"You are as beautiful as the rumors say."
"You are so kind."
"Haha, that's not an exaggeration. I still have good taste."
At this time, Amphiaraos sat down beside Hilde with an elusive smile on her face. She gently stretched out her hand and placed it on Hilde's smooth and delicate thigh, stroking it gently. While doing this, Amphiaraos put her head in front of Hilde and said seductively, "Your Majesty, I know you like women, so you must be very tired coming here, how about letting me come and relieve you myself?"
"How do you want me to feel relieved?"
"Of course it is. It is more comfortable than you can imagine..."
Having said this, Amphiaraos slowly moved his hand upwards.
Just when Amphiaraos was about to continue, Hilde suddenly reached out and held Amphiaraos's face. The sudden action scared Amphiaraos, and she instinctively wanted to break free, but she couldn't do it at all, because Hilde's hands had actually firmly controlled Amphiaraos's head, leaving Amphiaraos with no way to move. At this time, Hilde continued:
"Who allowed your dirty hands to touch mine?"
"Your Majesty... You..."
No matter what, Amphiaraos is just an ordinary person.
However, this was the first time that Amphiaraos had encountered such a thing.
"Do you think that everyone who comes here needs to give you some face? But I don't need it. I am the queen of the Byzantine Kingdom and the oracle of Lady Athena. It is easy for me to kill you. The Athenians will definitely not mind replacing someone else as their spokesperson in the darkness."
Hilde said this with a smile.
But it gives people a chilling feeling.
"Your Majesty, what do you want? Please tell me..."
"It's simple. Intelligence."
"What specific information do you want?"
Amphiaraus was now terrified.
"I think there are too many people here. How about we talk somewhere else?"
Hilde said this and let go of his hand.
Amphiaraos took a deep breath and took two steps back in panic.
"Okay, then, please come into my room."
"Ok."
Hilde didn't care at all, so she followed Amphiaraos to the innermost part, which was Amphiaraos's own residence. Hilde had heard before that almost no one had ever come into this place, and even when Amphiaraos received some important guests, he would stay outside instead of in his own room.
"I heard that you rarely let anyone in?"
"um, yes."
Amphiaraos did not look back, perhaps because he was a little nervous.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"It's impossible not to be afraid. You are so powerful that you can easily kill me. If I am not afraid of you, then I am really brave." Amphiaraos laughed helplessly. "What's more, everyone who comes here has desires and weaknesses. People with desires and weaknesses are the easiest to deal with. But you... I really can't see any weaknesses."
The Woman Who Finally Surrendered
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Your Majesty, you are serious."
In fact, Hilde was also confused.
Strictly speaking, Amphiaraos was a smart person, and it was unlikely that she would succumb to him like this. Therefore, Hilde only needed to think carefully to understand that all this was deliberately pretended by Amphiaraos. In other words, this guy was not afraid at all. She just needed to let Hilde know that she, Amphiaraos, was afraid, and that was enough. Therefore, Hilde did not let down her guard against this woman.
"Please come in."
"Ah."
After walking to the deepest room.
Only then did Hilde see what Amphiaraos's boudoir looked like.
"Excuse me, is there anything I need to tell you?"
"I just want to know one thing. I think if it's Amphiaraos, he will be able to give me an answer." Hilde was not polite. She sat down on the bed and then lay down on it. "I'm a little tired from walking today, so I'll take a rest. Do you mind?"
"Of course I don't mind."
Amphiaraus smiled and nodded.
"Even if you want me to accompany you and talk about things, there is naturally no problem."
"You just stand there, that's all."
Hilde pointed to the side next to her.
Amphiaraus walked over somewhat discouraged.
"You must have heard of something, about the curse of Hilde, the daughter of Pericles?"
"Yes, I know about this." Amphiaraos lowered his head, as if recalling the past. "When I was a child, I heard about your birth, which caused the priests of Athens to panic. At that time, my mother told me that Pericles gave birth to a disaster. The girl named Hilde will definitely bring disaster to Athens when she grows up. After that, everyone knew about this matter..."
"Wait a moment."
Hilde frowned slightly.
"What I want to know is not something that is well known."
"Th-that is?"
"Of course, no one knows. You know what I'm talking about."
Facing Hilde's smile, Amphiaraos now really felt a strong fear.
It was a fear that could hardly be concealed. Even Amphiaraos, who traveled among various forces, would tremble in his heart. This was not a joke, but a truly terrifying existence. Amphiaraos took a deep breath, thought carefully, and then said, "Your Majesty Hilde, I'm sorry, there are some things I really can't remember. After all, it has been so long, seventeen years..."
"So, no one mentioned it again?"
Hilde stood up and moved closer to Amphiaraos.
"Really? You don't know who it is?"
"Your Majesty, I..."
