Chapter 3

3.

Lysander and my father held their weddings on the exact same day. The bridal procession stretched all the way from Radiant Hall to Kaia Manor.

On the eve of the wedding, Father visited Mother’s chambers for the first time in months.

He cast aside his heavy ceremonial armor and wore only a plain white robe, just as he had on the day they first met.

Sitting before her mirror, Mother painted her lips with cold detachment. “Why isn't my husband keeping his tender beauty company? Why come to my quarters?”

Father remained silent for a long moment before retrieving a jade pendant from his robes.

Under the candlelight, the jade shimmered with soft light, and Mother froze.

“Do you remember giving me this token on the day we were wed?”

“I want to trade it for your consent to give Helena a formal status. She stayed with me in the Frostpeaks for a hundred years and bore my son. I cannot leave her nameless for the rest of her life.”

He was referring to their mortal vow.

Long ago, while undergoing a mortal trial, Father had saved Mother from enemy captors.

Deeply grateful, Mother had given him her personal jade pendant as a promise.

“If you ever need my help in the future, simply present this token, and I will do everything within my power to assist you.”

Mother let out a hollow laugh, a stray tear sliding down her cheek. “Garrick, I thought this pendant was our token of eternal love.”

Father frowned, stepping forward to wipe away her tears with hurried impatience. “Cordelia, I love you dearly, but you cannot demand that I remain celibate for you. Even mortal men take concubines. As the supreme War God, am I not entitled to a soulmate and an heir who can inherit my legacy?”

Suppressing his irritation, he took Mother’s hands into his own, his voice softening. “Rest assured, Helena is gentle and humble. She and the boy will live in the side wing, and she will treat you with absolute respect!”

Mother said nothing, merely staring at him with eyes brimming with tears.

Growing frustrated, Father snapped angrily, “Cordelia, thousands of years have passed! When will you stop throwing these childish tantrums?”

Watching the scene unfold through the Scrying Mirror, a deep wave of sorrow washed over me.

Mother was right. When a man is in love, he will say the sweetest words in the world to prove his eternal devotion.

The moment he stops loving, the world provides him with a thousand excuses to defend his betrayal.

When Father loved her, her stubbornness was pure and noble. Now, it had become unreasonable and petty.

I turned around. Lysander was sleeping quietly beside me.

His features were as pristine as ever, completely untouched by mortal dust.

He tossed restlessly, murmuring my name in his sleep: “Kaia... don’t leave me.”

In truth, Lysander was still gentle with me. He and Selene maintained polite boundaries and had never shared a bed.

Yet I was the person who knew him best in the entire world. I could see the affection he tried so hard to conceal, feelings he might not have even recognized himself.

His brow furrowed whenever Selene cried, his lips curved slightly whenever she drew near, and his hand instinctively reached out whenever her silk skirt brushed past him.

I could not understand why centuries of devotion could be surpassed by a chance encounter, the snowy peaks of Frostpeak, the birth of an heir, or three brief days at Mount Ruin.

Between Father and Lysander, one committed physical betrayal, while the other let his heart wander.

Neither my mother nor I had any desire to wait any longer.

I gently pushed his arm away. In the mirror, my silhouette merged with Mother’s, and we spoke the exact same words in unison.

“Why linger in a place devoid of love?”