He saw injustice, drew his sword to help, drove off the bandits, completed heroic feats, and was then favored by a beautiful princess, esteemed by the Old King, and even promised to be the princess's husband and the kingdom's heir.
In the Greek World, there was nothing more perfect than this life; in just one day, Orion had almost obtained everything men in the Greek World yearned for.
This made him happy, yet also gave him a sense of unreality; looking at the alluring gaze of the golden-haired princess, as beautiful as a peach blossom, Orion felt as if his heart was melting.
"However," the Old King's words suddenly rang out, interrupting Orion's fantasy. He looked at the burly man and said fearlessly, "Hero from afar, Apollyse is also the apple of everyone's eye in our kingdom. Although it might sound a bit sacrilegious to say so, I believe Apollyse's beauty can rival that of the goddesses."
Orion looked at "Apollyse," recalling Artemis's silly appearance in his mind, and nodded in agreement, "Indeed."
"Therefore, if you wish to marry Apollyse and inherit my kingdom, then you must sever all ties with all women from now on, even if that woman is a goddess from the heavens!" Ares said decisively in a weathered voice, "You must also swear by the River of Pain in the Underworld that from this day forward, you will only love my Apollyse alone. Otherwise, I will not give her to you."
"Father King," Apollo pouted and playfully whined, making Ares's scalp tingle. Suppressing the urge to vomit, Ares appeased the acting Apollo, then looked at Orion:
"Hero from afar, what do you think?"
"This…"
Orion looked at the exquisite "Apollyse," a hesitant expression on his face. A kingdom, prestige, and a beautiful, charming wife who would obey his every whim—this seemed like the best conditions in the world, yet he couldn't bring himself to say "yes."
As he looked at "Apollyse," in a trance, Orion seemed to see the smiling face of the goddess who sat beside him on the grass under the starlit sky, looking up at the stars, explaining the meaning of each one to him.
Orion shook his head, forcefully shaking the goddess's face out of his mind, then forced a smile and replied, "Well, Your Majesty, please allow me to consider it?"
"What?" Ares deliberately showed displeasure and asked, "Does this still need consideration? I think you simply look down on our Apollyse."
"I absolutely do not mean that," Orion sighed. "Ah, but Your Majesty, please listen to me. I am the solace in the dreams of all women in this world. If I were to be faithful to just one, how restless would other women be at night, how sleepless in their dreams? To give up saving all women in the world for Princess Apollyse alone, how should I choose between my love and my duty? Please forgive me, I am not mentally prepared, prepa—"
Orion's flirtatious words quickly trailed off, because Apollo had adopted a pitiable stance, looking at him with tear-filled eyes. This delicate and moving posture directly pierced Orion's inexperienced heart, leaving him unable to utter a complete sentence.
"Orion, do you dislike me?"
Damn, Apollo, that dog.
Seeing this, Ares couldn't help but curse inwardly.
It was clear that Orion's expression earlier was because he had recalled Artemis, which caused his hesitation, but Apollo, that sister-complex, didn't hesitate to use such a killer-move expression just to drag Orion down.
It truly disgusted him, the insider.
However, Ares was disgusted because he knew the truth, while Orion didn't know that the beautiful princess standing before him was actually his future brother-in-law. So he stammered, unsure how to answer, and Apollo, seizing the opportunity, quickly pulled Orion along, and the matter was muddled through and agreed upon.
Thus, the entire city-state celebrated. Ares immediately decided that Orion and Princess "Apollyse" would marry that very night, and at the wedding ceremony, Orion would also swear before the Heroes to sever ties with all other women.
After semi-forcing Orion to agree to this matter, Ares ordered the guards to take Orion away and settle him in the palace, serving him well. Taking advantage of this moment, Apollo finally regained his voice and conversed with Ares:
"Ares, it seems this fellow is indeed infatuated. In my opinion, we don't need to wait until tonight; we can just kill him here now."
"Apollo, stop saying such things," Ares told Apollo. "Actually, just now when you were seducing Orion, your sister was watching right beside me. If I hadn't stopped her, you and Orion would probably both have been shot dead by her by now."
Upon hearing this, Apollo's face instantly turned pale with fright, and at the same time, he looked around suspiciously.
"Don't worry, she's not nearby right now," Ares said. "But if you just kill Orion so casually, then expect your sister to hunt you to the ends of the earth."
"Then what should I do?" Apollo said glumly, "That man agreed to marry me. What if he really wants to go through with it and tries something tonight?"
"What are you afraid of?" Ares retorted, "Can't you beat him? If he dares to use force, just knock him down and let him see what 'a beast under the skirt' means."
Apollo imagined the scene for a moment, then said with some revulsion, "That's too disgusting, don't be like that."
"It's fine. If he really tries to do that, just knock him down."
Ares stroked his chin and said:
"However, since he was foolish enough to follow you here, the probability that he wasn't instigated by Athena is actually quite high. Hmm, I still need to confirm it."
"How do you plan to confirm this?"
Apollo asked in return.
"Don't you have the power of prophecy?"
Ares said:
"Come, tell this Lord Orion's fortune, see what his future destiny holds, and then I'll disguise myself as your priest and trick him."