of it that way, the 100-day deadline suddenly felt quite important. Since Livia’s attacks would fail anyway, she would inevitably fall into his hands just by counting down the remaining time.

In that case, he might as well happily wait until that day….

Suddenly in a good mood, Triton grabbed Livia’s ankle. Blue power wrapped around her ankle, and in the blink of an eye, an anklet made of pearls was fastened.

“W-what’s this suddenly?”

“Each day that passes, one pearl will change color.”

Triton flicked one pearl with his fingertip. The brightly shining white pearl instantly turned a deep gray.

“You haven’t forgotten, have you, Livia? If you fail to split my heart within 100 days, on the 101st day.”

Triton gently rubbed Livia’s ankle where the anklet was wrapped with his fingertip. He could feel the woman’s pulse beating strongly behind her Achilles tendon.

“You won’t be safe either.”

Livia’s pupils trembled faintly as if she understood what Triton’s words meant. Triton happily gazed at the green eyes that would someday become his. Had he ever been so eager to wait for just a few dozen days? Thinking about it that way, she was quite an admirable woman.

Soon to be completely mine, pathetic and useless but lovely thing….

***

Actius nervously examined his attire. The completely dry hem of his clothes felt awkwardly light without any moisture. The small wrinkles that rarely appeared when wet also bothered him greatly. However, he couldn’t dare soil the goddess’s land with wet feet, so he had to maintain his appearance despite the awkwardness.

Though the goddess was rumored to be generous and merciful, she was as difficult to read as she was serene, and he had heard she was quite shy with strangers. Getting a flower from such a goddess’s garden would certainly not be an easy task.

Still, his situation was better than Dugong’s, who had to find Oceanus’s pearl hidden in the deep sea. The deep sea was a place even sea gods avoided, and having to search for something without physical form in such a place was quite a difficult mission.

Well, he should have done better at the coin toss.

Actius thought with a shrug. He was truly fortunate that the goddess of luck had taken his side. Feeling relieved anew, Actius took a short deep breath before leaping over the fence that marked the entrance to the goddess’s land.

Though he had only crossed a single fence, a world completely unfamiliar to the man from the sea unfolded before him.

Golden grains beautiful enough to dazzle the eyes waved at him gently, and between fields of wheat, barley, and various other crops, he could see the peaceful sight of nymphs gathering the harvest.

They seemed curious about the visitor from the sea and stood up to look at Actius. When Actius awkwardly waved his hand with an embarrassed smile, the nymphs squealed and hid themselves among the wheat fields.

It was a peaceful scene.

The bright and warm world filled with dazzling green leaves, brilliant golden crops, and sun-warmed soil looked almost glorious, as if only abundance and prosperity could exist there.

The golden fields stretching to the horizon were similar to the sea at sunset, yet the feeling they evoked was completely different.

How could they be so different, despite both being earth?

There was land under the sea too. More life took root and lived on the seabed in shallower areas, but the deep sea was entirely different. It wasn’t for nothing that they said the bottom of the deep sea bordered the underworld. The deep sea floor was closer to death than life.

Yet Actius preferred the cool seabed to these glorious-looking golden fields. Perhaps it was the instinct of living beings to long for their birthplace no matter how harsh it might be, making it seem like an inevitable truth.

Come to think of it, the seabed must be quite harsh for that human woman. Though he felt somewhat sorry seeing her struggle in various ways under Lord Triton’s grasp, there was nothing to be done about it.

Well, why did she have to show up with Echidna’s dagger….

Echidna’s golden dagger. No, Chrysaor’s golden dagger…. That was where everything began. But thinking about it again, he wondered if his master would have shown this much interest even if another human woman had appeared with that dagger.

‘It seems they’ve even shared a bed recently….’

In fact, that was what surprised Actius the most. Sharing a bed? Lord Triton having intercourse with someone!

How many gorgeous goddesses and impudent nymphs had tried to seduce him over the years? Even Echidna had failed to secure a place by his master’s side and met that tragic fate, yet this unremarkable human had succeeded.

Even Actius, who served closest to Triton, couldn’t grasp his master’s mind at all. Killing her then reviving her, tormenting her with trials, and now suddenly sharing a bed with her?

Hah… indeed, the saying was true – you can see through ten fathoms of river water, but not one fathom of sea water.

He was lost in such thoughts while walking through the fields when a hunched old man greeted him in front of a massive temple.

“Are you Lord Actius? The goddess is waiting for you.”

The old man led him inside the temple with slow steps. Actius gathered his nervousness once more as he entered the garden in the innermost part of the temple. In the massive garden that seemed impossible to be inside a temple, Demeter, the goddess of earth, welcomed Actius.

“Welcome, warrior from the sea. You need a flower I’ve grown?”

“This sea servant greets the goddess of earth.”

When Actius knelt at the goddess’s feet to show reverence, the goddess smiled and patted his shoulder.

“That’s enough. Too much courtesy is also tiring for an old goddess…. Rather, to take a flower I’ve grown, you’ll need to do me a favor….”

Here it comes.

At Demeter’s words, Actius pressed his forehead to the ground with a rather tense face and said:

“My master commanded me to perform whatever task necessary to obtain the goddess’s flower. Please tell me what you desire.”

“That’s fortunate. My nymphs know how to sow and harvest seeds, but they don’t know much about fighting and killing, so I’ve been troubled. I heard Triton’s servants are quite skilled at killing vermin…. If you don’t mind, could you kill some insects that have hatched in my back garden? I left them alone because it was bothersome, but they’ve grown too large….”

At the unexpectedly simple request, Actius had to bite his lip to hold back a smile that almost broke out.

“It’s an honor to be given the chance to clean the goddess’s garden. I will gladly help with all my strength.”

“Thank you… As it happens, a warrior from another god is here to help me too, so I’ll ask you both to clean the back garden together.”

“A warrior from another god….”

The moment he saw goddess Demeter’s smile, Actius felt an inexplicable chill on the back of his neck. He had a bad feeling. As if proving his premonition right, he sensed someone entering the goddess’s back garden. Actius’s face turned pale as he turned around nervously.

“Hello, Acti.”

A woman with scars running down her cheek and neck, purple hair tied up high, and a large spear strapped to her back smiled at him.

“…Sion.

This damned woman.

It was a dramatic reunion with the fiancée he had so desperately wanted to avoid.