The goddess of Night had been carefully watching Zeus's reaction, and seeing the haze already rising in his golden eyes, she could not help feeling greatly pleased.
Her long study had not been in vain. The effect was indeed superb.
She had poured untold thought into it, paying close attention to how the goddesses around Zeus dressed.
Not their normal attire, of course, but their most private ensembles.
Each night, she turned her divine power into the most hidden night breeze, slipping soundlessly into the goddesses' boudoirs to discover their secrets.
She watched the all-knowing goddess most closely of all!
Though her heart rebelled, Nyx had to admit that in taste and creativity of dress, the all-knowing goddess was unquestionably number one in the universe.
Well-traveled and most erudite, she knew everything—including Zeus's most secret preferences.
If one wished to cater to Zeus's tastes, there was no better teacher than the goddess who knew him best.
At this thought, the goddess of Night was supremely delighted, a nameless satisfaction welling up within her.
To "step on" the all-knowing goddess's shoulders like this was simply delightful!
Yet remembering that Mnemosyne had seized Zeus first, her heart flashed with irritation and jealousy.
But then she thought of all the secret techniques she had stolen from the all-knowing goddess and employed on Zeus ahead of her, and her displeasure eased considerably.
A goddess's mind changes in a thousand ways in an instant.
Swaying as she moved, the goddess of Night deliberately let those high-heeled jade feet flash in and out beneath the hem of her skirt.
She wanted Zeus to look, but not clearly for long.
Seeing Zeus's gaze follow her steps, loath to leave her for even a moment, her pride and delight swelled still more.
This trick she had learned from Mnemosyne as well.
In fact, she had hijacked the idea and used it first!
This stunning ensemble and high-heel pairing had been Mnemosyne's secret weapon prepared for herself. She had not yet found the right moment to use it before the goddess of Night tweaked it and beat her to it.
The all-knowing goddess did not pry into the privacy of gods unless necessary or asked. This restraint was something she had learned over endless years.
And it was precisely this restraint that let the goddess of Night hide her preparations perfectly.
If she learned of it later, it would surely mean another bloody storm of rivalry.
Swaying her figure and breathing fragrant as orchids, the goddess of Night approached Zeus unhurriedly.
Her boneless-supple lotus arms naturally slipped around Zeus's neck, and the hazy whisper of night, carrying a tremor enough to make a divine soul tingle, sounded at Zeus's ear: "Zeus—my love… you hard-hearted god, you finally came."
Her breath bore the unique, deep cool fragrance of darkest night, mixed with the special perfume of her divine essence, threading bit by bit into Zeus's senses.
"Do you know how bitterly I've missed you?"
"We agreed that a third of you belongs to me. Yet you, heartless king, forever linger on Olympus and will not come into this deep night to seek me."
"Do you know how much I longed, in those days when we wove the Divine Order together, to nestle like this deep in your arms?"
"Day and night we were together, yet we had to keep our distance. The torment of being unable to touch has wracked my divinity with unspeakable pain…"
As she spoke, starlit tears rose in those limitless, star-bright eyes of the goddess of Night, as if the most beautiful stars might fall at any moment.
Before Zeus, the goddess of Night was nothing like a supreme primordial goddess, not even like a mature, wise Great Mother.
She was no different from a mortal girl newly fallen in love—even more tender and clinging.
Zeus's heart melted in an instant beneath that boundless tenderness. He hastened to put his arms around the goddess of Night's soft, voluptuous divine body and hold her tight.
It was a softness and fullness that could swallow and dissolve divinity itself, with the goddess of Night's unique, paradoxical touch—at once cool and searing.
Heart stirred, the God-King whispered in his gentlest voice at her ear: "My beloved Nyx, how could I not long for you? My divinity sways with your every movement."
"My beloved goddess, you have no idea how beautiful you are. You, you—you are the one lost in your own scene; you can never see, from your own vantage, the endless charm you possess."
"But I can see it clearly—your limitless, dazzling allure has already made my whole divinity sink utterly for you."
"My Nyx, your beauty is the strongest, most irresistible weapon in this universe. How could I withstand it?"
