[Greek Mythology] The Demons Under My Command - Chapter 29

Dongbo’s climate is uniquely blessed, resulting in perpetual warmth and heat, a long summer with no winter, where every inch of air is steeped in the unique charm of the tropical seaside.

In the early morning, Li Jia opened the window. The sky was clear and cloudless, the limpid expanse like a gem soaked in seawater, revealing a profound and pure azure.

It’s a pity there are no mobile phones in this era, otherwise Li Jia would definitely download a few apps to search for tags like #DongboCuisine #DongboOOTD #DongboLocalCulture and so on.

But since there is no such thing as a mobile phone here, she gave up on the idea. What she wears is entirely up to her own preference.

Li Jia felt she must have been crazy to wear a wool sweater here, but thankfully, she also brought a few pieces of summer clothing and long-sleeved shirts.

She wore a white tank top and white cotton and linen wide-leg pants, with a blue plaid long-sleeved shirt over it.

Regarding her unconventional style of dress, Hera has always let her be, allowing her to do whatever she wants, free and happy.

It’s just that Hera didn’t quite understand why she would wear a long-sleeved shirt over other clothes when the weather was so hot and stuffy.

Li Jia rummaged through her suitcase again and pulled out several bottles and jars, applying one after another to herself. Her entire face and neck were covered in white paste, making her look like a corpse.

Seeing Hera’s puzzled look, Li Jia stated self-righteously: “This is called sunscreen. The UV rays are so strong here; if I don’t put it on, I’ll get a tan.”

Ancient Greek technology was underdeveloped. Li Jia bought all the ingredients herself at the market in Spring City, Xiangcheng, and started experimenting behind closed doors back home.

Although she’s a slacker, her slacker instinct dictates that she must take good care of herself.

A mixture of olive oil, flower juice, and finely ground rice bran, when applied to the face for sun protection, became her simple sunscreen. But this was actually quite good, as it contained no additives.

It just looked a bit funny, with Li Jia’s face patchy with red and white.

Walking alongside her, Hera looked her over for a long time and couldn’t help but laugh: “Are you wearing so many layers for sun protection too?”

“Of course, otherwise I’d be crazy to wear so much in this heat.”

It truly makes a human feel inferior to a god. While she was bundled up so tightly, Hera exposed her bare arms so openly, and more importantly, was countless shades fairer than her.

The divine body does not age, tire, or hunger, nor does it fall into the suffering of reincarnation. Many years from now, the goddess Li Jia first saw would be exactly the same as the one she looked back upon centuries later.

“That’s simple, I’ll help you.”

With that, the demon used her divine power, pulling a small piece from the white clouds. The cloud acted like an automatic sunscreen parasol, following Li Jia wherever she went.

…Li Jia retracted her internal thoughts. Her boss was far too considerate of her employee. She made a firm decision: she must sever her boss’s ill-fated romance!

“Your Majesty,” she whispered sharply to her.

“Hmm?”

“Please, please, don’t fall for a man, okay? I’m begging you.”

The little one’s tone was filled with exasperated pleading.

Hera’s eyes widened. It felt as if a frantic, startled butterfly was violently beating its wings in her chest. Each flap brought a sharp, stinging pain, and even her breathing became fragmented and difficult.

She said hoarsely, “Li Jia, do you know what you’re saying?”

Li Jia nodded and said, “I know what I’m saying. Dorian deceived Qili, and it was Dorian’s fault, but the punishment fell upon Qili.”

“Sister, I know and understand your goodness more than anyone else in the world, so I don’t want you to be tricked by a bad man and bear a reputation that is hard to clear.”

“……”

“Sister, I love you, and my heart aches for you. Don’t love a man, don’t love anyone else, okay?”

“……”

Seeing that Hera didn’t respond, Li Jia lowered her head and murmured, “Your Majesty… I…”

Hera reached out and grasped her wrist tightly. Li Jia cried out in pain, “Your Majesty, please don’t be angry. I didn’t mean to offend you…”

Hera was slightly stunned. She had reverted back to “Your Majesty.” Had she scared her?

She spoke in a softer voice: “No, I’m not angry. I just…”

She just hadn’t reacted yet. The little one’s words were too straightforward; she hadn’t fully digested them, neither physically nor mentally.

“It’s good that you’re not angry. Let’s go. Don’t we only have three days? Today is already the second day. If we can’t solve this by tomorrow evening, Qili will turn into sea foam.”

Li Jia remembered the serious matter at hand and immediately changed the subject, urging Hera to quickly go find Qili.

