[Greek Mythology] The Demons Under My Command - Chapter 45

The man (Zeus) raised his head, glanced at the dancer’s (Li Jia’s) appearance, and lightly “hmphed,” thinking about who it could be.

When he blinked again and clearly saw the slim figure behind the dancer, he was so astonished that he could barely speak, and most of the wine had sobered up.

“She doesn’t want to.”

“Are you incapable of understanding human language?”

“Or are you not even considered human?”

Li Jia had concealed her appearance, so Zeus and Demeter did not recognize her. Li Jia pulled Demeter away from Zeus’s hand, shielding Demeter in her arms.

Demeter leaned against the unfamiliar dancer, watching the small, frail figure confront the man.

Her heart felt surprisingly secure; she no longer feared anyone or anything.

Zeus quickly realized that his identity was no longer that of a god, but an ordinary mortal, Demeter’s husband before their marriage registration, and the father of the child in her belly.

He and she had the most intimate relationship, and it was not the place of these unrelated people to interfere in the slightest. He then righteously scolded, “What does it have to do with you?”

“She and I are husband and wife. Engaging in conjugal relations, what concern is that of outsiders like you?”

What a cleverly put “outsider.”

It cleanly removes the act of a violent transgression.

Li Jia was about to retort, but Hera gave her a look, and she understood. There was a way to expose his true colors.

The dizzying pill began to take effect. If he could control his lust at this moment, he would slowly return to normal.

But precisely because of the evil desire that had sprouted in his heart, he saw his unreachable sun (Demeter), the sun he dreamed of and yearned for day and night.

The two women he craved appeared before him simultaneously. He even felt as though his dream was coming true—one for the home and one for the outside, one decisive and one gentle like water.

The “white moonlight and cinnabar mole” narrative for men is always a false proposition.

In reality, it’s more like unrequited self-flattery.

Because no one cares.

“Have you registered the marriage?”

The red eyes swept over the man as she asked faintly.

“Not yet, but it will be soon. Marriage God, you are getting too involved in the matters between us as husband and wife.”

Although not using his divine identity, Zeus felt a chill deep in his heart, an inexplicable sense of dread.

“I’m asking you.”

Hera looked at Demeter, asking for her opinion.

“No.”

Demeter’s voice was initially hoarse, but it gained firmness when she repeated, “No. We have had conjugal relations, but we do not have the name of husband and wife.”

The man’s face suddenly sank. The smell of alcohol mixed with the heat of the dizzying pill rushed to his head.

He took half a step forward, his fingers nearly touching Demeter’s collar: “You’re lying! You clearly promised…”

“Clearly what?”

Hera’s voice was as cold as ice, softly cutting through the stuffiness of the warm chamber, “Clearly doing what she dislikes when she doesn’t want to? Or clearly knowing she carries your child in her womb, yet still trying to commit a transgression under the guise of drunkenness?”

The moment she finished speaking, the man suddenly clutched his forehead; the scene before his eyes began to twist.

Demeter’s figure gradually overlapped with the unreachable sun from his memory, and the dancer protecting her had features that resembled the silhouette he longed for day and night.

The dizzying pill completely messed with his mind. He reached out to grab both their wrists, muttering, “They’re all mine… You should all be mine…”

“You’re courting death!”

Hera stretched out her hand and precisely clamped down on the man’s extended wrist. The tendons under her thumb bulged from the force, almost crushing his wrist bone.

The man’s face turned ashen from the pain, twisting in a grimace.

Hera’s deliberately lowered voice was laced with bone-chilling coldness, startling the flickering candlelight in the warm chamber: “If you dare touch a single hair on her head again, do not expect to leave whole today.”

“Also, how did you know I was the Marriage God?”

“Or should I call you—Thunder God Zeus?”

Hera raised an eyebrow, forcing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

These two light sentences instantly exploded in the warm chamber, ringing in people’s ears.

The man’s body suddenly stiffened, his pupils contracting abruptly. The sanity that had just been scrambled by the pill instantly cleared a little. The drunkenness sank from his head to his feet, and he began to sweat profusely.

He stared deadly at Hera, his throat tightening, “You… What nonsense are you talking about? I’m just an ordinary mortal. What Thunder God… Absolute rubbish!”

