Chapter 3: The Broken Lyre & Golden Promise

The next morning, the sun rose with unusual brilliance, casting rays of liquid gold over the city of Athens. Irene decided to visit the central market to purchase wool for sewing, insisted on accompanying Alex while he gathered supplies.

As they walked through the bustling marketplace, market vendors whispered and pointed.

“Look, isn’t that the disgraced lady of House Vance?”
“Aye! Her stepsister stole her noble suitor, and she ended up marrying that destitute bard!”
“Tsk, tsk. From high nobility to marrying a beggar who sings for bread scraps…”

Irene kept her head held high, holding Alex’s arm tightly. Alex walked calmly beside her, unbothered by the cruel gossip.

Suddenly, the clatter of iron-hooved horses echoed down the cobblestone street. A lavish carriage drawn by four white steeds came to a halt right in front of them. The door swung open, and Lord Hector Vance stepped out, decked in gold-embroidered velvet, with Cassandra leaning snobbishly against his shoulder.

“Well, well! What a tragic sight,” Cassandra crowed, fanning herself with peacock feathers. “Look at the happy newlyweds! Bargaining over cheap wool in the mud!”

Lord Hector smirked down at Irene, his eyes full of condescension. “Irene, if you are truly desperate, you may come back to Vance Manor as a kitchen maid. Cassandra and I might spare you a few leftover copper coins out of pity.”

“Keep your coins, Lord Hector,” Irene replied coldly. “My husband earns an honest living with his music. He has more dignity in his little finger than you have in your entire bloodline.”

“Dignity?” Hector laughed mockingly. He stepped forward and ripped the wooden lyre off Alex’s back. “You call this firewood dignity?”

With a cruel laugh, Hector threw the lyre onto the stone ground and stomped on it with his heavy iron-buckled boot.

CRACK!

The wooden frame shattered into splintered pieces, the strings snapping with a mournful sound.

“Alex!” Irene gasped, rushing to pick up the broken pieces. Tears of anger burned in her eyes. “How dare you!”

Cassandra sneered. “It’s just a worthless beggar’s toy! Come, Hector, let us not waste our breath on dirty commoners. The Duke’s gala is tonight, and we have important nobles to entertain.”

With a mocking snort, Hector tossed a single tarnished copper coin into the mud at Alex’s feet. “There’s your payment for the firewood, beggar!”

They climbed back into their carriage and rattled away, splashing muddy water toward the couple.

Irene cradled the splintered wood in her hands, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs. “I’m so sorry, Alex… Your lyre… it’s ruined because of me…”

Alex knelt beside her. He didn’t pick up the copper coin in the mud. Instead, he gently cupped Irene’s tear-stained face, wiping her tears with his thumb.

When he looked down at the shattered lyre, his golden eyes flashed with a subtle, terrifying divine radiance.

Alex picked up a dull gray pebble from the dirt. He lightly closed his fist around it for a fraction of a second. When he opened his palm, the pebble had transformed into a flawless, glowing piece of pure, solid gold, shining brighter than the midday sun!

He placed the heavy bar of gold into Irene’s hands.

“Do not weep for a wooden toy, my sweet Irene,” Alex murmured, his voice echoing with an ancient, terrifying authority that made the wind freeze around them. “Let them flaunt their petty silver and mortal titles today. For every tear you shed for their cruelty, the sun itself shall exact their debt in fire.”