Chapter 1

It’s been three years since my union ceremony with Cassia, the goddess of war.

But she has refused to complete our final Soul-Binding before the Moirai eighteen times.

Eighteen.

The first time, it was for a mortal servant she’d taken in, a boy named Lycus. His fragile mortal blood needed purifying.

I waited for her all day in a freezing hailstorm, right in front of Hestia’s eternal flame.

The second time, she heard the mortal’s cry for help through a communication stone. She wheeled her chariot around and left me standing on the temple steps.

After that, every time we were supposed to take our vows, something would happen. Some new problem with that fragile mortal.

My heart turned to ash. I was done.

But when I stepped onto the ferry to the Isle of Oblivion—the gods' forbidden land—she chased me.

Like a madwoman.

Begging me to forgive her.

Chapter 1

My wife, Cassia, is Olympus's new, unrivaled goddess of war.

Today is a milestone. Her one-thousandth victory in the arena. A feast in her honor.

It’s also the seventeenth time she’s promised me we’d finally complete our Soul-Binding.

But right now? She’s shielding him. Lycus. The mortal servant she claims saved her at the foot of Mount Olympus.

“Give the healing nectar to Lycus. The raw power of Olympus is crushing him.”

I froze beside her seat, my knuckles white as I gripped the back of her chair.

Three hours ago, in the arena, I took a blast of fatal poison for her. A venomous spray from a beast of Tartarus.

My divine power is almost gone. Black, toxic blood is crawling up my throat.

I need that nectar to live.

But Cassia didn’t even look at me.

She snatched the golden flask. Without a second thought, she poured it into the mortal’s mouth.

“Lady Cassia…” Lycus murmured, leaning against her. He glanced at me, all wide-eyed innocence. “Lord Aresion is hurt, too. It’s such a waste to give the nectar to me…”

“Don’t argue. Drink it.” Cassia’s voice was gentle as she used her power to soothe him. “He is an immortal. A little poison won't kill him. You’re just a mortal. This pressure will crush your organs.”

It won’t kill me. She’s right.

I swallowed the black blood rising in my throat.

It’s fine. I told myself.

Once the feast ends, we’ll go to the eternal flame. We’ll complete the binding. The resonance of our souls will burn away the poison.

The feast finally ended.

I fought off the dizziness and followed Cassia, ready to step onto her celestial chariot.

The next second, a hand pressed against my chest.

Cassia blocked the door, looking down at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Going to the eternal flame. For the binding. Did you forget?” My voice was a raw whisper.

“Oh, that. Today’s not a good day. Some other time.” She looked guilty, but she cut me off anyway.

She glanced back at Lycus in the chariot. “The night wind is too cold. His mortal body can’t take the chill of Olympus. I have to get him back to his chambers. Now.”

My blood turned to ice.

For a mortal. Because of a chill in the air.

On her seventeenth promised day, she was going to leave me here again. Wounded. On the temple steps. For everyone to see.

“You’re leaving me here? For him?” The poison was already creeping up my neck.

“Aresion, are you done?” Her voice rose, eyes filled with disgust. “You are a god. Why are you fighting with a fragile mortal? What are you so jealous of?!”

Jealous.

That word. It used to make me see red. I’d scream. I’d demand to know why she was destroying my pride.

But now… looking at her face, furious at me for another man…

The sharp pain inside me just…vanished.

All that was left was a deep, bone-crushing exhaustion.

I took a step back. I forced a polite smile.

“Fine.” I looked at her, my voice calm. “The wind is strong. Be careful on your way.”

Cassia froze.

She clearly didn't expect me to give in. A flicker of panic crossed her eyes.

But she quickly put her mask of superiority back on. “Good. I’m glad you see reason. I’ll have Hephaestus forge you a new weapon to make up for this.”

Then, she turned and raised her hand.

A golden ward of the highest order shimmered into existence, wrapping Lycus in its protective glow.

The chariot shot into the sky.

I stood there. Alone.

I remembered eight years ago. I took a fatal curse from Thanatos himself for her. I was on the brink of death.

It was the middle of a blizzard, but she had cried, tearing open the roof of the chariot with her bare hands.

She let the hail cut her to ribbons, just so the open air could clear the stench of blood. Just so I could breathe.

And now? For another man, she left me here to die, bleeding black poison.

The holy light of the Olympian noon beat down on me, but all I felt was cold.

