Chapter 29 Strange Things

You two are still here giving way to each other?

It was late at night in Arcadia. Amidst the blanket of white snow, the creatures of nature were in a brief slumber, and even the nymphs were unwilling to come out and play.

Except for Pereope, who is faithfully performing his duties as high priest in the temple of Hermes.

However, Hermes did not go to the temple, but returned to the cave of Kulenne first, wanting to let Maia, who had been waiting for her for a long time, know that she was safe.

But when she put Hebe down and was about to lean into the cave, she found an uninvited guest waiting in the brightly lit house.

The noble goddess from Mount Olympus sat solemnly before the stone table, wearing an exquisite crown and a crimson robe, clearly Hera, the goddess of marriage and childbirth.

Maia sat on Hera's other side, her eyes lowered. Even though she looked apprehensive, there was not a trace of fear in her green eyes towards the powerful and majestic queen of the gods.

The two women remained silent, simply sitting there waiting quietly, as if they had already resolved everything while their daughters were away, or as if a war without gunpowder was still raging.

What is that prince doing here...? Is he here for his daughter?

Was the Mother Goddess mistreated?

Hermes, now back in her original position, felt uneasy. Because of the difference in their status, she wanted to let go of Hebe's hand, but then she thought again—why should I? This lovely little sister gets along very well with me and likes me a lot; we are true sisters!

Besides, wasn't it the Queen who sent her to take care of Hebe? And she even used Hebe's story to educate the child!

Perhaps sensing Hermes's resentment, little Hebe looked at her beautifully shaped jawline with a half-understanding expression and softly called out "Sister."

Hermes paused for a moment, then gently agreed to her sister's request, who seemed to depend on her very much.

She once impersonated this child to deceive Hera, thus forging a significant bond.

She was unwilling to give up the precious treasure she had already obtained!

So Hermes took Hebe's hand and led her into the cave. Oh, and with her came Apollo's raven, which was tightly bound by her snakes.

"I'm back!" She greeted Maya and Hera, who had come looking at her, with a smile that curved her eyes. "Dear Mother Goddess and Queen Goddess!"

Hermes addressed Hera directly as "dear," instead of the usual flowery prefixes.

Not to mention, she was standing close to the goddess of youth, and the two looked extremely close. It's not hard to imagine how much their relationship had grown during this short period of time.

Moreover...

Hera narrowed her eyes, her gaze lingering for a moment on the raven bound hand and foot by the snakes.

“You’re back, my darling.” Maya walked straight past the goddess to her daughter and gently embraced her. “Oh, and lovely little Hebe too.”

Hermes nuzzled her mother's cheek, touched Hebe's face in front of the goddess Hera, and pushed her into her mother's arms.

The Empress's gaze seemed even more dangerous, but what did it matter?

Back in Olympus, it was she who told her to take good care of Hebe!

"Yes, Mother Goddess, little Hebe is so cute! Her Highness the Queen even instructed me to take this little darling with me to the sea to complete the mission!"

Hermes watched with a grin as Hebe opened her arms and wrapped them around Maya's neck, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Goddess Maia, hello..." Hebe called out softly and sweetly, then stumbled towards Hera, who had already stood up from the stone chair. "Mother Goddess, I missed you so much! You don't know how happy I was today!"

I'm really happy.

Hermes smiled as she watched the Queen of Gods pick up Hebe. Hermes' bright golden eyes gazed tenderly at her child, but out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Hermes with a scrutinizing look.

"Alright, alright, my little Qingchun, shall we go back and rest now? You must be very tired." Hera reached out and gently pinched her daughter's upturned nose, making her giggle. "Of course, Maya, don't forget the important things I just told you."

"You should know how to do it right, right?"

What does that mean? Do it well?

Hermes smiled outwardly, but inwardly she was impatiently wondering what Hera had done to her mother goddess while she was away from home.

Does the Mother Goddess also have to run errands and clean up messes for those great gods, just like her?

She even had this inexplicable thought.

Meanwhile, the protagonist of the story, Maya, still had her back to the always decisive noblewoman. Knowing that she was in the wrong, the mountain goddess was unwilling to face her directly.

“Yes,” Maya replied softly. “Please rest assured, Your Highness.”

...Could it be that Hera is still wary of the Mother Goddess's past relationship with that old man, and therefore wants to drive the Mother Goddess away?!

Hermes became alert, but she knew she couldn't show it now, much less ask directly.

Her left hand, which wasn't holding the scepter, clenched into a fist, and cold sweat trickled down her back. Especially when the Queen of the Goddess passed by her carrying Hebe, that immense resentment swelled even more in her uneasy and curious heart.

Her life seemed to always be accompanied by unease and curiosity.

