I've Possessed Persephone - Chapter 49

Hades’ eyes shook strongly.

“Now that I look closer, you have a bit of a young master’s side. You must have never seen crystallized honey before.”

“‘Crystallized’ honey?”

Persephone tapped the transparent side of the honey jar with her fingernail.

“They say the honey has crystallized when it looks like this. It’s solidified like sugar. When honey reaches this state, you can spread it on bread like cream and it’s delicious.”

“So it hasn’t gone bad then?”

“No. It probably just got like this from being kept somewhere a bit cold.”

I see…

His face grew hot without him realizing.

Hades cleared his throat and turned his head, and Persephone, who had been watching his profile, smiled leisurely.

Being one of the three main gods, and with such a calm impression, it seemed like he could handle everything perfectly.

‘So there are things you don’t know too?’

If that was the case, it wouldn’t be bad for her to teach him one by one.

Persephone shook the honey jar.

“While we’re at it, would you like to try some? The taste is similar.”

Persephone headed quickly for the ladder as if she was going to feed Hades honey regardless of his answer.

He had no choice but to follow her out of the underground.

The kitchen on the first floor was only bathed in the eerie blue light unique to night, but Persephone took out the lamp on the wall and lit fires around.

The inside soon brightened warmly with yellow light.

“Wait a moment.”

“Alright.”

Persephone, who had put the honey jar down on the table, pulled out a spoon hanging on a hook.

She took out bread that had been covered with stacked bowls on the shelf and placed it on the cutting board.

Tang, tang, following the knife strokes, the golden-brown lump was cut into a row, revealing its white insides.

‘This is the first time I’ve seen her cooking.’

Is this how her day always starts?

Hades, sitting in the chair, ran his hand over the wooden tabletop with its shiny pattern. Nothing stuck to his fingertips.

His interested eyes quickly scanned the surroundings.

‘Cutting board, hearth, hook for hanging tools, shelf, bowls, glass jars, table, and chairs…’

All the furniture was in a state where Persephone had cleaned it. Though she seemed clumsy on the outside, she appeared to be quite meticulous in this aspect.

“Please try it.”

At that moment, Persephone pushed a plate towards him.

Hades’ eyes turned to the ivory ceramic plate.

In his view was a snack with square white bread topped with crystallized honey, cheese, and herbs.

Hades carefully picked up a piece and brought it to his mouth. The bread must have been toasted in a pan, as it had a nice crispy texture that crumbled in his mouth.

As for the honey, the texture on his tongue was different. Should he say it felt crunchy like ice?

After chewing and swallowing all the snack, Hades soon nodded.

“It’s certainly different. The honey feels like eating frozen fruit juice.”

“Right?”

Persephone gestured as if to say ‘See?’

“How were the other things?”

“Other things…?”

“Like the cheese, or the herbs. Try expressing it a bit more specifically.”

“Hmm…”

Hades looked at Persephone with a skeptical expression, but she blinked her eyes quickly as if to say any expression would be fine.

Hades was about to say that the herbs tasted like herbs and the cheese tasted like cheese, but he barely managed to close his lips and ended up having to eat another piece.

Carefully distinguishing the flavors, he soon picked up the words that came to mind.

“Well. The herbs were fragrant, and the cheese tasted like nuts.”

“And?”

“…I have nothing else to say beyond that.”

“You’ll have days when you can express it more in detail later.”

Fortunately, Persephone didn’t get angry and accepted his evaluation.

“I heard you used to eat meals in the past. What did you mainly eat?”

“Which past are you referring to?”

“After Zeus became the king of gods.”

Is she talking about when Plutus was alive?

“Did you perhaps like fresh things? Hydra said that when she saw you, you seemed to dislike greasy foods when meeting with other underworld kings.”

“…Was that so.”

I had shared refreshments when meeting with Yama of the East Continent, Ereshkigal of Babylon, or Osiris of Aigyptos (*Egypt).

The problem was that I couldn’t remember at all what I had eaten.

‘Do I not even know what my own preferences are?’

Just as Hades was about to utter self-deprecation towards himself.

“From what I can see, Hades prefers foods with good flavor.”

Persephone’s voice cut through Hades’ thoughts.

“…Why is that?”

“You drank the soup, no, the ‘tea’ with silphium well, and the cheese on top of this bread has a richer taste than other cheeses. You seem to especially like the savory taste that fills your mouth.”

Persephone smiled brightly.

Then Hades’ skeptical expression came into view.

‘It’s true though.’

Persephone, who had been scanning his disbelieving expression, pondered for a moment what words to add.

Soon, a playful voice flowed from the tip of her tongue.

“Or do you like it more because I made it for you?”

Hades’ words were completely blocked.

He almost bit his tongue, but Persephone, unaware of his state, just giggled.

Hades, who had been watching her, carefully smacked his lips.

Somehow his mouth felt dry.

He felt like drinking some water, but there were no cups in sight.

Wanting to change the subject, Hades quickly racked his brain.

‘Foods with good flavor, huh.’

There was one thing he remembered.

“…Long ago, I once traveled to eat delicious things.”

Perhaps because this fact was unexpected, Persephone’s eyes widened. Her upper body tilted slightly.

“However, it was said to be a gourmet trip, but unless I received special treatment from a wealthy king, I couldn’t eat good food.”

As he recalled, he and Plutus had marveled more at the diverse cultures and lifestyles of each region than at the food.

“Then once I received a rather crude lump of food from a nomadic tribe, and when I took a small bite, I was surprised by the unexpectedly thick and deep cream taste. I suppose that’s the ‘flavor’ you’re talking about?”

