Odin looked at the people who were approaching him from every direction, whispering among themselves and exchanging curious glances as rumors spread at an alarming speed.
But what made matters even worse was that the little girl in his arms began to wake up.
Elina stirred slightly, rubbed her tired eyes, then raised her head and said in a sleepy, gentle voice:
"Daddy... what is all this noise?"
Silence fell over the entire place.
Complete silence.
As though time itself had stopped.
Then, in the very next moment, the entire village erupted into a massive wave of shouting and whispers.
"She called him Daddy!"
"Did you hear that?! She called him Daddy!"
"So the rumors are true!"
The gossip spread with even greater force than before.
One of the warriors said excitedly:
"Oh! I heard that Lord Odin kidnapped a beautiful elf woman and hid her from Forn until she gave birth to this child!"
Another shook his head confidently and replied:
"No, no. I heard that he argued with Forn and traveled to the continent of Mira to have a child there."
A third added in a conspiratorial tone:
"I heard he ordered Loki to bring the woman back during his mission."
One warrior raised an eyebrow and asked in astonishment:
"But how did the child grow so quickly?"
The man who had started the rumor defended himself:
"And who knows? Maybe Lord Odin has an ability that makes children grow rapidly!"
Several of those present nodded as if the explanation made perfect sense.
Odin stood in the middle of it all, listening to the torrent of rumors that was becoming more outrageous by the second.
He sighed inwardly and thought:
"I only hope these rumors do not reach Forn."
But as if bad luck followed him everywhere, only a few moments passed before Forn herself appeared, accompanied by her young son—the boy who had clearly told his mother everything as revenge for what had happened to him earlier.
She marched forward quickly, anger written all over her face.
From a distance she shouted:
"Odin! Odin! Did you really—"
But she suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence.
Her eyes had fallen upon the face of the child in his arms.
Her eyes widened in shock, and she rushed toward him in disbelief.
"Elina?!"
She stopped in front of him and stared at the little girl, unable to believe what she was seeing.
Then she looked up at Odin and demanded sharply:
"Where did you find this girl? And how is she still alive?"
Odin sighed and began explaining what had happened since he had found Elina on the continent of Mira.
However, he deliberately withheld part of the truth.
He did not tell her about the power Elina had awakened, because he wanted Elina herself to reveal it to the others when the time was right.
But Odin's conversation with Forn did not calm the rumors—it only made them worse.
One of the onlookers said eagerly while watching them:
"Look! It seems Forn is about to fight with Lord Odin!"
Another added:
"I only hope they don't raise their voices and wake the poor child again."
At that moment, one of the female warriors glared at the speaker and said with obvious irritation:
"Do you mean it is perfectly acceptable for a man to betray his wife and escape punishment?"
One of the men shrugged and replied:
"But this is no ordinary man. This is Lord Odin, ruler of Asgard."
Then he continued confidently:
"And he has the right to marry as many women as he wants, doesn't he?"
Several people nodded in agreement and said enthusiastically:
"Yes, that is true."
"He is our ruler."
"We must stand by him."
"And we should help him out of this crisis!"
The warriors nodded eagerly, then advanced toward the place where Odin and Forn were standing, as if they were about to execute a brilliant plan to rescue their ruler from a dangerous domestic dispute.
They quietly slipped behind Forn.
Forn sensed people standing behind her, and before she could turn around to see what was happening, a sudden pain struck her head.
She spun around quickly and saw a small stone lying beside her.
At that exact moment, one of the warriors pointed toward a group of children playing nearby and shouted in fake outrage:
"What are you doing, you little fools?!"
He pointed accusingly at them and continued:
"How dare you throw stones at the great Forn! Have you lost your minds?!"
The children looked at one another in complete shock.
Only moments earlier, they had clearly seen the warriors of Asgard standing behind Forn and throwing the stone themselves.
And now they were being blamed.
Forn's anger ignited instantly.
She marched toward the children with swift steps and shouted sharply:
"I am going to give each and every one of you a severe beating, you rude and ill-mannered children!"
Odin looked at Forn.
Then he looked at the warriors, who were winking at him confidently as if expecting heartfelt gratitude for their "noble service."
He sighed softly, then gave a faint smile and said in a low voice:
"Well done... but do not do that again."
The moment he finished speaking, he felt a powerful arm wrap around his neck.
He turned and found Poseidon hugging him enthusiastically and saying with great joy:
"Don't make the warriors sad, my brother!"
Then Poseidon pointed proudly at them and added:
"They just saved you from your dangerous wife. You should thank them properly."
Odin looked at Poseidon for a long moment, then said in a calm tone while trying to preserve his patience:
"This is not my daughter."
He lifted Elina slightly and added:
"I brought her from the continent of Mira because she possesses a power that may be very useful to us in the future."
But the moment he finished speaking, Poseidon looked at him with obvious sarcasm and said shamelessly:
"There is no need to lie, my brother."
Then he pointed at Elina and continued:
"We all heard her call you Daddy."
He leaned closer and added dramatically:
"Are you trying to deny your paternal relationship with your own daughter?"
Poseidon shook his head with feigned disappointment.
"I never thought you were that kind of ruler."
At that moment, Athena arrived together with Hades after hearing the commotion.
They arrived just in time to hear Poseidon's last words.
Hades looked at Odin, then at the small girl sleeping peacefully in his arms, and his eyes widened with emotion.
"You have been blessed with a beautiful daughter, Odin."
He shook his head sadly and added:
"You should be grateful for such a blessing."
Taking a step closer, he said in a reproachful tone:
"How could you be so cruel to your own daughter? Do you intend to cast her away?"
Athena, however, remained calm while everyone else lost their reason.
She looked at Odin.
Then at Elina.
Within moments, she understood the truth.
The child carried human blood, not the blood of Asgard.
Athena sighed quietly.
Then she raised her hands and struck Poseidon and Hades on the heads with a powerful blow.
Both men grabbed their heads simultaneously and stared at her in shock.
Athena said coldly:
"This child is not his daughter, you fools."
Then she pointed to Elina and added:
"Can you not see clearly that she is human, not Asgardian?"
Silence filled the area for several moments.
At last, the truth began to dawn on everyone.
As for Odin, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Finally...
He had found at least one person in this place who actually used her brain.
(Author's Note):
Hello everyone! Thank you for your continuous support of this novel; your comments and interactions mean the world to me.
Stepping away from our story here for a moment, I wanted to share another project I've been working on with great passion. I have started publishing a webtoon (comic) on the Webtoon platform titled "Me and the Wolf."
It is a [Comedy / Fantasy] story about a miserable young man and a cunning wolf who is constantly getting him into trouble! If you enjoy my writing style and the way I build scenarios, I promise you're going to love this comic.
I would be so grateful if you could go check it out, subscribe to the series, and let me know what you think in the comments there!
🔍 Search on the Webtoon app for: [Me and the Wolf]