Hera had no choice but to release her wrist. Li Jia sensibly turned into a slacker, hanging onto her boss. With a shadow teleportation from Hera, they instantly appeared in the underground dungeon of Kalte Imperial City.

The dungeon was located beneath the castle, dark, damp, lacking sunlight and ventilation. The space was cramped and sanitation was terrible. The moment they stepped into the dungeon, a damp, moldy odor hit them, and Li Jia immediately gagged.

Hera quickly used a spell on her, sealing her nose and mouth so she couldn’t smell the foul air. Only then did Li Jia feel alive again.

The young girl was curled up in the corner. Chains left bruised, purple marks on her wrists, but her throat hurt more than the wounds. Where her vocal cords once were, there was now only a hideous scar, like a ravine roughly torn open by a sharp blade.

Three days ago, she married Dorian. Guests filled the seats, offering them blessings. At that moment, Qili felt she was the happiest person in the world. If only her sister could have been there.

But her husband’s words left her bewildered. She repeatedly screamed and cried: “I don’t want to! I don’t want to be sacrificed! I don’t want to lose my voice!”

Yet, she was gripped by her chin by her nominal husband, and a blade was pressed against her throat.

“Qili, help me.” The icy voice poured into her eardrums, followed by a searing pain that tore her throat.

Her eyes widened as she watched her own blood splatter onto his white wedding attire, but she could no longer make a sound, only fragmented gasps, like a dying fish.

Now, the dungeon had become her coffin. The iron door opened only once a day, delivering moldy buns and water, keeping her barely alive, ensuring she didn’t die too quickly.

At least until the Second Prince’s succession ceremony, when she, the Princess Consort, should silently vanish.

Qili was ashamed to face Elia, but she couldn’t easily give up on herself. She crawled over, trembling, picked up the bun, and swallowed it in small bites. Each swallow felt like skin being stripped and tendons being pulled.

She was not reconciled. She still wanted to live.

Because she still wanted to see her sister one last time, to apologize, to tell her she was wrong, hoping she would accept the belated apology.

But it seemed there was no chance. She had lost her voice, she couldn’t contact Elia. Perhaps this was for the best, at least her sister wouldn’t have to grieve for her.

Qili was so tired, she drifted off to sleep vaguely, until someone kept shaking her arm, and she slowly opened her eyes.

“Wake up.”

“Wake up, don’t sleep.”

A soft female voice rang in Qili’s ear, more urgent and concerned than anyone else’s.

It seemed she didn’t want her to die.

The first thing Qili saw when she opened her eyes was a pair of light blue eyes filled with worry and sympathy.

“You don’t need to talk, just listen to me.”

Li Jia helped Qili sit up and told her the entire story of Elia submitting the fate-matching post to the Temple of Marriage.

Qili tightly pursed her lips, trying to suppress the churning emotions inside, but tears still disobeyed, tracing wet streaks down her face.

She opened her mouth, trying to say something, but she couldn’t make a sound. She had lost her vocal cords. Qili looked up at the blonde woman standing before her, her lips white, her body trembling violently.

Qili struggled to her feet and knelt before Hera, bowing over and over again. Tears had already smeared her face, and the scar on her throat tore open, gushing large patches of blood. The mermaid’s legs were also covered in bloody gashes.

The blonde woman squatted down and touched Qili’s forehead, stopping the bleeding. Hera asked sternly, “I’m going to ask you three questions now. Just nod or shake your head.”

“Was your Fate-Match Pact with Dorian voluntary?”

The girl nodded, her eyes full of pain and regret, though Li Jia felt the regret outweighed the pain.

“Are you willing to dissolve the Fate-Match Pact with Dorian?”

The girl continued to nod. Li Jia also nodded in agreement.

That’s right. What kind of logic is it to be hurt by a bad man and not leave him?

One could only say that from ancient times until now, all story versions have set the female character or protagonist to be love-drunk, with their destiny being to become an accessory to the male protagonist.

Li Jia had read many so-called ‘strong female lead’ stories where the female lead loses family, children, body parts, or even everything she possesses. The male lead only needs to lose her to become the focal point of the tragic romance, and if he sheds two tears at her grave, all onlookers will admire his loyalty.

To gain a lifetime of loyalty from such an ordinary man at the cost of a woman’s entire life—Li Jia thought this was utterly insane.

Women spend their entire lives desperately trying to prove two things.

One is that they are very beautiful.

The other is that a man loves them.

Little do they know, stepping out of the need for ‘opposite-sex favor’ and ‘same-sex envy’ truly brings a lot of relief.

