Marriage is a very sacred thing.

All marriages are blessed by Hera, even if those marrying are Aphrodite, whom Hera detests, and her abandoned son Hephaestus.

Of course, after the wedding ceremony followed endless feasting and pleasure; after all, that is the nature of the Olympian gods.

Hera held a grand ceremony and arranged the decorations on Mount Olympus; as it was a happy occasion, the queen of the gods displayed the bearing of a mistress. This marriage between the god of craftsmen and fire and the goddess of love and beauty invited many gods, who brought their gifts. In the hall with its high domed roof, golden leaves drifted everywhere—the place where the wedding began.

Dione, Aphrodite’s foster mother, rushed from the sea to give her foster son her blessings and gifts.

The gods of high rank all came to Mount Olympus; even Hades, lord of the underworld beneath the earth, was invited.

Led by Apollo, the nine Muses sang joyful songs and danced gracefully beside the sacred spring.

How splendid, how joyful—see that radiant Aphrodite, beloved by the gods, dressed magnificently with alluring eyes. Golden strands of hair wound around a delicate golden crown on her head. With the rites of the wedding and the finery, Aphrodite looked unbelievably beautiful.

Even now Aphrodite’s expression was calm, yet her proud and aloof demeanor emitted a different aura from usual, throwing those fickle, amorous gods into disarray.

The red-haired god Hephaestus, standing beside Aphrodite, looked somewhat obtrusive.

But this marriage had Zeus's approval. Even those gods who could not bear to see the beautiful Aphrodite taken by Hephaestus—those bewildered and resentful deities—had to hold their breath, put on forced smiles at the feast, and offer insincere blessings.

Now, the wedding began.

As the "wife," Aphrodite loosened her girdle and handed it to Hera, following Hera's prescribed ritual. This symbolized the marriage receiving Hera's blessing and protection and the sacred, inseparable nature of the marital bond.

Aphrodite was sullen. She wore a chiton of pure white, overlaid with a red outer robe; the white chiton fell to her ankles, then the red fabric blossomed in vivid color. On this joyful, festive day, after exchanging tokens and with Hera's blessing and officiation, the marital bond was sealed and a golden ring was placed on her pale, delicate finger…what humiliation. This marriage was not the wish of the goddess of love and beauty, yet Aphrodite was helpless.

Hera's face was pure joy as she looked at Hephaestus and Aphrodite and bestowed her blessing.

"Now that you are husband and wife, you must live well together."

Hera admonished them thus.

Aphrodite felt restless and uneasy.

The three goddesses serving Aphrodite glared at Hephaestus standing nearby; they showed no joy. The other gods at the feast, however, sank back into revelry over wine and food. Hephaestus, the craftsman god with bright red hair, stood beside Aphrodite and stared at her, his voice hard: "Even if you take no pleasure in this, it is already decided, Aphrodite—wait for my revenge."

Aphrodite's expression suddenly changed; the beautiful goddess bit her lip, looking sullen and dejected.

Hephaestus felt somewhat frustrated and upset; he had intended to offer a few comforting words, but for some reason, what he ended up saying turned into a threat.

Hephaestus took the winecup handed over by Hebe; the cup was filled with wine. He held the cup out to Aphrodite. "...Do you want some wine?"

The wine poured from the decanter was bright in color. Aphrodite took the wine Hephaestus offered with a sullen expression. The golden-haired goddess turned her face aside. "I will not love you, Hephaestus."

"I don't need your love." Hephaestus replied immediately.

Hephaestus frowned again. Aphrodite always said things he did not like to hear, so he knit his brow and shot back, "Then think about our first night after the wedding—how are you going to spend it?"

"…"

Aphrodite fell silent and tightened her grip on the cup. She bit her lip, then snorted coldly.

"Isn't it just... just sleeping? I'm not afraid." Aphrodite protested stubbornly. "I am the goddess of love and beauty; I am naturally free and wanton, amorous by nature. I've been through this countless times—do with me as you please tonight!"

Hephaestus looked displeased at Aphrodite's defiance. He drained the wine in his cup. "Say whatever you like," he said.

