Jealousy Under the Moonlight (Chapter 6)
The chaos settled down quickly. I apologized to the visitors who had come from afar, calmed them, and then locked up Sisyphe and Agamemnon. The incident had already spread through the families of the dead soldiers, and from there it had reached all of Argos. There was no one left who didn’t know about it.
“The king’s own son tried to kill him. He even fooled a hero of Mycenae?”
It was the kind of gossip that was almost unheard of in this age. It had been quiet in the morning, but by lunchtime it had exploded across Argos. The people weren’t just gossiping in the agora anymore—they were crowding the temple, demanding answers, “Is this really true?” Of course, that was still mild. There were still a few hot-tempered idiots who had thrown far too many words at me.
“So… does that mean the next king will be Perseus, right?!”
“……? Huh?”
While I was responding to the humans who had come to offer tribute to Hades and handling temple duties, an old man suddenly blurted it out.
“Hey, why are you playing dumb?! When Sisyphe dies, it’ll be obvious who Acrisius, the childless king, will name as his successor! He’s loved by every single person in Argos, not just the bloodline—everyone will be overjoyed! This is actually a stroke of good luck~!”
“Huh?”
The words made my face go completely pale. Far paler than it had been yesterday. Through my sister’s body, Artemis—the one who had temporarily lost her divinity—had whispered right before she left, “I wish you hadn’t gotten involved in this.” At first I hadn’t understood what she meant. Now, though, it was crystal clear she had orchestrated the whole thing.
‘Oh no! How could I not have realized she was talking to that little brat instead of me?! She jumped right in without even reading the room!’
Humans, of course, love spreading harmless gossip.
This was no exception.
“Brother…”
“It’s not your fault. My bad for being too quick to jump in. I could have just sent Achilles or the Spartoi and been done with it.”
Just hearing the gossip, I could already guess how Acrisius was going to react, and my face twisted in displeasure.
‘Even if he’s kind-hearted… is that actually the problem? He’s about to lose his son and he’s still going to forgive him? Even if Sisyphe lies and doesn’t repent, he’ll probably smile, forgive him, and then try to “teach the boy a lesson” this time. But the gossip has already spread, and even Artemis hates him—there’s no way anyone will want to spare Sisyphe.’
A father who truly loves his family couldn’t possibly laugh while his son was in danger. No matter what anyone said, the image of Acrisius protecting his own son Sisyphe looked almost noble.
‘What if he hears this story about me becoming his successor?’
His own son was about to die, and I was supposedly being named the next king? …I’d have a heart attack.
“Brother… if word of this reaches Uncle’s ears…”
Our sister Atalante was far sharper than I was. She’d never say something like that out loud, so I was shocked.
“No, that won’t happen. The soldiers who can move right now aren’t just Spartoi—they’ll never listen to commands to catch someone.”
“But…”
“If we’re too hasty, someone might actually get hurt. We need to rush to the king and clear this misunderstanding before it gets worse. If we do nothing, even Mother will be in trouble……”
“Ah!”
At that exact moment, the sound of marching footsteps echoed through the temple. Only certain people were allowed to wear weapons inside sacred grounds, but there he was—King Acrisius himself, leading a small contingent of soldiers straight into the hall.
“Perseus.”
“Your Majesty, Acrisius…”
His arrival had been too sudden. The other soldiers’ footsteps had come from outside the polis, but the king and his few guards had been here already. He must have entered first. This temple had been given to Acrisius by his sister Danae; he would have known the layout perfectly, and eavesdropping wouldn’t have been hard.
“I heard the entire story. Ah, please don’t be nervous. I’m here right now not as king, but as your family.”
“Is this… you were testing my true intentions…?”
“Forgive me. But the situation left me no choice.”
King Acrisius dropped the cloth he had been hiding behind, stood tall in his magnificent robes, and handed a gold coin to someone passing by. The old man who had just called out to me, “So you’ll be king~?!”—he was the one I had just talked to. He understood exactly how things had gone.
“I see you’re even capable of such tricks. How unexpected.”
“I didn’t become king of Argos by luck. You know me—I’m a man who worries too much and listens to no one’s true feelings. That’s why I couldn’t do anything else.”
But that unfortunate nature of his was exactly what saved me. Unlike the kings in other myths, Acrisius was extremely rational and knew how to speak with words. That was why he had chosen this method instead of directly harming another blood relative of mine.
“Perseus. Listen. Did I act foolishly just now?”
“No. You showed rare wisdom.”
“Rare wisdom? You’re not hiding your true feelings.”
