Several days later, Cyprus Island.
Inside an exquisitely designed greenhouse, everything was lush and green.
Roses, camellias, anemones, myrtle, and countless other flowers and plants were planted there.
Each of them bloomed beautifully, releasing a rich and fragrant aroma.
Yet no matter how wildly this so called mundane beauty grew, none of it could compare to even one ten-thousandth of the treasure lying upon the flower bed.
A tall and upright figure, with facial features as delicate and beautiful as a flower itself.
In his presence, every person and object in the world seemed to pale in comparison.
However...
The Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, whose face looked weary and who had not washed or groomed herself for many days, sat beside the bed.
As she gazed at her lover, whose eyes were closed and whose body showed no sign of life, sorrow quietly filled her heart.
Adonis, the beloved in her heart, had already been robbed of the breath of life by cruel death.
Aphrodite held Adonis' delicate face in her hands.
Feeling the cold temperature of his skin, her heart ached once again, and she angrily cursed the culprit who had caused all of this.
'That damned brute Ares! That executioner! I will never let this go!'
Just as the Goddess of Love clenched her fists and vented her anger as usual, a gentle knock sounded from outside the greenhouse.
"Lady Aphrodite, there is a visitor requesting an audience..."
"No!"
Still burning with anger, the Goddess of Love rejected the request without even thinking.
However, this time, the person outside did not leave as usual.
After a short pause, the voice carefully spoke again.
"He said he brought medicine to cure the sickness in your heart, and he asked me to give you this."
Seeing the invitation slipped through the crack of the door, Aphrodite's eyes suddenly lit up.
The anger on her beautiful face vanished instantly, and she abruptly stood up from beside the bed.
"Quick! Let him come in!"
"Wait. Remember to invite him politely!"
Outside the door, the one delivering the message was the leader of the Three Graces, the radiant goddess Aglaea.
She nodded repeatedly and prepared to follow her mistress' instructions.
Unexpectedly, the tightly closed door creaked open as two snow white arms pushed it from the inside.
Aphrodite stepped out of the greenhouse quickly, barefoot, and then rushed toward the reception hall in great haste.
"Forget it. I will go myself!"
Watching her mistress look so impatient, Aglaea, as her attendant deity, opened her mouth slightly.
As the goddess of love, admired and pursued by all the gods, she had almost never seen Aphrodite so flustered and out of control.
Except when it involved that man...
The radiant goddess Aglaea glanced through the crack of the door at the handsome man lying on the flowerbed, Adonis, and a trace of confusion and curiosity appeared in her complicated thoughts.
Is this the power of love?
It can make the noble become humble, and the humble become noble.
Seeing that her mistress had already passed through the corridor and disappeared from sight, Aglaea quickly gathered her thoughts and followed after her.
Soon, the master and servant arrived at the spacious reception hall and finally saw the mysterious visitor who had come to treat Aphrodite's heart sickness.
"You?"
The moment she saw the visitor's appearance, Aphrodite was slightly stunned, her face showing surprise.
"From Hestia's household?"
"Greetings, Lady Aphrodite."
Lorne stood up from his seat, raised a hand to his chest, and bowed politely with a smile.
Since Hestia had already entered a semi retired state, most of the matters of the Temple of the Hearth were now handled by Lorne, her subordinate, on her behalf.
Additionally, after the great trial concerning Poseidon and Apollo, although he and Aphrodite did not interact often, they at least knew each other.
Aphrodite's impression of this newly appointed subordinate god was fairly good.
Aside from being quite handsome and pleasing to the eye, he handled matters appropriately and understood how to grasp the proper boundaries, rarely giving others a reason to dislike him.
Under normal circumstances, Aphrodite would not mind sitting down with this young subordinate god, drinking tea, chatting for a while, and perhaps depending on her mood, deciding whether to have some deeper interaction.
But now, although her body ached in need for intimacy, with her heart devoted entirely to her lover, the goddess of love clearly had no such mood.
"Where is Asclepius? Why didn't he come?"
Aphrodite looked around but did not see the expected figure.
Her expression immediately darkened, and even her attitude became noticeably colder.
"He encountered a small accident and cannot come for the moment..."
Lorne replied with a smile, while secretly thinking about a certain God of Medicine he'd left there with the Goddess of Hearth.
'Mm.. Most likely he was beaten up by the furious Hestia and was currently lying in bed half dead.
After all, he had given that kind of questionable medicine to Stheno and Euryale, resulting in the making a mess.
Getting punished for it served him right.
Seeing Aphrodite's expression growing even more unpleasant, Lorne quickly took out a purple-red potion from his clothes and changed the topic.
"However, he asked me to bring this potion that he personally prepared, to see if it can cure the sickness in your heart."
"Can this really cure my Adonis?"
Not only had the person himself failed to appear, but the magic potion inside the crystal bottle also looked rather ordinary and cheap.
Just looking at it, Aphrodite could not help feeling doubtful.
However, holding the potion, Lorne looked at her sincerely.
"It is still worth trying."
Perhaps moved by that sincerity, Aphrodite nodded and led the messenger toward the bedchamber, opening the greenhouse where Adonis' body was kept.
Looking at the carefully made up Prince of Cyprus lying among the flowers, and then glancing back at the exhausted looking Goddess of Love, he could not help sighing in his heart.
But once Aphrodite brought him inside, Lorne quickly suppressed his wandering thoughts.
Then carefully helped the ultimate pretty boy among the flowers sit up, pried open his mouth with one hand, and with the other poured a dose of the immortality potion prepared by Asclepius into it.
