Author's rambling: the day I write is the day I think.

Lol that's so true. Don't you know, I always have L*ngman dictionary ready whenever I write. Often I'd get confused over many things, especially grammar (oh, no! I forgot to add 's' to that verb!), whether it's an imaginary situation (hmm... this is not real, so the verb should be in past), whether I'm using the phrasal verb correctly, whether the word I'm using is noun or adjective.

Often English confuses me so. The goods being carried by ship are called cargo, but the ones by car are called shipment. Vegetarian eats vegetable, sure, but what does a humanitarian eat? Someone who writes is called writer, but why is someone who draws stuffs called artist not drawer? A teacher teaches, but a finger... fings?

Lol I don't know anymore. I probably should stop thinking about English and just write.

This is a long chapter, though.

~-0o-o0-~

"I am not useless. I'll prove it to you that I can be the ideal wife."

~-0o-o0-~

Chapter 24

~ The First Lesson ~

H/P/H/P

"You are definitely going to corrupt her," Cronus states bluntly. "One look at her and you should know that she is untainted—a pure being. Are you out of your mind?"

Rhea sighs and sits down at the edge of her bed, "...I don't know. Something evil must have possessed me... Persephone, she didn't know what she asked for."

Cronus makes no move to soothe her. Instead, he chuckles evilly, "You reap what you sow. This must be a divine punishment for your wild lust."

"For your information, I don't sleep around," Rhea snorts in disgust, "don't lump me with that slut Aphrodite."

To her surprise, he laughs. His rude laugh annoys her and she glares daggers at him. Slowly he stops. A mocking smile makes its way to his thin lips as he looks at her as if she was the most interesting specimen in the earth.

He asks lightly, "But you do sleep with women, don't you?"

"It was all in the past."

"How about Hecate, then?"

Rhea turns her head sharply to Cronus, "How did you...?" then she growls, "were you spying on me? We are... bored, that's all! We are just playing around!"

He embraces her from behind, savoring her scent, and casually gropes her. She moans cutely when he pinches her nipples, "I know, I know. You don't have to be so upset. I won't be disgusted by your... uniqueness, as long as you remain faithful to me. But to be honest, this is so amusing. I can't wait to see how you'll handle that innocent little twit."

"Can't wait?" Rhea mutters angrily, "you won't be here because I will tell Hades about you. You escaped on your own and I have nothing to do with you. This time, he'll make sure that you'll never, ever escape."

Cronus arches his brow in amusement, "Hypocrite as always. Do you think he'd believe you? If somebody noticed that I'm not inside that crystal, you'd be the prime suspect in this incident. You are tied to me, Rhea. You have no choice but to hide me."

Rhea gasps at that, eyes widening in fear. A second later, her sky-blue eyes are blazing with fury. A voice full of hatred comes out from her lips, "...I hate you."

"I love you, too. You are unbelievably beautiful when you are hurting. Undress so that we can enjoy our limited time together."

Rhea doesn't fight back and undoes one of her brooches...

0000

I sneeze.

Quickly I clean my noses, wondering if someone is talking behind my back. Thankfully I didn't sneeze in front of people. What would they think of me when they saw me sneezing?

I don't have much to do in this place other than reading. To pass the time, I go to my private garden. It's different from it was three years ago. The place used to be desolate and empty. The Underworld very rarely had visitors and Hades rarely spent his time in the garden. He'd prefer to sit in his armchair, reading a book.

But now, every corner of it is full of flowers. With my power, it is easy to bless them. Enchanted with divine power, the flowers are able to grow without sunlight. Hades noticed my power right away and had the garden decorated with pillars, chairs, and even fountains.

I blush.

He did it for me.

Quickly I shake my head. He wants to buy my empathy using cheap decorations so that it'd be easier for him to use me. I know him well enough.

I gaze emptily at a patch of roses in the distance as my mind wanders to the fateful event three years ago.

I was so clueless back then. I didn't even know that there was a law to bind someone to the Underworld for eternity. I was angry. I was upset.

No one told me and I was angry at myself from being such an idiot.

I was being sheltered too much that I my knowledge suffered from it. I didn't know how the world worked and how I should live in it.

"I want her in the Underworld to rule as my rightful wife. I will have no other.

I still don't understand why Hades was being persistent. I'm just a minor goddess without an outstanding power and was born fatherless, at that. My father, Iaison was a mortal and there's a possibility that I am a demi-goddess. I'd be dead forty or maybe fifty years later. Why won't Hades see sense?

I sigh.

The Underworld is almost timeless. There's no way to tell if it's night or day, but I've been living here long enough to tell the time. It's around nine in the morning.

