Over the past few days, the intense lovemaking that went far beyond just a couple of fingers had ruined nearly all of Scylla’s few remaining outfits. 

 

She ended up wearing Langsion’s clothes, topped with a loose, oversized hood. 

 

Combined with her hunched posture, the outfit drew quite a lot of stares as they walked through the city streets. 

 

Feeling self-conscious, Scylla pulled the hood even lower over her face.

 

“Is your house… really here?”

 

Upon arriving at their destination, Scylla quickly lowered the hood that had been half-covering her vision. 

 

Doubt and shock flashed across her eyes. 

 

Langsion could clearly see the countless questions bubbling up inside her. 

 

Answering each one would be troublesome; lies were like soap bubbles; the bigger they grew, the more easily they burst at the slightest shock.

 

He casually took Scylla’s hand without hesitation.

 

“I’m nervous too. It’s been a long time since I last came back.”

 

His voice trembled in a deliberately pitiful way. 

 

Scylla pressed her lips tightly together, visibly forcing down the flood of doubts rising within her.

 

“Your Highness, the Prince has arrived!”

 

A guard who had spotted him from afar and had been whispering with his comrade shouted loudly and snapped to rigid attention. 

 

With his gaze fixed on the sky and his chin thrust forward, the guard was visibly tense. Langsion walked past him, scanning the surrounding atmosphere.

 

There was that sticky, sinister air unique to people who shared a secret. 

 

Before entering Thebes, Langsion had sent a carrier pigeon to the Theban royal palace. 

 

The message had been simple: “I will soon arrive in Thebes. Treat me as Langsion.” 

 

Just two sentences, but they must have left the palace full of question marks.

 

Still, judging by the guards’ tense faces, they seemed to have handled it quickly and well. It was fortunate that they had been satisfied with just the king’s one eye in exchange for sparing the ill-mannered queen’s life. 

 

A moderate amount of fear was an excellent way to make humans listen properly.

 

“Shall we go in, Master?”

 

Langsion took Scylla’s hand and began walking. She followed for a few steps before suddenly stopping. When she didn’t continue, Langsion immediately halted as well.

 

“If it’s because of me, then it’s fine.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“If things are as I think, you’ll be in danger here.”

 

Scylla spoke with a serious expression. She was completely earnest, yet laughter bubbled up from deep inside Langsion. He struggled to keep his lips from twitching.

 

“If you really are a member of the royal family…”

 

Scylla hesitated for a moment, as if she still couldn’t believe the reality in front of her.

 

“…then there must have been a reason you were wandering outside all this time.”

 

“…”

 

“And that reason probably hasn’t suddenly disappeared.”

 

Langsion’s dark eyes sparkled like scattered stars. He took a bold step forward, pressing close to her.

 

“Are you worried about me?”

 

“…I’m worried about myself. In a situation where it’s already hard for me to protect my own body, how could I stay safe if you’re here? It’s practically like being surrounded by enemies on all sides.”

 

“No one in this place will be able to lay a hand on you, Master.”

 

“You said your house is scary, so how…”

 

“Even if I die, I will make sure you survive.”

 

He had only said it to reassure her, yet for some reason, the words felt like they were lodging deep inside his chest. 

 

Maybe I had gotten too immersed in the game. 

 

Langsion brushed the thought aside and focused on teasing Scylla.

 

“I don’t like that either.”

 

“Why don’t you like it? You really are worried about me, aren’t you? Right? Instead of the Hydra poison you’ve been longing for, you’re actually worried about my safety, correct?”

 

Langsion lifted his hat and pushed his face close to hers. His persistent gaze and questions poured down on her. 

 

At first, Scylla scoffed, but her face gradually turned red. Her expression didn’t change, yet that flush alone revealed her inner feelings.

 

“I’m not a monster without blood or tears. I don’t want someone else to suffer because of me…”

 

Langsion swiftly covered her lips with his own. It was less a kiss and more like sucking on her lips. 

 

Thanks to the large hat, the people around them probably couldn’t see exactly what they were doing, but Scylla pushed him away in utter shock.

 

To outsiders, it looked like a kiss between an old woman and a young man. 

 

And not just any young man, the Prince of Thebes, no less.

 

Scylla couldn’t even begin to imagine how big a scandal it would cause if their relationship were exposed. 

 

Langsion was already disliked by his stepmother; if a scandal were added on top, he would have nowhere left to stand.

 

Unaware of her worries, Langsion grinned brightly like someone who didn’t have a care in the world. 

 

Scylla, who had been furious to the tips of her hair, was left speechless.

 

“What is that stupid face for?”

 

“I’m just so happy… that Master is worrying about me…”

 

“Move aside. If you do something like this again, whether you help me or not, I’m going straight back to Mount Cithaeron.”

 

“Why?”

 

Langsion widened his eyes in an innocently surprised expression.

 

“I have no intention of letting people find out about my relationship with you.”

 

“…”

 

“They’re watching. Move.”

