It was widely known on Crete that King Minos had five sons and five daughters.
The five princes, under the old king's strict rule and discipline, might not have achieved great merit but were at least reasonably obedient.
But the five princesses, one after another, were basically walking explosives packed with black powder.
Among them, the eldest princess, Acacallis, had eloped with Apollo, the god of light, abandoning her role as high priestess and breaking with her father;
The third princess, Euryale, had borne Orion with Poseidon, so there was no need to explain that one, she was rebellious to the extreme;
The second princess, Ariadne, seemed honest enough now, but in the future would first help the half-god hero Theseus escape the labyrinth, then run away with this Athenian prince on a ship.
Given the relationship between Athens and Athena, the shifts in faith, and the fact that Theseus had once sacrificed the Cretan Bull, which was a symbol of Crete's divine lineage, to Athena, and that Ariadne was herself a priestess of Athena… putting all these factors together, Lorne guessed there were probably unknown secrets behind it.
But from King Minos's perspective, it was still a betrayal.
Similarly, the fourth princess, Phaedra, was also a top-level rebel.
When she was still very young, she had followed her sister Ariadne and stowed away on Theseus's ship to Athens.
On the way, the not-so-honorable Athenian prince Theseus, in the name of a divine oracle, abandoned the second princess Ariadne on Naxos, leading to Ariadne's fateful union with Dionysus.
Meanwhile, the fourth princess, Phaedra, continued on to Greece with Theseus.
When she grew up into a beautiful and generous young woman, she married Theseus as his second wife.
Later, the bold Theseus plotted to storm the underworld to kidnap Persephone along with Helen, but was trapped in the underworld.
Left behind and feeling betrayed, Phaedra fell in love with her stepson Hippolytus.
After being rejected, she could not bear the humiliation, left a suicide note, and hanged herself.
When Theseus finally returned from the underworld and found the letter, he lashed out at his son in anger and cursed him to die, a curse which soon came true, leading to the tragic destruction of father and son.
For now, the only one of the five princesses who was still spotless was probably the youngest, Xenodice, who was still nursing.
Of course, that might simply be because she hadn't had a chance yet…
Lorne sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation, then lifted his eyes to look at the newly inaugurated high priestess of the maenads in front of the crowd or rather, Dionysus's future sister-in-law, the fourth princess, Phaedra.
At this moment, the chestnut-haired fourth princess, still with a middle-schooler's appearance, was wearing a flower crown, barefoot, singing and dancing excitedly in the valley, her face flushed bright red, looking for all the world like a rebellious teenage girl acting out.
She had no idea how much trouble and disturbance her presence at this kind of heretical gathering would bring to her father and siblings back home.
Or even if she knew, she probably wouldn't care?
What is with these princesses, every single one is like a suicide vest fully loaded with damage potential.
As the cult leader and object of worship himself, Lorne was speechless for a moment, and couldn't help but pity old King Minos, who was likely still wrestling with his sons back home.
'Maybe out of respect for King Minos's kindness to me, I should sneak him a note and let him come drag this rebellious daughter back for a proper scolding?
Just as Lorne was hesitating, the dancing maenads, led by their new high priestess, tossed frankincense into the fire and began to chant another round of hymns.
"I call upon Dionysus, roaring god, shouting 'Aha!' with dual nature, dead and reborn, the future king Bacchus,
mysterious and wild, with twin horns, two forms, adorned with ivy, the pure and mighty god of joy, shouting 'Aha!'
You feast upon offerings, wear grapes as decoration, leaves as clothes, twice-yearly celebration,
immortal king, eternal spirit,
hear me, kind-hearted god, gentle and perfect god!
Come down upon me with your joyful followers!"
Hearing the cheers and applause around her, Phaedra's small face glowed a flush of excitement in the firelight as she felt an exhilarating freedom in her heart, a sense of breaking through her shackles and unleashing her true nature.
It was the first time she had tied up her chestnut hair with twisted ivy instead of gold; the first time she wore a crown of grapevine flowers; the first time she covered her bare upper body with a bronze breastplate;
The first time she tied a fawnskin around her waist; the first time she wrapped a belt made of snakeskin tightly around herself; the first time she struck lively, deafening cymbals; the first time she lit a torch to dance through the night!
