Chapter 111: Perseus (3)
After that, King Polydectes openly pursued Danaë multiple times.
She was the woman he had fallen for at first sight and the most beautiful on the island—he wanted her even if it meant taking her by force.
The problem was Dictys, Poseidon’s priest and the strongest man on the island, who stood firmly in his way.
Originally, Dictys was Polydectes’s younger brother; disgusted by the throne and politics, he had become a priest and fisherman of Poseidon.
But as he had shown Perseus, Dictys possessed both kindness and immense power. If he ever coveted the throne, he would be a formidable threat—a hated rival.
“That brother who threatens my position is now blocking me from the woman I love. How utterly infuriating.”
Today, once again, Polydectes led his soldiers to claim Danaë.
This time, determined to settle the matter, he had gathered three times the usual troops and equipped them heavily with artifacts and gear.
It was Polydectes’s all-in gamble, having reached the end of his patience.
“Perseus, son of Danaë. What do you think of these soldiers and equipment? If your mother marries me, I might even pass all this on to you.”
Polydectes encamped in front of Dictys’s house, weapons aimed, offering what he framed as a final persuasion to Perseus.
In truth, he planned to take only Danaë and exile her son Perseus to some remote place.
Naturally, Perseus had no desire to even engage with Polydectes, whose blatant malice and foul stench were unbearable. Clenching his fists and stirring waves around him, he replied,
“Sorry, but I have no interest in any relationship with someone who reeks like you.”
From birth, Perseus could smell human malice, and he had never encountered anyone in his homeland with as foul a stench as Polydectes.
‘If Mother were taken by a man like that… the thought alone is horrifying.’
Anticipating Perseus’s fierce rejection, Polydectes merely smiled regretfully.
In the end, he would have to kill the son of the woman he loved with his own hands.
As Polydectes shook his head and prepared to signal his troops after hearing Perseus’s words,
“Well said, Perseus. Get lost! I’d rather hang myself than marry an ugly wretch like you. Oh! And unfortunately for you, I plan to dedicate my body to Lord Poseidon, so stop dreaming.”
Danaë suddenly rushed out and hurled a rotten fish straight at his face.
SPLAT.
“GWAAAAHH! You bitch—do you want to die?!!”
The trajectory was so precise that the rotten fish struck Polydectes squarely in the face, spreading stench everywhere.
“Ugh… Fine. I can’t hold back anymore. I’ve restrained myself until now to avoid hurting you, but now I’ll definitely drag you away!!!”
All troops, prepa—
Polydectes, covered in rotting fish guts, raged at the humiliation and tried to ready his soldiers…
But the troops and guards he had brought were already collapsed on the ground, as if beaten senseless.
“DICTYS!!!”
Amid the fallen soldiers and guards stood Dictys, who had appeared unnoticed.
“Still as cowardly as ever. Sneaking in while I’m away with this many troops to kidnap Lady Danaë?”
“Grr! How dare you speak to your brother like that!!”
He had prepared thoroughly this time, yet frustrated again—Polydectes could no longer contain his fury.
Despite aging together, Dictys still seemed younger and stronger, filling him with jealousy and rage.
And to think he clung to Polydectes’s first love, Danaë, refusing to let go!
But Polydectes could do nothing. He was weaker than Dictys.
“Damn it all…”
Returning alone on horseback, looking utterly pathetic amid his collapsed guards, King Polydectes entered his palace even more enraged.
He had courted Danaë more than ten times already.
Growing older himself, he desperately wanted to possess Danaë, whose beauty remained undimmed.
The older he got, the stronger his desire seemed to grow for what he could not have.
Above all, he burned with the urge to steal the woman from his always-superior younger brother.
“What on earth… should I do?”
“Your Majesty, you have already given them more than enough time. Why not eliminate Dictys and his son Perseus once and for all?”
Polydectes stared silently at the minister who had advised him.
‘With idiots like this around, no wonder I still haven’t gotten Danaë.’
“Sigh… Adonis, think carefully. Dictys is my brother and has legitimate claim to succession. Perseus is Danaë’s son. If we dispose of them, who do you think will be suspected?”
“Ah!”
“…Moreover, Dictys is Poseidon’s priest and still wields great power.”
Polydectes sighed wearily as he explained.
He felt a sense of self-loathing for having to spell this out himself.
But what choice was there? That fool was the strongest warrior on the island.
“Does anyone else have suggestions?”
The council chamber fell silent at Polydectes’s question.
Over the past few years, many ideas had been proposed, but not one had worked.
They had secretly administered a slow-acting poison from the deep mountains of Macedonia—said to gradually harden human blood—for ten years, yet it had no effect.
They had drilled holes in their fishing boat, yet they returned unharmed.
They had even ordered the nation not to sell them food or necessities, yet it achieved nothing.
