‘Intruder?’

The text appeared along with a scene of the castle walls in mid-air.

Everyone’s eyes turned to the screen projected by the messenger bird.

This messenger bird was a bit special.

Unlike other messenger birds that mainly used text to convey messages, this one had a mirror attached to reflect the situation at the scene.

‘It must belong to the captain of the guard and Nyx.’

Hades carefully stroked the messenger bird, his eyes darkening.

Then, the situation at the castle walls was revealed in more detail.

Persephone, who had somehow come close to Hades, also observed the situation, enjoying her elevated perspective.

[Who goes there!] [Reveal your identity!]

The castle wall guards pointed their spears at a young man who appeared to be an intruder.

Their momentum was so sharp that even Persephone flinched.

However, the seemingly naive young man was unfazed.

The young man looked around with sorrowful eyes, then pulled out a stringed instrument from his side as if the soldiers were his audience.

“…A lyre?”

The moment Persephone muttered those words, a lightning bolt flashed through her mind.

There was only one famous lyre player who would come to the underworld.

She swallowed hard, her eyes wide open as she watched the screen.

[I am Orpheus, son of Oeagrus and Calliope.]

The minstrel Orpheus.

[I have come to meet the king of the underworld to retrieve my beloved.]

The demigod who descended to the underworld to retrieve his wife, who had died from a snake bite, had appeared.

* * *

[I will dispense with any ambiguous lies. Unlike Heracles who forced Cerberus, I do not intend to chain the three heads.]

Orpheus captivated the soldiers with a voice as gentle as the lyre he played.

[I have come here for my wife, Eurydice.]

His clear eyes flashed with a determination that seemed to pierce through the messenger bird, but it could not hide his deep sorrow.

[A snake took my wife’s life. I tried to endure the loss, but it was impossible, so I came here.]

Orpheus sang with a melancholy face.

Yes, it was literally a song being performed, not in a figurative sense. The soldiers who heard it had their eyes lose focus as if enchanted by a siren.

Hades hurriedly checked another messenger bird.

It contained a view of Tartarus.

“…Everyone has stopped.”

Persephone absently spoke as she observed the scene shown by the messenger bird.

The wretch who tried to feed his son to the gods did not chase the fleeing waves, and the wheel that bound the one who tried to rape the queen of the gods stood still.

The vultures did not peck at the prisoner’s liver.

Crucially, even Sisyphus, who had been trying to escape, was sitting on a rock, appreciating the song filtering through the bronze door crack.

‘The sound leaked to Tartarus as well, it seems.’

Hydra scanned the screen with worried eyes.

“At this rate, the castle walls will be breached. What should we do?”

“…Even now, if−”

Hades was about to order Thanatos to go and cover his ears.

[No, do not believe him!]

The drooling captain of the guard sprang to his feet.

[Have you forgotten the precedent of Lady Persephone! That fiend must surely be an impersonator posing as ‘Orpheus’!] [Indeed, an impersonator!] [Uooh!]

At the captain’s words, the soldiers who had been gaping in awe stood up in unison.

“Oh, they’ve come to their senses? It was a good idea to impersonate Hecate back then!”

As Persephone exclaimed and applauded, the expressions of the advisors turned grim.

[No, everyone, did you not hear me sing as well? I am the real Orpheus you are thinking of!] [Eliminate the impersonator!]

Orpheus cried out in frustration as he staggered, but the soldiers did not hear him.

In the end, instead of singing, he began to continuously play the lyre and pass by the staggering soldiers.

But the problem was that they had already heard the song. Orpheus dodged attacks as nimbly as Persephone, like an eel.

Persephone, disappointed, curled her huge body and grumbled, and the reaper, who had hurriedly drawn his scythe, asked seriously.

【…The soldiers tried their best, but they couldn’t use their strength. He is indeed as famous as a god.】

“…..”

【What will you do, Lord Hades?】

Hades, combing his long hair with his hand, gave an order.

“…For now, bring him here.”

【Even though you are currently in Lady Persephone’s body?】

“…..”

He bit his lip.

If the melody could neutralize even the prisoners of Tartarus, known for their viciousness, it was only a matter of time before it broke through.

“…His skill is close to a miracle, to the point that even I momentarily focused on the tune.”

【……】

“This cannot be stopped at all. At the very least, we need to bring him to the palace and have him wait obediently.”

Moreover, it was too risky to send out Thanatos, Hydra, and the other advisors, as their killing abilities were far too superior.

‘Since we can’t kill him, in the end, the ‘king of the underworld’ will have to go out and negotiate directly.’

And he had a final card to play if push came to shove.

Hades looked at Persephone with wavering eyes.

As Persephone, who had been looking around, made eye contact with Hades, her white eyelids fluttered slightly.

“Aha…..”

Then, realizing his gaze, Persephone’s eyes narrowed into crescents.

She covered her mouth like a noblewoman.