Despite the tough words, his clenched fists were trembling. How could he have forgotten? The pressure released by these red eyes made him gasp for air.

“Ordinary mortal?”

Li Jia’s voice carried a hint of mockery. She gently patted Demeter’s back, soothing her slightly trembling shoulders.

“Let me try and we’ll know.”

Before Hera’s voice could fully drop, a faint wisp of red starlight had condensed on her fingertip.

The instant the red starlight drilled into his body, Zeus felt a searing heat course through his veins, like countless fine needles pricking his divine bones.

He tried to use his divine power to resist, but he found that the starlight was entangled with the effect of the dizzying pill. Like vines, it tightly wrapped around his soul, stripping away the disguise he had hidden for so long, layer by layer.

Zeus immediately felt a sense of dread. His divine power could conceal his appearance, physique, and aura, making him undetectable even to other chief gods.

The dizzying pill was at work in his body, and Hera did nothing more than accelerate the pill’s effect.

Soon, the man’s appearance and build began to change, until he reverted to his original, supremely majestic form as the Thunder God.

“No… Impossible!”

The man roared, trying to press down on his transforming body, but the skin his fingers touched was scalding hot. The terror of his divine form being exposed was far more debilitating than the physical pain: “My illusion spell can’t even be seen through by Mount Olympus, how could you…”

“Because the Marriage God’s starlight is inherently designed to break through illusions.”

Hera withdrew her hand, looking at his frantic appearance. Her eyes were devoid of any emotion: “When you sealed your divine power and suppressed your aura, you deliberately erased your divine rank mark, but you forgot that the divine form is etched into your very blood and bone.”

The dizzying pill magnified his desires, and Hera’s starlight activated Zeus’s divine bones. With the two combined, no matter how hard he tried to hide, he couldn’t.

Hera produced a light mirror, showing Demeter his every action.

Demeter looked at the familiar yet strange figure before her, and her heart clenched sharply.

Li Jia understood her distress and gently stroked her hand resting on her lower abdomen, wanting to give her strength.

Demeter, in turn, patted Li Jia’s hand, indicating that she was fine.

Demeter then stepped out half a pace from behind Li Jia, her gaze clearly fixed on Zeus, with no trace of the tenderness she once held: “I thought I had found the love of my life. I never expected you to use a mortal identity as a pretense, and even the child in my belly would be used as your bargaining chip to control me.”

“So base, do you even deserve to be called a god?”

He watched the tenderness in her eyes completely extinguish, leaving only cold clarity.

“Demeter, I didn’t mean to…”

Zeus’s voice was hoarse, as if scrubbed with sandpaper, and he pleaded wretchedly: “I was just afraid you would leave if you knew my identity. I just wanted to…”

“Wanted to trap me by your side, even if it took lies and coercion?”

Demeter cut him off, her fingers gently stroking her lower abdomen, which nurtured a new life.

It was once the reason for her hesitation, but now it became her invincible backing: “Zeus, you didn’t even have the courage to tell me the truth, so how can you speak of love? You never loved me; you only loved the shadow that was controlled and obedient to you.”

“You only ever loved your power, your desires, and yourself.”

“I will not register a marriage with you.”

Seeing that Demeter was no longer hesitating, Zeus’s face turned completely pale. He stammered, “But we still have a child. A child cannot be without a father.”

“It won’t.”

Demeter said softly.

“What?”

Before Zeus could react, Demeter exerted her divine power, drawing a wisp of purple-gold starlight from her abdomen. The starlight was extracted from Demeter’s body and quickly dissipated into the air.

Female deities possess the right to nurture life; whether to allow another’s bloodline to participate is entirely up to the goddess’s will.

As of now, she didn’t want it anymore.

“The Boeotian plain will welcome a new Goddess.”

“She is only my daughter.”

Seeing Demeter extract his starlight, Zeus knew that everything was over. His relationship with Demeter was completely finished.

Demeter walked past him expressionlessly, the hem of her skirt harshly brushing his cheek, as if they were strangers.

Seeing that Demeter had learned the truth and Hera had avoided suffering divine punishment, the weight on Li Jia’s heart finally settled.