I reached into my coat. My fingers found the vow stone, carved with both our names. It was still dark and dull. We had never completed the binding.

I closed my eyes. I pushed it deep into my pocket.

I knew. It was time to let go of these eight years. All of it.

Chapter 2

I went to the temple. I placed the insignia—the badge of the second-in-command of the War Council—on the High Priest’s table.

The High Priest looked up.

His face changed when he saw me. When he saw the black, venomous veins on my neck.

“Aresion? What is this? The Tartarean beast’s poison… it’s not gone? Didn’t Cassia give you the healing nectar?!”

“High Priest, I’m here to submit a request.”

My voice was flat. I pushed a scroll across the table to him.

“I wish to leave the War Council. And dissolve my command under Cassia.”

“What?” The High Priest stared, his eyes wide with disbelief. Then his gaze locked onto the poison on my neck. His voice trembled. “Without the nectar, and without completing the Soul-Binding today… the Tartarean venom will rot your divine essence! To live, your only chance now is to drink from the Waters of Lethe!”

“But those waters… while they wash away the poison, they also wash away every memory from your soul! Every emotional bond!” The High Priest shot to his feet, his eyes filled with anguish. “You’ll forget everything from the last eight years! Including your love for Cassia! How can you do this? You two are the golden couple of Olympus!”

A dull ache stabbed through my heart. Then, only bitterness remained.

Once, I also thought that our eight years of love were more important than my life.

“That was before, High Priest.” I gave a hollow smile.

She has a new man by her side now.

With her power as the goddess of war, she doesn't need me anymore.

If this love has become a fatal poison… then let it be washed away. Washed away with the Tartarean venom, on that forgotten island.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” I looked down, my voice exhausted to the core. “I’ve already signed it. Please, affix your seal.”

He saw the dead stillness in my eyes. The High Priest opened his mouth, then closed it with a long sigh.

The golden seal of divine authority came down.

Night.

I dragged my aching body back to the chambers I shared with Cassia.

The air was thick with her favorite scent, cedarwood. But the room was empty.

Suddenly, the Iris-pool on the table flared to life.

A forced mind-link.

I fed a wisp of power into it. An image appeared on the water’s surface.

In the frame, Lycus was lounging on my side of the bed.

He was wearing Cassia’s favorite silk robe.

In the background, I could hear Cassia’s voice. Incredibly gentle.

“Is the water warm enough? You’re so fragile, you mustn't catch a chill.”

“It’s perfect. Thank you, my goddess.”

Lycus’s voice was sickly sweet. He shifted the magical reflection, flashing me a triumphant smirk.

“Lord Aresion. So sorry to bother you this late.”

He deliberately pulled open his robe, showing off the glowing mark of solace on his collarbone. A unique blessing from the goddess of war.

“Lady Cassia has been with me all afternoon. She said she’s taking me to see a play in the mortal realm tomorrow. To lift my spirits.”

He paused, his eyes full of malicious pity.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to spend the night alone in your chambers. Shall I ask Lady Cassia to send some painkillers for you?”

Before, my heart would have been torn to shreds.

I would have screamed. Demanded to know why she let a mortal humiliate me like this.

But now… watching this ridiculous scene… I didn’t even have the energy to argue.

My heart felt like it had been scooped out. Empty. Numb. Cold.

“No need. Have fun.”

I cut the connection.

The vision shattered, dissolving into a still puddle of water.

The chambers were silent again. Dead silent.

I knew Cassia wouldn't be back tonight.

But I didn’t care anymore. The venom throbbed in my neck, a reminder of my fading life.

I walked to the shrine in the corner and found the route map to the Isle of Oblivion.

The Isle of Oblivion. The forbidden land of the gods.

Five years ago, Cassia suffered her most brutal defeat there.

She was gravely wounded. She watched her handmaiden die in her arms.

From that day on, the Isle of Oblivion became her absolute taboo. Anyone who mentioned it would face her wrath.

And now, I was going there.

To drink from the spring that could cure the Tartarean venom. The spring that could also erase all love and heartbreak.

If I’m going to make a clean break, I’ll do it in a place she would never dare to set foot. I will wash away this poison and eight years of humiliation. All of it.

I bit my fingertip, using my divine blood to summon a messenger from the Underworld.

“Book me a spot on the ferry across the Styx. Two days from now. I’m going to the Isle of Oblivion.” I handed him a golden drachma for Charon.

