Persephone raised her head and tilted it quizzically at Hades’ expression.

‘Was there something wrong with how I addressed him?’

Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, who had Hades as her younger brother.

So she thought it would be correct to call Hades her uncle.

That’s what she had thought.

Persephone’s eyes darted to Hades, who hadn’t been responsive since earlier.

‘But it seems I may have addressed him wrongly?’

What could she have done wrong?

As Persephone racked her brain, an exclamation mark of realization popped up in her mind.

‘Ah, could it be that he’s closer to Zeus, the younger sibling, than to Demeter?’

From their previous encounter, while Demeter and Hades seemed quite close, it appeared that Hades was the one who bowed his head.

Given that he held one of the positions of the Three Main Gods, yet still acted this way, she had a hunch that their relationship might not have been much different when they were ‘six siblings’.

However, the God King was not only Hades’ brother but also one of the Three Main Gods.

In other words, Persephone should have addressed Hades using the paternal side’s form of address.

Having reached this conclusion, she stepped into the room.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I misspoke.”

“Wait, I-”

“Good morning, Uncle.”

At this, Hades’ face cracked even more.

Watching the change in his expression, Persephone furrowed her brows.

‘It’s almost as if an earthquake hit.’

Hades, with his lips tightly pressed, averted his gaze from her.

The golden light swirled in his pupils for a moment.

Soon after, he straightened his posture and nodded coolly towards Persephone.

“…Yes, good evening.”

Persephone, who had been watching Hades cautiously, broke into a relieved smile.

Her lips parted as freely as a fish in water.

“I thought the Underworld would always be dark, day and night, but while it’s darker than the surface world during the day, the Underworld’s day is still brighter than its night! I was amazed when I saw it this morning.”

“…Is that so.”

“Yes, I asked Hydra as she was passing by, and she said the day and night in the Underworld are opposite to the surface world? She said when Hemera is here, it becomes day in the Underworld too.”

“That’s right.”

Persephone secretly glanced at Hades, who kept giving short answers.

‘Does he have a disease where he dies if he answers with more than one word?’

Finally giving up on conversation, Persephone sat down.

The dining table was a slightly elongated oval made of natural wood.

As she habitually reached out to stroke the living grain unique to natural wood, she lowered her hand, avoiding Hades’ puzzled gaze.

Instead, her eyes turned to the porcelain plate with intricate patterns.

Steaming wheat bread, a dish of vegetables and minced meat wrapped in grape leaves, various side dishes to eat with the bread, and even cream soup.

She had expected a grand spread for dinner, but it wasn’t so.

‘Not bad, it’s not overwhelming.’

Persephone blinked after washing her hands in the nearby water dish.

‘What’s this now?’

There was an unfamiliar utensil right next to her plate.

Its end was split into three prongs, resembling the trident that the sea god was said to use.

At that moment, Hades posed a question to Persephone.

“Did you usually eat with your hands?”

“Yes. For fruits, I used the knife that peeled them to pick them up.”

As a side note, the knife Persephone used to peel fruits wasn’t a small paring knife, but a dagger used for cutting sacrificial meat.

Hades, who was about to pick up his utensil, briefly glanced at Persephone.

Muttering “Was she actually the daughter of the war god?”, he pointed to the utensil and explained.

“This is a gift from Poseidon, meant for spearing food. He said to use it along with the spoon and think of him.”

“Ah…”

“Of course, if you find it uncomfortable, you can eat with your hands. Go ahead.”

Persephone, who had been nodding, suddenly looked up as if remembering something.

“Ah, Uncle.”

Hades’ gesture froze in mid-air.

“Can I talk about that ‘problematic word’ after the meal?”

“…”

Hades tensed his mouth as if troubled.

Persephone, who was chewing a whole piece of bread, widened her eyes.

Who was it that had smiled confidently, saying it would be a rare non-boring wait…

Just as she was starting to suspect that he found it troublesome to discuss now, despite saying he had waited…

“I, I’m really sorry, but there’s something that’s been bothering me since earlier.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“I’m not your uncle, am I?”

This time, Persephone, who was cutting into an egg fried in olive oil, slightly wrinkled her nose.

“Ah, do you prefer to be called maternal uncle?”