Until ten more hours to my first lesson.

I wonder what kind of lesson Rhea will teach me. I'm kind of scared but excited. Scared of the unknown.

What if the lesson is pretty awkward? What if I don't meet her expectation and end up disappointing her? However, I'm also excited to learn new things. This stuff about how to please Hades is making me giddy.

All of a sudden, Rhea's expression comes to mind.

About her demonstration, is there something wrong with it? She was staring at me quite hard back then. Did I say something wrong? It's just a demonstration, right? Nothing will go wrong, right?

Oh, forget it. It must've been something so trivial.

I feel a hand on my head, patting it gently. Looking up, I found Hades standing behind me. He doesn't smile at me and quietly sit down beside me.

The stone steps were cold, but they warm up after Hades' arrival. I don't know why.

We spend our time in silence. Neither of us has the will to start a conversation. Feeling cold, I shift in my seat closer to him and lean against his strong, cloaked arm. With his body close to me and my knees touching my shoulders, I feel a little bit warmer.

Hades, absentmindedly, begins fiddling with my finger. He doesn't even look at me and keep staring forward into nothingness.

His hand is a bit cold, but I don't mind.

I wish this comfortable moment could last forever...

Suddenly he whispers, "I want to touch you."

I open my eyes and look up to meet his icy-blue eyes. His expression is unreadable as always and I'm getting used to it.

I tilt my head in confusion. What did he mean by that? Isn't he touching my hand now? What's wrong with people around me? First, it was Rhea and now it's Hades. Do they know something that I don't?

A part of me is curious, so I nod.

Slowly Hades leans closer to my face and plants a kiss on my neck. Ignoring my beet-red face, he strokes my left arm up and down while sucking at my neck.

I feel heat rising in my body and I jerk away, "Wh-What are you doing?"

Mimicking me, he tilts his head, though his expression remains neutral. "This is touching."

"It isn't! It's... It's weird...!" I avert my eyes. I wish I could hide my crimson-colored face. How I wish the ground would swallow me whole!

"But you agreed," he points out. This man is definitely Hades, not some imposter pretending to be him. Listening to his curt answers make my head boil with annoyance.

I pout, "I-I agreed to because I didn't know what you mean! I-I was curious! So please stop it..."

At my stupid reason, Hades' face darkens. "If I could be honest, Persephone..."

I meet his gaze head-on. I'm not afraid of him.

He sneers at me and utters the most hurtful thing I've ever heard, "...you do live a leisure life, don't you? I am not expecting you to cook, nor do I expect you to clean like a mortal wife. When I ask for my right as a husband, you shrink from the only duty I want you to do. What I could possibly gain from you as my wife? I want a mate who understands what role should she plays in this household. Instead I've got myself a naïve wife who has abysmal knowledge in everything."

I can't face him.

His statement hurts me greatly. No, not his words.

... it's the truth that hurts me the most. I am clueless and I can't cook or clean. The only thing I know is how to plant flowers and making them grow. I am hopeless. I am stupid.

You are useless, that was he wanted to say. That disappointed look on his face pierces my fragile heart over and over.

Truth hurts.

I wipe the tears that are close to fall and run away as fast as possible.

0000

"My queen?"

I leap from my trance and look at the source of sound. It's the familiar black-haired god with beautiful chocolate eyes.

I give him a slight nod, "Thanatos."

He doesn't move his body, but move his lips in a warm manner.

I resume my pondering. Looking at the River Styx doesn't give me the slightest clue whatsoever. I am frustrated. I am tired...

Instead I've got myself a naïve wife who has abysmal knowledge in everything.

I frown, fighting so hard not to shed tears.

"What troubles you so, my queen?" I hear his gentle voice. Unlike Hades, Thanatos' voice is full of life, contradicting his title as the God of Death. I remember him being cold to me when we first met, but now he is warming up. I am thankful.

I look at him straight in the eyes. Green meets chocolate. "Do you think I'm useless?"

He frowns, "My queen...?"

What a fool I am. Of course he wouldn't understand unless I explained it a bit. I tell him about our encounter in the garden and Hades' hurtful remark about me. Thanatos nods as he listens.

I sigh, "I am useless, aren't I? Thinking it thoroughly, what my husband said is true. I'm so scared to face him... I just don't know what to do..."

"If you ask me," Thanatos murmurs, "you are a good queen. You know how to handle your people, although sometimes you do it quite... funnily. We understand that you are still young and prone to make mistakes."

"Why won't Hades see that I'm still young? I'm inexperienced, I'm clueless, I'm... useless," my voice gradually weakens until it's nothing more than a breathless whisper.