"If there is even a sliver of time, I want never to leave your side. See—no sooner had the Assembly ended than I cast everything aside and came to you first."
"No one and nothing can stay my steps when I run toward you."
Even knowing there was a touch of sweet exaggeration in Zeus's words, hearing her beloved God-King pour out such heartfelt praise turned all her small resentments into endless sweetness, and she could not help rejoicing.
This seeming grievance was, in truth, a lover's playful pout.
Its aim was to stir a little guilt in her beloved God-King and thereby win more love and companionship for herself.
Basic goddess technique.
"Hmph~"
She huffed delicately, breath fragrant as orchids, and pressed even closer.
In a heartbeat, Zeus clearly felt that most god-tempting, ultimate softness and spring.
"You only know how to say such sweet words to coax me… but you still don't often come keep me company, while I, day and night, gaze toward you from the Underworld."
Usually so cool and mature, the goddess of Night now cooed with charming girlishness. The contrast made the already aroused God-King feel his very bones go soft.
He nuzzled his cheek against the bewitching goddess's smooth, jade-bright face and cried his innocence: "My love, you wrong me. How can this be coaxing you? Feel it closely—haven't I been conquered by your charm?"
Nyx shot Zeus a coquettish side-eye, her midnight glance so alluring it could put the stars to shame.
Yet she tipped up her face and bestowed a soft kiss upon Zeus's lips.
Held so tightly, she could feel, clear as day, the real and surging response born for her in her lover's embrace.
After that light kiss, she reluctantly slipped a little from Zeus's arms.
She stepped back half a step, cast a soul-stealing, bewitching glance at her beloved God-King, and opened her arms. In a voice full of eager sweetness she asked, "Zeus, tell me—do you like the surprise I prepared for you today?"
Zeus felt himself once more caught fast by the goddess of Night's "charm-control."
But he had the last thread of reason left and, eyes hazy, nodded strongly. "My love, how could I not like it—I love it, a thousand times over! This is too great a surprise—I feel I could be utterly lost in your boundless beauty."
"But how did you come to dress so stunningly?"
At this the lady of Night smiled in triumph, bright eyes full of mischief.
"That's a secret~" she crooned, mysteriously. "However… so long as my Zeus likes it, that's enough. From now on, I'll change into different outfits for you—will that do? I promise, every time you see me, I'll be dressed completely anew."
At that Zeus nodded again and again, full of eager approval.
He more or less knew what was what, but chose to pretend otherwise; sometimes knowing too much is no good.
When Mnemosyne brought him a surprise, he would have to look properly surprised as well—else there'd be another fight.
Seeing this, the goddess of Night's heart swelled with pride.
To steal her archrival's carefully prepared secret fruit and use it ahead of her—this success made her whole divinity tingle with the delicious sensation of Great Thunder.
She stepped close again, rose on her toes, kissed Zeus's cheek, and said in a soft voice full of love: "My Zeus, I have an even greater surprise for you. Come, see… our child."
"Mm?" Zeus, who had just slipped his hands once more around the mature goddess's soft waist and had not yet taken another step, froze at her words.
That couldn't be right—he had never sown seed with Night, so how could there be a child?
Could she mean those few ill-starred children Nyx had conceived alone?
That was not right either—their honors had already been granted at the assembly.
Naturally the lady of Night read Zeus's puzzlement. She smiled radiantly, and without a sound, the stunning night-gauze gown upon her dissolved like stardust and reformed into a stately, resplendent formal robe.
Even the "little girl" look of lovesickness on her face shifted back to her usual cool, imperious mien.
The change was so quick Zeus could not help musing to himself: the speed at which a goddess changes her face is indeed one of the fastest laws in the universe.
Perhaps the fastest of all.
[A special discount will be available from December 30th until Three Kings' Day.]
[Use 37B44 to get 33% off all levels until January 6th]
[Unlock +20 Advanced Chapters on Patre on. com /Mutter]
[For every 50 Power Stones, 1 Bonus Chapter will be released]
[Thank you for reading!]