“Why aren’t Dorin and Winslow accompanying Your Majesty?”

After finishing the serious business, Li Jia looked around and didn’t see the two, curiously asking.

“Cooking.”

“Guarding the house.”

Hera answered her question briefly.

Li Jia was speechless. When did she realize she had left?

How could Hera calculate her every move so accurately? She felt a little unconvinced.

The show was over, and Hera led the little one out of the Sea God’s Palace. The Peacock Chariot was parked on the shore, and they needed to swim up.

Suddenly, water began to surge into her chest. Li Jia’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth and nose.

Oh no!

The water-repelling pearl only had a three-day duration. Having stayed here for so long, she had forgotten about this matter.

The song and dance troupe and the acrobatics troupe invited by Poseidon all wore waterproof tokens, and Hera had assumed Li Jia wasn’t afraid of the deep ocean because of one of these.

The pressure at the bottom of the sea instantly made Li Jia dizzy. The only thing she dared not release was the pair of tightly gripped hands.

The last thing Li Jia saw was the golden hair of the woman at the bottom of the sea shimmering into pieces of gold light.

The sensation of weightlessness was like cold vines wrapping around her limbs. Salty seawater aggressively rushed into her nasal cavity, scorching her lungs.

In a blur, Li Jia lost all strength and slipped, falling downwards.

The next second, a strong arm circled her sinking body. The palm was cold from the seawater, yet it clamped tightly onto the back of her neck, preventing her from sinking any further.

When her lips pressed onto hers, her teeth lightly bumped Li Jia’s lower lip. Air was forcefully and urgently transferred into her mouth, like a beam of light suddenly thrust into the deep sea, forcibly dispelling her near-fatal suffocation.

Tiny bubbles floated upwards. The force was so heavy it seemed to sink into her flesh, ensuring the breath could more smoothly reach Li Jia’s lungs.

She carried her and swam upwards.

Li Jia could vaguely see her eyes, which were right in front of her. The red eyes, which were usually covered in a layer of cold frost, now reflected the shimmering light of the seawater, surging with a panic she had never seen before.

The kiss was devoid of any romance, only the urgency of a moment between life and death. Hera only released her lips when air rushed back into Li Jia’s chest, her head surfaced, and a faint cough escaped her throat.

Yet, she still pressed her forehead against Li Jia’s face. Her burning breath mixed with the moisture fell onto Li Jia’s face: “Don’t close your eyes.”

Her voice was intensely hoarse, every word seemingly squeezed from between her teeth: “Look at me.”

The gilded wings of the Peacock Chariot shimmered with a cold light on the shore. As Hera half-carried Li Jia to the surface, the salty sea breeze enveloped their bodies with cold moisture, making Li Jia’s recently subsided cough intensify again.

Hera’s arm still circled her waist, the grip undiminished, as if the slightest slack would cause the person in her arms to sink back into the deep blue.

Stepping onto the Peacock Chariot, Hera picked up the Pudding Dog blanket and wrapped Li Jia tightly.

Mortals are frail and susceptible to illness; a gust of cold air or a flu could cause complications.

Unbeknownst to herself, her chariot was now equipped with the little one’s blanket, sweater, small sketchpad, basic medicine kit…

When her thumb wiped the remaining seawater from Li Jia’s cheek, Li Jia noticed that the fingers of the usually composed goddess were slightly trembling.

“Why didn’t you say you were relying on the water-repelling pearl?”

Hera’s voice was still low and hoarse, and the panic in her red eyes had not dissipated. When they fell on Li Jia’s face, they lacked their usual coldness, replaced by a barely noticeable hint of lingering fear.

Li Jia huddled in the blanket, watching her dripping golden hair and her lips still carrying her scent. Her throat felt tight: “I forgot… You didn’t ask either.”

Hera furrowed her brow but did not scold her further. She poured a cup of warm water from a flask and slowly brought it to her lips: “To suppress the cold air in your lungs.”

As the warm water slid down her throat, the burning sensation in Li Jia’s chest gradually subsided.

Hera slowly drove the Peacock Chariot into the air. The sea surface below gradually shrunk into a boundless blue.