The messenger bowed and vanished in a puff of black smoke.

I turned back. I packed my last few belongings and left a single scroll on the table—my formal resignation from the War Council.

Looking around the empty chambers, I whispered to no one.

“Cassia. After I go to the Isle, I don’t think we’ll ever see each other again.”

Chapter 3

The next morning, I was packing my bag.

The door opened. Cassia walked in, looking tired.

Instantly, the sharp, pungent smell of mortal herbs assaulted me.

It was Lycus’s scent.

My hands stilled.

Cassia’s senses are incredibly sharp.

Before, if I had even a hint of monster’s blood or sweat on me, she’d wrinkle her nose and order me to the divine springs to bathe.

She always said she couldn’t stand any mixed scents.

But now, she stood there, cloaked in the smell of mortal herbs, completely at ease.

In that moment, I finally understood. She didn't hate mixed scents.

She just hated mine.

“Lycus couldn’t absorb the divine power in the nectar last night. He came down with a high fever.”

Cassia walked to the table, offering an explanation. There wasn’t a trace of guilt in her voice.

“I had to stay in the guest room to soothe him. I couldn't get away, so I didn’t come back.”

She didn’t ask if my poison was cured.

She didn’t even notice the official scroll on the table.

Her gaze fell on the bag I was packing.

I saw it clearly. The tension in her shoulders released. She let out a small, almost inaudible sigh of relief.

“Going to hunt monsters?” she asked.

She probably thought I was running off to the battlefield to blow off steam. To avoid another fight with her.

“Yeah,” I said. I didn’t correct her.

“Good. Go clear your head.”

She was already distracted, walking quickly toward the inner chamber.

A moment later, she came back with a pouch full of powerful wards and the lightest, most form-fitting piece of mail armor.

Preparations for her night out with Lycus. For the play. In case they ran into monsters.

“I have to go. Lycus can’t be left alone right now.”

She grabbed her things and walked out without a backward glance.

CRACK.

The enchanted portrait that had hung on the wall for eight years crashed to the floor. It shattered.

I stopped. I looked down at the glittering magical shards.

It was a moving image of us, from the first time we fought a Siren together.

In the picture, a drenched Cassia was clinging to my hand.

She had looked me in the eye that day and promised: Aresion, I will always fight by your side.

But ever since Lycus, she’d forgotten everything.

From outside the door, there was no sound. No pause. She didn’t even care what had broken.

I stood there in silence for a long time.

Then, I slowly knelt down. I picked up the shards, piece by piece.

I walked to the fireplace. I tossed them in, along with the last shred of hope in my heart. I watched them burn.

Evening.

I was sitting in the empty chambers when my brother-in-arms, Damon, shattered my peace with a furious mind-link.

“Aresion! Is Cassia insane?!”

Damon’s roar made my ears ring. “I get she wants to protect that mortal, but she has to at least protect your dignity! Your vows aren’t even broken, and she’s flaunting her affair with that loser on the public Iris-pool for all of Olympus to see!”

I calmly touched the pool in front of me, opening the projection.

Lycus had cast a new vision into the public pool.

In the image, a shimmering, priceless defensive bracer encircled his pale wrist.

I recognized it instantly. A top-tier artifact forged by Hephaestus himself.

Glowing letters hovered beneath his image: “Three years of being blessed by a goddess. Thank the fates for you, my goddess. Happy third anniversary!”

Third anniversary.

I stared at those words for a long time.

Today wasn’t just the third anniversary of Lycus becoming her servant.

It was the third anniversary of my union ceremony with Cassia.

So, it’s our anniversary again.

For three years, on this exact day, she used Lycus’s poor health as an excuse to leave me alone.

After a while, even I forgot what day it was.

Only the mortal remembered. Because for him, it was a day of victory.

“This is too much!” Damon was still raging. “It’s your third anniversary! It’s one thing for her not to be with you, but to give a Hephaestus-grade artifact to a mortal? What does she think you are?! Are you just going to take this? Go break the vows!”

Listening to my friend’s shock and outrage, I just let out a long breath.

The weight that had been crushing my chest for three years finally lifted.

“There are no vows to break, Damon,” I said calmly. “Because in three years, we never even completed the Soul-Binding.”

“You’ve been joined for three years? And Cassia never bound herself to you?!”

The shocked cry from the mind-link nearly deafened me.

Yes. The ceremony was three years ago.