 

At her firm tone, Langsion could no longer continue his teasing. With clear reluctance, he pulled away from her. 

 

He thought he only felt disappointment, but the nearby guard caught a glimpse of the face beneath the hat and flinched. 

 

The irritation-filled face made the king’s order, “He is a terrifying person, so never make eye contact,” feel very real.

 

Scylla’s strong rejection was different from how she had been on Mount Cithaeron, reminding Langsion that this was not the lonely little hut where only the two of them had lived. 

 

Being alone together in the hut and being out among people were naturally different. 

 

On the mountain, Langsion had been the one who naturally went outside, but seeing Scylla now so conscious of human eyes made the nails of resentment in his heart poke sharply outward.

 

Unlike the hut that didn’t even have a fence, the tall walls of the Theban royal palace rose high as if solemnly welcoming them to a new beginning.

 

🫧

 

Upon hearing the news that the black-haired guest had arrived, the people of the Theban royal palace were cast in shadow. 

 

The King of Thebes quietly closed his one remaining eye as if to say “It has come,” Queen Inashan’s pale face looked like she might collapse at any moment, and First Prince Thekion’s hardened expression was busy trying to read the situation, making the entire atmosphere extremely gloomy and heavy.

 

“Theraon, go wait in Langsion’s room.”

 

Thekion, the most rational among them, gave the order calmly. It sounded exactly like sending the weak children to hide from an enemy invasion, so Theraon turned deathly pale. 

 

Only then did Thekion realize the misunderstanding and click his tongue.

 

“I mean, watch him so that Langsion doesn’t leave his room.”

 

“Ah?”

 

“I was going to ask anyway. Why did you tell Langsion to stay in his room?”

 

Inashan, clutching her head with both hands, asked in a voice that sounded half-dead.

 

Thekion’s eyes turned coldly analytical.

 

“The god commanded us to treat him as Langsion.”

 

“Yes, he did. But so what? It’s probably just another episode of that incomprehensible madness of his.”

 

“Mother.”

 

“Queen.”

 

Both Thekion and the King called out to her in low voices. 

 

Sensing the warning in their tones, Inashan bit her lip hard.

 

“The guards reported that he is not alone. An old woman is wearing a hood with him. I can roughly guess who she is, but I have no idea what he is thinking.”

 

Thekion muttered as if to himself, then sharply observed his family through his monocle.

 

“One thing is certain: right now, that person is enjoying a ‘game.’”

 

“…”

 

“Probably while borrowing Langsion’s identity.”

 

“…”

 

“His guest must believe he is Langsion. If we make a mistake and ruin his game…”

 

Thekion’s voice dropped dangerously low. 

 

The family’s faces stiffened rapidly as they felt the chill. The timid Theraon covered his mouth with his hand as if he wanted to vomit.

 

“I don’t even want to imagine the anger that would follow.”

 

Thekion had almost perfectly deduced Dionysus’s intentions from just a few pieces of information. 

 

Having easily convinced his family, he adjusted his attire to go out and greet the troublesome god who had begun his “game.”

 

Treat him as you would Langsion. If taken literally, there was actually no need to dress up formally. 

 

There was no precedent for a crown prince politely receiving his spoiled youngest brother. But the other party was the god Dionysus. 

 

To eliminate even the slightest chance of falling out of favor, Thekion prepared with meticulous care.

 

‘Does “treat him like Langsion” mean treat him like a beloved youngest brother, or treat him the way I normally treat that kid?’

 

Thekion was good at reading situations, but on this point, he couldn’t be sure. 

 

It wasn’t as if he had ever been inside Dionysus’s mind. 

 

Moreover, among the gods who defied common sense, Dionysus was especially unpredictable and willful. 

 

Just look at how he had brazenly appeared in the form of a wanderer, stormed the wine cellar, and smashed precious vintages. 

 

Who could have judged that situation rationally and politely entertained the culprit? 

 

Most people would have reacted like his mother, Inashan. The king had begged for his queen’s crime to be forgiven and offered his own eye; Dionysus had allowed it. 

 

Only when the king’s eyeball hit the ground did the god finally relax his expression and say, “You didn’t have to go that far.”

 

‘It’s not even funny.’

 

Thekion’s lips tightened coldly. No country was as deeply connected to Dionysus as Thebes.

 

And no country worshipped him as fervently as Thebes did! Yet Dionysus had toyed with them cunningly, without the slightest mercy or hesitation. 

 

Yes—in Thekion’s eyes, he had been playing with them.

 

During his previous visit, he had acted so kindly, as if he would grant any request. 

 

Wasn’t that why Langsion followed him? 

 

But thinking about it now, Dionysus had deliberately let them lower their guard. That way, they would make mistakes, and he would have an excuse to punish them.

 

Why did he do it? 

 

The only explanation Thekion could think of was the relationship between Dionysus and Thebes. 

 

Thebes was both the land that had conceived him and the place that had insulted him and his mother. 

 

To Dionysus, it must be a country of both love and hate.