“Oh my, if our souls don’t switch back even after time passes, there’s no choice, is there?”

“…..”

“I’ll have to play the role of the ‘king of the underworld’!”

…Can we handle this well?

* * *

Thanatos brought Orpheus, who had been performing acrobatics at the castle walls, to the palace.

In the meantime, Hades, hoping against hope, tried to buy time with excuses like “His Majesty is busy with affairs,” “We will consider it,” expecting their souls to naturally switch back…

“Hmm, it’s been a week now, but they’re not switching back at all.”

“…I see.”

Unfortunately, such a miracle did not occur.

Hades habitually bit his lip.

‘Stalling any longer is dangerous.’

If this were the surface, he would have at least offered a meal to entertain the guest, but the underworld could not provide such food, making it quite difficult.

The guest, who was half under surveillance, had nothing to do but play the breathing game.

Perhaps at this point, Orpheus might suddenly escape from the room and run away to find his wife.

It was at that moment.

“Lord Hades, those are my lips, you know?”

“…Ah.”

At Persephone’s remark, he released the lip he had been biting. As he moistened his lips with his tongue, he tasted a hint of blood.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t carelessly use someone else’s body.”

“Oh, come on. I’ve done at least twice as much work using your body over the past week, you know?”

Persephone laughed out loud, clasping her hands together.

Hades inwardly sighed, wondering if it was possible for his own face to smile so brightly.

‘How very carefree…’

In fact, Hades had not slept at all during the past time.

Was it because of Orpheus?

Well, that accounted for about 10% of the reason. The remaining 90% were simply agonizing days of having to use Persephone’s body.

The significantly lowered perspective and the small hands and feet compared to his own were a blessing.

How much effort did he put in to avoid touching her skin as much as possible?

If it weren’t for Hades’ divine power residing in the soul, he would have been unable to even change clothes and stand here.

Ah, of course, he always closed his eyes when changing clothes.

He absolutely did not peek or anything like that. Even if he had fallen, he still had enough conscience to that extent.

Hades, who had been shuddering with terrible guilt, asked Persephone, who had been grinning from ear to ear.

“So… you mean you were fine using my body for the past week?”

“Ah, yes. It was a body I liked.”

“…..”

“I wanted to use this body for the rest of my life.”

Hades struggled with all his might not to bite his lip again. Screaming internally.

While using Persephone’s body, he learned that her face blushed more easily than he thought.

If he tried to persuade her any further with words to lower his already rock-bottom social standing, it would completely shatter.

Hades rubbed his forehead and pointed to the bone-patterned side door behind the audience chamber.

“…Well, anyway, now that the situation has come to this, I think you should sit on the throne, Persephone.”

“Wow, really?”

“You can refuse if it makes you uncomfortable.”

Hades lowered his gaze with bitter eyes.

“I’ll write the important words on papyrus to let you know what to say, but honestly, imitating me will be a very difficult task.”

“No, it’s okay! I’m good at acting.”

“…Really?”

He raised his eyes, filled with doubt.

“I thought it was obvious to me.”

“No, only you can tell, Lord Hades.”

Persephone shook her head as if it wasn’t the case at all. Her head shaking was so vigorous that her usually neat black hair became disheveled as if struck by lightning.

Hades let out a deep sigh at the eye level that barely reached his chest.

He stood on tiptoe to tidy the hair Persephone had messed up and pointed to the side door.

“…Then go in after fixing your hair.”

Because the minstrel who received the king’s order would soon arrive.

* * *

Hades and Hydra, who would not enter the audience chamber but accompanied him as his advisor, briefly explained a simple plan to Persephone before sending her in.

The method was so-called ‘cheating.’

“So, Lord Hades will hide behind a pillar out of Orpheus’ sight and show you the papyrus, and you just need to act as closely as possible to the words written there.”

The name of the plan was a bit questionable, but the idea was that if Orpheus reacted, Hades would write down the actions Persephone should take.

“If it says ‘greet,’ does that mean I should greet him like the king of the underworld?”

“That’s right. Not like, ‘Hello,’ with a polite bow, but more like…”

“Are you Orpheus, something like that?”

“Exactly!”

Hydra snapped her fingers. Hades added, reviewing the prepared papyrus signboard.

“And that minstrel, although he claims to have come to retrieve his wife, you must end the discussion by stating that you will deliberate with others on the fate of his wife and inform him of the result, no matter what.”

“Yes!”

“Never impulsively promise to revive her. Understood?”

“I’ll act as if mercy is for the dogs!”

“…Ah, no, you don’t have to go that far.”

Persephone, who confidently nodded, entered the audience chamber first.

After confirming that she had taken her seat on the throne adorned with elegant gold leaf on ebony, Hades hurriedly took his position behind a marble pillar where Orpheus would not see him.

Before long, the double doors at the end of the audience chamber smoothly opened.