"...A marriage?"
After that, I informed my wives and Hippolyta of the matter. When I finished speaking, Hecate had me kneel before her.
"...Yes."
"And the other party?"
"...Thetis."
"Hmm... How is it that women keep flocking to you only after you're married? Our husband?"
At my words, Hecate spoke with a smile that was not quite a smile.
I found myself thinking, "Come to think of it... Hippolyta, Aphrodite, Artemis, Thetis. They really did start appearing not long after I got married, didn't they?"
At that, I too looked back on my conduct and seriously wondered, "...Was there something wrong with the way I've been handling things?"
Meanwhile,
"...You truly are..."
At the mention of marriage, Hippolyta had assumed she was the one being spoken of, only to realize it was another woman. She pressed a hand to her forehead.
"...So now it's a goddess?"
Atalanta narrowed her eyes.
"...Heh."
Medea was smiling, but her eyes were not smiling at all.
"...Explain."
And Hecate, standing at the center, fixed her gaze on me and spoke.
"...This was not what I wanted."
"The result doesn't change."
"...The other party is the sea goddess Thetis. And this marriage is by order of Zeus."
For a brief moment, silence fell over the room.
Everyone was plainly flustered by the unexpected name.
"...Then refusal is impossible."
"...Yes."
"...I understand."
At my words, Hecate quietly nodded.
"But our husband needs to restrain himself a little."
"...That is not of my own will."
"That makes it worse. So..."
As Hecate spoke, she gradually approached me, and behind her Atalanta and Medea also came closer.
Even Hippolyta, after hesitating in confusion, was moving this way too.
I thought, "Huh? Something feels... off. This scene. It's like I've experienced it before...!"
The only difference was that there was one more person than last time.
In the end, I could not leave that place until all four of them were satisfied.
Afterward, having finally appeased them, I walked alone along the seashore to clear my mind.
Then, at that moment, the once-still sea began to roil violently.
At the sound, I turned my gaze toward the shore.
And as if the sea itself were parting, a being revealed herself at its center.
Silver hair and a form that flowed like the tide.
Her identity was Thetis, the sea goddess I had heard of from Hermes.
She walked upon the water and slowly approached me.
"...Are you Astellon?"
"I am, but... what brings you here, Goddess Thetis?"
"I came to confirm something."
"...Confirm...?"
"Yes. The one I am to marry."
"Ah..."
As she said that, she took one more step closer.
"..."
And the moment our gazes met, Thetis's movement stopped.
When I first faced her, my own thoughts also came to a halt for a moment.
It was strange.
She was clearly human, not a god.
And yet...
"...This is..."
My eyes trembled ever so slightly.
I had seen countless gods until now.
The gods of Olympus.
The sea gods.
Zeus and Poseidon as well.
And yet none of them were like the being before me now.
Among all those I had seen, she shone the brightest.
It was as though her hair had been powdered from ground moonlight, and I could not tear my eyes away from her face.
My heart began to beat a little faster.
I had never felt anything like this before.
From the moment I faced her up close, I...
"...Astellon."
"Yes."
"...For a moment."
"...?"
"...May I look at you more closely?"
"...As you please."
Once her permission fell, I took one more step toward her.
At such a close distance.
At a distance where our breath might touch, I looked at her once more.
And in that instant, I was certain.
"...You are beautiful."
The words slipped from my mouth without thought.
She seemed, quite literally, to embody beauty itself.
"...This is... dangerously so."
I murmured very softly.
"...Heh."
But a clear smile had appeared at the corners of her lips.
"...I like this."
It seemed this forced marriage life was not entirely unwelcome.
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