[I thought I was destined to spend my life alone, never marrying…..]

Nyx closed her eyes and took a comfortable deep breath.

[Well, this is good.] […..] [It seems he’s not married yet, but that child Persephone appears to like Hades very much.]

At that moment, Thanatos suddenly stood up and clutched his head.

[….Lord Hades? With that tomboy?]

Uncharacteristically losing his composure, he shouted loudly.

[It’s a lie!] [Hey now, what nonsense are you spouting to your mother?]

Staggering, he slumped against his twin god’s bed.

[No, no…. Lord Hades, after all I’ve taught him, there’s no way he could fall for such a reckless girl…!] [Weren’t you just saying how nice Persephone was? Why the sudden change? The two people you like are coming together.] [This is different from that!]

Hypnos poked Thanatos’s side lazily, but he continued speaking, paying no attention.

[Of course, I know she’s had a good influence on Lord Hades. I’m, I’m fine with it. I even had expectations. But…..] [‘You didn’t think it would go this far?’] […..] [Hah, there’s no such thing. Once a good connection is made, it can develop into anything more. You have your careless moments too.]

At Nyx’s scolding, Thanatos’s shoulders trembled. He wrapped his arms around himself and curled up his legs.

[….Perhaps, yes, if there were to be someone, it would be her.] [So?] [But, still, this is…!]

Thanatos, who had been speaking as if spewing out words, bit his lip. His body, curled up like a pill bug, suddenly went limp.

[It feels like just yesterday that Lord Hades was like a boy…..]

Ah, so that’s it…..

‘Is this the sentiment of a father crying while holding the bride’s hand as they enter the wedding hall?’

Here, the bride is Hades, and the father is Thanatos.

The image of Hades wearing a yellow and red veil and a flower crown floated hazily in Nyx’s mind.

Perhaps her son was recalling the old days when Hades had just become the King of the Underworld and still retained a somewhat boyish air.

Thinking this, Nyx shook her head to dispel the imagination.

At that moment, Thanatos – who had been sniffling (was he actually crying?) – slowly stood up.

[….I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes.] [Hah, do you know you’re being too sentimental?] […..]

Her son looked at her with slightly reproachful eyes, then pointed to his head.

[Mother, may I say something?] [Go ahead.] [The part of the scalp where that girl pulled out your hair is glowing in the shape of a full moon. Very brightly.]

After that, Thanatos fled from the nest as if making a hasty retreat.

[….What?]

Bewildered by his near-supersonic speed, Nyx hurriedly felt between her hair.

Come on, it couldn’t have resulted in circular baldness-

[…..]

….She felt it.

An empty space.

Suddenly, tears welled up.

It was an irresistible force.

* * *

“….So.”

Hades, rubbing his forehead, looked over the two figures before him.

“You went to Tartarus, plucked Nyx’s hair, received it, and came all the way here?”

“….”

“….And this is medicine for me who can’t sleep well?”

“….We’re sorry.”

Asclepius and Persephone bowed their heads simultaneously.

Persephone, the main culprit behind this incident, looked uncharacteristically deflated.

Seeing her like this, resembling a rain-soaked puppy, made it hard to scold her.

Hades gazed out the window with hazy eyes.

It was raining outside. Unlike the surface world where clouds gather and spread moisture, in the underworld, it requires a god’s cooperation for rain to fall…..

‘Are these Nyx’s tears?’

How much hair must have been plucked to make her cry?

Hades swallowed a sigh and rubbed his face.

It can’t be helped. He himself had felt like crying because of this woman more than once or twice.

“I’m not trying to blame you. I was just very surprised, that’s all. Good job.”

“Perhaps, to Nyx-”

“I’ll go to Nyx later, so don’t worry.”

Hades cleared his throat and gestured towards Asclepius.

“So. This medicine is a sleeping pill, and with Hypnos’s blessing, it will make me sleep without dreaming?”

“That’s right. It won’t induce a comatose state, so you can just drink it as it is.”

“….I see.”

He nodded and fiddled with the transparent glass bottle.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I last slept.’

After Plutus died, he had been buried in work, and sleep became just a minor issue.

This insomnia had become a kind of habit, and while other gods were all asleep, he remained awake like an owl.

Currently, following Persephone’s advice, he had recruited a few souls to work on the lower floors, but his sleeping habits hadn’t changed at all.

