Pherenike - Chapter 49

On that day, what Pherenike saw were just the gates, crudely sealed with overlapped planks nailed shut, and the ruins visible beyond the once-beautiful bronze fence.

“It’s locked.”

Pherenike paused for a moment to observe the place quietly but soon left, after a brief contemplation. It was only later that Actor had the nails removed and the doors opened.

After all, she was the owner of the palace and this place was where she had spent her childhood. Things could have changed if she wanted them to. But naturally, Pherenike chose not to. There was no need to stir the hatred of the Thasos family.

Yet, she felt sorry for Deucalion. Axiothea’s beautiful face had always loomed over her son as well.

“It’s a mess up close.”

“…I’m sorry for not taking care of this place.”

He didn’t respond. Invisible to others, his Orthea briefly shone, extending in all directions, and drawing a path of light. It was to mark boundaries far and wide, so he would immediately know if anyone crossed it. To ensure no one could eavesdrop on their conversation.

“It’s your face I was talking about, Pherenike.”

After setting the surroundings, he lightly clarified and changed the grip of the spear. His gaze, which had briefly lingered on the spear, returned to her.

“Mother is curious about your child.”

“…”

“She hopes the child resembles you.”

“And you?”

“…”

“Are you curious about my child too?”

Pherenike asked with an empty smile.

The house where his mother had raised them had become a complete ruin in her neglect. And in that ruin, Pherenike, pregnant with the enemy’s child, faced her husband.

Listening to the greetings conveyed to Axiothea’s traitor.

Deucalion spoke softly.

“It’s you I’m curious about. Always. And the child is a part of you too.”

“…”

“How is the child?”

“…Healthy.”

“Then you just need to stay healthy too.”

His hand almost touched her forehead but withdrew, not making contact. Even if no one could see them, they were still in Lykke.

But his gaze lingered on her stomach.

His wife’s stomach, which was slowly growing after carrying another man’s seed. The olive-eyed gaze of Deucalion, inherited from the father he despised, flickered with painful love and miserable joy. A wave of inescapable hatred surged.

He was suppressing it with an even more terrible love.

“…Deucalion.”

“This spear, it’s for my child, Pherenike.”

The wolf’s spear returned to her hands.

“When you return to me, that child will become mine. Promise me.”

“…”

“I will kill that child’s father, and I will come to love it.”

“…”

“I will have no choice but to love it. Because it will be born of your blood and flesh, a little piece of you.”

Pherenike caressed the spear in her hand.

At the end of the long handle made from ash wood, there was a small mark known only to them. It was a mark that young Pherenike had made with a sharp stone.

Initially, she had intended to engrave his name into it. But eventually, it remained only as a marred scratch after failing to complete even the first letter.

Pherenike suddenly felt that everything now resembled the failed engraving she had left on the ash wood spear handle.

“The end is not far now, Nike.”

She looked into his eyes. Beneath the brilliantly crafted olivine-like eyes of the prince, the already tattered love they shared was evident.

The north wind god had visited Evdokia. It was now winter. Deucalion left Lykke amidst the withering north wind. Ideally, he would have left much earlier, but Actor had kept him in Lykke.

He reminded his half-brother of his duty to preside over the rituals again.

The Pelagon ritual, which Deucalion had previously declined, was eventually conducted by Deucalion at the end of autumn.

Meanwhile, Lykke was rife with conflicts, both big and small. There were those who were cautious, those who flaunted, those who raised their heads again, those who turned a blind eye, and those who bowed their heads.

The Thasos family, at least on the surface, had spent the past autumn in the quietest manner, almost like a silent tomb. They neither particularly protected their prince nor flaunted their lineage by dragging him around to make up for his absence.

The Second Prince himself only briefly visited his ailing grandfather. Yet, there were those who thrived on their own renown.

The words exchanged were dizzying. After considering the Thasos family and the Senate, they had to also consider the king and the council, a common practice in Lykke recently. Some who had cast ‘unfair’ votes against Lord Paetusa at the council under the previous king’s favor even left Lykke as if escaping.

Had Deucalion toured various places, it might have been a welcome sight for some. The public’s tumult and division would have grown much more.

However, Deucalion spent most of his time inside his mansion, which had been empty for years. He took care of the lion and wolf he brought from Paetusa, going out only to the king’s call.