Beauty Of Thebes

Chapter 20: How Could He?

Thebes three royal princesses kept a close eye on the divine event they experienced last night. 

Ignorant of the current situation outside the bedroom, Eutostea asked how her sisters handled the guards that stood outside the front doors. Askitea foolishly said her belly ached and burned while she slept. Due to this, her nose was stuck on the pole while she slept until the early morning chicken cried. It was a far cry from the truth and was unreasonable too, but the guards believed her.

The power of beauty truly moves men’s hearts. 

“I thought we’d be able to do something last night too,” Hersia sighed and muttered. She continued showing signs of anxiety. Her hands trembled. “I couldn’t speak. That man… the strength I felt from him, I could barely stand as I tried to push him away nor could I look at him straight in the eye… Eutostea… how were you able to look at him straight in the eye with a clear voice?”

The eyes of the two elder sisters turned to their youngest.

Eutostea sat on the bed with her long, black hair hanging down. She looked calm and stable, more so than her sisters.

“I had to say it. If I didn’t, we might face the wrath of a god. Thebes might end up in ruins.”

Hersia looked into Eutostea’s eyes sincerely.

Meanwhile, Askitea, concerned about her dry skin due to yesterday’s uproar, looked in the mirror with a shocked face. She opened the moonflower oil she brought from the bath and spread it on her face. Unlike Hersia, she recovered from last night’s ordeal much quicker.

“Will you be okay, sister?” Askitea asked while admiring herself in the mirror.

“Yeah. I’ll be okay. I’ll stay in the room to rest.”

Eutostea had a throbbing headache. 

She was aware that she acted haughty and arrogant in the presence of a god. She’d even demanded that he leave for she was furious. How did he not see her when he’d spent many nights with her? A maidservant? Is that what he thinks of her? 

Yes… that’s right… he had mistaken her until the very end. 

She could find excuses, but each time she replayed the memory in her head, it ached that a god was unable to see her.

“Are you okay?” Hersia asked.

Askitea stopped her self-care routined and looked at Eutostea. 

Eutostea wore a bitter smile. “Why do you worry about me? Why all of a sudden? You’re not acting like the sisters I know.”

“Through and all that happened to us, you’re still my sister, our sister. And besides, we’ve gone through that horrible disaster yesterday. I think it’s proper that we go through this together,” Hersia replied.

Eutostea’s eyes softened. Looking at her sister, Hersia seemed to have gradually recovered from the fear. The trembling in her hands faded. Maybe it was because she’s playing the part of a brave, older sister.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Hersia asked again.

Eutostea parted her lips but closed it.

Apollo’s behavior was unjust. It was sudden, arbitrary… and sexual. The first night, she felt like a jewel stuck in a mansion for eons only to be suddenly stolen in the dead of the night. On the second night, she had a stubborn thought that it’d not work between her and the god. On their third night, she speculated that he knew her true identity and that he was attracted to her, Eutostea, not her sister. On the fourth day, she had similar thoughts. He slept next to her comfortably and completely defenseless. She could hear his heart beating.

But…

When they shared their nights of passion, had never felt anything? True. Their relationship was a forced beginning, but… she came to accept it. She had accepted Apollo’s kisses and caress, she accepted the pleasure he gave her. 

But…

The thought of it sent her further in anger.

How could he not know her true identity?

How did he not recognize her?

He indulged in her body as if he loved her. 

Had he thought of her as her sister all along?

Eutostea sighed. She felt miserable. 

“Eutostea?” 

Askitea touched her youngest sister’s shoulder.

Tears dripped down Eutostea’s face. Askitea leaned forward and wiped it away.

“I felt… that I wasn’t special… but when he hugged me, I felt like I mattered… I held those memories close because I wasn’t sure how long our nightly meetings would last. I had hopes that this day would never come… Oh Artemis, how am I able to raise my head and say I’m the Princess of Thebes…?”

As Apollo’s fake body melted, she remembered those pairs of glowing eyes that looked at her as it came tumbling down.

She wondered if he’ll ever remember her.

A while later, Eutotea left to take a bath alone. She told her sisters that she needed time to think. Askitea and Hersia left her be as she had wished.