The King of the Underworld is Tired

Chapter 106: The Wedding of Eros – Aftermath (1)

A letter from Demeter arrived in the Underworld.

The contents of the letter were...

That the matter regarding Eros and Psyche had concluded well, and the proposal to marry them had been passed.

Under the leadership of Zeus, they would turn Psyche into the goddess of soul and mind, allowing her to live happily with Eros.

It also mentioned that the wedding would be held on Olympus and that I was invited…

Hades. While you're coming to Olympus, bring my daughter Persephone with you. And how has your relationship…

Hmm. I understand what she's saying.

She wants me to bring Persephone along when I go to Olympus?

“Persephone.”

“Yes, Lord Hades? Did you call me?”

“Your mother wants to see you, so come with me to Eros’s wedding.”

“Finally, it’s my turn? Attending a wedding disguised as a guest, with Lord Hades…”

As Persephone spoke with sparkling eyes, I turned my head away and read the letter again.

Turning Psyche into a goddess and marrying her to Eros must be a way to keep him in check.

Even though I disciplined him thoroughly, who knows when he might start shooting his golden and lead arrows again?

They probably think that with a family, Eros will mature and calm down.

With so many victims of infidelity caused by his arrows, Hera, as the goddess who protects families, must have agreed as well…

And the other gods wouldn’t oppose placing the constraint of family life on Eros.

...As long as the couple is happy, I suppose there's no problem.

* * *

Olympus, where I arrived with Persephone, was buzzing with energy, signaling that the wedding was about to take place.

Over there, I see Eros, arm in arm with a beautifully dressed Psyche, both smiling.

She is certainly as beautiful as any goddess. No wonder Eros fell in love at first sight.

While Aphrodite exudes allure, Psyche has a certain purity that unconsciously captivates others.

“Ah! Lord Hades!”

“Oh… they’re coming this way…”

Eros noticed me and approached with Psyche by his side. As the couple came toward us, eyes naturally followed.

However… the feeling I get from Psyche is similar to the one I have when looking at the worshipers of Thebes.

“Eros. Congratulations on your wedding. And you too, Psyche.”

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you, Lord Hades. I’ve learned so much thanks to you…”

“Don’t say that to me. Just treat the bride next to you well, and don’t go looking around at other people.”

“Of course. Psyche is the only one in my heart.”

Given how closely they’re stuck together even now, I suppose they’ll do fine.

As I finished talking with Eros, Psyche turned toward me and respectfully bowed.

Wait, you’re a goddess now, so you don’t need to do that. Were you really my follower?

“I am deeply grateful to the Lord of the Underworld. Thank you for hearing the plea of a lowly mortal and allowing me to meet my husband, Eros…”

“There’s no need to thank me. It was your patience in enduring 100 days of curiosity that allowed you to win his love.”

Maybe it’s thanks to the oracle I gave to her parents?

Still, I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of receiving worship from a goddess.

“Curiosity is something not even Pandora could resist. It’s never easy to suppress emotions. The first woman couldn’t overcome it, so you deserve the reward. Of course, it helps that you both love each other…”

“Still, I want to thank you again. My parents are also building a new temple for Lord Pluto, and the entire kingdom is offering prayers to the Underworld…”

“No, that’s not necessary. Just live happily together.”

“Hehe. Understood, O merciful god.”

I cut off Psyche’s soft laughter and left them with a few words of blessing.

As a wedding gift, a necklace crafted from minerals deep within the earth should be suitable. It contains my blessing, so it’ll be quite useful.

Psyche looked at the necklace I gave her with joy.

“In fact, when I first realized that my suitor was the god Eros, I was quite shocked.”

“…?”

“A god who makes people of the same sex fall in love with each other? At first, it was rather…”

Did Psyche also hear the rumors that spread from Thebes… the ones about ‘homosexual love being Eros’s prank’?

But this is more truth than rumor.

“Ah, no, Psyche… That’s a misunderstanding. I don’t do that anymore…”

“Hmm. Really?”

Psyche teased Eros as he flusteredly tried to explain.

Watching their honey-sweet exchange, I heard a man’s voice calling me from behind.

“Uncle Hades. I’m glad you came.”

“Hephaestus. Aglaia is with you too.”

There stood Hephaestus, who had divorced Aphrodite and married the goddess of radiance, Aglaia.

Beside him, Aglaia was adorned with jewelry crafted by the blacksmith god himself.

They both bowed their heads and greeted me.

“Hephaestus. Are you enjoying married life?”

“Of course, Uncle. Aglaia is expecting my child.”

“Oh… Congratulations.”

Aglaia, with a shy expression, gently rubbed her slightly protruding belly. It seems this couple is doing well, too.

