Chapter 172: Chapter 17
Underworld.
Hades’ office.
The whole room was silent save for the scratching of quills and the faint crackle of torches.
Hades sat at his desk, stacks of parchment towering around him like solemn judges.
Across from him, Hecate stood, a scroll unfurled in her pale hands as she read her latest report in her calm, even voice.
"...and lastly, Demeter was requesting you build a larger garden for her. She wanted to bring back her Nymphs to live here in Underworld."
When she finished, she lowered the paper and waited.
Hades lifted his gaze, gave a single nod, and said, "Very well. You can proceed to expand her garden. However, consult first with Hera, as she is responsible for the territory expansions."
"Understood."
She inclined her head, but did not leave.
For a moment, she lingered in the quiet, watching as Hades turned back to his pen, the scratch of ink resuming against parchment.
"Is there anything more?" He asked.
Finally, she spoke, softly, carefully, "Aphrodite has been lingering here, lately."
Hades did not look up. "Yes."
"And... you don’t seem as annoyed as I thought you would be, with her constantly bothering you."
This time, his pen paused for just a breath before continuing. "No."
Hecate tilted her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You’ve gotten soft, then. Or maybe... you simply have a soft spot for Aphrodite."
A strange weight pressed into her chest, but she forced it down, burying it under a faint smirk.
"How so?" He asked.
"If it was you before, then you’d probably reprimand her for constantly interfering with your work."
She added in a tone half jest, half bitter truth, "Well, you’re a man after all. And she is beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful goddess in the cosmos. No god can resist her charms."
The scratching of the pen ceased.
Hades’s deep voice cut through the silence, "I will not deny that she is beautiful. But that is not why I enjoy her company."
His tone was matter-of-fact, yet quiet. His eyes lifted from his work, distant, thoughtful. "It is not her looks. I simply... do. I cannot explain it well. But I guess I am simply used to her constantly bothering me."
Hecate blinked, her lips parting slightly.
Then she narrowed her gaze, her voice quiet, almost sharp, "That’s good. But I never said anything about you enjoying her company."
The weight of her words lingered in the air like a curse.
Hades froze, then let out a long, weary sigh. His shoulders sank ever so slightly, the only crack in his unyielding posture.
"No. No you did not." He sighed.
The torchlight flickered between them, throwing shadows across the room.
Neither spoke further.
Hecate stayed a moment longer, watching Hades bow his head back to his parchment, as though her words had not stirred him at all.
The faintest sting bloomed in her chest, sharp and unwelcome. But she ignored it.
"I’ll attend to my duties."
"Mn."
She turned on her heel, her dark cloak whispering across the stone floor, and left the office without another word.
The long corridors of the fortress stretched before her, lit by cold blue flames in iron sconces. Each step echoed faintly, the sound lonely and hollow.
Her expression remained composed, calm, distant, unreadable, but her thoughts were anything but.
"So... he simply enjoys her company."
The words replayed in her head, gnawing at her.
Aphrodite, of all goddesses, was the one he finds comfortable with.
Not her. Not her wisdom. Not her loyalty. Not the centuries of service she had given. But Aphrodite. That absolutely moron of a goddess who can do nothing but look good.
She stopped midway down the hall, fingers curling tightly around her staff.
’...insulting someone? This is so unlike me.’
The urge to scoff, to sneer at the foolishness of it, tugged at her lips. As if she wanted to do something vent her anger.
But it wasn’t anger that burned within her.
It was something far more dangerous.
She clenched her jaw, pushing the emotion deep down into the abyss where she buried everything else.
She was Hecate, goddess of the crossroads, guardian of sorcery and shadows. She had no place for envy. No place for longing.
Such petty feelings are below her.
By the time she reached the towering gates that opened into the wider Underworld, her face was once again serene, her stride unbroken.
To any who saw her, she was the same as always, completely unshakable, as if no event can ever trouble her heart.
Only she knew that something had shifted, a quiet ache buried in her chest, gnawing deeper with every step away from Hades’ office.
As the gates of the dark fortress opened, Hecate stepped out, her cloak flowing like shadows spilling over the cold stone floor.
