That name, I’ve heard it before.

Though she couldn’t clearly remember, Persephone scraped together all her divine power and poured it into her brain to the fullest.

The needlessly tangled questions that were like a torn cloth disappeared. Her thought process became simple and clear.

‘Cerberus, it’s the name Cerberus mentioned.’

And in her mind, she recalled one person whose expression drastically changed upon hearing that name.

Recalling the Cerberus incident, Persephone’s eyes darkened.

‘So Lord Hades and my elder brother were friends.’

At this point, she could tell.

When Persephone’s elder brother friend died, Hades developed an eating disorder and insomnia.

Before he told her to visit the Underworld, was it out of fear that he emphasized so much that she had to leave?

‘Now I understand why he did that.’

Contrary to Hades’ worries, Persephone accepted the fact quite calmly.

She was just a little surprised to learn about Hades’ past by chance. She believed even more so that one should hear about others’ painful pasts directly from them.

But it’s not like Iasion, her father, openly mentioned Hades, and it was just her mind organizing the scattered information, so it shouldn’t matter.

“Eut-cha.”

As Persephone was tending to the bonfire around then, Iasion slowly stood up, supporting himself on his knees.

“Where are you going?”

“Hm?”

He turned to Persephone and pointed beyond the Elysian Forest.

“I should get going now.”

Ah.

Right. This person, the request is over now.

Persephone unknowingly asked with protruding lips.

“Where to?”

“Well…”

Iasion blinked as if he had no particular destination in mind.

Persephone’s origin is the field, like a seed buried in the ground.

As Iasion is also a god of fields and sowing, he wouldn’t be used to wandering around either. No, he’d be even more so than her.

“Even if you leave the Underworld, even if you say you’ll move your residence to follow Lady Demeter, we are always in the Underworld. This place is our ‘home’, unlike the ‘villa’ on the surface, so it’s always underground.”

Persephone silently recalled what Hades had told her.

“If you have nowhere to go, stay here for a bit before leaving.”

The reason she impulsively offered the invitation to her father was indeed because she had received similar kindness from Hades.

Startled, Iasion flinched. He seemed to think his daughter had uttered a curse.

“Ah, I don’t mean for you to go back. Anyway, I…”

Waving her hand, Persephone slowly folded her fingers. To gauge how much time she had left to stay in the Underworld.

“…”

At that moment, Persephone’s eyelids fluttered rapidly.

…The time she could stay in the Underworld was now less than two months.

“I only have about a month or two left to stay in the Underworld.”

Moving her lips, Persephone smiled and held out her fingers.

“Since there’s not much time left anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to hang out with me?”

Iasion glanced at her bright expression and narrowed his eyes.

“…Do you like me?”

“Yes.”

“Enough to want me to stay here?”

“Yes.”

“…Even though we haven’t known each other for long?”

“Hmm…”

Persephone looked around and then fixed her gaze on her father.

“Did you do something trashy to my mom?”

“No, absolutely not. I love your mom. And of course, you too.”

If he loves them, she doesn’t know why he never showed his face for a lifetime, but for now, Persephone knew he was sincere.

Even when he made a scene in front of Tartarus’ entrance, the reason his eyebrows crease is that his sincerity, suppressed by his mature calmness and introversion, comes out.

Since they’re family, she could easily distinguish that much.

As long as her father shows affectionate feelings, Persephone could trust him.

Grinning, she pulled Iasion’s hand.

“Then stay with me for a bit, okay?”

“Ah, no… Hmm…”

He broke out in a cold sweat at his daughter’s request.

Persephone whined, deliberately sniffled, and did her best to coax Iasion.

“…No.”

But Iasion spoke gently in a coaxing and soothing voice.

“I’m a god of life. I don’t fit in the Underworld.”

“Even if that’s the case, the same goes for me.”

“…I haven’t heard why you came here, but you should also think about getting out.”

“Hmm…”

Somehow feeling guilty, Persephone twitched her cheek.

‘What would Father think if he found out I seriously considered Lord Hades’ proposal?’

At that time, she even pondered if Hades had proposed to her.

She shook her head, thinking it was too much of a delusion.

‘I thought it would be nice to go back and forth between the Underworld and the surface.’

Indeed, are people who directly heard the prophecy different?

Iasion was more concerned about his daughter, even though he himself could become the protagonist of the prophecy, not Persephone.

What to do? How can she change this father’s mind? As Persephone was thinking, an exclamation mark popped up in her mind.

“Shall I show you something good?”

“What is it?”

Without further ado, Persephone picked up several fallen branches nearby.

“Since coming to the Underworld, my divine power has increased a lot, you know?”

“And?”

“Then it should be fine for me to stay in the Underworld a bit longer. It should be fine to visit here occasionally too.”

“What?”

Iasion frowned at the bombshell statement Persephone dropped in passing.

He shielded his forehead with his hand, as if the sunlight was strong, and looked at her.

Meeting her father’s eyes, Persephone stuck the branches into the ground without hesitation and infused them with divine power.

The golden power swept through the vein-like branches and took root underground.

The dark branches all swelled up thickly and sprouted white roots following the path the divine power had made first.

A shiny, light brown bark covered the roots that were turning a pale green, and the branches that had become tree trunks stretched their arms high above their heads.

It took no more than two or three breaths for the shadow of the leaves to cover Iasion’s eyes, which had been shining a bright yellow due to the sunlight, until they regained their original color.

Now, above his head, the slender leaves of a willow tree swayed and cast dappled shade.

Watching all the branches transform into a large tree just the right size to hug, Iasion parted his lips.

“…It’s amazing.”

Persephone shrugged smugly.

“In terms of the amount of divine power, it seems to be more than mine.”

“Really?”

“It might be because I’m not a high-ranking god, but it has already surpassed me.”

Iasion touched the willow leaf that brushed against the bridge of his nose.

After examining the surroundings filled with lush greenery with a strange face, he suddenly headed towards the waterside where the branches Persephone had picked up were.

Underneath, willow branches had also fallen.

Iasion picked up one of the branches and examined it this way and that.

That’s when it happened.

“…Huh?”

Iasion suddenly expressed a question.

“What is it?”

“This…”

He pointed to the branch.

“Aren’t these dead branches?”

…Were they?

Persephone approached Iasion and glanced at the branch he was holding, but she couldn’t tell if it was really dead, so she just shook her head.

“This is dead.”

“Hmm…”

“Do you understand what I’m saying now?”

However, Iasion shook the branch vigorously like a walking stick and urged her.

His face also shook with the branch, creating double and triple images.

“The branch might have been barely alive. Why are you making such a fuss…”

Persephone, who found it funny as if his soul was leaving his body, raised her finger at that moment.

…Huh?

Why is my hand translucent?

“Persephone?”

Iasion called her name. The gentle tone reached her ears but seemed to shatter hazily as if submerged in water.

The one shaking was herself.

Wait, come to think of it.

‘How much divine power did I use today?’

As Persephone roughly estimated the amount, her consciousness gradually faded away.

With Iasion’s horrified scream as the last thing she heard, her body crumbled limply.