Thanatos smiling like a father to his daughter, "I guess Lord Hades has been holding back his lust these three years. During that time, he'd been expecting you to ask around, my queen. He'd hoped that you'd be ready when you reached maturity. I understand how disappointed he is when he realizes that you did nothing in those three years."

He continues, "But I think you have it easy. The last time I went to retrieve someone's soul, there was this mortal woman who was expected to cook, do laundry, clean the house, and take care of her children. Mortals women live a hard life."

I look away, "...he doesn't even order me to do those things."

Yes, that's true. He never demands me to do those things. The only thing he orders me is to massage him and that's all. He asks very little of me.

The God of Death nods, "Indeed he doesn't. You are very fortunate to be born as a goddess and married to Lord Hades. He doesn't demand you to do what a mortal wife should do. It means that he doesn't want to burden you with such works. He wants to see your balmy presence in his room, beautiful and... full of energy, when he returns from his work. If I was a girl, I'd cherish him."

I stare at him incredulously and he laughs.

0000

Talking to Thanatos mends my pained heart a little. I'm such a fool, taking Hades' passiveness as disinterest. He's been waiting for me to make the first move, to see that I'm ready to step out from my cage.

Hades has been waiting for me.

...but I disappoint him.

There's one thing that I can do to seek forgiveness.

...I have to please him as a wife should do to her husband.

Finally, the nightfall comes. Mustering up my courage, I enter Rhea's bedroom to find it unusually dim. Rhea herself is sitting in a comfortable armchair in front of the hearth. Her sky-blue eyes are watching me closely.

I don't know if I'm scared or nervous, but I find her eyes quite... menacing. They follow my every movement like a predator would to its prey.

I look around and to my relief Cronus isn't there. Either Hades had sealed him again or he's back in Tartarus on his own free will. But that's weird, how can we start the lesson if he's not there...?

I face Rhea and gulp. She's scary for an unknown reason. "You have come."

I nod, keeping my gaze firm on her eyes. "About the lesson..."

"Sit on my lap."

Suppressing my curiosity and fear, I do as I was told. It feels so awkward, being so close to her and it feels... wrong somehow. I can feel her hot breath against my shoulder and our bodies are mere centimeters to each other.

Up close, I notice that her purple chiton is somewhat transparent.

Is this part of the lessons, too...?

"Don't try anything funny. I'm very sensitive," she warns me, "if you want to please Hades, start slow. Sensual touches can easily turn him on."

I nod dumbly. It's my first time knowing that Rhea is prone to anger. Unknowns to me, I misinterpret what she just said. "What are sensual touches?"

Rhea is staring at me with wide eyes.

I really am stupid...

"First let me see how you kiss," she asks something else instead.

I frown, "Wh-What do you mean...? Do I have to kiss you...?"

She nods and I'm starting to feel really uncomfortable. "I'm so sorry, but... umm... what-what are we going to do, exactly?" I meekly ask.

Rhea lets out a sigh, "As I expected. You really are clueless. I really can't do this. You are just too pure... I suggest looking for Aphrodite instead."

I grasp her arms, "I don't get it! What do you mean? You have promised me that you'd show me the art of pleasing men!"

"Do you have any idea what that means?" Rhea spits.

I gasp. I just made her angry. "I... I had hoped that you'd... demonstrate it with your husband..."

Her eyes narrow at my stupid reasoning, "Cronus is no familiar of mine who I can call whenever I wish. He is the most dangerous titan ever walked in this earth and you... wanted me to do it on him? As a practice?"

I hung my head as her voice gets higher and higher.

"Cronus doesn't want practice, Persephone. I know him well enough. He wants the real thing. Please understand that."

"But you promised me..." I trail off.

I see her smirking at me.

"Oh, indeed I have. I had the feeling that you'd say something like that. You are clueless."

"I am not clueless," I object firmly. I won't let anyone insult me.

"Then tell me something, my dear," Rhea's smile is so wrong. It is a smile, but I feel shiver down my spine. "I'm fulfilling my promise to show you how. Tell me why we are sitting like this."

I look down. Rhea's big breasts are touching my side and I can't think clearly because of the indescribable sensation that is flooding my mind. When our shoulders are brushing against each other, it feels so right but, at the same time, so wrong.

I blush.

"Did you get it? That's good, then. Do you want to continue the lesson or not?"

Rhea's question keeps repeating inside my head. I did ask her to show me how to please men and she agreed. My heart is racing, thinking about the reality I am in.

She is going to practice it on me.

—She is going to practice it on me.