I really think it was for the best that Hephaestus and Aphrodite got divorced.

As we chatted for a bit, Hymenaios, the god of marriage, raised his voice slightly.

“The wedding ceremony will now begin!”

The wedding of Eros and Psyche commenced.

The ceremony was quite long.

Hera, the goddess of family, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Hymenaios, the god of marriage, all bestowed their blessings…

“Hmph. I’m still not fully accepting you. You’d better behave yourself.”

“…Yes, Lady Aphrodite.”

"Mother, why are you acting like this on such a good day...?"

"Tsk. Anyway, I'll be keeping an eye on your behavior."

"Y-Yes..."

As expected, Aphrodite looked displeased, but she reluctantly accepted it.

Psyche might have to endure a bit of a hard time as a daughter-in-law.

But since most of the gods were blessing this wedding... Wait. Hold on.

This wedding was a bit unique because instead of Apollo playing the music...

It was Terpsichore, one of the Muses.

Where is Apollo? Could it be related to when he asked Zeus to punish him before?

I don't see Poseidon either. Hmm.

I went straight over to find Zeus, who was laughing and chatting with some maidens.

"Ah, Brother Hades, you're here."

"Zeus. Apollo is nowhere to be seen. What's going on? Did you send him off to serve humans again?"

"My foolish son? I was going to punish him for killing Orion, but... it wasn’t necessary."

The king of the gods spoke with a slight frown.

So, my brother had also been watching the Athos Mountain expedition.

"Apollo got beaten up by Poseidon and dragged off into the sea."

"...I figured as much."

As expected, there’s no way Poseidon would let that slide.

* * *

Unlike the time Ares’ daughter was in danger of being assaulted by Poseidon’s son, this time the situation favored Poseidon.

Especially since Apollo recklessly killed the great hero who had defeated Typhon’s child, Zeus tolerated Poseidon’s anger.

So, right after I returned Apollo to Olympus…

"Apollo! Just because humans revere you as the god of the sun, have you completely lost your mind!!!"

"Uncle, I just…"

"I don’t want to hear it! Zeus, would it be alright if I take him with me for a while?"

"...Hmm. Just don’t go too far, Poseidon."

And that’s how Apollo got beaten up and dragged off to the sea by the scruff of his neck.

According to Zeus, he's probably being punished by having to emit light from the deep sea.

So Apollo was dragged to the sea and still hasn't returned.

"Even though he's the god of reason, it seems he loses all sense when it comes to his sister. Sigh... Dealing with children really is the hardest thing."

"He brought this on himself."

"To think he'd kill a hero as great as Orion in a fit of emotion... What a waste."

Well, Zeus is well aware that Poseidon didn’t give in to Gaia’s persuasion last time.

He had to hand down a punishment that Poseidon could accept.

"There's more to it, isn’t there? Killing his own son wouldn’t have fully eased his anger."

"Yes. So, to appease Artemis as well, I proposed something to Poseidon."

Zeus looked up at the sky, or more specifically, the sun. I followed his gaze and witnessed something strange.

Helios’ sun chariot was running across the sky, but... wait a moment?

Suddenly, Selene’s moon chariot appeared below the sun chariot, blocking the sunlight.

Swoosh—

The sun turned black. To be precise, it was covered by the moon.

I quickly stood up and looked down at the mortal world from below the clouds. I was concerned about the chaos this might cause.

Sure enough, the world below was in turmoil, and some mortals were even praying to me.

“The… the sun has turned dark!”

“What happened to Apollo? O Zeus!”

“What… what is this calamity! The sun has disappeared!”

“No, the sun hasn’t disappeared—it’s been devoured by darkness!”

“It’s not nighttime right now, so which god is angry? We must offer sacrifices immediately…”

The mortals were lamenting as they looked up at the sky. Many ran to the temples, claiming it was Zeus’s punishment...

Some knelt in repentance, while others trembled in fear and fled into their homes.

“That’s the punishment I’ve given Apollo for killing a great hero out of personal feelings. I also wanted to comfort Artemis, so I arranged for the moon to periodically block the sun.”

“You’re making Selene’s moon chariot run right beneath Helios’ sun chariot?”

“I already got permission from Helios and Selene. Every time the sun turns dark, the other gods will be reminde

d of the lesson.”

Some might argue that this punishment is too humiliating for simply killing a mortal…

But unlike Ares, who was born of Hera, Apollo was an illegitimate child, so Zeus cared less for him.

It’s also a warning not to interfere with mortal heroes out of personal emotions.

This level of punishment should be enough to calm Poseidon’s anger.

"Wait a moment, the moon covering the sun..."

"...?"

This is exactly what was called a solar eclipse in my past life, isn't it?