“Oh, cream…”

Persephone, who exclaimed in admiration, put her chin on her hand. Her eyes shone with a deeper color.

“Where were these nomadic people from?”

“Present-day Babylon. Do you know of the human king Hammurabi by any chance?”

“Ah… The one who made the laws?”

Hades nodded. While thinking ‘She understood at once, she’s smarter than I thought’, which would have been rude to Persephone.

After thinking for a moment, Persephone snapped her fingers.

“Oh, I think I know what that is.”

Hades’ eyes swelled with surprise.

Could she know what the lump he described was just from hearing the explanation? He asked a question.

“What is it?”

“Have you heard of boutyron? It’s a food often eaten in the north or desert.”

Hades shook his head. At that, a smile settled on the corners of Persephone’s mouth.

“It’s also called butter.”

Butter.

This ingredient, very familiar to future humans, was a long-standing one that had been made since ancient times.

Persephone, who had once traveled many places with Demeter, also knew what butter was.

And that when used properly, it could deliver the decisive blow to the flavor of a dish.

“Well, but this is a bit troublesome to make. You have to keep stirring sheep or goat milk until it clumps. Once it’s made though, it gives a deep flavor when frying or making soup.”

“Then can’t you just use olive oil?”

“What?”

Persephone gaped in astonishment.

“Would you use seawater if you didn’t have salt, Hades?”

“No, that’s not it, I mean olive oil can also give a deep flavor like butter—”

“Olive oil doesn’t clump no matter how much you stir it, Hades! The texture, taste, and aroma are all different from the start!”

“So this butter is a foreign food—”

“You’re not going to call them barbarians, are you?”

“That’s not what I—”

“I should rather bow in gratitude to the humans who invented butter!”

Was it to that extent…?

Hades just closed his lips.

He had spoken just to continue the conversation somehow, but it had the opposite effect, so he felt it would be counterproductive to pretend to know more.

Having achieved the feat of shutting the mouth of the King of the Underworld, the goddess quickly ran to the underground storage and brought back a bottle full of sheep’s milk, along with some vegetables and chunks of meat.

“I’ll make it for you while we’re at it.”

She opened the bottle cap and scooped the cream from the top of the sheep’s milk into a deep bowl.

Then she brought a strange kitchen tool—a whisk—with crossed wires and began to stir the cream vigorously.

“Huff…!”

“…”

“Huu-uff…!”

“…”

“Huuu-uff…!”

Persephone’s gradually reddening face was reflected in Hades’ eyes.

…The situation didn’t look good at all.

“Wait, let me have that for a moment.”

Unable to stand by any longer, Hades took the bowl from Persephone.

“So I just need to stir it until it clumps? With a feeling of putting air into it?”

“That’s right.”

Persephone wiped the sweat from her forehead. She smiled playfully.

“You’ve, no, you caught on quickly.”

“…Were you about to say ‘You’ve managed to’ and then stopped?”

“Of course not.”

Persephone shook her head nonchalantly and shrugged her shoulders. She was incredibly envious that Hades possessed at least twice her muscle strength.

“Well, since your forearms are twice as firm as mine, you’ll probably stir that sheep’s milk easily? I’m jealous.”

“…”

In fact, Hades’ forearms, where her intense gaze had landed, were burning hot.

He was already wearing half gloves, so there was nowhere else to cover, but Hades deliberately extended his sleeves to block her gaze.

After that, he took his hands off the bowl.

“Why aren’t you stirring?”

“…It’s not brute force I intend to use.”

Confusion clouded Persephone’s eyes. As if to see how he would do it without stirring.

Actions speak louder than words, after all.

Hades drew a small circle with his index finger. Enveloping the surroundings with darkness as a substitute for a bowl to prevent by-products from falling on the floor or walls.

Then the cream floated in the air like a cloud and began to spin like a wheel.

The cream wheel gained speed as Hades exerted a bit more force.

Not long after, the cream not only clumped but began to solidify into a pale yellow color.

Under the solidified cream, a translucent liquid with low viscosity had collected in the dark curtain.

The butter and its by-product, buttermilk, had separated from each other.

“Oh my…”

Persephone, who exclaimed in admiration, quickly picked up a bowl to receive the ‘butter’.

“You really made it so easily.”

She turned on the faucet to pour cold water into the bowl containing the butter and kneaded the lump.

“Please sit for a moment. I need to remove the remaining moisture from this.”

“Does that make it taste better?”

“It becomes firmer.”

Persephone smiled at Hades as she turned her back.

“And I’ll make you one more delicious thing.”

“…We still have this.”

Hades pointed to the plate with some bread still remaining. However, Persephone frowned severely.

“Is that enough to fill your stomach?”

“…”

Dumbfounded, Hades quietly held his tongue again.

This time, instead of returning to his chair, he timidly hovered near Persephone.

Persephone placed a pan on the hearth that came up to her waist, and put a slice of the freshly made butter in it.

The pan had been heated since lightly toasting the bread earlier, so before long it erupted with a pleasant sizzling noise.

“What’s the matter?”

Persephone, who had slightly moved away from the hearth, asked Hades.

“…If there’s anything I can help with, you can use me as an assistant.”

“An assistant?”

“If you’re going to use fire. You’re intoxicated right now.”

“Hmm…”

Persephone put her hand on her chin as if pondering.

She didn’t answer Hades’ question and suddenly brought up a new topic.

“It reminds me of Asclepius. He also took me as his assistant.”

Hades’ shoulders stiffened.

Asclepius had come down to the underworld when he was still a tremendous principled person in the past. He had heard from Hydra that he and Persephone had become close, but.

‘What if the god of medicine said bad things about me?’