Her face was composed, eyes unreadable as ever, but her grip on her staff was tighter than usual.
She turned back to the castle one last time, as if waiting for something that would never come.
Finally, she sighed, and just as she was about to vanish into the misty crossroads, a light and musical laughter echoed throughout the gate.
It was Aphrodite.
The goddess of love walked toward the gates with the air of a spring breeze, her golden hair shimmering as if no gloom of the Underworld could cling to her.
Her lips curled into a radiant smile the moment she spotted Hecate.
"Hecate! What a surprise!" Aphrodite sang, her voice dripping with joy. "Leaving so soon?"
Hecate inclined her head, calm, her tone even. "My business here is finished."
Aphrodite clasped her hands behind her back, swaying forward like a girl sharing a secret. "Business, business, business... You never stop working, do you? No wonder Hades looks so tired when you’re around."
Hecate’s fingers twitched against her staff, but her expression never shifted. "And yet, you seem to make him just as tired with your constant visits."
Yes. You made him just as tired. But why does he enjoy your company?
She has been with him ever since he first step foot in this realm. She has accompanied him during the Titanomachy. Whenever he was away, it was her keeping underworld stable and in order.
Why must he enjoy your presence more than her?
Aphrodite laughed, not insulted in the slightest.
"Oh, but that’s different! He enjoys my company. I can tell." She tilted her head, her eyes gleaming with teasing mischief. "Even if he pretends otherwise."
The words sank deep into Hecate, like knives hidden beneath velvet. Her smile was faint, controlled, but it almost couldn’t hide the bitterness she was feeling. "I am certain you believe that."
"Oh, I don’t just believe it," Aphrodite chirped, brushing past her toward the looming doors. "I know it."
She twirled lightly on her heel, tossing her hair back like sunlight scattering. "Well then, don’t let me keep you from your important duties. I have a date to catch."
Hecate stood in the mist, silent, watching as the gates of the fortress closed once more, sealing Aphrodite inside.
Her jaw tightened. She turned away swiftly, disappearing into the mist without a sound.
The shadows embraced her, but they did not ease the bitterness coiling in her chest.
*
*
*
Aphrodite’s soft humming echoed through the obsidian corridors of Hades’ castle, light and airy against the oppressive silence that normally ruled these halls.
Her heels clicked with rhythm, each step carrying the sway of a woman utterly secure in her own triumph.
The Underworld itself seemed to bend ever so slightly toward her warmth, as though starved of such vibrance.
Her thoughts, however, were not so idle.
Hecate’s face came unbidden to her mind—the calm mask, the cold voice, the way her grip tightened on her staff.
Aphrodite’s lips curled into a mischievous smile as a giggle escaped her.
That wasn’t composure like Hecate wanted to show, no. That was jealousy—pure, raw, green-eyed envy.
Did the goddess of magic truly think such things could be hidden from her?
She is the goddess of love. Every heartbeat, every longing glance, every buried desire is hers to see.
It was almost insulting to think Hecate believed she could mask it.
Aphrodite’s laughter bubbled again as she ran her hand along the wall, her touch leaving a faint warmth upon the cold stone.
She didn’t mind, truly. If Hecate, Hera, or even others wished to look at Hades the way she did, then let them.
She was not the goddess of chains, nor of vows. She advocated love, in all its forms, free and unbound.
If Hera or Hecate wanted to be with Hades, just like her, then they are welcome.
But pride—that was their flaw.
Those other goddesses, lofty and unyielding, would never allow themselves to be with a man who has other women. Nor would their pride allow them to make a move first.
Their dignity would strangle them before they even entertain such a thought.
Aphrodite shrugged, unconcerned, her hair bouncing with the movement.
It doesn’t matter to her. It’s their loss.
Because when it came to love, when it came to devotion, charm, and the heart’s pull...
She would always win.
Always.
After all, she is Aphrodite. The Goddess of Beauty and Love.
Her humming picked up into a lilting tune, and with a radiant smile, she pushed open the doors to Hades’ office, her presence flooding the chamber like dawn breaking through the gloom.