In the delivery room, the candlelight flickered. Alcmene was half-leaning on the
bed, his face so pale that there was almost no blood. Her eyes were fixed on the front, staring at the cradle Empty cradle. Her hands clenched the mattress under her, and her knuckles turned white.
1r5Rp
That child.
The child who was still in her arms just now, and she called "my son" with tears.
She sent him away with her own hands. No, it wasn't sent away, it was thrown away. It was to ask the maid to take him out and throw him into the wilderness. I knew what the wilderness of this era meant, but I did it.
Because of fear. 1r5Rp
Because she knew that it was the heir of a certain great god, because the great god's wife had sent an assassin, because the earth-shattering thunder made her understand that this child was not something she could keep. Keep him and you will die.
She herself will die, Amphitreon will die, and the whole palace will be buried. So she made the choice she should make as a queen. 1r5Rp
But -
Tears slipped silently. Alcmene raised his hand and covered his face. His shoulders trembled violently, but he couldn't make a sound.
That's her child. 1r5Rp
It was the child she gave birth to in severe pain in October. It was the child who couldn't help but cry when she saw it at first sight. She threw him away.
Throw him away like an hoodoo. The door was gently pushed open. A maid poked her head in, saw the queen's appearance, and hesitated to speak. 1r5Rp
"Your Highness, Your Highness..."
Alcmene did not look up. "The eldest prince has settled down, and the wet nurse is breastfeeding. He is healthy and sleeps well..."
Ificles. 1r5Rp
That child, the half-mortal son, is being properly cared for at the moment. And the other child, she hasn't had time to name yet.
Alcmene's hand clenched tighter.
"I understand." Her voice was so hoarse it didn't sound like her own. "Get out."
The maid dared not say anything more and quietly closed the door.
She was left alone in the delivery room again.
The candlelight flickered in the wind, casting a long, long shadow of the empty cradle. Alcmene looked at the shadow and suddenly remembered the child's eyes when he opened them and looked at her. Those eyes, clear...
Excited, sparkling, just staring at her. Her heart felt like it had been twisted hard by someone.
"I'm sorry..." She didn't know how many times she said it. All she knew was that tears kept flowing and flowing, and she couldn't stop them.
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.
"Where's the queen?"
The voice was deep and resonant, tinged with anxiety.
Amphitryon.
Alcmene's husband, King of Thebes, and father of Iphicles—also the one "destroyed by Zeus"
A man who has been cuckolded. 1r5Rp
The door was flung open. Amphitryon strode in, his armor still dusty from the journey, clearly having just returned from outside the city. His gaze...
The light swept across the delivery room and landed on Alcmene, who was lying on the bed.
"I heard she gave birth—how are you?"
His voice was full of concern as he walked to the bedside and took his wife's hand.
Alcmene looked up and met those worried eyes. It was her husband, and in her womb had once carried the children of two men. Tears welled up again.
"Amphitryon..." 1r5Rp
She threw herself into her husband's arms and hugged him tightly. Amphitryon was stunned. He instinctively hugged his wife back, gently patting her back with his large hand, his voice soft and gentle.
Gentle: "What's wrong? What happened? You were fine, weren't you? Where's the baby? Is it a boy or a girl?"
Alcmene's heart trembled, and she couldn't utter a single word. Amphitryon sensed something was wrong. He lowered his head, looking at his wife in his arms, then glanced at the delivery room—only…
She was all alone. The cradle was empty.
"Where's the baby?" His voice held a hint of confusion. "Wasn't it just born? Why isn't it with you? Holding..."
"Did you go to breastfeed?" Alcmene didn't answer. She just held him, crying and trembling. Amphitryon's heart suddenly sank.
He opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but didn't know how to ask.
Just then—it felt like something had struck my heart hard. The sensation came without warning, yet it sent chills down my spine.
Hemp. 1r5Rp
Amphitryon's body stiffened.
Alcmene also stopped trembling.
The two of them looked up at the door at the same time.
There. 1r5Rp
Someone is coming.
The entire Theban palace froze in that instant. The maids in the corridors remained in their walking positions, unable to take another step. The guards' fingers rested on their sword hilts.
But he couldn't draw the sword.
No one spoke, no one moved. Because something had arrived. Like some extremely majestic being.
It's slowly descending. Its presence weighs heavily on everyone's hearts, making it hard to breathe. 1r5Rp
In the delivery room, Amfitryon's arms were still in the position of embracing his wife, but his body was as stiff as a stone.
Alcmene leaned against him, trembling all over with fear.
She knew she couldn't escape.
The gate is open. 1r5Rp
Two figures appeared out of thin air in the center of the delivery room, as if they had always been standing there and had never left.
The one in the lead wore an elegant long dress, her hair was simply tied up, and her face was so beautiful that it was hard to look directly at her.
A faint smile played on her lips, a smile that sent a chill down Alcmene's spine. Hera.
The Goddess. 1r5Rp
Wife of Zeus.
The goddess of marriage and childbirth.
Behind Hera stood another woman. She had silver-grey eyes, a striking face, and held a swaddled baby in her arms.
Athena. 1r5Rp
Goddess of Wisdom.
as well as----
That swaddling clothes.
Alcmene's gaze fell on the swaddling clothes, on the corner of the fabric peeking out, and on the tiny face.
Her heart clenched suddenly.
That's her child.
The child she threw away with her own hands, the child she thought she would never see again in her life.
She was currently lying in Athena's arms, looking this way.
It's over. Those two words rose from the depths of Alcmene's heart.
It's all over.
Hera must have come to take revenge on her.
She didn't know what Hera would do—kill her? Torture her? Make her wish she were dead? She only knew that whatever happened, she was powerless to resist.
Her body went limp.