Li Jia leaned against Hera’s side, clearly feeling the strong rise and fall of her chest, and her hand that remained clasped around her wrist. Without the coldness of the seawater, the palm carried a scalding heat.

Suddenly, she recalled the panicked surge in the red eyes beneath the sea. It turned out that even a goddess who had everything under control could have moments of loss of control.

“From now on, no matter where we go, you must stay by my side.”

Her voice, softened by the wind, continued: “If you dare to cut off contact by yourself again, I will come uninvited and drag you back.”

Li Jia couldn’t help but laugh out loud, though her nose felt a little sore. She looked up at Hera, seeing the reflection of the starlight in her red eyes, which were even brighter than the broken gold at the bottom of the sea.

It turned out that within every calculated step, there was an attention she hadn’t understood.

Li Jia gently rubbed Hera’s arm, buried her face in the warm blanket, and whispered, “I know.”

Back at the hot spring stream, Dorin and Winslow had long been waiting, their eyes anxiously fixed on the doorway.

Seeing the Peacock Chariot slowly descend, Winslow stepped forward, looking at Li Jia wrapped in the small blanket: “Why are you just getting back? You love eating meat the most.”

“Today, I made all your favorites: the braised pork knuckle you taught me, the crispy little fried pork, and the osmanthus wine lees dessert.”

Sure enough, Li Jia’s eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this, and her mouth began to water. To maintain their figures, the dance troupe usually only ate fruits and vegetables.

Due to the urgent situation and the mission, she had forgotten about hunger. Now that Winslow mentioned it, her stomach grumbled uncooperatively.

The plan to lose weight was thrown out the window.

Hera laughed: “Didn’t you say you wanted to lose weight?”

Li Jia thought for a moment and said seriously: “Your Majesty, do you know? There’s a saying that I dare not forget to this day. Guess what it is?”

Hera, Dorin, and Winslow spoke in unison: “What saying?”

Li Jia cleared her throat: “Humans possess inertia.”

“Maybe I wanted to lose weight a moment ago, but that was the ‘me’ from a moment ago, not the ‘me’ now. The ‘me’ now doesn’t want to lose weight.”

Why make things difficult for yourself? Just do what feels comfortable.

Weight loss can be done all year round, but braised pork knuckle, crispy fried pork, and osmanthus wine lees dessert are not available every day.

Missing out on many life experiences because of a small thing is also a kind of tragedy.

Hera: “You’re not fat, you don’t need to lose weight.”

Winslow: “The food I, the young mistress, cooked is worth gaining two extra pounds for.”

Dorin: “…Sophistry.”

A golden nest and a silver nest are not as good as your own dog kennel (not really).

After eating and drinking, they soaked in the Yellow Spring at night. The large and small figures lay on the bed for a debriefing.

Li Jia knelt properly on the bed, while Hera sat upright, leaning against the headboard. The small night light cast their silhouettes on the wall.

Li Jia’s kneeling posture was not exactly straight; she had a soft velvet cushion under her knees and couldn’t help but gently sway her toes. The satisfaction of the meal still lingered in her chest, and she was in a very happy mood.

“I thought Demeter wouldn’t be able to accept her husband was Zeus, but I didn’t expect her to cut ties so cleanly.”

Hera’s fingers stroked the little one’s kneecap, and she said faintly: “She is inherently not an unreasonable goddess, just one whose eyes were covered by mist. Once the mist dispersed, she naturally woke up.”

“Then, does Demeter’s child still have ties to Zeus?”

Li Jia asked curiously, feeling secretly pleased when she thought of Zeus’s look of a stray dog.

“No ties anymore. Demeter extracted his starlight. The child only inherited Demeter’s divine power.”

That’s wonderful, Li Jia was genuinely happy. Persephone would only be Demeter’s child alone.

Li Jia suddenly relaxed and lay down on the bed. Hera also lay down beside her. Li Jia absently played with her golden hair.

“Your Majesty, do you think it will be a boy or a girl?”

“I think it must be a very beautiful girl.”

“I think so too.” Thinking of Amphitrite, Hera stroked Li Jia’s forehead and said.

“Mount Olympus needs female deities to step into the center of power.”

“That is inevitable.”

Support