“However,” Hera turned her head, giving the clever child who had made her change her principles a half-smile, “you are still as audacious as ever, Hermes.”

Upon hearing this, Hermes froze, wondering what this cunning goddess was implying.

The Apollo raven that she stole and took home?

It happened at the Temple of Light in Delphi... but how could that be? How could Hera know about this?

"Goodbye, Sister Hermes! Goddess Maya! Let's play together again next time~"

It was Hebe's farewell that pulled Hermes back to reality from her thoughts.

A smile spread across her fair and delicate face as she waved to the two figures that were gradually disappearing into the darkness in the distance.

“Okay.” Hermes stroked the snakes on the scepter, rubbing her fingers on the small black thing they were tightly entwining. “Next time, let’s go on an adventure together.”

She turned to look at Maya, who was quietly watching from behind, her eyes sparkling with a light that seemed more scattered than the stars in the night sky.

Your Highness...

"Mother Goddess, will you tell me what the Queen Goddess said to you?"

As expected, Maya shook her head, her expression complex, and said, "I'm sorry, my daughter, this is a secret that cannot be told to any third party."

"The only thing I can tell you is that it concerns our survival."

So the matter was dropped.

Hermes had no intention of troubling her mother; she would figure everything out herself.

But now, she remains lively, cheerful, and carefree. She even made a wooden cage for the little crow she had captured alive and cruelly locked it inside.

The mother and daughter didn't sleep all night. When Hermes poked the angry and anxious raven flapping its wings and cawing through the cage with a twig, Maya didn't scold her for stealing Apollo's sacred bird home.

Maia simply picked up the deep golden scepter that possessed powerful divine strength, and two green snakes climbed over and wrapped around the neck and shoulders of the kind mountain goddess, occasionally flicking out their scarlet tongues.

Where are you from?

We come from Arcadia.

But we will always belong to nature and the earth.

That was the reason why the goddess of the mountains and forests made all the choices.

At this very moment, her obedient and lovely daughter had already thrown down the branch that the caged crow had poked at with its beak, and was looking at the wooden cage with a bored and disappointed expression, muttering softly.

"Really."

Hermes stuck her finger into the cage, then quickly pulled it back, making the stinky crow, who had missed its target, even angrier.

It began to grab the wooden fence with its wings and frantically ram its head against it, the hoarse cries coming from its small beak sounding truly shrill and desperate.

"Why hasn't Brother Apollo come to find me... no, I should say he's coming to find you yet?"

Hermes raised her hand again, flicking the poor, hateful little crow away from the wooden fence, stopping its desperate, self-harming, and disturbing behavior.

She thought to herself, "It's time to use the God of Light again."

*****

As dawn broke and Helios drove his sun chariot from the east, flying across the clear skies of Arcadia, Hermes bid farewell to her mother goddess and left her cave to graze her flocks on the grasslands.

Of course, there was no raven with Apollo; it was too noisy, so she dug a hole and buried it alive—just kidding, although she did dig a hole and throw the raven's cage in, but it survived.

Hermes knelt in the shade, transformed her scepter into a flute, and played a beautiful melody under the watchful eyes of the snakes and cows around her.

This time, it wasn't her usual festive style, but rather an elegant and serene one, like a flowing mountain stream, with melodious and refreshing notes that flowed on and on.

Hermes was getting increasingly annoyed waiting for Apollo to come to her.

Suddenly, a nymph came running from afar. It was Pereopatra, her high priestess, wearing a willow-leaf crown and a green robe.

Hermes strangely sensed that there was another new life attached to Periope, and that it had not yet been born.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" The Nymph Fairy wiped away her tears in panic, her beautiful face pale with fear.

Hermes frowned and quickly stood up.

What strange thing has happened again?

Just as Pereoper was about to approach Hermes, a loud crashing sound of a swan chariot approaching suddenly came from the blue sky.

A dazzling male god descended from the sky, appearing beside the nymph fairy at the same moment, one on her left and one on her right.

How could this be so outrageous?

She knew why Apollo had come, but where was her sister Peyoppe, who should have been in her temple?

Most importantly, how come they all came looking for her at the same time?

"Your Highness! I'm so sorry, I was just too scared..."

"You wicked thief, I clearly warned you."

Apollo and Peluopel each cawed louder than the stinky, black crow.

Hermes, caught in the middle: "...Why don't you take turns?"

Upon hearing this, Apollo and Peluope exchanged a glance.

After a while.

Apollo turned his head away and said politely but coldly, "You speak first."

But Perius was very polite and replied cautiously, "You are the best, Your Excellency God of Light."

Hermes: "..."

You two are still here giving way to each other?