I, the slave boy, awaken with the most potent seed!!

Chapter 293: Library of pleasure

A sharp cry pierced the air, startling Zafron from his thoughts. He whirled around to see Calista rushing toward them, her usual composed demeanor shattered by panic."Something's wrong with Lady Aphrodite!" She grabbed Zafron's arm, pulling him toward the temple's inner chambers. "She just... awakened and collapsed!"

Thera and Aurelia were already moving, their steps quick and purposeful. As they hurried through the marble halls, Zafron couldn't help but notice how the very walls seemed to pulse with an unsettling energy. The temple's usual warm, rose-tinted light had dimmed to a sickly gray.

They found Aphrodite sprawled across her chaise lounge, one arm dangling limply over the side. Her skin, normally radiant with divine light, had taken on an ashen pallor. The sight of the goddess of love and beauty in such a state sent a chill down Zafron's spine.

"This happened right after Eros left," Calista explained, wringing her hands. "One moment she was fine, the next..."

Aurelia knelt beside the goddess, reaching for her wrist. "Her pulse... it's erratic. Like nothing I've ever—" She stopped, frowning. "Though how I even know what a divine pulse should feel like is beyond me."

"None of us question our knowledge anymore," Thera muttered, moving to Aphrodite's other side. "We just... know things. Sometimes."

Zafron hung back, watching the three women tend to their creator—or at least, the being he assumed had created them. The whole situation felt wrong, like a painting slowly being stripped of its colors. "Could it be connected to what Eros said? About the souls missing from limbo?"

Before anyone could answer, Aphrodite's eyes flew open. They were clouded, unfocused, but her hand shot out with surprising strength, grabbing Zafron's wrist. "The balance," she wheezed, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's slipping. The anchor... need the anchor..."

"What anchor?" Zafron asked, trying to keep his voice steady despite the goddess's painfully tight grip. "Lady Aphrodite, what do you mean?"

Her eyes rolled back, but her grip remained firm. "My chambers... the answers... in the..." She coughed, and for a moment, her skin seemed to ripple like disturbed water. "Trust... the signs..."

Then her hand went limp, falling away from Zafron's wrist. Her breathing steadied, but her skin continued to pale, taking on an almost translucent quality.

"Well," Thera broke the tense silence, "I suppose we're heading to her private chambers?"

"We can't just leave her like this," Calista protested.

Aurelia stood, brushing off her robes. "We won't. I'll stay with her. You three go."

Zafron raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Someone needs to monitor her condition," Aurelia said firmly. "Besides, three is a more balanced number for an investigation. More eyes, but not so many that we'll trip over each other."

They left her chambers and made their way deeper into the temple, following corridors that seemed to shift and change with each step. Zafron had thought he knew the layout by now, but everything felt different—more maze-like, more alive.

"Here," Thera announced, stopping before a set of ornate double doors. Golden roses were carved into the wood, their thorny vines creating intricate patterns that seemed to move in the flickering light.

The chambers beyond were exactly what one might expect from the goddess of love and beauty—if that goddess had a serious hoarding problem. Every surface was covered with artifacts, scrolls, and various objects that radiated divine energy. Shelves lined the walls from floor to ceiling, packed with books and mysterious vessels. A massive bed dominated one corner, draped in silks that shimmered with colors Zafron had never seen before.

"Start looking," he said, moving toward one of the shelves. "For... well, anything that might help."

As they spread out to