"You've been here for so long. I'm afraid you've had in-depth conversations with the powerful men in Athens, especially two years ago when I was sent to Byzantium. Someone must have told you about this. I don't believe you can't remember this." Hilde reached out and gently patted Amphiaraos' cheek. "If I remember correctly, you're thirty years old now, right? I really can't tell from your appearance."
"Your Majesty, you are so kind."
Amphiaraos is really nervous now.
She also didn't know what Hilde would do.
But here, even if Hilde broke her neck in one go, she would have no way to resist.
Facing Hilde's strong pressure, she was powerless.
"So, I brought some soldiers here today. They are all good soldiers. Since they joined the army, they have not been close to women. I guess they don't know what women are like after so long. So, can I ask you for a favor?"
“Please, please go on…”
Amphiaraos suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Are you okay now?"
"Well, it's okay for now..."
"Then why don't you accept my guest? Of course, you won't serve me, but my warriors. Don't worry, they are all young men in their twenties, and they will definitely satisfy you." Hilde stretched out his hand and pressed Amphiaraos on the bed, with a smile on his face becoming more intense. "How about it? After all, if you don't tell me what I want to know, I will be very unhappy... When I am unhappy, I like to make the people around me happy."
"His Majesty!"
Amphiaraus was about to say something.
Hilde covered her mouth with her other hand.
"My patience is limited. I brought thirty people this time. If you feel that is not enough, I can also take you to Byzantium, where there are thirty thousand people. You can stop whenever you want. What do you think? Anyway, you have been receiving customers for so many years, so it should be no problem to take more at one time."
"Woo...wow!"
Amphiaraus' eyes widened.
That intense fear coming from Hilde.
It almost took Amphiaraos' breath away.
"Don't think I don't know that behind those dirty politicians stands an equally dirty bastard like you. The more chaotic the situation in Greece is, the more opportunities you have to make money. Therefore, you have personally directed several farces. Maybe you also had a hand in Pericles' decision to exile me to Byzantium."
Amphiaraus took no part in this.
Hilde was in total disbelief.
Because, although Pericles was the one who made the final decision.
But it was definitely the lobbying of others that made Pericles make up his mind.
However, Pericles would definitely not come to the Athenian Spring Court. As an archon, he was obviously courting death by coming here. Then, it was obvious whether those people active around Pericles, or other officials and clergy in Athens, played a role in fueling the incident. And in order to ferment this matter, it must have required the traction of one person. As the head of intelligence, Amphiaraos could not escape this suspicion.
"I'll give you one last chance."
Hilde's crimson eyes suddenly turned blood red.
"If you still don't speak, then the Athenians will lose you completely."
“Woo!! Woo!”
Amphiaraus blinked desperately.
He seemed to want to say something.
So Hilde let go.
"Ha...ha...Your Majesty, I'll tell you whatever you want to know..."
The first section of the eighth tune is about the prophecy of oneself
Is this woman lying, or has she really given in?
Hilde couldn't be sure.
However, she was sure that Amphiaraos was very nervous and scared, and her whole body was in an ups and downs that were difficult to suppress. Her heartbeat was very fast and her muscles began to tense up, which meant that Amphiaraos was really scared just now, so Hilde felt that she could give her a chance.
"Okay, tell me about it."
Hilde smiled.
She stood up gracefully and walked to the door.
"But you'd better not play any tricks."
"...Yes, I, I won't."
Hilde stood at the door, actually to tell Amphiaraos that there was no way to escape now. The action just now was a warning to Amphiaraos, letting her know that if she didn't cooperate honestly, she would only die. So, Amphiaraos took a deep breath to calm down her emotions and state, then sat up straight and said, "It's like this... This is what I know."
"Go ahead."
Hilde narrowed her eyes slightly.
"First, about the prophecy... Before you were born, the high priest of the temple at that time privately told Pericles and Aspasia that this child would be a disaster for Athens. She would bring suffering and disaster to Pericles. But at that time, Pericles and the high priest parted ways unhappily, and he didn't take it to heart. But not long after, you were born, and after Pericles saw your hair color and pupils, he naturally believed it."
"Oh……"
The high priest of the temple?
I guess he's almost dead of old age now.
A person who can be a high priest must be quite old. Seventeen years have passed since Hilde was born. Hilde has hardly heard of a high priest who has not died in seventeen years. So Hilde nodded and continued to ask, "So, why did the high priest suddenly have such a prophecy? Do you think the high priest really sensed something, or... is this just a lie?"
"I really don't know about this matter."
Amphiaraos shook his head helplessly.
"In fact, the people in Athens are divided on this prophecy. Half of them think that the high priest would never lie or talk nonsense. Since there is such a prophecy, it must be a revelation from the gods. However, the other half think that this must be the high priest who colluded with Pericles' opponents to deliberately disgust Pericles, or... someone already knew that you were not Pericles' child and deliberately told the high priest and then made up such a prophecy."
"Interesting."
Hilde couldn't help laughing.
"These people are really wrong. I am really Pericles' child."
“…That’s not necessarily true.”
