Chapter 40.1 A Change of Flavor
Hephaestus, while forging in his forge, couldn’t bear the thought of Venus being exposed to the smoke and flames all day. At the same time, he feared Venus might grow bored, so he crafted many toys to pass the time. Among the many toys made by the God of Fire, the swing in the rose garden had become Venus’ recent favorite.
He borrowed a wisp of wind from the God of Wind, so that the swing would move automatically without anyone needing to push it or without Venus having to tiptoe.
Venus was undoubtedly the most pampered god on Mount Olympus.
In the garden, blooming with red and white roses, the beautiful golden-haired youth sat on the swing, his slender fingers grasping the flower vines. The wind gently blew, causing the swing to sway slightly. He closed his eyes, his long, thick eyelashes glistening in the sunlight. He looked like something out of a painting.
The swing’s motion grew smaller and smaller, and the wind had stopped at some point.
It seemed that the borrowed wisp of wind had been used up. Next time, he would need to borrow more so he could swing a while longer. Venus thought to himself, of course, this “borrowing a wisp of wind” was much like “borrowing a tissue.” There was little chance it would ever be returned.
The afternoon sun was just right, and a soft breeze brushed his face. The swing swayed gently, and Venus began to feel sleepy. With the wind now gone, he leaned back in his chair, intending to take a nap.
In that half-awake state, he felt the swing gently sway again, as if the dream itself was rocking back and forth.
Had the wind returned? But he didn’t feel any coolness.
Venus opened his sleepy eyes and looked behind, only to find Ares standing there, pushing the swing for him.
“Ares?” Venus instantly snapped awake. “Why didn’t you make a sound?”
This wasn’t at all like Ares, who was usually loud and boisterous.
The God of War had a fiery temper. According to his past lovers, his style in bed was equally rough. Before reaching adulthood, Venus had always smelled the sharp scent of strong liquor on Ares, which meant that Ares’ love for him was like a barrel of strong alcohol. This actually suited Venus’ tastes. If Ares had kept that scent, Venus would have continued to like him.
Because of Ares’ coercive behavior and harsh words towards Hephaestus, Venus didn’t like Ares very much. However, his dislike of Ares wouldn’t prevent him from sleeping with Ares, just as his friendship with Hephaestus didn’t prevent him from sleeping with Hephaestus. Venus would never associate likes and dislikes with lust. He only cared about the flavor, not who the god was.
If the taste was good, he’d try it. If it was bad, he’d pass. It didn’t matter who the chef was.
After reaching adulthood, Venus’ sensitivity to affection grew. He realized that the scent of strong liquor on Ares was now tainted with a sour, rancid smell. It meant this love had become corrupted, overrun with jealousy, anger, hatred, and other negative emotions, overshadowing any love that had once been there.
Now, even the dish itself wasn’t good.
Venus was quite picky, not accepting just anything. Although their relationship had been okay during their younger years, they gradually became estranged after adulthood. The last time he saw Ares was at the gathering in the King of God’s throne hall.
After some time apart, Venus noticed something was different about Ares.
The scent on Ares had changed.
No longer was it the turbid and fishy liquor, but a mixture of the gentle, calming sea breeze and the violent, crashing waves. Surprisingly, the combination didn’t contradict each other.
This was because these were the two states of the sea.
Now, the God of Sea’s divine nature leaned toward storms, yet his outward appearance remained calm.
Venus was born from the sea foam. With a divine role tied to seafaring, he naturally felt a connection to the sea. However, having grown up on Mount Olympus, he had very few chances to be close to the sea, except when he secretly descended the mountain to visit Adonis.
This scent was incredibly alluring to him.
Had Ares changed his nature? How could the scent of love transform so drastically?
But Venus wasn’t truly concerned with the answer. The scent was so much to his liking, and he couldn’t wait to taste it.
If Ares could permanently hold this scent, he could rival Adonis’ honeyed sweetness.
Without waiting for Ares to speak, Venus took the initiative and asked, “Shall we go to bed?”
The one being invited by Venus was, of course, not Ares, but Poseidon in disguise.
Even though Poseidon hadn’t visited Olympus much, when he was still Adonis, Venus often shared stories with him about the happenings on the mountain. Even back then, Poseidon had quietly studied the terrain of Olympus.
His journey to the temple was seamless, with no slip-ups. Along the way, he encountered a few Olympian gods and subtly gathered information from them. By the time he reached the Temple of Beauty, Poseidon had obtained a wealth of details.
He had learned that it was Zeus who had ordered Venus and Hephaestus to be married, and it was said that Venus had even requested the marriage himself. The wedding had been rushed and no ceremony was held. In the eyes of the Olympian gods, Venus had only been with Hephaestus.
Given Venus’ divine nature, Poseidon couldn’t believe he would willingly leap into the cage of marriage. Venus had often talked about his friends on Mount Olympus, and Hephaestus’ name came up frequently. Whenever Venus mentioned him, he always said, “Hephaestus gave me another gift today. He’s such a great friend!”