“…Why are you suddenly doing this?”

“Pardon?”

“Uncle, maternal uncle, I have nothing to do with such embarrassing titles.”

Hades, who had been closely observing Persephone, lowered his gaze.

‘Nothing to do with it…?’

Perplexed, she asked urgently.

“Aren’t you siblings with my parents?”

“Blood relatives?”

Hades’ voice rose at the end.

As he slowly tore his bread, his complexion began to mix with a leaden hue.

Hades picked up a nearby cup, swirled it, and downed the wine diluted with water in one go. His finger pointed at himself.

“Do I look similar to Lady Demeter to you?”

“…”

Persephone recalled her mother’s appearance.

Demeter with wheat-colored hair and green eyes.

But the man before her had short black hair and black eyes.

‘Come to think of it, there are no overlapping features?’

Except for the fact that they were both quite tall, there was nothing alike about them.

Persephone moistened her lips, looking utterly confused. Hades added:

“We’re not blood relatives. Demeter, Hera, Hestia, Poseidon, Zeus, and I, the six of us, grew up studying under our teacher Cronus, so we’re classmates.”

“…”

Persephone was struck speechless with surprise.

‘Classmates?’

The dazed Persephone swallowed the food in her mouth.

“Before Zeus claimed the throne of the gods, we promised to be like brothers and sisters to each other. I’ve heard rumors that this story was distorted as it was passed down to humans, but I didn’t know it had become like this.”

“Ah…”

Persephone nodded as she listened to Hades’ explanation.

‘Is this really Greek mythology?’

Strange.

Greek mythology without a messed-up family tree and incest isn’t the Greek mythology I know!

If Hades could read her mind, he would undoubtedly have scolded her, saying “What nonsense!”

“So, you’re neither my uncle nor my maternal uncle?”

“That’s right.”

Hades, tilting his cup, asked in a calm tone.

“By the way, who did you think your father was?”

“I suppose it must be Lord Zeus?”

The moment she answered confidently, Hades coughed violently.

“Are you alright?”

Persephone stood up, startled.

Hades, coughing repeatedly, grabbed a small cloth to wipe his mouth.

“Kheuk…”

A strange groan escaped his lips.

“No wonder you changed to calling me uncle, that was the reason…”

It was the kind of reaction that made one wish he would just laugh heartily if he was going to laugh at all.

Hades pressed his fingers to his forehead and tightened his lips.

“Zeus is quite a promiscuous fellow, but I never imagined it would be misinterpreted like this. Lady Hera will have her work cut out for her sorting out the family tree.”

“Why, why is that?”

The corner of Hades’ mouth lifted slightly.

“Zeus is good at sharing his power. All the gods and humans who receive his power become his children.”

“…”

“It all started with some humans who boldly claimed the God King as their ancestor, borrowing Zeus’s name… After that, everyone started claiming Zeus as their ancestor, and it ended up like this.”

…Come to think of it, she might have heard something like that before?

There was a time when some humans tried to establish their authority by claiming their ancestors were gods.

Hades tilted his cheek and this time pointed at Persephone.

“Do you understand, Persephone? This is how powerful a ‘name’ can be.”

“Y-yes.”

“My name is ominous from the start, so I don’t get unnecessary interference, but the gods on the surface are probably having quite a hard time.”

His smile deepened ever so slightly.

“Anyway, that fellow must feel wronged too. Even a young god like you is treating him as a philanderer.”

“Um… If I ever meet him, please tell him I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to go that far.”

Hades shook his head.

He added a trivial comment that he had taken good care of his younger brother when they were young, so it didn’t matter now.

Lowering his utensils, he suddenly exhaled deeply.

“And uncle or maternal uncle, well, if we consider the six disciples as siblings, I am the eldest son, but…”

As Hades trailed off, another exclamation mark popped up in Persephone’s mind.

‘Ah, perhaps he wants to be treated with more respect?’

Persephone clapped her hands together.

“Ah, if uncle or maternal uncle won’t do, would it be alright if I called you elder?”

This title really didn’t suit the youthful-looking Hades, but it couldn’t be helped. This was the best option.

“I could even massage your shoulders.”

“…”

Hades’ expression darkened once again.