King of Underworld

Side Story - Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty and Love (1)

Today, as always, the Underworld was busy with divine duties.
Amidst this bustling scene, Zeus's messenger suddenly arrived — none other than Iris, the goddess of the rainbow.

“I greet the Lord of the Underworld.”
“Did Zeus send you?”
“Yes. Lord Zeus urgently requests Hades’s presence on Olympus for a discussion.”

Zeus? Why does he want to summon me now?
Crossing the rainbow path Iris had conjured, I arrived at Olympus, only to witness a truly ridiculous scene unfolding.

“Aphrodite is mine. You insolent brats, where do you think you’re—!”
“Lord Poseidon, we should let Aphrodite choose for herself. Forcing her hand by strength is...”
“Hm, hm. I have yet to marry, after all...”
“How can such beauty exist? She truly is the Goddess of Beauty!”

“Hades, brother! You’re here?”

The goddess standing there possessed beauty so perfect, even Hera, the Queen of the Gods, might grow jealous.
A goddess unlike any I’d ever seen, radiant with unmatched beauty, stood calmly, seemingly unfazed by the countless gazes of desire directed at her. She simply looked around with faint curiosity.

“What’s going on here? It seems the gods are fighting over who gets to take her as their wife.”
“Sigh... She’s the goddess born when our grandfather Uranus’s severed manhood fell into the sea.”
“And after all this time, something like this suddenly happens?”
“I don’t know the exact reason. She introduced herself as Aphrodite.”

Aphrodite. At that name, a memory flashed across my mind.
The goddess of beauty and love, said to be the most beautiful on Olympus. No wonder all these gods are fighting to claim her.
Who was supposed to be her husband originally?