Poseidon immediately understood everything. Only the naive Venus still believed that Hephaestus simply saw him as a friend. It was clear that the God of Fire had developed genuine feelings for him. And since Hephaestus truly cared, there was no way he would skip holding a grand wedding and handle things so hastily.
Poseidon was more inclined to believe that Zeus had completely forgotten about his engagement to Venus, or if he remembered, he didn’t care. He probably just wanted to take his brother’s wife. Rejected in love, Zeus had grown furious, forcing Venus to marry the famously unsightly Hephaestus, and in his rage, had refused to even allow time for a proper wedding.
Poseidon knew his younger brother’s nature all too well. The three brothers were each so different. Hades, when he couldn’t have something, simply accepted it. Poseidon, however, would stop at nothing to take what he wanted. And Zeus, if he couldn’t have something, would destroy it.
Since Poseidon had started guarding the seas, he understood that Venus would soon seek someone else. He couldn’t pretend not to care, but that was just how Venus’ divine nature worked. Poseidon had other matters to attend to, and he didn’t mind letting Venus play around for a few centuries, as long as he came back home in the end.
Poseidon didn’t pay much attention to Zeus’ decree. Hera, the Goddess of Marriage, couldn’t even keep her own marriage in order, so there was no guarantee for the marriages of the Olympians. To put it bluntly, the only ones on Mount Olympus who truly took marriage seriously were Hera and Hephaestus.
Whether or not Venus married wasn’t important. It was just another mark against Zeus in Poseidon’s mind.
He had come to Olympus with the intention of merely seeing Venus and leaving. After all, he couldn’t stay away from the barrier for too long. Although the God of Death was there to substitute, he couldn’t bring himself to trouble an outsider.
However, what he hadn’t expected was for Venus’ first words upon seeing him to be, “Shall we go to bed?”
Poseidon was silent for a moment.
He hadn’t forgotten that the face he was wearing now belonged to Ares.
Venus really wasn’t picky.
A sudden surge of anger and coldness rose from deep within him, his eyes flashing with blue light, though Venus didn’t notice.
Poseidon’s voice was low and dark, “Sure.”
Looks like he’d have to trouble the God of Death to hold on a little longer.
His stay lasted from the afternoon until the moon rose above the willow branches.
The moonlight poured into the bedroom of the Temple of Beauty, and everything in the room had already come to an end. Venus’ eyes were slightly unfocused, still struggling to catch his breath.
“Your lovers were right, you are a great lover,” Venus murmured lazily with his eyes closed.
It was wild, unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
No wonder everyone who had tried it before said it was good.
Poseidon’s possessiveness was intense, and his personality had two sides. When he first heard about Venus’ marriage, he pretended not to care, but deep inside, he was consumed by darkness. This time, he abandoned all the gentleness he had shown as Adonis and became commanding and ruthless, as if to prove that Venus’ place belonged to him.
If it had been any other god, they wouldn’t have been able to handle it. But it was Venus, who was even wilder and more passionate than him. They were a perfect match, as if they were born for each other.
Venus only felt an unprecedented ecstasy. His lust was fully satiated for the first time, and he and Ares were so compatible in bed.
If he had known Ares was this delicious, he would have surrendered the moment he barged into his bedchamber.
Adonis, I’m truly sorry, but his taste is just too good, and his skills are exceptional. Venus felt a brief pang of guilt.
“Really? Better than your Adonis?” the man asked in a low voice.
“How should I answer that? I prefer Adonis, but I like your style in bed even more……” The former was love, the latter was lust. Both were part of Venus’ divine role, so he honestly couldn’t choose between them.
“Wait a minute.” Venus suddenly snapped to attention, opening his eyes wide. “How do you know about Adonis?”
Poseidon’s face remained calm. “You’re always sneaking off to the lower mountain. You think you can hide it from anyone? I also know he was your greatest lover.”
Venus was momentarily shocked, but then he sighed with a touch of melancholy. “You really know a lot. He truly was my greatest love.”
After all, Adonis was dead, and his soul could never return. Venus didn’t mind revealing this first love of his.
“If you loved him so much, why did you marry Hephaestus and sleep with me?”
“If you’re talking about desire, I’ve already said I loved him the most, but I didn’t say I only loved him,” Venus replied sadly. “Life goes on, after all.”
“What about love?”
Venus said, “For love, he is one of a kind.”
This answer seemed to calm Poseidon’s mood.
“I should leave now,” Poseidon said, glancing at the moon outside the window. He had already been away for quite some time.
Venus quickly asked, “Shall we set a time for next time?” Such a delectable experience, he didn’t want it to be a one-time thing.
Poseidon chuckled lightly. “Do you know how Adonis died?”
Venus was puzzled. “What?” Of course he knew. He was killed by a wild boar, but why would Ares bring this up?
“The wild boar was me. I killed him.” Poseidon’s words wiped out any goodwill Venus had just started to feel toward Ares.
He was not willing to do things for others.
Venus stared in stunned silence, unable to collect his thoughts for a long while.
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