‘Kill them for me?’

What was his intention in saying that?

Livia stared intently into Triton’s eyes, trying to read his thoughts, but the calmly undulating blue eyes were too deep and dark for her to decipher.

“…Why would you?”

So Livia decided to ask directly. What his intention was, what feelings lay behind those words.

Playing with grapes in the basket, he picked the plumpest one and pushed it into Livia’s lips while saying:

“It’s nothing special. Once your revenge is taken care of, you’ll be free.”

Free…?

The two syllables he spoke were hard to understand. Free from what? And what did her freedom have to do with Triton….

No, the fact that Triton offered to help with her revenge in the first place confused her.

“…I don’t understand what you mean.”

“The condition of your contract with Echidna was revenge. So, if the targets of your revenge disappear… the condition for establishing the contract between you two completely disappears. If I eliminate Echidna in the meantime, your contract will be nullified.”

So, he was talking about making the contract with Echidna void from the start.

It sounded plausible, and coming from Triton, it seemed like it would surely happen that way.

But was it really… as easy as Triton made it sound? Though Triton’s confidence was reassuring, Livia felt an inexplicable unease.

It was vague like a premonition, but she clearly sensed it would be something ominous.

‘Would Echidna, who sent me to Triton, have made a contract that Triton could break so easily?’

Livia recalled the moment she had secretly gone to burn the village without Echidna knowing.

The ashes she received after begging the goddess of revenge…. But Echidna had stopped her as if she had already anticipated Livia’s betrayal. Not only that, she even took Lete’s soul hostage to threaten Livia.

Then she commanded her precisely. To fulfill the contract.

‘Lete….’

Thinking of that time made her grit her teeth again. Though thankfully it seemed he had been rescued by Zagreus….

“His soul seems somewhat damaged from being forcibly taken and dragged away by someone. I’ve healed him as much as I can, but he keeps calling your name without waking up.”

Zagreus had said Lete’s soul seemed broken.

It was heartbreaking enough that he had died burning in flames without any sin, but it was even more pitiful that the child couldn’t find peace even in death, caught up in a witch’s schemes.

And she utterly despised Echidna who had stolen the child’s soul and caused such trouble.

That’s why Livia had to be careful. She couldn’t act rashly until she found out exactly what Echidna had done to Lete’s soul.

The most important thing was to see with her own eyes what state Lete’s soul was in.

Wasn’t that why she had begged Triton so desperately?

To take her to Demeter’s feast….

“…No, I’ll take my revenge myself. With my own hands.”

As if he had expected Livia’s resolute answer, Triton let out a light laugh.

“There’s no need to answer so hastily, Livia.”

He tapped the pearl anklet bound to Livia’s ankle with his cool fingertips as he spoke.

“There are still more white pearls than not.”

***

The short outing came to an end.

Livia returned to the golden castle without giving Triton a clear answer. As soon as they returned to the castle, his close subordinates flocked to him and conveyed something serious.

That was the first time Livia saw Triton’s face become quite serious.

“Stay here quietly while I’m gone, Livia. It might take several days.”

Though she couldn’t understand where he was going that would take several days, she didn’t ask anything.

She had her own things to think about and investigate.

The fortunate thing was that the person who could answer what she was looking for wasn’t far away.

“…What? Echidna?”

Audike, who had come to serve food, widened her eyes at Livia’s question.

Since that day, after Livia had been harmed by Letis, Audike had taken charge of all services related to Livia.

Having slept on the streets before, she couldn’t understand what kind of service she needed. She had said several times that she didn’t need any service, but Audike had instead grabbed Livia and said desperately:

“Just let me do this. There are many harder jobs outside. If you really care about me, you shouldn’t kick me out of here, Livia.”

When she put it that way, she couldn’t send her away….

Anyway, it wasn’t bad having someone to talk to during the boring times when Triton was away. Above all, Audike knew many things from working at the castle for a long time.

“You want to know about that woman? I thought you would know her better than me…?”

“Me?”

