The Nymph Who Fooled the Dead

Darius followed closely behind Lyra, his hand casually resting on her shoulder like they were old friends.

But I saw it clearly.

Under Lyra’s shimmering sheer dress, her shoulder was covered in glaring hickeys.

Darius wasn’t some major deity. He was just a second-rate fire demigod, a bastard with the blood of Ares.

I slumped back onto my divine throne. My heart turned to ash.

Her nymph friends crowded around her with wicked smiles, using their secret tongue to beg for details about their affair on Mount Ida.

Perhaps feeling guilty, Lyra instinctively pushed Darius away, walked over, and sat right next to me.

"Hey, what are you so nervous about?" one nymph scoffed in their tongue. "Those gods who stay in the Underworld all year round are isolated and ancient. He's been in that dark hellhole for so long, all he knows are the laws of slaughter! He can’t understand our secret tongue, let alone the romantic games of Olympus. If we were speaking the Common Tongue, then you should panic!"

"Our status might be lower than his, but he won't understand a single word of this. Right, girls? Hahaha!"

"You guys are so bad, ganging up on poor Orion."

Hearing her friends, Lyra finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She smiled, leaned in, and pressed her lips—lips that had just been ravaged by another man—against mine. "Don't mind them, Orion!"

"We all came from the same ancient forest. We always speak our native tongue at gatherings. It’s just a habit."

I clenched my fists so hard my blood almost reversed its flow.

They had no idea.

Long before us Underworld deities were welcomed back to the surface, my soul was born in the deepest underground river of that very same ancient forest. The soil of the Underworld nurtured their tree roots.

I knew their tongue perfectly.

Seeing me stay silent, the nymphs thought I didn't care and started mocking me even harder.

"Lyra, is Darius's cock really bigger than his? Tell the truth, I bet three gems on it."

Lyra giggled without holding back. "Of course. Orion has been locked in the Underworld for too long. He doesn't know the first thing about pleasing a woman."

Nymph A: "Look at how satisfied you are. You look glowing."

Nymph B: "Damn, doing this right in front of his face is such a rush! Hahaha! Who knew our tongue was this useful?"

"Look at the idiot, sitting there looking all pitiful, not understanding a word."

I sat rigidly on my throne.

Not far away, Darius shot me a look of naked disgust, then silently mouthed to Lyra.

"Lyra, why don't you just marry me? Stop wasting time with this useless trash who belongs in the dark."

Lyra smiled, reaching out to massage my shoulders while ruthlessly mocking me in the secret tongue.

"Marry you? Not a chance."

"I know the difference between reality and lust. Darius, you are just my toy—a beast to give this body thrills and a release. But the one I need is Orion."

Her delicate fingertips stroked my chest like she was showing off a prize.

"Only marrying into Underworld royalty can elevate my status and make people bow to me in the Pantheon. Can you give me that? No, because in your bones, you're just an angry demigod bastard. Only Orion, my well-tamed dog, can do that. Even if I get a tiny scratch, he’d rip through space from the abyss just to rush back to me."

Hearing her talk about the past brought me no sweetness. My stomach twisted with extreme nausea, followed by a surging, violent anger.

I defied the class bans of the divine realm for her. She used my devotion as a stepping stone.

Suddenly, Lyra’s hand on my shoulder paused.

"Crap," she gasped in the secret tongue. "I got too into it earlier and forgot to take the moonseed potion. What if I get pregnant?"

"Damn it, how could you be so careless? Go to the cliff and find some moonflowers, now."

"Hehe, I think we should make Orion go pick them!" another nymph suggested wickedly. "If we're going to play him, let's play him to the end!"

"You guys..." Lyra's eyes lit up.

Darius immediately caught on. He grabbed a full cup of Dionysus’s strongest wine and downed it in one gulp.

Slam!

He smashed the cup down and yelled in the Common Tongue: "Gods! This wine is too strong! I'm so dizzy, my magic is a mess! I don't think I can fly my chariot back to the mountain tonight!"