Love between a goddess and a child of Genkai truly is a sorrowful wish.
It’s the tragedy of the immortal and the mortal.
Unless the mortal can ascend to the realm of the immortal, this love will always end in heartbreak.
In the end, one side is destined to be left behind. It brings pain to both the goddess and the child, which is why many goddesses are reluctant to fall in love.
And because gods are inherently unchanging, there’s a saying: "When a goddess falls in love, it’s forever."
Maybe Hephaestus’s feelings developed too quickly—but isn’t that exactly what divine encounters are? Sudden and intense?
If a fateful encounter can stir a god’s heart, does the timing even matter?
Truthfully, the sa could be said for Hestia.
Her own feelings hadn’t started much earlier than Hephaestus’s.
So, when Hestia heard Hephaestus say, "That’s why I’ve placed my future in Bell’s hands," her boiling rage began to cool.
"You’re not just saying that?"
Even though she was still furious at Hephaestus for stealing Bell from her, she could hear the sincerity in her voice. She wasn’t playing around.
"Would I joke about sothing like this?"
Hestia unconsciously nodded at that.
She had known Hephaestus for a long ti and understood that she wasn’t the type to act unless she truly ant it.
And to be honest, it was likely her own actions that had nudged Hephaestus down this path.
"You’re betting your future..."
Hestia pouted in frustration—but what could she even do?
She could only chalk it up to bad luck, eting a best friend who ended up falling for her own child.
And worse, she’d unknowingly helped her along the way.
"Fine... I’ll let you have Bell-kun."
It’s not like she had much of a choice. A goddess’s feelings weren’t sothing that could be stopped once they were stirred. That was exactly why she was so cautious around Freya.
But now? Hephaestus had already slipped right past her guard.
"But the other goddesses are absolutely off-limits!"
When it ca to children from Genkai, Hestia wasn’t too worried.
Bell was destined to be hers. His future was not one that would be cut short.
Any girl from Genkai fated to et Bell would only ever beco a passing encounter—connected, but not ant to stay.
But fellow goddesses? Now they were real threats.
"Of course."
On that, Hephaestus completely agreed.
She wasn’t about to complicate things further, so she knew they had to be cautious of other goddesses trying to swoop in on Bell.
With a reluctant sigh, Hestia set aside her frustration—for now. She accepted that Hephaestus, the shaless cat who snuck in to steal her treasure, really didn’t leave her much choice.
They knew each other too well. Hestia understood Hephaestus’s character.
If she weren’t serious, she would’ve never done sothing like this.
And if she was serious, then no words or objections would make her back down.
From the very start, Hestia had known—once it was clear Hephaestus wasn’t joking, all she could do was accept it.
But when it ca to other goddesses, she would have to stay fully on guard.
There was no way she was going to let any other goddesses interfere with her and Bell.
Still, listening to the two goddesses talk like this left Bell feeling more than a little helpless. He honestly wanted to say—
’I’m really not that attractive.’
He knew he had the qualifications to keep moving forward. The "Type-Moon System" had helped patch up his weaknesses and provided support that let him keep progressing.
But that support wasn’t about charm or appeal—it had nothing to do with attracting goddesses. If anything, their attention was probably just curiosity.
Even so, Bell knew better than to say any of this out loud.
He never had any intention of forming bonds with other gods, which was why he was always cautious when leaving the house—especially to avoid any run-ins with the Goddess of Beauty, Freya.
He already knew Freya had taken an interest in him. But as long as he kept avoiding her, that interest would stay at the level of "curiosity."
As long as he could maintain that stage for long enough—give himself ti to grow—then Freya wouldn’t be a real threat.
It all ca down to one thing: he simply needed more ti to grow.
There were too many things he had to keep hidden.
...
While Bell was lost in thought, Hestia suddenly rembered sothing. She looked at Hephaestus with a suspicious glint in her eye.
"Hephaestus, what exactly did you co over for this morning? Don’t tell ... you really just ca to seduce Bell-kun?"
Hephaestus glanced at Bell and blushed slightly as the mory of almost getting carried away flashed through her mind. But she quickly composed herself.
"That was just... a mont of emotion."
"If Bell hadn’t said sothing was wrong with his body, I wouldn’t have rushed to check."
"If I hadn’t rushed to check... and if our eyes hadn’t t... I wouldn’t have suddenly had that kind of thought..."
Her voice trailed off, growing quieter and quieter, until Hestia could no longer hear what she was saying.
Still, that didn’t stop Hestia from confirming that Hephaestus wasn’t just here to get under her skin.
And since part of it was out of concern for Bell’s condition, Hestia could relate. It made her think maybe Hephaestus had ended up doing the sa thing she herself had done.
She pouted again.
"So why did you co here?"
"Wasn’t it because of that 1.6 billion order?"
Hephaestus finally revealed her true reason for showing up.
"Finn ca to yesterday and paid the full amount upfront."
"Huh? The full amount?"
Hestia’s eyes went wide. A 1.6 billion order wasn’t a small deal—yet Loki had already paid in full, and the goods weren’t even ready.
"They just wanted to establish so basic trust for future transactions," Hephaestus explained.
"Loki Familia plans to continue launching expeditions. When that ti cos, they’ll definitely want to place even bigger orders with Bell."
"Knowing that, Loki wanted to build a foundation of trust early on."
"But since they paid such a huge sum all at once, it left them a bit strapped for funds. So now they’re heading into the Dungeon to earn so of it back."
"That’s why Finn ca yesterday—to ask if they could take so of the space pouches ahead of ti, so they’d be able to gather materials and drops more efficiently."
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