Hades brought the daffodil pot from his office through the darkness.

Persephone calmly looked around the pot, then took him and walked somewhere.

‘An open space?’

The place Persephone took Hades was an open space in the Elysian forest.

He looked around carefully.

Perhaps because it was a place where Hemera’s blessing properly descended, flowers were blooming vigorously.

Especially thanks to the sunlight shining in, the light green grass held a slight warmth, and the rustling spreading from under the feet was quite pleasing to hear.

Even Hades, who had been king in the underworld for hundreds of years, did not know there was such a beautiful secret place.

“Did you prepare the ‘gift’ here?”

“Yes, I hid because I didn’t want to be caught.”

She too was able to discover this place as a result of struggling to find a suitable location while wandering around Elysium.

Persephone’s gaze flitted to Hades’ profile.

At a glance, the lord of the underworld also seemed comfortable in this clearing.

Reassured, Persephone carefully spread out the corner of the mat placed on the level ground.

After making the spot, she plopped down and held out her hand to Hades.

He slowly blinked his eyelids.

‘Why the sudden hand?’

After contemplating, Hades eventually placed his hand gently on Persephone’s palm, like a shy young lady.

At that moment, Persephone’s expression changed strangely, like a crumpled leaf.

Her mouth corners trembling, she softly parted her lips.

“Not your hand, the daffodil pot.”

“…Ah.”

His ears were tinged with red.

Persephone barely managed to hold back the laughter threatening to burst out by straining her throat.

Hades was embarrassed, but the person watching him wanted to burst into loud laughter and roll on the ground.

She shakily received the daffodil pot with difficulty. Then she supported the top of the pot and turned it upside down.

‘As expected, it won’t come out if I do it gently.’

The result was the same as when Persephone had attempted to flip it earlier.

Holding the pot upside down, she shook it a bit harder so the daffodil could come out well.

Then, as some soil came out, the solid lump began to shift.

Tapping the bottom of the pot, Persephone asked Hades a question.

“Lord Hades. How often do you water the daffodil pot?”

“…How often should I have watered it?”

“Well, tell me first.”

When Persephone answered, shadows were added to Hades’ expression.

Worried that he might have done something wrong, he quickly recalled the past.

‘Hermes did tell me to cherish it…’

It would be better to speak honestly rather than lie, in case there might be a problem. He closed his eyes tightly in his mind and spilled out the truth.

“I watered it once a day.”

“…”

Then Persephone’s expression became even stranger. As she stared intently at the daffodil pot with concern, Hades hurriedly asked her.

“…Why? Is there a problem?”

“…”

“Don’t tell me I was too insensitive…”

At that moment, Persephone raised her hand.

“No, it’s the opposite.”

“…What?”

“I think you paid too much attention.”

Persephone’s expression became serious after pulling out all the soil clumps from the pot.

“The bulb is rotten. Because you watered it too much.”

“…”

“Originally, you should water it when the surface soil becomes dry and fluffy. It’s a bit difficult to judge every few days like this.”

Thunder struck in Hades’ heart. He lowered his head and bit his inner lip.

“Ah, but it doesn’t get like this just from watering too much.”

Seeing his dark expression, Persephone hurriedly waved her hand.

‘He’s getting too gloomy.’

Seeing him so dejected reminded her of when he initially refused when she first gave him the daffodil pot as a gift.

“In the first place, because the roots had grown too much, more water pooled inside the soil.”

“…Is that so?”

“So it’s not Lord Hades’ fault.”

“Really?”

“Yes, daffodils like water anyway. That’s why they bloom a lot near water.”

Of course, they prefer slightly damp conditions, and watering once a day was clearly wrong, but.

‘I shouldn’t mention that.’

Why, they say there’s such a thing as a white lie in this world.

“Anyway, the roots grew too much. Plants like this need repotting, which means changing the pot and soil…”

Persephone began to brush off the soil very carefully, as if trying to divert his attention.

“This doesn’t usually grow so quickly, you know? But I think it grew too much because of my divine power.”

Hades let out a weak exclamation, “Ah……”

Now he could see that the roots were clustered at the bottom of the cylindrical soil that Persephone was brushing off.

Unable to handle the long length, they were spread out on the bottom of the pot.

“Do you want to try?”

At that moment, Persephone held out the daffodil and soil.

“…Can I do it? Won’t I hurt it?”

“It’s fine if you do it gently. Like petting the back of a cat’s head.”

“I’ve never touched a cat though…”

“Don’t brush off all of it.”

Hades diligently brushed off the surface soil, albeit with some doubt.

Meanwhile, Persephone took out the ‘gift’.

After removing the leaves, she held the gift in front of Hades’ eyes.

“Ta-da!”

“…A flower pot?”

“Yes, it’s a wooden flower pot!”

That’s right. The gift Persephone had prepared was a new pot to replant the daffodil.

This angular cuboid-shaped pot was assembled and made by Persephone herself.

