Persephone’s face turned bright red as she coughed.
After finally calming down, she took a deep breath.
“It was me.”
“…”
“I, well…”
“…”
“Um…”
Her eyes frantically scanned the surroundings.
Strange. Usually lies would just pop out, and she could spout nonsense freely, but why wasn’t the answer flowing smoothly this time?
“You’ll treat me carelessly!”
“L-like, l-l-like erotic literature!”
Recalling her dark history again, Persephone let out a groan, “Ugh.”
She wasn’t in her right mind back then. She only thought Hades was desperate to keep her in the Underworld somehow.
‘What was I thinking, really.’
Did her past self think that her current self would somehow resolve this when she said those words?
‘No, I couldn’t have been that smart.’
Persephone shook her head slightly.
She just thought it didn’t matter what she said since she was confident she would leave the Underworld.
If only she hadn’t foolishly immersed herself in that cursed ‘Healing Spring’, she wouldn’t have had to stay in the Underworld…!
As she reflected on how stupid her past self was, anger suddenly welled up inside her.
Visible veins appeared on Persephone’s clenched fist.
“…”
Hades, looking at her hand, subtly moved away.
Realizing this, Persephone smiled.
“Ah, you asked why I chose ‘that word’, right?”
“…Yes.”
“Well… You see.”
She racked her brain as much as possible.
So far, Hades’ actions towards Persephone had been nothing but straightforward.
Of course, he could be a god who’s very good at acting, so she couldn’t trust him completely yet…
‘Well, that’s my general feeling anyway.’
She had a hunch that this Hades wouldn’t exactly follow the original mythology.
Persephone’s feet tapped the floor.
‘Well, can’t be helped. Let’s go with being brazen for now.’
She mumbled her lips, then smiled and spread her arms.
“I’ll reveal the reason in 60 hours.”
“Are you copying what Hermes did earlier?”
“No. Please think of it as the admirable heart of a junior wanting to follow her senior’s path.”
Hades nodded his head up and down. He replied in a calm tone.
“…Alright, I understand. It’ll be a rare non-boring wait.”
He smiled leisurely as he passed by Persephone. Persephone also grinned, hiding a strange sense of competitiveness.
“Please look forward to it.”
Finally, when Hades’ figure reached the far end of the corridor.
Bang!
Persephone flung the door open and hurriedly entered the room. After closing the door, she covered her mouth and sank to the floor.
“…This is bad.”
What excuse should she come up with now?
[This is the timeline separator]At that time, in Hades’ office.
“Phew…”
Hades, sitting down while needlessly looking around, slowly exhaled.
‘Did I do it right?’
His mind was replaying the conversation he just had with Persephone.
How long had it been since he had a conversation with a complete outsider unrelated to the Underworld?
Unless he was monitoring the monster under the volcano, he had no reason to go to the surface.
And he couldn’t stay on the surface for long either.
His life was always a repetition of work and rest.
Even regularly patrolling the walls in person was just something he did as the leader of the Underworld, with no special meaning.
Just a stereotypical daily routine.
Into that routine, a seed fell.
The seed, despite its small size, created quite a ripple. The wave centered on the seed spread far.
“So, what I did to the ferryman then was…”
Hades recalled Persephone telling Hermes about her ‘exploits’.
The seed was a strange friend.
She was the first to swim across the Acheron River in an attempt to escape the Underworld, the only one to give flowers and grain to Charon, and the only living person to climb the walls that usually repel the living.
The seed was at the center of all these ‘firsts’.
The seed, or rather Kore—no, now ‘Persephone’—if she hadn’t come, none of these ripples would have occurred.
And such ripples were enough to spark curiosity about the seed in Hades, who was buried in the deepest part of the Underworld.
It was a resonance sufficient to trigger such emotions.
…However, there was still one remaining problem.
“You’ll treat me carelessly! L-like, l-l-like erotic literature!”