I've never heard of women pleasing each other before...

Rhea sneers, "For your information, men and women almost have the same sweet spots on their bodies that are very sensitive to touch. If you want to, I can teach you right now. The spots I'm going to touch are also enjoyable to Hades, if you do it correctly. But if you don't want to, then it's fine."

I'm playing with fire.

My hands tremble.

No, I am dealing with a demon. She'd offer me help for a price—my soul.

When I ask for my right as a husband, you shrink from the only duty I want you to do...

...What I could possibly gain from you as my wife?

... Instead I've got myself a naïve wife who has abysmal knowledge in everything.

Wanting to prove myself to Hades, I nod. If it means that I'd sell my soul to the devil, I don't care. As long as I can prove myself, it doesn't matter.

I'd use Rhea to reach my goal.

"Are you sure? I will not ask you twice, so think it over carefully. This will involve a lot of touching and weird situations that could make you dizzy."

"I'm alright. I am a strong girl," determination is burning inside my eyes. "I'm not a useless wife. I came here to know how to make Hades bow down to me and I will obtain the knowledge."

Rhea smiles, "Then position yourself correctly. Hades is usually sitting like this in his armchair, yes?" she refers to her sitting style and I nod. "In that case, the best position you'd be using during your seduction is..."

Rhea tells me to change my position. Now I'm facing her with my legs lifted. My knees are on either sides of her body, trapping her. My arms are around Rhea's neck. I feel uncomfortable because this position is showing my skin a bit too much, but I bear with it.

I'll remember this well when I'm going to please Hades...

"It feels so weird..." I mumble.

"You will sully Hades' mood if you keep mumbling that thing over and over. Now think of me as Hades. All I am going to do to you will definitely happen in the near future. Now pay attention."

I stop whining instantly.

I scream when Rhea touches something below my stomach. My reaction startles her, too, as she withdraws her hands quickly, apologizing, "I didn't think you'd be this jumpy. I feel like I'm raping you..."

Tears falling down to my cheeks, but I shake my head, "Please go on..."

This time Rhea takes everything slowly, making me comfortable with her hand that in the future will become Hades' hand.

With a hand stroking my nether lips, Rhea whispers to me, "You see, Persephone, this place is the source of ecstasy—both you and your husband. Don't let the look deceive you, Hades is weak when you touch him right around this part."

I moan in pleasure, "...I already touched him three years ago in that very spot, but I... I thought nothing of it..."

"Oh, goodness..." Rhea shakes her head in disbelief, "you touched him, but didn't know that it could bring him pleasure? You really are something..."

I didn't know that sex could be so... heavenly. The way Rhea rubs me and plays with my clit make my head spin. I see stars in my eyes. Breathing heavily, I rest my head on the crook of her neck, "...L-Lord Hades... m-more..."

I do imagine Rhea as Hades and I instinctively kiss her neck. A hand strokes my exposed thigh up and down, making me hot all over, especially the area around my lower belly. With Rhea's hand still rubbing on it, heated moans continue to escape my lips.

"Y-Yes, Lord Hades... please..." I don't know even know what I'm begging for.

"Remember well, Persephone. On the bed, women rules over men," she whispers in my ear and I nod.

When I lift my head to breathe, Rhea angles her face and kisses me on the lips. I feel her tongue slamming against my lips. I don't know what she's trying to teach me. It confuses me so.

Feeling agitated, Rhea thrusts her fingers inside me, making me gasp. In that moment, she penetrates my wet cavern with her tongue. I'm bombarded with dizziness once again.

Is this what a kiss should be?

I take a mental note of it. I will surprise Hades with this kiss.

We are kissing like we are going to be separated, as if the kiss itself is our life, as if tomorrow we are going to die. Rhea teaches me many things in just one hour and I feel a little bit confident in my skill. But she said it's not enough to please Hades, so I oblige.

The next two hours, we are exploring our bodies. Our skins are wet with sweat and our limbs, especially mine, are drenched in whitish liquid. The clothes are on the floor, cold and abandoned, as we bathe ourselves in heat and pleasure.

We are competing against each other—testing our endurances. I'm inexperienced and I quickly reach my first orgasm in the first three years. It feels like an explosion and I am the bomb.

Wanting to exact my revenge, I stare at Rhea's perky nipples and quickly capture it with my mouth. As I make mental note to kiss Hades like this, I feel something terribly wet around my inner thigh. Rhea has her legs wrapped against my hips and our nether regions are dangerously close against each other. Even our breasts are pressed together. Every movement we make, I can feel her nipples rubbing against my breasts.

It's so sinfully pleasant...

