I've Possessed Persephone (9 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 9
This place, where the dead pass the gatekeeper and head toward the River Acheron, is the entrance to the Underworld.
“Ugh.”
Hermes, the messenger god, landed lightly on the mist-covered ground and stretched his limbs.
He tilted his head slightly and let out a sigh.
“I’ve searched the entire world of the living…”
Hermes had been scouring every corner in search of Kore.
Yet, despite his efforts throughout the mortal realm, she had not shown even a glimpse of herself.
“…Hmm.”
Hermes, absentmindedly scratching his back, suddenly furrowed his brow.
A memory from just a few hours ago flashed through his mind.
After fruitlessly searching everywhere in the world above and growing frantic, he had coincidentally found her mother, Demeter, in a city to the northwest.
Hermes’s face brightened immediately.
‘Could Kore have already returned to Lady Demeter?’
‘If so, perhaps I could arrange a meeting between Lord Hades and Lady Demeter, allowing Hades to neatly offer compensation and resolve the matter?’
He clung to that hope.
“Hermes, you couldn’t find her either?”
But when Hermes descended to Demeter, he was utterly bewildered.
“Even though Helios’s chariot has crossed the sky many times already, that child still hasn’t returned home. What am I to do? Could she be dying somewhere…?”
It was because Kore had not returned to her mother, and even Demeter herself had failed to find her daughter.
Dark shadows hung beneath Demeter’s eyes from searching day and night without rest.
Every plant around her—flowers and weeds alike—had long since withered away.
It was utter desolation.
Even Hermes, known for his lightheartedness, nearly succumbed to Demeter’s destructive despair.
“Weren’t there many nymphs with you?”
“Yes. Cyane was there. But she cried so much she turned into water. She’s incoherent—won’t be able to talk again for a long while.”
Hermes clearly saw her arm, clutching a torch, trembling faintly.
“Helios! Have you seen Lady Demeter’s daughter?”
Unable to bear the sight any longer, Hermes raised his index finger toward the sky and called out to the sun god, Helios.
…And that damned oblivious sun god glanced sideways at him and said,
“Wasn’t she abducted by the King of the Underworld?”
“…What?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I saw the King’s chariot descending into the ravine where that girl fell.”
How dare he spew such nonsense!
Right in front of a mother searching desperately for her missing daughter!
“Hades, you bastard! I’ll just—!”
“No! Helios must have seen it wrong, you idiot! Come here right now and explain yourself! You must’ve seen me talking to Lord Hades!”
“I won’t allow some forced marriage! I ought to smash your head in right here in front of me!”
“Aaah! Please don’t grab my hair, Lady Demeter! I’m not Hades!”
After barely calming Demeter— who had threatened to usurp the throne of the Underworld—Hermes eventually had no choice but to confess everything about what had transpired between Kore and Hades.
It wasn’t so much for Hades’s honor… but rather for the sake of his own luxuriant, lustrous hair.
Hermes rubbed his still-numb scalp.
“Seriously, why does that guy open his mouth at all if he ‘isn’t sure’? He talks way too much… Maybe I should’ve acted first.”
The sun god probably babbled on because he wanted to help the earth goddess, to whom he owed a favor—but Hermes just wanted to yank out every last strand of that fool’s hair.
“Next time I see him, I’ll use his own solar flames to burn him bald.”
Having plotted to create a second sun, Hermes scanned the dead crossing the boundary.
After briefly checking their pockets or sleeves to confirm they had fare for the boat, he suddenly pursed his lips.
‘Anyway, once I find Kore, who do I take her to first?’
The one who had first commissioned him to find Kore was Hades.
But Kore’s missing mother was Demeter.
By fairness, he ought to go to Hades first—but by sheer desperation, it wouldn’t be wrong to go straight to Demeter instead.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Hermes grinned and raised his arm.
“Ah, whatever! I’ll decide later!”
After all, they couldn’t do anything until they actually found Kore. Worrying over where to take her before even locating her was pointless.
If it really came down to it, he’d just ask Kore herself—who she wanted to see first.
Still humming a tune, Hermes pushed off the ground once more.
It was while guiding the dead like a shepherd’s dog that he spotted Hades’s throne.
His gaze, wandering the open space between the riverbank and the city walls, fell upon Hydra.
‘Why is that creature, who normally stays inside the palace, all the way out here?’
Beside the water serpent stood Thanatos as well.
“Hydra? Thanatos?”
Sensing something amiss, Hermes landed once again. Both Hydra’s and Thanatos’s eyes turned toward the guide of the Underworld.
“Hello, Lord Hermes. Long time no see, isn’t it?”
“The one who practically lives in the palace office—what are you doing here? What are you up to with Thanatos?”
Hermes spread his arms toward Hydra, then frowned at the bundle of papers that caught his eye. He pointed at them.
“What’s that? Looks like some kind of furniture inventory…”
“It’s a list of things to put in the bride’s room.”
At Hydra’s innocent tone, Hermes’s eyes hardened. Slowly, he lifted his head.
“…Bride?”
“Oh—technically we should call her ‘Your Majesty,’ but since she hasn’t officially married Lord Hades yet, we’ve been calling her ‘the bride’ amongst ourselves.”
Hydra scratched her cheek, looking slightly embarrassed.
Stunned, Hermes blinked in confusion.
“Anyway, Lord Hades is going to renovate the palace for her—his bride. Didn’t you hear, Lord Hermes?”