“My brother Hermes once told the gods: ‘I won’t deliberately lie, but I won’t lie either.’ So if I speak my true feelings, King Acrisius—you have made an extremely good judgment.”
“Hearing that from you makes me feel a little embarrassed. I’m still just a kid, yet I’m being praised by an old man who’s lived longer than me. My shoulders are puffed up.”
I smiled happily, but the anxiety remained. Acrisius was still trembling. The matter hadn’t even been resolved, and the gossip had only just begun—it was completely natural for him to be this uneasy.
“May I ask why you made that judgment?”
“It was simple logic. I heard the rumor about my son Sisyphe’s crime while he was about to be properly punished. At first I was furious, but I’ve lived my whole life without ever truly losing my temper—so it quickly faded. I thought it over carefully. If I killed you here, how would the citizens react? It was too obvious.”
“Didn’t you consider using force? You’re the king. If your son commits a crime, you have the power to silence it. You could have just pretended not to know.”
“The dead soldiers were men I had known for a long time. They were betrayed by a ten-year-old child’s mouth, and without Atalante they would have died. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if I targeted you and angered the citizens. Your usual behavior created this situation, so you should be pleased.”
King Acrisius had praised me, but sharp-witted Atalante had sensed something odd. She was the kind of girl who almost never jumped into other people’s stories, yet she spoke up.
“U-uncle… why are you talking about this?”
“What? I just said it, didn’t I?”
“But… you mentioned why you came here, yet you never thanked Brother… There was no gratitude in your tone…”
“Atalante……”
His face twisted. From worry, it changed into deep sorrow. The shift in emotion was so violent I couldn’t process it at first, but he himself had just revealed the reason.
“You’re incredibly clever… All the children of Danae are clever… I’ve lived without ever envying anyone, but this time it’s different… If Sisyphe were as clever and kind-hearted as you two, this wouldn’t have happened…”
Even now I couldn’t guess why he had come this far. The soldiers’ footsteps had stopped, and he showed no intention of harming us. It wasn’t to beg for Sisyphe’s life either…
“Why did you come all the way here? If you came because of this situation, there must have been something you wanted to say. But I still can’t read your true intentions.”
“Forgive me. My business is finished.”
“Please tell me you didn’t harm Mother.”
“I’m a foolish man who couldn’t raise my own son properly, but I’m not foolish enough to harm my own blood. Everything—every single thing—was watched over by the gods. You’re the fairest judge I know. I saw you wouldn’t dismiss my complaint.”
“If I could, I would have lied to save Sisyphe, but Artemis personally came to check, so…”
“That’s why I considered your position.”
“My position?”
His words didn’t make sense. Why was this timid man here? I wanted to force the truth out of him. As I spoke, something cracked.
“Huh?”
Kyaaaaaaaak!!!
“E-everyone! Servants?!”
“Calm down. No one is being killed.”
King Acrisius had said it wasn’t murder, but the scream continued, and he couldn’t possibly calm everyone down. The soldiers rushed out of the temple the moment it was over, leaving me with a chill down my spine.
“You’re perceptive.”
King Acrisius had taken the time to watch me hold trials. At the time, he had been in the audience when I sentenced someone to death. He must have remembered the tool I had used back then.
“I heard a lot about you. You said you never harm anyone without the Styx water. That a person’s life is precious—one chance, one chance, and you never make mistakes because of it, right?”
That was true.
One grain of sand, one drop of water, one chance in a million—there is no absolute. So without the Styx water, I never issued death sentences. I had said it every single time during trials.
“Then… the jar that held the Styx water…?”
“Yes… If I can’t harm you, this is the only way… I said the trials would be held in the evening in the quiet hour. No matter how fast you are, bringing water from the Underworld would be impossible…”
“So you were going to keep Sisyphe’s life alive in this way.”
“I am his father… Even though I failed…”
That was all he had to say. The moment the story ended, he turned and left. Right behind me, the servants who had been causing trouble rushed forward and blurted out the fact that they had spilled the Styx water.
‘I have Hades’ blessing, so getting it back isn’t impossible…’
I could rush down and retrieve it immediately, but it wouldn’t actually solve anything. If I did that and cut off Acrisius’ last lifeline, he would change his mind.
‘Good thing it happened.’
Without the Styx water, death sentences were impossible. But if I just let the matter slide, even the citizens and Artemis wouldn’t accept it. To resolve this, I needed another method—and I had already decided to use it.
Which meant issuing a punishment equal to death.
I already had everything I needed.