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Chapter 3

Author: Noorie
The next day, I was sitting in the high-arched library, tracing the faded spine of an ancient text, when the heavy oak doors swung open.

I expected the quiet, heavy footsteps of Malar. Instead, the air was suddenly flooded with the sickeningly sweet scent of blooming lotus and sea salt—a suffocating reminder of the golden halls I had left behind.

Kael stood in the doorway.

He looked entirely out of place in the shadowed gloom of the Underworld. His golden armor gleamed with celestial light, and his handsome, arrogant face carried a smirk that made my skin crawl.

"Look at you," Kael purred, stepping into the room with slow, deliberate grace, his eyes sweeping over my simple dark robes and the stark stone walls. "The priestess in her grand palace. Tell me, Laena, do you enjoy sleeping in a tomb? Or do you just like the chill?"

I didn't rise. I didn't even close the book. I simply turned a page, letting the silence stretch until his smirk wavered just a fraction.

"I find the silence remarkably refreshing, Lord Kael," I said coolly, my tone dripping with mild boredom. "It lacks the endless, empty noise of grandstanding fools. Though it seems my peace has just been compromised. To what do I owe the misfortune of your visit?"

Kael’s eyes flashed with a dangerous spark, but he chuckled, taking a few steps closer. "Drop this tough act, Laena. You and I both know you have married Malar only to spite me. You haven't touched him yet. You can't touch him."

He leaned against the heavy mahogany table, bending down so his face was level with mine. The scent of the ocean on him felt like an insult in this cold, honest dark.

“Every inch of your body craves my touch, only mine.” He whispered, “I know for how long you have been learning those intimacy guide books written by Aphrodite just to seduce me.”

My breath hitched. It was true. Ever since I lost my heart to him, I had been learning several tricks to satisfy noble deities, just for him to love me back, only for him to use this to mock me instead.

"Leave this place. Come with me to the mortal realm. I will build you a manor by the sea, and if you remain faithful to me, I’ll visit your cottage once every year… " he leaned closer as he put his hand on my exposed thighs, “Wait for me as my mistress, and I’ll make you realize how it feels to be with a real deity, unlike my cursed cousin who can't even touch you.”

I looked at him, stunned. In my previous life, I did everything in my possession just for him to touch me once or at least look at me with affection for once. It never happened. But not long after I ignored him and chose his cousin, he dragged his ass to meet me and even offered his intimacy?

How ironic. I no longer craved it because I knew it wasn't my love that he wanted, but the power I had fed him in my previous life.

I finally looked up, meeting his arrogant blue eyes, and let out a soft, mocking laugh.

"Your mistress?" I tilted my head, letting my gaze drift over him with deliberate disdain. "You want me to trade a lord of shadows for the side-table scrap of a lesser god? You offer me sunlight, Kael, but you forget—I came here to burn the Sun down, not to sit beneath it and polish your ego."

Kael’s smile died instantly. His hand snapped out to grab my chin, his jaw clenching. "You ungrateful little—"

“Do you think I don't know how slutty you are? It serves you right. You will only rot here, a virgin. Malar will never touch you and you–”

"I wouldn't touch her if I were you, Lord Kael."

A smooth, mocking voice purred from the dark shadows near the high balcony.

Kael stiffened, his head snapping toward the corner of the room. Out from the velvet curtains stepped Mercury, leaning casually against a pillar, tossing a small golden coin into the air and catching it with a soft clink.

"Mercury," Kael spat, dropping his hand from my face. "What are you doing skulking in the dark?"

"Oh, just delivering messages. Watching the drama unfold," Mercury grinned, his winged sandals fluttering lazily. "You're speaking to her as if she's an untouched maiden pining in a cold bed," Mercury whispered, his eyes gleaming with wicked delight.

"Did no one tell you? Lord Malar didn't stay in his isolation quarters last night. The shadow guards were dismissed from the East Wing. She didn't sleep in a tomb, Kael... she spent the entire night in the God of Entropy’s bed."

The color drained from Kael’s face so fast it was almost comical.

"What?" Kael breathed, his voice cracking. He looked between Mercury and me, total disbelief warring with a sudden, violent rage. "That's impossible. His curse—his bare skin rots flesh! If he touched her, she would be a corpse!"

He then turned to me, his eyes bloodshot. “How? How could you be with him? You loved me, only me! How is this even possible?”
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