If Amphitryon hadn't been holding her, she would have collapsed to the ground. Amphitryon sensed the change in his wife. He looked down at her, then looked up at...
Two figures suddenly appeared.
A flicker of shock crossed his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
As the king of Thebes, he had seen many grand occasions. But these two before him—
Hera, the queen of the gods; Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
This is something that no grand event can compare to.
He took a deep breath, released his wife's hand, straightened up, and then bowed respectfully.
"King Amphitryon of Thebes, pay homage to the Queen of the Gods, pay homage to the Goddess of Wisdom. He knows not what has happened, nor why Hera has come, nor whose child Athena is holding in her arms."
He only knew that when facing gods, especially these two, proper etiquette was absolutely essential. Hera's gaze fell on Amphitriteon, giving him a brief, indifferent look. Then Hera's gaze shifted to Al...
Kemene.
When those eyes fell upon her, Alcmene felt as if she were being pressed down by something invisible, unable to move.
Hera was pleased with Alcmene's appearance.
Very satisfied.
A deathly pale face, a trembling body, and desperate eyes—this was exactly what she wanted to see. The Empress stepped forward slowly, her skirt brushing lightly across the smooth ground.
"Alcmene." She called her name, and Alcmene's heart sank to the bottom. Then her eyes welled up with tears.
down.
"I am here."
She lowered her head, unable to look Hera in the eye.
Her gaze fell on Amphitryon's feet, on the pair of war boots covered in the dust of battle. They belonged to her husband, the man who truly loved her and never doubted her.
She only prayed that she wouldn't implicate her husband. Her trial was imminent. Alcmene closed her eyes.
Hera, seeing her like this, smiled even more broadly. (115Rp)
She raised her hand and waved it gently.
Athena stepped forward, stopped in front of Alcmene, and handed the baby in her arms forward.
Hera's voice sounded:
"This baby—"1r5Rp
Alcmene's heart clenched suddenly.
Coming.
Hera is about to deliver her verdict.
She was probably saying that the baby was a bastard, an evil creature, a disgrace to her and Zeus. Then she would make the child disappear, or make herself disappear.
"I'll leave it to you to raise from now on."
Hera finished.
"This child is mine... what?"
Alcmene's head snapped up. Her eyes widened, disbelief filling her pupils. Her body was still limp, but her gaze was unwavering.
She stared directly at Hera, even doubting if she had misheard. Entrusting her with their upbringing? Not for revenge? Not for a verdict? Not for...
To take her and this child's lives?
Hera's mood improved as she looked at Alcmene's deathly pale face, which resembled a fan shape. She even wanted to laugh out loud, but she held back.
The majesty of the Queen of Gods must be maintained. "I said," Hera repeated, enunciating each word clearly, "this infant will be entrusted to your care." She paused, looking at Alcmene's pale face, and added:
"What? Can't you understand?"
Alcmene remained silent.
She just stared blankly at Hera, then blankly at the baby in Athena's arms, and then blankly again...
Looking at Hera, her mind seemed blocked, unable to process anything. Amphitriteon stood to the side, watching this scene, his brows slightly furrowed. He seemed to understand something, yet also seemed to understand nothing at all.
But he didn't ask anything.
He simply stepped forward, supported his swaying wife, looked at Hera, and respectfully asked, "May I ask, Your Majesty, who is this child...?"
Hera glanced at him, then looked at Alcmene.
"This child is yours to raise." Hera didn't bother to explain further.
"Understood…" Amphitrite didn't ask any more questions.
Athena stood to the side and handed the baby forward.
"then."
Alcmene instinctively reached out and took the swaddled baby; the tiny weight settled in her arms.
1r5Rp
She lowered her head, looking at that small face. The child was looking at her, and Alcmene's tears flowed again. But this time, it wasn't fear. What it was, she couldn't explain herself.
Hera watched this scene and nodded in satisfaction. "Raise him well," she said, her voice flat and devoid of emotion. "This is the grace of the Queen of Gods."
Give.
She turned and walked towards the door.
Athena followed behind her.
Just then—Amphitrite took two steps forward and addressed the two departing figures: "May I ask the child's name?"
His voice echoed in the empty delivery room.
Hera did not stop.
But Athena stopped. The goddess of wisdom turned slightly to the side and back. Her gaze passed over Amphitryon and landed on the infant in Alcmene's arms.
The baby was looking at the world with its eyes open, looking at the room that was about to become the starting point of its life.
Athena spoke, her voice seeming to come from both the farthest reaches and the closest of places. Every word was clearly audible to everyone present, and etched into the memory of this era.
surplus.
"The child's name—"
She paused. 1r5Rp
At that moment, the entire delivery room seemed to fall silent. Even the candlelight stopped flickering, and even breathing became lighter.
"Hercules".
It means the glory of Hera.
Alcmene was stunned.
Amphitryon was also stunned. This name, this name bestowed upon them by the goddess of wisdom herself. They instinctively looked at Hera.
The goddess's back was turned to them, motionless. She didn't turn around, but she didn't object either. That silence itself was a form of acceptance.
Athena's gaze shifted from the baby to Hera's back, then returned to her, her eyes shimmering slightly in the candlelight, as if reflecting something indescribable.
Then she spoke again.
"Name." "May this child—" This time, it seemed as if he were speaking to an infant, and also as if he were speaking to fate, "not failing this..."
As soon as the words were spoken, the two figures vanished into thin air, as if they had never been there.
In the delivery room, the candles began to flicker again. Alcmene, holding the baby in his arms, looked at the little face, and repeatedly pronounced the name:
"Hercules... Hercules ...
The baby was in her arms, blinking.
He heard it too. 1r5Rp
That's his name.
That was the name he would carry in this life.
That's -
Hercules.
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