She imitated the structure of the warehouse that interlocked without nails or fasteners, but the first few attempts were frustrating and she destroyed them.

This pot was the perfect result after more than a dozen attempts.

“I checked the pot last time, and it seemed like the roots would be completely filling the inside.”

“…”

“And that turned out to be right!”

After confirming that the new wooden pot was sturdy, Persephone began to fill it with soil.

At the bottom, she laid gravel so water could drain well, and on top, she mixed crushed granite with nutrient-rich soil.

There wouldn’t be any pests or anything like that. It was all soil taken from Elysium, which is paradise.

Persephone took the daffodil from Hades, planted the bulb in the pot, and added just a tiny bit of divine power – too much and the roots would grow uncontrollably again.

After gently patting the surface, she handed the pot back to Hades.

“There, it’s done! This is my gift.”

“…I gratefully accept this time as well.”

Hades, who had been watching her create the soil, received the pot in a daze.

‘Honestly… it’s impressive.’

On the day Persephone decided to stay in the underworld, she had said that her usual power only made a few stalks of grain grow.

Perhaps she had implicitly revealed that she wasn’t as good at farming as she was at cooking.

‘But, regardless of the amount or control of divine power, isn’t she extremely skilled?’

Immediately recognizing the condition of the pot, unhesitatingly scooping up the soil of Elysium that she had just distinguished… in terms of observation and adaptability alone, she’s no less than Demeter, who was Cronus’ top disciple.

Even if she were the same type of life goddess as her mother, he had a feeling that she would find her own area of expertise.

“Ah, and.”

It was at that moment that Persephone clapped her hands.

“Take this too.”

Hades received a wooden board tied with straw rope.

[Honey Cake Recipe]

What do you know, it was the cake recipe he had requested before.

His eyes trembled as he looked at the wooden board. He didn’t expect her to remember this.

Just as his heart was about to be soaked with emotion, Persephone pointed somewhere far away.

“Ah, do you have to go now?”

“…What?”

“Your break time is over, right?”

Before Hades could shake his head, Persephone pushed his back with a smooth voice.

“I’ve kept a busy person for too long. Go to work now.”

“…”

His feet wouldn’t leave.

But Hades slowly nodded and headed towards his office.

“…Thank you.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“I will definitely repay you.”

Expressing gratitude and setting a future promise was a bonus.

He glanced back after moving a bit away from the clearing.

“Wow… The soil here drains well-”

He caught sight of Persephone cleaning up the mat and soil.

She seems simple, and actually is simple in some ways, but.

She has a delicacy she’s not even aware of.

Hades hugged the daffodil pot a little more carefully.

…Thinking he would nurture it even more preciously than before.

* * *

“Hmm, I suppose this pot is the gift?”

As soon as Hades left Elysium, he encountered the sulking messenger god.

Hermes tapped his foot with his arms crossed.

“Wow, you’re carrying it around like a child just because you received one gift. What about my gift!”

“…Of course I’m grateful. It seemed useful.”

“What did I give you?”

“…”

He couldn’t say anything since he hadn’t checked it yet.

Realizing Hades had lied, Hermes jumped up and down on the spot.

“No, this is too much! Just because you have a woman you like, can you be this cold-hearted as if turning your palm?”

“Wait, I’m really sorry. But I was with Persephone until just now.”

Hermes’ eyes narrowed.

“Then since I created an opportunity for you to be with Miss Persephone, give me something.”

“Um… Didn’t you cooperate voluntarily without compensation?”

“No, this person?”

He exaggeratedly screamed while pulling his hair.

“I should have sworn by the River Styx back then!”

It was at that moment that a realization flashed through Hermes’ mind.

‘Wait a minute, the River Styx?’

The messenger god stopped trying to blackmail you saying he might go bald because of you, and looked at Hades with a suspicious gaze.

‘Come to think of it, why isn’t he falling into a coma?’

Long ago, Hades had certainly sworn to him.

“I don’t want to. Even if I think I’m lacking myself, when I look back on my actions, I haven’t done anything shameful until now.”

“Really?”

“I swear by the River Styx.”

Perhaps he still thinks he hasn’t done anything ‘shameful’? But in front of his first love, he must have shown many embarrassing sides…

Hermes looked around and hurried to a tributary of the River Styx.

“Styx, you remember when Hades swore back when I was making a fuss about declaring war or whatever?”

“Hermes? What are you doing talking to the River Styx?”

“Why isn’t Lord Hades falling into a coma?”

Then, a messenger bird with letters written on it floated down the stream like a duck.

Hermes and Hades’ eyes widened simultaneously when they saw that messenger bird.

Hades, who also grasped the situation, stuck close to Hermes’ side.

[Lord Hades stated that he ‘hasn’t done anything shameful until now’.]

“But.”

[Do you not know the meaning of ‘until now’?]

“…”

[‘Until now’ means ‘continuously up to this very moment of speaking’.] [However, Lord Hades has done many shameful things not before, but after the oath.]

The conclusion was simple.

[In other words, there is no problem with the statement.]