Besides fine wine and food, the banquet's rites included dancing and contests. Competitions held a crucial place in this world. For this wedding ceremony, Hephaestus presented the items he had crafted as wedding prizes: a triangular cauldron that could hold thirty liters, jeweled crowns and armlets forged by Hephaestus’s divine fire and beloved by the goddesses, a mare with divine blood carrying a foal, and a set of magnificently forged spears—these were the gifts for the wedding contest.

Under Zeus's supervision, the gods began competing for the wedding prizes.

Artemis and Apollo, skilled archers, were the children of the goddess Leto, who had beautiful hair. Artemis and Apollo tightened their bows and arrows, aimed at the target; competing with the sibling pair were Ares and Athena, who were also adept with weapons.

Poseidon is the source of all horses; it was this earth-shaking ruler who created the world's first horse. Now Poseidon is determined to claim that mare given as a gift. Competing with Poseidon are the ever-frenzied god of wine Dionysus and the cunning messenger Hermes.

...In short, the wedding feast was unbelievably lively, yet on the faces of Aphrodite and Hephaestus, who sat at the main seats, there was no joy, as if they shared the bed but harbored different dreams.

Aphrodite looked faintly at the gods making a ruckus at the feast, as if observing beings far removed from her, while Hephaestus merely drank in silence, cup after cup of wine downed.

The joy belonged to the gods, but that joy did not extend to the newlyweds.

Not until night fell and the hem of the goddess Nyx shrouded the dusk did the gods cease their revelry.

Zeus stood up, holding his cup, and said to the gods: "Enough. It is night; the time should be left to our newlyweds. Aphrodite, Hephaestus, go and spend the night you should have."

Since even Zeus said so, Aphrodite had no choice but to leave with Hephaestus.

Aphrodite and Hephaestus were both Olympian gods and each had their own temples, but now Aphrodite could only follow Hephaestus to the forge and estate full of flames and materials.

At Hephaestus's estate, Aglaea welcomed the newlyweds. Seeing Aglaea approach with a smiling face, Aphrodite's expression suddenly changed: "Hephaestus, do you have another goddess hidden in your temple?"

“Aglaya is my sister, not my lover,” Hephaestus replied. “But whether or not I have a lover does not change the fact that you are my wife.”

“You insult me too much, Hephaestus!” Aphrodite said angrily.

Aglaya was at a loss; she didn't know what she had done wrong, so she apologized to Aphrodite: “I am only Lord Hephaestus’s maidservant, please don't be angry, Lady Aphrodite!”

“…I'm not angry with you.” After all, Aglaya was a goddess, and Aphrodite was not the kind of god to take out anger on an innocent goddess, so he softened his expression: “Aglaya, go wait outside the room.”

“Yes!” Aglaya nodded: “I'll go heat some water!”

Now, on the broad bed, Aphrodite sat on the edge; this golden-haired, radiant beautiful male god folded his arms and looked coldly at Hephaestus standing to one side.

“What are you going to do? How will you punish me?” Aphrodite opened his red robe, revealing snow-white himation; the brilliant multicolored belt was undone by Aphrodite’s white, slender fingers, exposing excessively smooth, pale skin beneath. Aphrodite looked coldly at Hephaestus’s furrowed brow and uneasy expression, then slowly smiled: “Come on, punish me—just as you’ve always wanted to? Pin me to the bed and take me to ecstasy with you?”

Aphrodite slowly loosened his garments. He sat on the edge of the bed and undid the himation; the white cloth pooled on the floor. Beneath Aphrodite’s golden hair was pale skin. This radiant, glorious deity looked provocatively at the motionless Hephaestus: “Come on?”

“Looking at you like that… you don’t mean you don’t know what to do, do you?” Aphrodite sneered at Hephaestus’s wooden body and expression: “You don’t even know how to use the thing under your body, do you?”

Aphrodite slowly lay down on the bed, leaning forward to look at Hephaestus’s uncomfortable gaze.

Hephaestus’s eyes flicked from the pool of clothes on the floor to the canopy above the bed. The moment they landed on Aphrodite’s overly perfect figure and pale skin, Hephaestus immediately looked away, then quickly glanced back at Aphrodite’s body from another angle, repeating this over and over.