When she asked in surprise, Audike carefully added:

“You have that woman’s golden dagger, don’t you?”

Ah, the golden dagger…. So there were rumors about that.

Come to think of it, Audike had also been at that feast where Livia first fell into the sea. At that feast above the sea where she first pointed a knife at Triton….

Now that she thought about it, she remembered how Triton and his subordinates had been surprised to see the golden dagger. How did Echidna come to possess this knife that could harm gods?

“I actually don’t know much. I just… happened to get it. So could you tell me what you know?”

“Really? Well…. Actually, I don’t know that much either. Let me tell you what I do know….”

Audike continued carefully. The story wasn’t long, but it was intense.

Chrysaor, the warrior born between Medusa and Poseidon. The golden dagger originally belonged to him, and he was said to have been holding it when he was born.

But… Chrysaor, backed by Poseidon’s affection, began subtly claiming ownership of the sea, which provoked Amphitrite, the mother of the sea.

No one could breathe in this sea without the great mother’s approval. Even if it was Chrysaor who carried Poseidon’s blood.

In the end, he was driven from the sea. There were stories that he became king of a country, and rumors that he was killed by Amphitrite when he tried to return to the sea, unable to accept his exile, but they were all just rumors.

Just when things seemed to have quieted down, one day a woman appeared claiming to be Chrysaor’s daughter. A beautiful woman with a snake’s tail, a suspicious nymph who served sorcery.

“I too am a member of the sea. Isn’t it natural for one who belongs to the sea to long for water? My father is already gone, so please accept me. Please let me stay in the castle.”

Echidna, who had been a gentle and beautiful woman, showed her true colors from the time Poseidon and Amphitrite withdrew to their own castle and completely handed over control of this sea to Triton.

She spread rumors that she and Triton had fallen in love, pretended to accidentally visit his bedroom, and coveted the trident….

Then she failed in her attempt to put a spell on Triton to claim him and the trident.

They thought she had died after falling into an eternal labyrinth like that, but then Livia appeared carrying her golden dagger….

“…So Echidna really shared blood with the sea gods?”

“Well, yes. Surprising but it’s true. That’s probably why she has such strange powers.”

“Then, the same bloodline… Ah, never mind. That’s just how gods are.”

“Mm. Right. Sharing blood isn’t that important to gods. It’s something we can’t understand.”

Audike also shrugged as she spoke.

After hearing her words, Livia became more confused. Though Echidna had offered to exchange revenge with her life as collateral… her revenge was too unreasonable.

In the end, wasn’t it just that she harbored resentment after failing when she recklessly acted on her own vain desires? Was it really… right to stab Triton’s heart for such a woman?

Livia felt dizzy with a mix of self-loathing and confusion. While feeling she shouldn’t have learned about this, she simultaneously thought about how she had blindly rushed at him, blinded by revenge.

Yet Triton, knowing all this, had told her his weakness, inviting her to try stabbing his heart. Even if his words were underlaid with arrogance that she wouldn’t succeed, he had still let her try to attack him.

What if I really succeeded then….

At that thought, Livia froze in shock.

Am I actually worried about him getting hurt right now? It was absurd. How could I be so two-faced?

Livia was left alone in his bedroom, filled with self-mockery. The night was deep. As Triton had said, he had already been gone for two days.

Two more pearls that Triton had bound to her ankle had changed color. That night, Livia tossed and turned, unable to properly fall asleep. Though she wasn’t particularly suffering, her confused mind wouldn’t let her sleep.

She greeted the morning with dark circles under her eyes. Just as she thought she couldn’t possibly eat breakfast with her queasy stomach, a nymph entered carrying a large plate of food.

But it wasn’t Audike. It was Letis, the very nymph who had previously played that nasty trick with Livia’s food.

Livia frowned as she watched Letis casually walk in. Audike had said Letis no longer came to the palace.

So why had that woman come in? As she stared intently at her, harboring doubts, Letis curved her lips and said:

“How nice to see you living in such luxury, Livia.”

The witch’s chilling voice pierced Livia’s ears.