CH 50

Without thinking about the volume of my voice, I let out a wild and crazy scream.

I covered my mouth and listened to Lethe’s troubled voice.

“I think, maybe… He’s cursed instead of Thanasios. Someone prayed to the gods for a curse on Thanasios, but it was meaningless in front of the protection of Styx-Okaasama, so all the curses were transferred to Helios instead. And because he’s the first prince of the Styx Kingdom, he’s been cursed since before he was born.”

It was probably an event in a world that I couldn’t even imagine.

Humans pray to the gods. It’s to have their wishes granted. However, there are also those who pray with ill intentions. That’s what’s called a curse, and the gods don’t consider human intentions, good or bad, at all. They grant what they want to grant and what can be granted. That’s how it is.

And no matter what the result may be, the gods don’t even feel pain or discomfort. It’s just like how the main god Styx does anything for Thanasios, without caring about what happens to other countries.

However, Lethe seems to be slightly different.

“That’s why I hate wishes and prayers… Everyone, including the gods and humans, is too irresponsible.”

I could clearly hear a sigh from Lethe. She didn’t seem very god-like and appeared to be a hard worker. In fact, not praying might have been a relief for Lethe. I couldn’t help but think that.

However, that was beside the point. The important thing was the curse. I also knew that Helios had serious health problems and couldn’t leave that greenhouse garden because he couldn’t believe in the gods. If it was because of the curse, and if he couldn’t fulfill his duties as the first prince of the Styx Kingdom, it would be a very frightening thing. People cursed Helios, Thanasios, and the gods responded to it.

I shook my head. I didn’t want to know about such things in the world. Even if it was an ugly and hateful world, I didn’t want it to be a world that spread malice. I suppressed the anger and nausea that welled up inside me and asked Lethe a question.

“Um, Helios-sama doesn’t know about the curse, of course.”

“Yes, Styx-Okaasama doesn’t give oracles about that kind of thing. Besides, there are things that humans are better off not knowing.”

“Why did this happen? Helios-sama hasn’t done anything bad enough to be cursed, has he?”

Halfway through, the words came out as if I was spitting them out. To be honest, I was so moved that I wanted to strongly condemn someone.

“Surprising. I thought you only cared about Thanasios.”

I wanted to tell Lethe that it wasn’t true.

“Helios-sama, who is in a difficult situation, also cares deeply about Thanasios-sama. I don’t think such a person is a bad person. Besides, if Thanasios-sama knew about this, he would do everything in his power to help Helios-sama. However, whether or not to tell him… If Thanasios-sama knew that Helios-sama was cursed in his place, he would be very depressed and blame himself.”

It’s not hard to imagine. Thanasios is a kind and gentle young man. No matter how much he knows about the ugliness of the world, if he thinks that his brother Helios is suffering because of him, what will happen? He might hate the gods who gave him the curse, and his devout faith might crumble. Or he might seek revenge on the main god Styx, like me. If Thanasios wishes it, the main god Styx will surely grant it. And what kind of damage will that have on the world? It will create tragedies that I can’t even imagine.

No, that’s not right. It shouldn’t be like that.

“Is there anything we can do? I’ll do anything I can.”

“Well…the curses that have been cast on him have already taken effect, so there’s nothing we can do about that. But if he’s going to receive any more curses in the future, we might be able to do something about it.”

“Really?”

“Eleni, persuade Styx-Okaasama to give Helios her blessing. If you do that, things should get better.”

Persuasion is not my strong suit, but I have to do it. I have to improve the situation even a little bit before Helios falls into the depths of despair and Thanasios blames himself. It’s my duty now that I know about it.

“Can I do it?”

“Yeah…you’re the only one who can.”

I decided to trust Lethe’s words.

To persuade the main god Styx. With that mission in mind, I prayed for someone for the first time.

“Understood. I’ll head to the Arche of Apeiron right away and offer my prayers at the temple.”

Perhaps Lethe heard my determination, her voice disappeared.

I hurried back to the royal castle.