Compared to the towering palace and its complicated rituals, this forest was so easy, so intoxicating.
Life was never meant to be locked away in a boring cage, it should be like a bird, soaring freely through the sky, resting in the woods, chasing after one's heart along the road.
"Aha~~"
Gradually lost in the moment, Phaedra offered heartfelt praise to sleepless Dionysus, to the joyful god and spirit of wine who had given her this free paradise.
"Bang!"
The girl's divine staff, wound in purple ivy, topped with a pinecone ball, covered with fresh green leaves, struck a rock beside her, ringing out the final note of the grand hymn.
The end of the song also meant tonight's gathering was coming to a close.
Everyone would soon have to return to their homes, put their masks back on, and once again play the roles their daily lives demanded.
At the thought of the oppressive atmosphere waiting at home, a faint look of frustration spread across Phaedra's young face.
"A spring! There's a spring!"
Suddenly, surprised voices rang out around her, and a wave of refreshing coolness flowed at her feet.
Phaedra instinctively opened her eyes, only to see that the rock struck by her staff had split apart, revealing a bubbling spring of clear water.
How could this be?
Phaedra looked at the "divine staff" she had painstakingly crafted over several nights, her expression full of confusion, her small lips forming a stunned O.
And then, as the staff accidentally tapped the ground again, the spring's flow surged, gathering into a small stream, with a faint fruity fragrance drifting from the water, making people lightheaded with delight.
One person couldn't help themselves, instinctively scooping up a handful of the clear water and bringing it to their lips.
In an instant, their eyes went wide, their face full of disbelief, then excitement, shouting to those around them.
"Wine! It's wine!"
Having witnessed this miracle, water springing from stone, transformed into wine, the gathering erupted in cheers.
"Lord Dionysus has blessed us!"
"Aha, praise the wine god!"
"Now we can drink to our hearts' content!"
Old and young alike crowded around the newborn stream, using their hands, cups, or pitchers to scoop up this gift of heaven and drink with abandon.
As the fragrant, sweet wine slid down their throats, a warm feeling rushed through their limbs, washing away worldly fatigue and giving them a pleasant, dizzying bliss.
In that dreamlike gaze, someone leaned against a tree and saw sweet honey dripping from the branches;
Someone brushed their fingertips across the ground and saw milky-white liquid flowing from the earth;
Someone gently rolled up a vine and found purple-red grapes covering their fingers…
In twos and threes, people collapsed on the ground, some smiling as they began to snore softly, others smacking their lips to savor the sweet milk and honey, still others reaching out to pluck fruit they weren't even sure truly existed…
In this world of a dream built from joy, their resting souls merged with nature itself, entering a state of blissful intoxication.
The maenads saw all this and excitedly swarmed around Phaedra in the center, chattering away about what it felt like to be favored by a god.
The young princess, who was still looking utterly confused, didn't know what to do, but was quickly pushed by her laughing, noisy companions to the edge of the stream, where she drank and chatted with them.
At this moment, the true culprit behind all of this quietly scooped a bowl of wine from the clear stream, sat beneath a tree, and drank comfortably, watching with interest as Phaedra was buried among the maenads. From under his hood, a smile curved gently across Lorne's lips.
Yes, this was all his doing.
The power of the sea god had given him partial control over water.
The building of faith and the gift of the wine god had given him the miracle of turning water into wine.
And with the privilege of walking upon water…
Lorne felt that he might be getting closer and closer to becoming a certain cured ham nailed to a cross.
However, there was a difference.
He was not a rule-bound preacher, but rather a god who would spread joy.
So whether it was rebellion, mischief, or breaking free of a stifling home —
Little girl, if you want it, I'll give it to you.
As for whether she could seize the opportunity, or whether she'd end up getting her butt beaten black and blue by her father afterward, that had nothing to do with him.
Aha~
Lorne let out the same kind of exclamation as the maenads, raising his cup teasingly toward a certain restless little princess, offering her a special gift that belonged to the god of joy.
.
.