And for him, that mortal, she had refused to bind her soul to mine. Seventeen times.

Chapter 4

Eleven o’clock at night.

The door to the chambers opened. A rare sight. Cassia was back.

The moment she stepped inside, her eyes shot to the wall above the fireplace.

Seeing the empty space where the portrait used to be, she stopped. Panic flickered in her eyes.

“Where’s our portrait?” she blurted out, her voice tight.

“It fell this morning when you left. It shattered.” I sat on the divine couch, polishing my longsword. I didn’t even look up. “I cleaned it up. Burned it in the fireplace.”

“It fell?” She let out a long breath, the tension leaving her body. “Well, if it shattered, it shattered. It was an old thing from eight years ago anyway. I brought you a gift.”

She walked over and pulled an enchanted dagger from her bag, holding it out to me.

“Aresion. Happy third anniversary.”

She smiled, a little guiltily. “I know I’ve wronged you these past few years. I picked this dagger out especially for you today. For your protection.”

I stopped polishing my sword and looked at the dagger.

Specially picked out.

She had no idea. In my storeroom, there were already three identical daggers.

Cheap, common enchanted weapons you could buy for a few gold coins at the market outside Hephaestus’s main workshop.

She couldn’t even be bothered to find a new way to placate me.

“Thank you.” I didn’t call her out. I just took it and set it aside.

I didn’t complain about the cheap gift. I didn’t ask her about her night at the play with Lycus.

My calmness surprised her. But it also pleased her.

She hesitated, then finally revealed the real reason she had come home tonight.

“Aresion… about the Trial of Divinity at the end of the year… can you withdraw?” she asked, her eyes darting away from mine.

The Trial of Divinity.

The ultimate trial held on Olympus once a century. The winner receives a golden apple from the Hesperides, granting eternal life.

As Olympus's deadliest commander, I was the favorite to win.

She once told me that when I got the golden apple, we could be together forever.

“Why?” I looked at her.

“Lycus is just a mortal. His lifespan is too short.” She bit her lip, then just came out with it. “He needs that apple to gain immortality. But with you in the trial, he has no chance of winning. I was hoping you would voluntarily withdraw. Give him the opportunity.”

To let that mortal win, she was asking me, her partner, to give up the highest honor.

I looked at her entitled expression, and suddenly, I wanted to laugh.

“Fine.” I nodded, without any hesitation. “I’ll withdraw.”

I was leaving Olympus tomorrow anyway. The trial meant nothing to me.

Cassia was overjoyed.

She clearly didn’t expect me to agree so easily.

“Aresion, you’re the best! I knew you’d understand!”

She took an excited step forward, as if to hug me, but stopped herself awkwardly.

“To make it up to you, tomorrow morning, we’ll go to the eternal flame and complete the Soul-Binding! I swear, I won’t postpone it again!”

I looked at her, so full of promises. I was about to tell her that I was leaving for the Isle of Oblivion tomorrow afternoon.

Just then, the communication stone at her waist began to flash.

“Lady Cassia, help me!”

Lycus’s tearful voice came from the stone. “I was in the temple just now and I got burned by a cursed ward on a statue! It hurts so much…”

Cassia’s face fell.

“Stay right there! I’m coming!” she yelled frantically into the stone.

Then she turned to me, her eyes filled with guilt. “Aresion, Lycus is hurt, I have to go check on him…”

“Go.” I simply waved my hand. “He needs you more.”

She looked like she’d been granted a pardon. Without another word, she bolted from the chambers.

The next morning, I picked up my packed bag and went straight to the ferry dock for the River Styx.

At two in the afternoon, I stood before the ferry, the cold wind whipping my cloak.

The communication stone at my waist lit up. A message from Cassia.

“Aresion, I’m so sorry. Lycus’s injury is a bit serious. I took him to Apollo’s temple for treatment. I might not make it back. I’m sorry about postponing the ceremony. I promise I’ll make it up to you next time.”

The eighteenth time.

I stared at the casual words. I didn’t even feel a flicker of anger.

I took out the stone and recorded one last message with my thoughts.

“Don’t bother. I’ve already submitted the papers to the High Priest to dissolve our union. I’m on my way to the Isle of Oblivion now. I wish you two happiness. May we never meet again.”

I sent the final message. My hand slowly tightened, ready to crush the stone and sever our connection for good.

But the next second, the stone, which had been silent for so long, began to vibrate wildly.