Perhaps, as they suggested, his insomnia was indeed a very bad habit.

‘Indeed….. She has good insight.’

As Hades was gazing at Persephone, about to put the glass bottle in the drawer-

“Um, the effect will definitely be certain.”

Persephone quickly added, raising her head.

Having just received Hades’ inexplicable gaze, she worried that he might not take it.

“I checked all the ingredients as they were added, and they said the extract was made to be non-addictive.”

Originally, only Asclepius could identify the ingredients, but Persephone had somehow badgered him into organizing the materials so she could understand them.

At this time, she also learned that sleeping pills, truth serums, and antidotes were on the same page because their effects differed by very subtle differences.

“….Is that so. A lot of effort went into this.”

After hearing various explanations from Persephone, he felt a warmth in his heart.

Hades pulled up the corners of his mouth.

“I’ll drink it with gratitude.”

Surely with this, he would be able to go to the bedroom after a long time.

* * *

The next morning.

‘Is he here?’

Persephone hurried to Hades’ office before the assistants arrived for work.

She flung open the door and brightened at the sight of Hades’ empty desk.

However, her joy was short-lived. Hades, standing facing the balcony, came into her view.

‘It doesn’t seem like he slept much.’

It was hard to tell if he had slept at all. As she frowned and was about to approach Hades-

“Ah, Persephone.”

Noticing her presence, Hades smiled brightly first.

…’Brightly’?

Persephone flinched at this subtle change, and a look of bewilderment settled on Hades’ face.

He seemed surprised that he had welcomed her so deeply in this way.

“So… um, welcome to the office.”

Hades nodded and quickly walked towards her.

“I’m so glad you came.”

Hades maintained a solemn expression, but as soon as she met his gaze again, he started to grin ‘sheepishly’.

Persephone furrowed her brow and rubbed her chin.

‘Has he… changed somehow?’

He seemed unhinged. Or maybe he had just gone mad from overwork.

But what was even stranger was that while Hades was smiling at her like an idiot, he also looked very flustered.

While she didn’t know if these two emotions could coexist, Persephone, with her keen eye for reading people’s feelings, could certainly tell.

“…Um, perhaps yesterday-”

Just as Persephone, sensing something odd, was about to question him-

Hades’ hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her in.

Even as her body tilted, she couldn’t understand what was happening. As his large hand grasped her shoulder blade and lower back, her head was buried in his firm chest.

And so, Persephone found herself wordlessly embraced by this unfamiliar man.

“Well, the messenger god has arrived toda-”

[Lord Hades, today’s dead have-]

“Good morning, Hade-”

“….”

[…..]

“….”

We’ll refrain from mentioning who might have seen this scene.

* * *

Hermes, Thanatos, and Hydra first separated Persephone and Hades.

Even in that process, there was some commotion.

“Don’t go, no, go.”

“Um, so should I leave for a while?”

“…No, actually don’t go. Stay by my side.”

“….”

“No, no, I’d like you to just go. Please.”

“Do you have a split personality?”

The first was because Hades showed an attitude that was unclear whether he wanted to hold onto Persephone or wanted to send her away.

[….Is it okay to let her go? I mean, the two of them-]

“No, we have to let her go! This isn’t right!”

[Why? There’s no reason for that.]

“Ah, anyway, it’s not. I can’t say why.”

“Everyone, should I just keep one foot in the office doorway?”

The second was because Thanatos and Hermes argued about whether to let Persephone leave or not.

Unable to watch anymore, Hydra brought Persephone, who was insisting on keeping one foot inside the office and the other in the hallway, completely into the room.

“Lord Asclepius, could you perhaps explain what’s going on?”

The situation was finally resolved when she brought Asclepius for consultation.

Sensing the subdued atmosphere, the god of medicine stroked his beard.

“Hearing the news that there seemed to be confusion in his mind, I hurried to check. I also asked Persephone.”

He lowered his eyes with a very apologetic look.

“To cut to the conclusion, we gave the wrong medicine yesterday.”

He prostrated himself.

“What Lord Hades drank was a truth serum.”

Here, a truth serum refers to a drug that makes the user spill out their true feelings to the fullest extent.

At that moment when everyone realized the anomaly.

Hydra, Thanatos, and even Hermes.

The shocked gazes of all three simultaneously pierced Hades.

The Lord of the Underworld fainted on the spot.