“…it’s our plight? What does that mean?” Hades could not understand Rhea’s words.

Hades had been thrown into the emptiness and was later rescued. He had assisted others in ousting his father from power, and his mother was trying to find her missing husband. What could be worse than this current reality?

But Rhea only gave a bitter smile and did not continue speaking. Instead, she just looked at Hades with a sad gaze. “Hades.”

“Yes, mother.”

“I know it’s been tough for you to mediate between me and Zeus.”

“That’s…!”

Hades tried to say something, but Rhea shook her head. She added, “No. You don’t have to pretend otherwise. To be honest, Kronos was not a good father to you. Moreover, you probably don’t understand why your mother is so intent on finding and saving your father… Yet you’ve remained by my side and helped. I wanted to mention this.”

“…Mother.”

“However, I have to ask you for another favor. If… And this is only an if… If you meet someone who exudes an aura like mine after I’m gone…”

“Why are you saying such things? Stop. No, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear anything.” With a stiffened expression, Hades tried to turn around…

“…at that time, please don’t pretend you don’t know me.” Rhea finished her sentence amid Hades' cries. 

“…” Hades did not answer.

Thinking that Hades must have been angered by her words, Rhea gave a small bitter smile and bent down to pick up, one by one, the pieces of her sculptures and paintings that Zeus had destroyed. It seemed like it would take her quite a long time to put the broken pieces back together.

However, halfway...