The problematic word wouldn’t leave Hades’ mind.
‘E… erotic literature…’
It felt like his head was melting from the heat. Frowning deeply, he asked a nearby aide.
“Hydra, do I look like such trash?”
“What? What do you mean by that?”
Hydra turned towards him.
Fortunately, the misunderstanding with Hydra and Thanatos had been cleared up.
“I mean, that I caused a traffic accident to Kore.”
“You mean you were speeding!”
【Ah, mother…】
“No. Why does everyone’s thoughts keep jumping there!”
It took considerable effort to make them understand that ‘accident’ literally meant a traffic accident…
Anyway, after clearing up the misunderstanding, Hydra returned to a favorable attitude towards Hades. She shrugged as if to say, what are you talking about?
“Hmm, trash? Not at all. Why are you suddenly being so self-deprecating?”
“No, Kore, I mean Persephone, said such things to me. As you know.”
“…’Such’ things being what?”
“E-ero…”
Hades tried to move his stiffened lips, but they wouldn’t move as he wanted.
“Come on, repeat after me. E-ro-tic li-te-ra-ture!”
Hydra raised her index finger, unable to bear it any longer, but…
Hades’ tongue couldn’t bring itself to utter such an outrageous word. He squeezed his eyes shut as if he’d seen a cockroach.
“…No, I still can’t.”
“E-”
“Shut it. I don’t want to hear such… words anymore.”
Hades waved Hydra off.
Heat had rushed to his ears by now.
Scratching his earlobes as if to remove the heat, Hades recalled what he had said to Persephone earlier.
“It’ll be a rare non-boring wait.”
“Ugh…”
His head sank into his hands.
Are you in your right mind, Hades? Why did you say such a thing there?
‘You’re not confident enough to handle any answer!’
The reason he asked Persephone why she mentioned ‘that word’ was because he wanted to unravel any misunderstandings about himself, if there were any.
‘So it wasn’t really about why she used that word, but I was trying to offer an explanation even if she avoided answering…’
Honestly, Hades thought Persephone would avoid answering, saying it was difficult.
“I’ll reveal the reason in 60 hours.”
But seeing how she postponed the answer like that, it seemed she might be preparing a very logical and proper response.
A terrifying answer that even Hades, one of the most conservative gods among the Olympians, would have to accept!
‘What if she says she had some strange dream?’
Please, anything but that. Even if it’s a lie…
Or even if she avoids answering like a loach…!
Hydra, who had finished processing the last document, tilted her head.
“What’s wrong, Lord Hades? Are you not feeling well? Your hands are very red.”
“No, I was thinking of arranging a meal with Persephone tomorrow.”
“What?”
“For reference, it’s just me looking after her as a senior god, so don’t get any strange ideas.”
Hades quickly added.
“…Ah, yes. I didn’t say anything though.”
“…”
“But why a meal of all things? You don’t usually eat, right?”
Hydra threw a light jab, but right now, his subordinate’s mild insubordination didn’t register in his mind at all.
‘Right. That should be not too burdensome.’
He didn’t want to create any more misunderstandings. He also declined being the protagonist of unsavory rumors.
“Please look forward to it.”
The image of Persephone, who had stumbled over her words with a reddened face before suddenly changing her attitude, flashed through his mind.
Hades, who had been rubbing his face, sighed and muttered.
“What a strange friend…”
[This is the timeline separator]60 hours—about two days later.
Persephone went to find Hades to share a meal.
Fidgeting at the entrance of the room specially prepared for the meal, she looked Hades over.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be putting any special effort into his appearance.
‘Wait, come to think of it, how should I address Lord Hades?’
She pursed her lips at the sudden question that arose.
‘…That title should be fine, right?’
Persephone, who had been pondering how to address Hades, bowed her head without much consideration.
“Did you sleep well, Uncle?”
At that moment, Hades’ face, which had been expressionless until she greeted him, showed a slight crack.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