Polydectes and his inner circle were unaware, but…
Poseidon’s priests and candidates were fundamentally immune to poison. To those who controlled water, a hole in a boat was trivial. And for food and supplies, Dictys mainly traded with merfolk…
“We have no more ideas.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty. Above all, you and Dictys cannot directly harm each other.”
At his ministers’ words, Polydectes sighed. All his resentment was directed at his father, the previous king.
“Damn it. If Father hadn’t forced that oath back then, I wouldn’t have this headache.”
““Yes. The late king seems to have made a poor decision.””
The courtiers bowed and agreed with Polydectes’s sigh, but inwardly cursed their greedy, arrogant king.
‘Hah. Without the late King Aeolus, he would have killed his brother long ago.’
‘Or the island would have rebelled ages ago.’
‘He’s just clinging to the power Aeolus built.’
***
Polydectes’s tyranny only worsened. Though still ineffective, it deepened Danaë and Perseus’s worries.
“Priest Dictys, why not depose Polydectes once and for all?”
“A splendid idea, son. I’d rather take the risk than keep smelling that bald stinkpot’s stench.”
Dictys gave an awkward smile at Danaë, who had transformed from a refined lady into a rough seaside woman.
‘Her beauty never fades, but how did her personality become so fiery?’
“Priest Dictys?”
“Huh?”
“Why no answer…?”
Snapped out of his reverie by Danaë’s question, Dictys replied with the same awkward smile,
“Uh… that’s a bit too extreme.”
Danaë let out a sigh mixed with lament.
“Sigh… Why are men so soft? A man who hauls nets weighing dozens of kilograms in the rough sea—why is his personality like this?”
Watching Danaë thump her chest in frustration with an awkward expression, Perseus hurriedly asked Dictys,
He couldn’t side with either Priest Dictys or his mother.
“Is there some reason it’s impossible? The people of Seriphos seem to prefer Priest Dictys.”
“…”
At Perseus’s question, Dictys reluctantly explained the oath he and the king had sworn.
He had intended never to reveal it for the sake of his brother’s and father’s honor, but with his brother acting so blatantly, he had to find a way to protect the mother and son.
‘Above all, Perseus is practically my successor.’
“Yes, there is a reason. An oath sworn when our father, King Aeolus, was still alive.”
***
Polydectes and Dictys’s father, King Aeolus, had been a wise and benevolent ruler.
The problem was that he had utterly failed in raising his sons.
The eldest, Polydectes, was a greedy tyrant, while the capable second son Dictys lacked ambition and loved helping others but was indecisive. Compared to his brother, however, Dictys had far more kingly qualities.
In such circumstances, Aeolus had no real choice.
A greedy tyrant or an indecisive weak king.
In that situation, Dictys blossomed with the talent to become Poseidon’s priest.
“Huh. At least Dictys shows promise as Poseidon’s priest—perhaps that’s a relief.”
Thus, before his death, King Aeolus made his two sons swear one oath.
“I want both of you to swear one thing before me.”
“Huh? Why bother?”
“Yes, Father.”
Seeing the grumbling Polydectes and the obedient Dictys, Aeolus pushed forward with conviction that his plan was right.
“You two shall swear upon the Styx that you will never directly kill each other. If you cannot, neither of you will ever sit on this throne.”
“…”
In the end, Polydectes and Dictys swore mutual oaths upon the Styx, leading to their ongoing stalemate of checking each other.
***
“Father truly had foresight. He must have known I would grow this strong as Poseidon’s priest.”
“Hmm…”
“I don’t think that’s it? Priest Dictys is strong—way too strong. Even in the palace where I was a princess, I never saw anyone like you.”
Dictys, lost in memories of his father, cleared his throat awkwardly at Danaë’s blunt words and changed the subject.
Of course, he thought himself a bit strong too, but his father’s intent had surely been that.
As proof,
“There was another oath Father made me swear alone.”
“Huh? Only you, Priest Dictys?”
“Yes. As Poseidon’s priest, if the king of Seriphos ever loses the people’s support, I am allowed to depose him.”
***
“Father never knew, but I overheard that damn oath.”
Polydectes muttered from his throne.
The nobles grumbled daily about why he didn’t act more aggressively, but there was a clear reason he held back.
“So, my think tank Hermione. Isn’t there some plan?”
The man with brown hair, a rat-like face, and a mole under his eye fell deep into thought at Polydectes’s question.
All his previous schemes had scratched the king’s itches, but every one involving Dictys and Danaë had failed. This time, success was essential.
‘The king has no patience. If this fails too, he’ll stop favoring me.’
Hermione broke into a cold sweat under the king’s overt pressure, racking his brains.
Then one idea flashed brilliantly.
“Your Majesty, how about this plan?”
“What is it?”
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