“…Lord Hades is getting married?”
“Well… it doesn’t seem to be going very smoothly, but he definitely seems fond of her. We were just about to go look for her.”
“…”
Hermes’s pupils shook violently.
What in the world was all this?
‘So right after causing a traffic accident, Lord Hades immediately decided to hold a wedding?’
Hermes had come straight to the Underworld after receiving Hades’s request and meeting Demeter.
To him, Hades’s decision to hold a wedding amid such chaotic, confusing circumstances seemed utterly bizarre.
‘Does he even have the presence of mind for this? What kind of schedule is this?’
The sheer determination—holding a wedding despite having just caused an accident—carried a madness befitting the tirelessly driven King of the Underworld.
Hermes’s voice grew displeased.
“So who exactly is this ‘bride’? Is she a goddess, a nymph, or… could she possibly be human? I hadn’t even heard that Lord Hades was getting married.”
“Huh? Really? I thought she was Lady Demeter’s daughter?”
Hydra added, sounding bewildered.
In that instant, Hermes’s face turned deathly pale.
‘What is this nonsense?’
Demeter’s daughter was the victim run over by Hades’s chariot—yet now this victim was supposedly marrying the very man who had struck her down?
“Wasn’t she abducted by the King of the Underworld?”
At that moment, Helios’s earlier chatter echoed through Hermes’s mind.
“…”
A darker suspicion also began to spread through his thoughts.
Hermes slowly uncurled his trembling fingers.
One by one, starting from his thumb, his fingers folded inward again, now glistening with cold sweat.
‘In truth, Hades deliberately ran over Kore with his chariot—to render her unable to resist.’
‘Kore, having realized Hades’s sinister intent, fled from him with all her might.’
‘Having narrowly lost Kore, Hades then asked me—Hermes—to find her, concealing his true motives.’
‘As the swiftest god in existence, I would locate her faster than Demeter, Hecate, or any nymph ever could.’
‘Thus, unknowingly even to myself, I have already fallen into Hades’s scheme…’
If all of this were true…
“Good heavens.”
Hermes felt he should relinquish his title as god of lies.
Seeing Hermes suddenly recoil in horror after silently folding his fingers, Hydra tapped his shoulder.
“Have you perhaps seen any woman resembling her on your way here? We thought she might still be somewhere in the Underworld, so we’ve been searching.”
“…About that ‘search’ of yours.”
“Yes? Yes.”
“Did Lord Hades order you to find Kore?”
“No, not exactly.”
“Then why are you looking for her?”
“…Well.”
Hydra glanced toward the Acheron and lowered her head slightly. She whispered, her voice hushed.
“It seems she dislikes the Underworld. She reportedly paid Charon with flowers and a few grains of wheat.”
“…”
“So we were discussing how to persuade her… like, maybe go ask what the problem really is, or beg her to come back, promising we’d treat her well.”
Hermes slapped his forehead.
‘Lord Hades sure has devoted subordinates. Fine, I get it.’
“This guy’s completely insane.”
Hermes muttered his thoughts aloud without thinking, then pushed off the ground once more. His shoes pointed toward Hades’s palace, standing tall atop a distant hill.
* * *
At the heart of the Underworld—Hades’s palace.
Hades, who had been working more swiftly than usual, suddenly lifted his head at the scent carried by the wind.
“Ah, right. Hermes.”
He rose from his seat and acknowledged the messenger god before him.
“…”
But strangely, Hermes offered no reply whatsoever.
Hades tilted his head in confusion. Glancing around his office, he pulled over a nearby chair and offered it to Hermes.
“You look a bit thinner than when we last parted. Did I ask too much of you?”
Hermes avoided Hades’s gaze. Then, as if making a decision, he fixed his eyes straight ahead.
“I have come to declare war on the Lord of the Underworld.”
“…What?”
Hades’s eyebrows twisted in bewilderment.
“You know my ancient senses can barely tolerate your nonsense. If you’re just being difficult, just tell me plainly—did you find her or not?”
“…It seems I have.”
“For real?”
A trace of joy flickered across Hades’s expression.
Watching this, Hermes slowly shook his head.
“But I won’t bring her to you, Lord Hades. I fear my baldness more than I fear you.”
“Why suddenly? Did she threaten to rip out all your hair if you brought her before me?”
“It’s not that exactly…”
“Then why hesitate? Bring her here quickly. Just tell her I’ll offer compensation and send her back.”
Hermes clenched his eyes shut as if steeling himself, then hardened his expression.
He raised his right hand solemnly, as though taking an oath.
“For now, please raise your right hand like I did, Lord Hades.”
“Why my right hand all of a sudden?”
“…”
Hermes opened his eyes again and silently stared at Hades.
Finally, unable to bear the silence, Hades lifted his right hand.
“Fine. I’ve raised it.”
“Good. Now place that right hand over your heart.”
Hermes took a deep breath and pressed his own hand firmly against his chest.
“Now begins the time of atonement. From this moment, ask yourself honestly the question I am about to pose.”
“…”
“Have I… become a wretch who would deceive others just to possess a woman?”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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Oh my God, poor, pitiful Hades! I hope he finds happiness with Persephone.
Oh, poor Hades! He’s so sweet. Why doesn’t anyone like him? I hope Persephone likes Hades and brings spring into his world.
Poor Hades, how can a little child be hungry? How sweet, how his expression changes upon hearing Persephone speak.