As the medicinal power gradually spread, a purple red surge of vitality moved through Adonis' body, forcibly dispersing the deathly energy that had accumulated within him.
Soon, a strong life force burst forth.
Broken bones realigned themselves. Damaged organs quietly repaired themselves. Stagnant blood began flowing again. Stiff limbs slowly softened...
Soon, the cold corpse regained warmth, and the sound of a beating heart echoed from the rising and falling chest.
"Adonis!"
The Goddess of Love snapped out of her shock and threw herself forward excitedly, preparing to welcome her lover who had returned from death.
However, after waiting for a long time, her prince still did not awaken. He remained lying among the flowers, completely motionless.
"What is going on?"
Aphrodite turned around to look at Lorne behind her and asked anxiously.
Lorne stepped forward and examined him carefully for a moment before finally letting out a faint sigh.
"I am sorry, Lady Aphrodite. The potion prepared by Asclepius is indeed effective, and Prince Adonis has indeed been revived. However, what has been revived is only the body. The most important part, his soul, is still detained in the Underworld, so..."
"I will go ask Zeus!"
Aphrodite immediately spoke and stood up from the flower bed without hesitation.
Lorne coughed lightly and pointed toward Olympus, which stood among the stars, reminding her in a low voice.
"Well, when I arrived, I heard that His Majesty had descended to the mortal world again."
"..."
Upon hearing his words, Aphrodite's breathing suddenly halted.
Her mood darkened, yet there was nothing she could do.
That was indeed the style of the King of the Gods, wandering everywhere in search of his lustful pursuits and disappearing for years at a time.
Did she really have to keep waiting?
Thinking about how Zeus' romantic adventures were often measured in years, Aphrodite could not help but feel a headache coming on.
"Goddess Aphrodite, there is something I would like to ask you..."
At this moment, Lorne carefully glanced around before stepping forward and lowering his voice.
"Interfering with the cycle of life and death and bringing a deceased god out of the Underworld is already a grave crime.
How confident are you that you can persuade our King of the Gods, as well as Hades, the Lord of the Underworld?"
"..."
Aphrodite fell silent for a long time.
The excitement and hope that had filled her beautiful face gradually faded away.
As one of the Twelve Olympian Gods, she naturally understood how deep the waters of the Underworld ran.
The cycle of life and death concerned the order of fate itself.
Even if Zeus could be persuaded, that did not necessarily mean the Three Fates behind him would be moved.
Moreover, Hades, the God of the Underworld, was involved as well.
That guy was just a cold-hearted married man who couldn't be seduced.
On top of that, Poseidon and Apollo were still serving their sentence in Thessaly.
She herself was currently in a cold war with Ares and Hephaestus, while Hermes was the kind of opportunist who always sided with whichever direction the wind blew.
At this moment, her influence on Olympus had almost dropped to its lowest point.
The allies she could rally were practically nonexistent.
Even if she wanted to unite others to apply pressure, she could not find suitable helpers.
She might even face obstruction from Ares and Hephaestus instead.
Thinking about this bleak situation, Aphrodite could not help but feel deeply troubled.
"Well... it is nothing..."
Lorne looked at the scene in front of him, opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then hesitated and finally forced an awkward smile.
"If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."
"Stop!"
Seeing his hesitant expression, Aphrodite suddenly stood up and immediately blocked Lorne, who was about to leave, her bright eyes staring directly at the messenger.
"Do you have another method?"
"There is one..."
"Then say it!"
"But this method carries great risks, and it will not be good for you..."
"Say it!"
"You really should not ask about it. I am saying this for your own good..."
Lorne pursed his lips and tried to persuade her sincerely.
Seeing that she still could not pry open his mouth with normal, Aphrodite seemed to think of something.
She restrained her aggressive attitude and waved her hand, signaling her subordinate Aglaea to leave.
The radiant goddess immediately understood what her goddess was going to do and left, closing the door behind her.
As a goddess of beauty, no man could refuse her.
'It seems I need to open his mouth my way.' With that thought, Aphrodite turned around and lazily stretched her slender arms.
The hazy gauze draped over her shoulders slipped down, revealing her snow white skin and her soft, graceful curves in full view.
Her skin was the color of fresh cream kissed by dawn light, flawless and luminous, glowing with an inner radiance that made mortal flesh look dull by comparison.
Full, heavy breasts rose proudly with each breath, the pale globes tipped with rosy nipples already pebbled tight from the cool air and perhaps the heat of his gaze
A delicate flush bloomed across the upper swells, spreading down toward those sensitive peaks as she moved.
Every line of her was sculpted for seduction: the gentle dip of her navel, the smooth plane of her belly, the subtle shadow where her ribs met the soft underside of her breasts.
Just silken perfection.
She leaned forward, pressing that voluptuous, naked upper body against the messenger's chest, the heat of her bare skin soaked through his clothes instantly; the plush weight of her breasts flattened against him, nipples dragging, as one pale, slender hand slid up his chest, fingertips tracing the line of his collarbone before drifting lower, nails grazing teasingly over his abdomen.
A slow, knowing smile curved her full lips—lips the color of crushed berries, slightly parted on a soft exhale that carried the scent of roses and warm honey.
"Mmm...Don't worry, as long as you tell me the answer, I'll treat you well...."
The sensations of sight, touch, and sound constantly stirred the most primal instincts between men and women.
Even the air seemed to carry a sweet fragrance.
Just looking at her, Lorne's eyes couldn't help but grow dazed, and his lips unconsciously parted slightly.
"I..."
(End of the Chapter)