There was no helping it. For the peak showdown, Prince Paris of Troy was ultimately chosen as the judge.
In the end, Aphrodite, who used her beauty to spend a night with Paris, won. Later, Aphrodite was even quite satisfied with this pretty-boy prince of Troy, and after getting a taste for it, the two of them often hooked up.
After the rigging scandal was exposed, Olympus was thrown into another round of chaos.
But by then, the gods had already been worn out by the Golden Apple incident and no longer had the energy to cause trouble. The ten-year siege had left the Trojans exhausted, and their allies were defeated one after another.
As for the Amazons, whom Troy had relied on most? Sorry, they stood them up.
Without divine protection, Hektor was captured alive by Achilles. Paris took over the city's defense, but failed to see through the Trojan Horse, ultimately leading to Troy's fall.
At the end of the story, the Trojans, their nation destroyed and their homes lost, followed the Olympian gods to the Italian peninsula under Prince Paris' leadership and founded Rome. Aphrodite's bloodline, that is, the bloodline of Venus, was also carried on, and Caesar's family was one branch of it.
According to Samael's guess, the Golden Apple dispute had likely later evolved into a wager between the old and new factions of Olympus.
Perhaps it was precisely because Aphrodite sacrificed her beauty to win that Ares was able to surpass Zeus and become the Main God more revered by the Romans.
After the war, the Areopagus treated Hektor, now a captive, generously, allowing the fallen Trojan prince to settle with his family on the Kingdom's Ten Islands. Achilles even warmly invited his former opponent to live on Thetis Island.
At first, Hektor, unaware of the truth, did feel a kind of mutual respect with Achilles, thinking this was honor between warriors.
However, when Hektor happened to catch Achilles and his cousin Briseis having an affair in the Temple of Thetis, a round of questioning revealed the truth. As it turned out, after Briseis had been captured, Achilles had taken this "war prize" from Agamemnon, and the two of them had gradually gotten involved.
The reason Hektor had been captured alive rather than killed was mostly thanks to his cousin's pillow talk.
Even worse, it was not only his cousin Briseis. Cassandra, his own sister, whom Achilles had also intercepted from Agamemnon after the city fell, was also entangled with that green-haired bastard.
Mutual respect, my ass! Treating captives well, my ass! That green-haired bastard invited him to the island purely to make sneaking around easier!
After the Trojan prince figured this out, his mentality exploded. Every few days, he would find some excuse to fight Achilles.
"Who would've thought that wild horse Achilles would actually be tamed by women and leave the Trojan bloodline a chance to survive? It really proves that saying. Men conquer women by conquering the world, and women conquer the world by conquering men…"
After hearing that this great hero of the Trojan War had such a rich romantic history, Samael could not help sighing.
"Exactly! Your Majesty, I drink to you!"
Hearing this, Caesar excitedly slapped his thigh and immediately raised his cup, eager to drink with Samael. His shining eyes looked as if he had found a life mentor with the same tastes.
The two clinked cups and looked at each other, false smiles appearing on both their faces. After parting, they each walked to a hidden corner and, as if by silent agreement, quickened their steps, secretly wiping the hands that had touched each other hard against their clothes.
Mm. The smell of my own kind. Both rotten and scummy. Better keep my distance.
After making a preliminary inspection of the Roman, Norse, and Greek forces, Samael greeted his companions along the way and walked toward the temple behind the grand altar.
However, after looking around, Samael found that Ana was not in the main hall.
Just as the Ancient Serpent felt a little puzzled, the sweet smell of cream and the toasted fragrance of wheat drifted faintly from the rear hall. A strange familiarity rose in his heart, instantly awakening dusty memories.
Mm. A familiar smell…
A faint curve appeared at the corner of Samael's mouth. He softened his footsteps and carefully walked toward the kitchen built in the rear hall.
"Butter cake requires fully ripened wheat from Mesopotamia, and the harvest season must not be washed by rain. Only then can it perfectly recreate the old flavor. Samael really likes this…"
"For baked flatbread, the heat is very important. As for the filling, honey suits it better than sugar…"
"The same goes for porridge. I'm best at seasoning wheat porridge!"
Before the clean stove, three graceful figures were arranged from shortest to tallest, busily making their specialty dishes while sharing cooking experience with each other in a harmonious atmosphere.
"Samael!"
The figure at the door cast a mottled shadow into the room. Ana reacted first, hurriedly jumping down from her small stool and rushing out from beside the stove. She crashed into Samael's arms, wrapping both arms tightly around the Ancient Serpent's waist and burying her little head deep in that sense of peace.
"Oh no! It's burning! It's burning!"
But as a burnt fragrance drifted over, Ana snapped awake. She immediately ran back to the stove and hurriedly flipped several flatbreads.
Yet the more anxious she became, the more mistakes she made. Either she forgot to brush sauce on one, or she accidentally pierced the surface with the spatula, causing the cream inside to spill out. Even the lamb chops roasting nearby were not quite satisfactory.
"Don't rush. We'll do it together…"
Just as Ana's little face filled with frustration and she was at a loss, two hands reached out from behind her, skillfully controlling the heat, passing over tools, and taking over the roasting of the meat.
The familiar feeling from the Uruk Embassy rose in her heart. Ana could not help feeling encouraged, and gradually relaxed. Everything proceeded in orderly fashion. Before the stove, one large and one small exchanged a nod, and smiles blossomed on both their faces.
"Circe, your pot is already bubbling. Careful, the lid might fly off."
"And Medea, the whole jar of honey is almost gone. Are you trying to make someone choke on sweetness?"
Hearing that lighthearted reminder, the two cooks who had been looking at those overlapping backs with some envy snapped awake as if from a dream. Their expressions changed slightly, and they hurriedly gathered their thoughts and focused on their own work.
Still, a trace of secret joy from being noticed and feeling close to him quietly spread through the hearts of the aunt and niece.
Once the kitchen stabilized, Samael helped out while asking about the progress of the grand altar.
"With Medea and Circe's help, the divine seal has already completed the blockade of Thermopylae and the surrounding waters. The Persians are now trapped beasts in a cage."
Ana glanced at the two like-minded companions on either side and answered seriously. But her gaze soon flickered, and her dark brows drew together.
"However, as the foundation gradually stabilizes, that also means almost all of the reinforcements the Pure Land of Bliss can send to support us have already reached the surface. And there still has been no response from the Inner Sea of the Planet. We can only sense it faintly."
"That's enough!"
Samael smiled and nodded. The lines between his brows gradually eased, and his confidence rose.
"Woohoo! Butter cake! And lamb chops, Jaguar's favorite! Come, come, let this lonely gourmet taste the seasoning and listen to the language of food!"
A moment later, Jaguar Warrior, drawn in by the fragrance, rushed into the kitchen with shining eyes and pounced straight toward the food.
But in the next instant, a hand behind her grabbed her by the tail and flipped her straight into the floor.
"Mm, what a nostalgic smell. If you don't mind my muscles and clumsy hands, big sister will help too!"
Quetzalcoatl, embodying both violence and elegance, stepped over the human signpost planted stiffly in the floor and walked over with a smile, joining the line of cooks with great curiosity.
By noon, Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, and even American-style dishes had all come freshly out of the kitchen. The invited commanders of the three armies and several key decision-makers smelled the rich aroma as soon as they entered, and their appetites were immediately stirred.
Everyone took their seats inside the temple, their eyes filled with both anticipation and solemnity.
There was always calm before the storm. Beneath this feast, the thunder of war was not far off.