Girls should read, see the world, and try various different things, rather than being tormented by their own inner turmoil. You simply do not need to prove yourself.

“The third question: Do you want your voice back?”

Qili nodded with immense determination, clenching her hands into fists, her nails digging deeply into her palms, as if to carve that bitter hatred into her bones.

“Not bad. You still have some backbone. If you continued to be so weak, I’m afraid Eliss would be angered to death, even in the afterlife,” Hera chuckled softly.

Eliss was the ancestor of the mermaid tribe. She set the tribal rules with her own flesh and blood. She hadn’t expected a transgressor to appear so many years later.

A special power flows in the bloodline of the mermaid tribe. When injured or betrayed, this power is activated, turning into a nearly instinctive desire for revenge.

Hera saw that impulse in Qili’s eyes, and she was very satisfied.

“Debts must be paid, and it is a matter of course. He tricked you into marriage and took your voice. Even a thousand cuts would not be too much,” Li Jia said angrily, helping Qili stand up and looking at her miserable appearance and bleeding throat.

Why should she endure it?

Is he great because he’s a prince?

Is he great because he’s a man?

Does he truly think the entire world is like Edinburg?

The more Li Jia thought about it, the angrier she got. In modern society, there are countless anti-social personalities who kill their wives or daughters, and merely because of a marriage certificate, they can act as they please, turning malicious assault into a “private matter” between a couple.

Even if a husband beats his wife to death, he only needs a letter of understanding from a relative to have his sentence reduced and save his life.

What did the woman, the wife, the daughter, the mother do wrong then?

It was all because of that broken certificate.

“Your Majesty, let’s help Qili dissolve the Fate-Match Pact first and unbind her marriage history with that beast,” Li Jia urged, pulling on her sleeve.

She genuinely did not want Qili to remain on the same marriage certificate as this (scumbag).

“This marriage history involves domestic violence and deception, so it naturally doesn’t count.”

Hera took out the marriage history and used her divine power to erase Qili’s name. The moment Qili’s name vanished, Dorian’s name also ceased to exist.

Li Jia remembered what Dorin had said and curiously asked, “Your Majesty, if the other party is unwilling to dissolve the pact, can divine power still forcibly dissolve it?”

Hera thought for a moment and said, “Although I am a deity, I am not omnipotent. For a Fate-Match Pact that allows me to forcibly dissolve it, besides the applicant willingly proposing it, if there is even one part of not-love in the other party’s heart, then the remaining ninety-nine parts are meaningless.”

“Love should be flawless.”

“If the other party’s love reaches one hundred percent, could Your Majesty still not dissolve the pact?” Li Jia wondered aloud.

Hera replied, “Theoretically, yes, but I have lived for thousands of years and have never encountered such a pact.”

Dorian had no love for Qili, so the pact was dissolved quite easily, in just a few seconds, and Qili was restored to her freedom.

With the pact dissolved, Qili felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

Ignorant of love and hate in her youth, she became complacent with a little something similar to love, exposing all her trump cards, which ultimately turned into the deepest stab in her heart.

“It doesn’t matter if you take the wrong path, love the wrong person, or do the wrong thing. Regret is just bullying your past self,” Li Jia comforted Qili, seeing her absentmindedness. “Live your future days however makes you happy.”

“My future days…” Qili murmured, “But I don’t have any future days left. After twelve o’clock tomorrow, I will turn into sea foam.”

“My only wish is to see my sister again and tell her I’m sorry. Even if she resents me or hates me, at least let me see her one more time.”

Speaking of Elia, Qili’s happiness overflowed. Her sister was the person in this world, besides her parents, who cared for her the most and understood her the best.

Yet, because of a strange man, she argued with her sister and created a rift between them. Now that she was near death, the only person she couldn’t let go of was Elia.

Li Jia walked over to Hera and poked her shoulder. Every time she poked her shoulder, Hera knew the little one had a request.

Li Jia pursed her lips and asked, “Is there really no other way?”

She was referring to the fact that Qili was about to turn into sea foam.

Hera spread her hands helplessly and said, “This is the mermaid tribe’s rule. I cannot interfere with the lives and deaths of others. Dorian doesn’t love her, and it’s even less possible for a true love’s kiss to spontaneously appear. Where am I supposed to find her a true love’s kiss right now?”

Alright, Li Jia understood what her boss meant. It was the equivalent of being admitted to the ICU now—do whatever you want, it’s like hospice care.

Qili, however, was optimistic and not particularly sad, chatting and laughing with Li Jia.

Support