Chapter 3

Orion's icy voice brushed my ear.

"I know you didn't have a choice," he murmured, cold yet filled with a silent promise. "But I swear, I won't let you suffer."

I turned and stepped into his chest. The scent of winter pine and cold earth wrapped around me—the deep, raw scent of the Underworld.

"I chose this," I said, my voice just as serious. "I chose you."

A mess of emotions swirled in his silver eyes. Shock. Doubt. And a faint, hidden trace of tenderness.

Three days later, two very different weddings took place on Olympus.

The War clan's ceremony was suffocatingly lavish. On an altar made of solid gold, Evadne wore a dress dripping in jewels. They even dragged reclusive unicorns out of the woods just to witness the spectacle.

By contrast, the Underworld's wedding was brutally simple. No VIP guests. No rare mythical beasts. But genuine joy lit up the faces of everyone in his clan. After all, it was the first time in a millennia a mortal had married one of their own.

After the ceremonies, guests gathered in the plaza outside the temples.

"Ianthe!" Evadne strutted over, clinging to Deimos. She deliberately tilted her neck for the crowd to see. It was a canvas of angry red marks—a testament to Deimos's brutality, and a silent brag to the world.

"See this?" She touched the marks, gloating. "Deimos is so passionate. I'll give him an heir in no time!"

I gave her a polite nod. "Good luck with that."

Evadne vastly underestimated how hard it was for a mortal to carry a god's seed. We were entirely different species.

A mortal womb needed long-term divine conditioning, or it would simply shatter under the raw energy of a demigod embryo. Even under perfect conditions, natural conception took at least a year.

She thought I had it easy in my past life, so she assumed it would be a breeze for her. She even bragged to the War clan that she'd be pregnant within six months. Word spread fast.

Seeing her so cocky, Deimos—who was desperate for a kid anyway—didn't doubt her for a second.

But to Evadne, my complete lack of reaction felt like a threat.

"Whatever. You wouldn't get it anyway. You married into a nest of gravediggers. Dead men don't breed!" She threw a dirty look at the Hades clansmen nearby, hitched up her skirt, and tried to walk past me.

I grabbed her arm and stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Evadne. Apologize. Apologize to the Hades clan right now."

Her face darkened. She yanked her arm back and screamed, "Ianthe, are you out of your mind?!"

The remaining guests turned to watch us fight, eating up the drama. Finally, our father had to step in. When he realized what happened, he forced Evadne to apologize to my new family.

The Hades clan might be at the bottom of the food chain, but they wouldn't just sit back and take insults from a mortal.

Before leaving, Evadne shot me a lethal glare and hissed, "I will win this time, Ianthe. Just you wait."

Wedding night.

The Underworld bedroom was minimalist but carried a dark, majestic vibe. Black silk drapes, silver candelabras, and the faint scent of sandalwood.

When Orion dropped his robes, I froze. For a heartbeat. Nobody had warned me that the sons of Hades were... doubly blessed.

"If you don't want this..." He misread my shock. He went pale and reached for his robe.

I snatched the fabric right out of his hands and pulled him onto the bed.

"You smell good," I trailed my fingers down his chest. "Like a midnight forest. You make me feel safe."

The tips of his ears turned instantly red.

That night, we were feral.

I used to think the War God's stamina was legendary. I was wrong. The Lord of the Underworld had a staying power all his own. Orion didn't stop until dawn broke. I was literally begging him to rest. I melted into his arms, feeling a satisfaction I had never known before.

Three months later, news shook the divine realm. Evadne was pregnant.

"It's a miracle!" Deimos raised a glass in the War Temple. "No one has conceived this fast in thousands of years!"

Flatterers swarmed him, desperate to get on his good side. Everyone agreed: the next High Councilor was definitely coming from the War clan. Now was the time to kiss the ring.

Given our rank, Orion and I should have been seated at the very back of the banquet hall. But Evadne forced Deimos to put me right next to her. She wasn't going to miss a chance to rub it in my face.

She rubbed her belly and smirked at me. "Three months and your womb is still empty, Ianthe? Perhaps some bodies are just useless soil."

Demigods grow fast.

Four months in the womb is enough time to be born.

Judging by the size of her bump, she was due next month.

But she had no clue how massive a demigod baby actually was.

If she didn't starve herself, the birth would tear her apart.

I had dieted ruthlessly in my past life, and the labor still took a full day and night.

The pain was worse than death.

But when I saw my boy safe, sleeping in my arms, I knew I'd do it all over again.

I took a sip of my nectar and said flatly, "Historically, the fastest a mortal has ever gotten pregnant by a god is exactly one year. It took you three months. Only you know what dark bargain you struck to make that happen."

Evadne snapped her head toward me, panic flashing in her eyes. "What the hell do you mean, Ianthe?"

She couldn't handle even the slightest prod. She totally lost her cool.

"Good luck with your delivery, Evadne." I raised my glass to her, then walked out of the banquet side-by-side with Orion.

A month later, bloodcurdling screams echoed from the delivery room.

Evadne was in labor for three days and three nights.

Her shrieks rattled the entire War Temple.

Even people walking by on the street stopped in horror.

But seven days passed, and the temple doors stayed shut.

Even our father was barred from entering.

Another week went by before my father finally sent for me.

"Ianthe, you need to go see Evadne." His face was grim. "Something is... very wrong."

Orion went with me to the War Temple.

The grand hall was dead empty. Only Evadne sat on the freezing stone floor. She was holding a baby.

The baby boy glowed with a faint pink aura.

The whole room smelled like heavy roses.

"He is Deimos's son!" Evadne shrieked, her eyes wild with madness. "Mutations happen! It's perfectly normal!" She clutched the baby, desperate to prove it.

But she was wrong. Deimos was a pureblood son of Ares.

His veins ran with fire and iron.

There was no love in his bloodline. Only war.

Deimos stood apart, his face a thundercloud.