The Mysterious Man

Erithea had never felt this scared before. When she met Satyr earlier, she was calmer because she still had the butterfly hair ornament on her head as her self-defense. But, just now Apollo took it. He says it was a rule in his palace, there should not be any dangerous thing there.

Now, a burly man was on top of her and smothered his hand to shut her mouth with a sharp gaze. How did he get in here? The window was closed, Erithea didn't see any cracks that could easily be penetrated through the thick stone chamber walls.

Erithea noticed that her heartbeat was fast and cold sweat was running down the back of her neck. Tears also started to well up in the corners of her eyes. When that person opened her mouth— Erithea would scream loudly. Apollo and his followers should still be around here.

"If you scream, I'll immediately suffocate you. You know what kind of suffering you go through when you're dying but your immortal titan body will keep trying to recover your body right? It won't be fast, it will be painful and excruciating..if I carry a dagger, I might stab your heart quickly because I feel sorry for you. But I won't do any of that if you promise to shut up and talk to me," the man said sharply.

Erithea immediately nodded. She will obey. Indeed what could a weak girl like her do in this situation?

The man unclasped his hands, he backed away and stood by Erithea's bed. The girl was shaking slightly trying to sit up. She couldn't relax at all on Olympus. Even when he had escaped from the forest and moved to the safe palace of Apollo— danger still lurked her.

"Who are you? Don't think about lying. I know if someone is trying to trick me," said the man again.

"My name is E-Erithea..I am the daughter of Kairos, the ruler of the Northern Forest," Erithea said in a weak and slightly stuttering voice.

"What are you doing here? I never heard that a princess would visit Olympus,"

"I ran away from my father, who wanted to force me to marry someone I didn't like," said Erithea again. She was not lying, she was just not revealing the truth.

"Then what did you do with Apollo? Why are you in the same chariot with him? I don't care if he's with a women in another city. But this is Olympus! He never brought his lover to Olympus!" The expression of the dashing man who was quite handsome was sad when he said it. It was as if someone had betrayed him.

"Prince Apollo helped me! I came alone to Olympus and in one day I was kidnapped by a satyr and almost devoured by a Cyclops. He insisted on being my protector. I'm His guest," Erithea said firmly. The man's aura was no longer so scary. His eyes softened with relief.

"You said you ran away from your father, but why to Olympus?" He investigated again.

"Because I want to be Artemis's follower," said Erithea firmly.

"Her followers? You will be one of the women who live a chaste life untouched forever?" The man confirmed.

"Yeah, I guess," Erithea sounded doubtful as she said it.

"Okay, I got it wrong. I guess, for the first time in several hundred years, Apollo has finally found someone he's dating quite seriously..all the titans and the inhabitants of this palace probably think the same thing," said the man again who was now about to leave.

"Apollo won't touch a woman who's sworn to live a virgin forever. I don't think you're a threat. So I'll go. But I'll keep an eye on you," he continued.

"Wait a minute!" Erithea called out to him slightly emotional.

"Do you think it's okay for you to just walk away? You enter a girl's room and threaten her. I'm a princess! Who are you?" Erithea forgot that her current position wasn't completely safe. But the feeling of being irritated at the unfair and impolite treatment bothered her.

"You don't have to worry, I can't possibly touch you, no matter how beautiful you are," said the man again, looking at her a little sharply.

"You must take responsibility for this! You must be punished!" Erithea confirmed.

But the man laughed.

"Me? Princess, I'm not bound by any laws, I don't obey Olympus or any other small Titan kingdom. So, you can't punish me. If they insist on doing so, they'll have to kill me straight away..however, it will not be easy," he said arrogantly.

Erithea finally figured out how the man got into her room. He opened her bedroom window and was about to jump away. The girl had to remember to lock it. Maybe the window wasn't locked before she came in.

"Don't try to flirt with Apollo, he's mine," the man warned sternly before disappearing from his room.

Erithea tried to catch her breath as she sat back down on her bed. It turned out that Apollo's palace was not completely safe for her. She already had enemies for things she didn't do. Who was that man? Was he a follower of Apollo? Why didn't he like it when Erithea was around Apollo?

The girl felt she would no longer be able to relax. Being a follower of Artemis was probably the most rational thing right now. Zeus would be reluctant to touch someone who has sworn to keep her chastity. Other people also did not need to suspect that she would seduce their lovers. Her beauty made Erithea easily misunderstood. She had to live with prejudice. She couldn't dress up freely without avoiding the talk when she was trying to flirt with someone. Couldn't a woman look beautiful for themselves?

Why should one suspect her of being seductive when she was close to a powerful man? Couldn't they think that Erithea might have some serious business with him? Work problems for example or something else?

Erithea had experienced something like this before. When she greeted and hosted a prince from another Titan nation— her sister thought she was trying to seduce him. Though Erithea just wanted to be polite to him. All because she was beautiful, no one took her seriously enough.

Erithea wanted to try new things, apart from staying silent like a princess whose only job was to smile. But even a simple task like that made her always misunderstood. Neither the women accused her of trying to seduce their lover. Or the men thought Erithea liked him. In the past hundred years, the girl rarely smiled because of that.

Currently, she holds the title of the most beautiful Titan—although Aphrodite's supporters have repeatedly denied this. Apollo, had the title of the most handsome titan. But Apollo didn't feel like he had to keep himself smiling at everyone. Unlike Erithea. It didn't feel fair for her.

"Princess Erithea," a woman knocked on her bedroom door.

"Yes?" She said, a little startled.

"Your bath water is ready, we will prepare you for dinner with Prince Apollo," said the woman again.