I can feel what she's feeling from her desperate moans. It's pleasure, I reckon, as I toy with her super sensitive buds. I win the second match when Rhea comes. Her breathing is raged and her face is colored crimson, saliva dripping from her lips.

...and our battle continues until midnight.

I bathe myself quickly and get out from the bathroom. I glance at Rhea's sleeping form and I can't believe that we were doing something... immoral.

I feel different. No, not physically, but emotionally. I am ready to challenge Hades. As Rhea said, I am Hades' master on the bed and nothing will stop me. I will control him with seduction until he's sure never to stray or throw me.

I return to Hades' chambers to find him sleeping face down on the bed. I gasp, realizing that Rhea didn't teach me any position to use on the bed. I pout as I make my way to the giant furniture in the middle of the room.

When I press a knee to the mattress, I hear someone talking, "You are awfully late."

Realizing that it was Hades, I quickly sigh in relief. "I can't sleep, so I wander around. I guess I spent too much time reading in the library..."

"Oh," is his answer.

I pout.

...on the bed, women rule over men...

I remember Rhea's teaching and approach him. To my relief, Hades shifts to lie on his back. His lower half is covered with a blanket, although I'm sure that he is bare as a newborn baby right now.

I lay down beside him, facing him but not looking at his piercing eyes. I touch him on the stomach and carefully note his reaction. He's breathing normally.

Slowly I slid my hands down until I can feel something big there. I hear him growling. I feel a calloused hand grasping mine, caressing it gently as if giving permission.

I smile and begin stroking his shaft. It's quite different from Rhea's, but what she said about the sweet spots is correct. This thing is Hades' weak spot and he is letting me do whatever I want to it.

I let out a gasp when I see a big tent above the blanket, around Hades' lower belly. Oh, is that the signal when he is sexually excited?

Something naughty comes to mind. I slip under the blanket and take hold of his majestic member. I hear him groans inaudibly.

He screams when I seal my lips on the tip of his member, "Damn it, Persephone!" he groans loudly when I lick it, tasting him. His essence color is the same as mine and it's quite fascinating.

His hand is patting me, encouraging me to do more, which I do. I undo the brooch keeping my clothes together and let it fall. I put his member between my breasts, letting him know the smoothness of the body part I possess.

Hades must be in his greatest height of sheer ecstasy as he can't stop making deep, sexy groans. Strangely, they affect me so, making my blood boil and body warm.

I made him weak and now it's my chance to make him completely mine. I leave his member and crawl up to see him. His dark-blue eyes are blazing with lust.

I'm excited to see such emotion, but also fear.

"My Lord Husband..." I breathe in his ear, a tactic I picked up from Rhea. "do you want me?"

"I do," he promptly answers.

"I... want you, too, but before that..." I rub my body against his, eliciting a low growl from him, "...I want something."

He envelopes me in a tight hug, "Anything for you. If you want me to kill Zeus, I will."

The rash declaration makes me blush, but I control myself, "No! It's just too... bloody. You want no one but me, so it is fair for me to ask you to look at me only. I don't want to see your mistresses or another woman on this sacred bed."

That's the first step to make him faithful. Too many requests and he'd say no. The time where I could ask him to be faithful will come. It definitely will.

For now, I have to be content with this.

Hades kisses me on my forehead, "Anything you ask, Persephone. I will do anything you ask."

For once Hades is being so romantic. A smile blooms on my lips as I embrace him. Deep down, I'm glad that I was married to him. Inside his cold and thorny exterior lies a caring and loving person.

No, I still don't love him, but I'm sure that I feel something for him. This warmth in my heart tells me that I'm beginning to develop something more than a blind infatuation.

I take all his features into my heart. His messy, black hair, his ever-scowling face, his pale skin... My heart is beating so fast it could break my bones. The way he looks at me, the intimate voice he uses to call me, and the heat in my body—they are all telling me that...

Something breaks my train of thoughts. A foul smell invades my nostrils.

Looking up, I see him laughing awkwardly and in an instant I know that...

...I know that he just farted!

"Lord Hades, you are such a jerk!" I grab a pillow and hit him with it. I cover my nose and quickly get away. Just when the atmosphere was sooo right...!

"Sorry, Persephone. I ate too much during dinner and..."

I pout, glaring at him from across the room.

No. This is not love. I am wrong, after all. This feeling in my chest is definitely not love. I was thinking that he was handsome. In fact, he is super annoying.

He is a jerk.

...but when he's in front of me, my heart is beating very fast and I can't help but think that he is handsome.

I think I got it confused. The reason why my heart is beating very fast is because I just got sweep along with the mood.