Battle of the Main Wives (5) It's an Unwritten Rule That the Title Cover Heroine Is the Main Wife
Battle of the Main Wives (5) It's an Unwritten Rule That the Title Cover Heroine Is the Main Wife
The story that Hera had slapped Zeus spread across Olympus.
Those who heard the news reacted in different ways—some marveled at Hera's nerve, some admired her resolve, some raged at her insolence.
As the saying goes, a woman's worst enemy is another woman.
The goddesses wasted no time revealing their true feelings about Hera's outrageous act.
"How could she strike Lord Zeus's cheek?!"
"This can never be forgiven!"
"Hera must withdraw from the Principal-Wife Contest! She should be ashamed of herself!"
The goddesses voiced their opinions in unison, shaping public sentiment.
But their collective opinion amounted to no more than a handful of ash.
"Still... after that, Lord Zeus seems to have fallen completely for Hera, doesn't he?"
Zeus began following Hera everywhere she went, and the goddesses were thrown into shock.
The lengths he went to in order to win one woman's heart were more than enough to shatter the goddesses' common sense.
What form had the courtship of the old Titan gods taken?
(Stage direction) Boom! A door slams open.
Goddess: (startled voice) Oh my, what is the matter?
The god strikes the goddess across the face without warning, then seizes her roughly by the hair.
God: (cocksure expression) From today you are my wife. Spread your legs.
End.
Romance?
No such thing.
When a Titan god seized a goddess by force and made her bear his children, they usually ended up married.
If the goddess's parents were powerful Titans, she had some measure of choice, but even that choice amounted to picking from among the men her parents had selected or choosing to live as a virgin.
In the midst of all that, the behavior Zeus displayed toward Hera was staggering.
"Demeter, where did you get these flowers?" Zeus asked.
"I'll go find them for you, Lord Zeus," Demeter offered.
"No. I'll go myself and gather them with my own hands," Zeus said.
Zeus went to the place where the flowers bloomed most beautifully and picked them himself.
Then he made them into a bouquet and came to stand before Hera's door.
Knock, knock.
Zeus rapped on the door with the back of his hand.
Witnessing a sight like that—Ah, this is what they call a knock—some of the goddesses, especially those who had previously had husbands, could not help comparing their former husbands to Zeus.
A door flying open without warning was the default.
Plenty of times there wasn't even a door, or they had no private room at all.
Creeeak.
"Who is it...?"
When the door opened, Hera flinched at the sight of Zeus.
And then everyone was stunned by what Zeus did next.
"I—love—you—"
Zeus sang, whispering his love in melody.
Then he handed Hera the bouquet.
"Th-this..."
Hera's face flushed red even as her expression twisted into a scowl.
Her look was so aggrieved, so close to tears, that the goddesses watching from behind could make no sense of it.
Slam!
Hera shut the door violently.
Zeus stood dazed in front of the door for a long while, then set the bouquet down before it and knocked again with the back of his hand.
Knock, knock-knock, knock-knock, knock.
"Wanna make a baby with me?"
Crash!
"...Yeah. Goodbye."
Zeus trudged away, deflated.
All of it was an act.
The more Hera played hard to get, the harder I clung to her.
—What do I do, what am I suppoooosed to do
I learned the lyre and confessed my love as if casually strumming a guitar.
—I loooove you, Hera——!!
I confessed my love for Hera loudly enough to shake all of Olympus.
—I won't have sex with anyone until I do it with Hera.
I displayed an obsessive fixation on Hera, and outwardly I made a compelling case that I genuinely loved her.
The stray rounds hit unexpected targets.
"Aren't you being a little too special in how you treat only Hera?"
That was my mother, Rhea.
She came to see me.
She was accompanied by my other sisters—all of them except Hera—and they pressured me.
"Mother, you know as well as I do. This is all an act. A performance meant to make Hera the highest goddess of Olympus."
"I know. That's exactly why I'm saying this. I am your mother, but I'm also Hera's mother. Hera... if this goes on, it could backfire."
Rhea was right.
If Hera kept refusing me and I kept showing obsession toward her, an unfortunate situation would arise where the other goddesses grew jealous of Hera.
Everything requires moderation.
Push-and-pull means you push in moderation and pull at the right moment—if you push blindly, you simply topple forward.
At this point, resentment toward Hera was at its peak.
At this point, everyone's emotions were running high.
And now, with Rhea stepping in because she could no longer stand to watch—this was the moment.
"I know. I know perfectly well what you're worried about, Rhea. If this keeps going, complaints against Hera will boil over."
"There may also be goddesses who start looking down on you. Goddesses who think they measure up to Hera and start treating you carelessly."
"I know. So the time has come to end the act with Hera. All four of you—and you, Mother Rhea—will you help me?"
"Help you? How?"
"Rhea, I need you to stand in as Hera's double. And the other four of you, do as follows."
