Several days had passed since Hecate's daughter, Noxia, was born.
"She smiled...!"
I murmured, looking down at the tiny, wriggling creature before me.
Clutching my finger, Noxia had lifted the corners of her mouth in a faint, delicate smile.
"Hecate. Our daughter really did smile at me, didn't she?"
"I told you, she didn't."
I kept insisting, but Hecate looked at me as if she were watching a doting father utterly besotted with his child.
And from a short distance away, someone was watching the two of us.
"Heh..."
Thetis let out a soft laugh as she watched the man she loved holding Noxia, looking absolutely radiant with joy.
The man who had swept across battlefields with a presence that suggested steel, rather than blood, flowed through his veins was now being completely undone by a tiny infant.
"...Honestly."
Thetis murmured softly, her gaze naturally drifting toward Astellon.
"So he can make a face like that, too."
Watching him, Thetis smiled quietly.
But that smile slowly faded.
Suddenly, a trivial thought flickered through her mind.
That small seed of a thought gradually grew, expanding until it dominated her entire consciousness.
Astellon was human.
That fact had never once been a problem until now.
Born of human parents, he was stronger than anyone, grew faster than anyone, and had become a being that even the gods could no longer treat lightly.
"...But."
There was one fundamental difference.
No matter how strong he became, no matter how much he achieved, in the end...
"...He will grow old."
Because of his mortal lifespan, he would eventually age and die.
Furthermore, since he possessed not a single drop of divine blood, he would likely fade far sooner than the legendary heroes of Greece.
"..."
Thetis's hand stiffened at the thought.
Just now, he had been smiling.
Holding their child, chatting about nothing in particular, wearing such a serene expression.
The moment she imagined the end of that peace, her chest tightened with a strange, suffocating ache.
"...No. That can't be."
For now, there was no problem.
His body was healthy, his vitality was overflowing, and if anything, he was growing stronger by the day through the power of Lady Nyx and Lord Erebus.
"...Yes."
If he continued to receive the strength of those two, perhaps he could live as long as the demigods of Greece.
There was no need to worry about it now.
She tried to convince herself of that.
Time passed, the sun set, and the moon rose high in the midnight sky.
Just before falling asleep, the image of Astellon's back flashed through her mind.
The sight of him cradling the child.
And that effortless, happy smile.
"..."
Even with her eyes closed, the scene lingered.
"...What if... what if that disappears?"
The thought refused to be erased.
And in that state of unrest, dawn broke.
Thetis rose from bed and acted as she always did.
She smiled, she spoke, and she faced her beloved husband, Astellon, with a mask of perfect normalcy.
"...Thetis. Is something wrong?"
Astellon asked her suddenly.
"...Huh?"
"You've been staring at me for a while now."
"...It's nothing."
Thetis gave a light laugh and shook her head.
"I just... really love this moment."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Thetis answered with a tender smile.
Astellon remained curious about her unusual demeanor, but his attention was quickly diverted by Noxia, who had just woken up.
That night, after returning to her room, Thetis continued to dwell on her beloved husband.
She knew that even if she searched all of Greece, finding a man like him would be like searching for a needle in a desert; she felt incredibly fortunate to have him.
Yet, as she contemplated the void that would be left after Astellon was gone...
"...I really can't let him go."
A desperate longing to spend eternity with him took root in her heart.
"What can I do? If Astellon became immortal—if he became a god—I wouldn't have to worry. But for that, I would need Lord Zeus's permission. If my husband had inherited divine blood, it would be easier, but he didn't..."
Unable to bear the thought of losing him, Thetis paced her room, searching for any way to ensure they would stay together forever.
Suddenly, the window swung open, and a cold night breeze swept inside.
Startled, Thetis looked toward the open window.
"Hello, child. So you are one of the wives of our youngest."
A goddess with long, ink-black hair and eyes like the midnight sky appeared before Thetis and spoke.