I outlined my plan to the five members of my family.
"...I like it. Very much. Mm. Truly... I like it."
"Brother, won't once be too little?"
"She's right, elder brother. I believe we each need to practice once and... share the sensation with one another!"
"If we don't do it, you won't help us?"
"Brother really understands women too well..."
"Heh."
Could anyone overcome a confession perfected through K-Romance Dramas?
My previous life.
In my previous life, I'd worked to seduce women, and my girlfriend loved them, so I'd made a point of watching the dramas women liked. Thanks to that, I had countless romantic scenes stored in my head.
"The rule is, the more cringey the confession, the higher the success rate."
The reason is simple.
"If you're handsome, everything works out."
My sincere gratitude goes to the face of Zeus.
Then.
Whoosh.
Flames kindled on either side of Hera.
Small braziers rising from the earth held embers no bigger than a fist, casting light all around her.
The braziers began marking a path ahead, lining up left and right.
Hera followed the path forward, and the goddesses who had gathered behind her followed a few paces back.
Whoosh, whoosh.
The path lit up in time with Hera's steps.
Beautiful flowers had filled the spaces along the path before she knew it, and Hera walked forward barefoot, careful not to crush them.
When the cave passage opened out, it revealed a wide field.
Amid lush green vegetation, the braziers fanned out left and right at the center of the meadow.
There stood a blond man in white clothes. Unlike the garments of the Titan gods, his white outfit was divided into separate upper and lower pieces, and everyone swallowed dryly at the sight.
"Ah..."
Hera was no exception.
Like a butterfly spellbound by the scent of flowers, Hera walked toward the man waiting for her holding a single bloom—Zeus.
Flicker.
All the lanterns lit up at once.
Their arrangement centered around Zeus and Hera, tracing the shape of a ♡.
Zeus parted his lips, his voice low.
"Hera."
At that, white mist began wafting up alongside the braziers, and transparent droplets began rising above it.
The droplets, too, traced the shape of ♡.
"Thank you for coming."
Zeus inclined his upper body and gently drew Hera's left hand toward himself.
Kiss.
He pressed his lips to Hera's fourth finger—
—and dropped to one knee!
Hera froze at Zeus's unexpected action, and the same was true for everyone watching.
"Hera."
Zeus drew something from his bosom.
A tiny case rested in his hand, and with a soft click Zeus flipped it open.
"Will you marry me?"
Inside the case was a ring.
A silver band set with a red gem that seemed to match the color of Hera's hair.
"If you'll have me, extend your left hand."
"..."
Hera extended her left hand forward.
Zeus lifted the ring from the case with extreme care and slipped it onto Hera's fourth finger.
It fit perfectly, as though it had been crafted for her finger from the start.
Zeus quietly rose from his knee and clasped both of Hera's hands.
"I will make you happy forever."
"Truly..."
Hera bit her lower lip.
"Are you trying... to take me as your wife?"
"Of course. Will you be... my last wife?"
His last wife.
In effect, a promise that he would take no more wives after Hera.
But words, as ever, carry no binding force.
And so the goddesses did not believe Zeus no matter how sweetly he spoke.
He was an absolute power who could disregard any verbal promise at will.
Everyone thought so.
"From now on, I will love you for the rest of my life."
But they were wrong.
The goddesses didn't know Zeus—not nearly well enough.
"I swear it on the River Styx."
Huh? Me?
Why is my name suddenly coming up?
Even Styx, who had been watching, was horrified and dumbstruck, wondering if she'd heard correctly.
Zeus whispered eternal love to Hera.
And should he ever cease to love Hera, then Zeus would suffer the penalty for breaking an oath on the River Styx.
A supremely fatal act—the chief god shattering his own authority with his own hands.
"That's... unfair."
Zeus had gone so far as to shackle himself, yet still he told Hera he loved her.
"When you go this far... how could I possibly refuse."
Hera wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
More genuinely joyful than when Cronus was defeated, she let herself be held in Zeus's arms.
"I love you too... brother."
Hera whispered her love softly enough that no one else could hear.
"Heh."
Zeus swept Hera up into his arms.
Then, as if showing off to everyone around them, he turned in a full circle, spinning Hera along with him.
"Then let's go make a baby!"
"Huh? Ah, but I'm already carrying your child..."
"Give birth to that one and then give birth again!"
"Ah...!"
The goddesses bit their lips at Zeus's radiant smile.
She already carried Zeus's child in her womb, and yet Hera had already received a verbal promise from him to conceive the next one.
"Ah, brother..."
Hera placed her hands on Zeus's shoulders...
"My... my belly..."
"...Huh?"
Trickle.
Clear fluid began running down Hera's legs.
The water shimmered like the Milky Way itself...
Several hours later.
Wah.
The first child born from Hera was so unbearably cute and lovely...
Wah.
...a baby girl.