"I’ve completely lost the nerve to face anyone now..."
Loki buried her entire face in Bell’s chest. Only at this mont did she truly understand what social death felt like, and not the kind that happened outside, but the kind that happened at ho, right in front of a group of longti rivals.
What could Bell even say to that? All he could do was gently comfort her.
"You should think about the things you said earlier when you blew the situation way out of proportion. How did it even end up turning into a question of being proactive or not?"
Just thinking about it made Loki, still clinging to Bell, feel even more stifled. At the ti, her brain really must have short-circuited. How else could she have dragged the topic in that direction?
"I just couldn’t react in ti. There’s no way I’d say sothing like that outside. If it weren’t in front of them..."
The more she spoke, the more wronged Loki felt.
Normally, she kept her mouth shut tight. She would never talk about private matters between herself and Bell. For crying out loud, that "one, two, three" was sothing only she and Bell were supposed to know. Even with close friends, that wasn’t sothing you discussed. And yet, she’d suddenly gone brain-dead and blurted it out.
At this point, what could be done? Bell could only let out a helpless sigh.
There were other things he could help Loki smooth over, but sothing like this? How was he supposed to fix it? Especially when Loki herself had been the one to say it. If anything, this was entirely self-inflicted.
Bell gently patted Loki’s back, soothing her in a low voice.
"We’re all family anyway. Knowing a little more about each other isn’t really a problem."
Loki wanted to retort, but once she rembered that she’d caused this ss herself, she didn’t know what to say anymore.
Sitting sideways on Bell’s lap, Loki couldn’t help glancing down at her own figure. A surge of dissatisfaction welled up inside her. She lightly rested her head against Bell’s shoulder, gently nibbling at his neck as she muttered under her breath.
"You don’t dislike my body, do you?"
Bell didn’t answer right away. He simply held her closer.
"I know your figure can’t really be compared to Hestia and the others, but that’s exactly why you’re different from them."
"In so ways, you’re really like a boy. But the way you get a little jealous sotis, and that slightly willful personality of yours, is actually really cute."
"So it’s not just that you fell in love with . I think I’ve been slowly falling for you too, without even realizing it."
Hearing those sweet words, the lingering frustration in Loki’s heart gradually faded away. Those almost-confessional lines even tilted her mood toward happiness, mixed with a hint of embarrassnt.
"You really know how to talk..."
She muttered quietly, but her mood was clearly much better than before. At the very least, the issue about her figure had been neatly sidestepped.
Just as Loki was planning to cling on a little longer, an annoying voice cut in.
"Hey! How long are you planning to hog Bell?"
Hestia’s voice rang out, thick with displeasure.
She stared at Loki, who was still glued to Bell, with an openly annoyed expression. If Loki hadn’t looked like she was about to cry earlier, Hestia never would have let Bell go in the first place.
Now that she’d been comforted, she was still planning to keep monopolizing him. Once again, Hestia was struck by just how shaless Loki could be.
With a touch of jealousy, Hestia plopped down next to Bell and shoved Loki with her palm, sending her straight off Bell’s lap and onto the nearby sofa.
"Hey! Shorty, what are you doing?"
"Taking back the Bell you’ve been hogging!"
The two imdiately squared off, glaring at each other. Bell had no choice but to grab one with each hand, forcibly holding the quarrelling pair apart.
"Both of you, stop arguing."
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!"
They continued glaring at each other stubbornly.
Then, all of a sudden, a thick "wall" appeared between them, completely blocking their line of sight.
"Honestly, are you two still children?"
Freya stepped in like a mature big sister, positioning herself squarely between them.
She openly sat down on Bell’s lap and looked at the slightly stunned Bell with a doting gaze.
"Alright. Now, can you explain what happened earlier between you and Artemis and the others?"
"Earlier?"
"Don’t play dumb. Your acting might be good, but it won’t work on , Bell."
Freya saw straight through Bell’s attempt to feign ignorance and dodge the subject. Her gaze was sharp. She knew Bell’s personality well. He wasn’t the type to actively push things with Artemis, especially when things were already approaching the topic of marriage.
In her view, Bell was likely planning to give Artemis a better mory. Sothing like a union would surely be saved for a proper wedding, not rushed several months in advance.
That ant she could be almost certain that before sparks flew between Bell and Artemis, sothing else had happened. And if it wasn’t on Artemis’s side, then it had to be on Bell’s.
"If you wanted to eat Artemis, none of us would object. But at this point, what you want is obviously a more formal setting, not sothing this abrupt."
"And don’t tell you couldn’t control yourself. The one who loses control would be Artemis, not you."
Freya’s slightly serious tone imdiately shut down Hestia and Loki’s bickering. It even drew the attention of Hephaestus and both versions of Artemis.
Hephaestus looked thoughtful, while the two Artemis exchanged a brief look of surprise before coming to an understanding.
Clearly, Freya really did know Bell well.
Being understood so thoroughly made Bell feel both pleased and helpless, especially when he was trying to keep certain things hidden.
"Actually, the reason I ca back yesterday was because my ntal state couldn’t hold up anymore."
"Jumping from under five digits into four digits, clearing the dungeon and stabilizing myself in the three-digit realm, thinking about creating a world, and even dealing with the prying from the ’Miniature World’... too many things piled up at once. I didn’t have much ti to adjust."
"Yesterday, Mom and Miss Ryougi sent back and told to co find you all and take a proper rest for a while."
As Bell explained, Freya wore an expression that clearly said, ’Just as I thought.’
She knew it. Bell wouldn’t normally do sothing like directly eating Artemis, even if Artemis had been the one to initiate it.
"Of course, what happened with Artemis wasn’t impulsive. It’s just that the atmosphere was right, and I couldn’t help myself..."
Freya rolled her eyes.
"Sure, go on. Like I’d believe that."
"Let’s put the Artemis matter aside. Our relationships with you are already out in the open. Even if it happened a little early, it’s not a big deal."
"So things are better settled earlier so things don’t turn chaotic at the actual wedding. But when it cos to your condition, we all have the right to know. Explain everything properly. This ti, you’re not getting away with it."
Freya was jealous too.
But compared to indulging in that jealousy, she was far more concerned about Bell’s condition.
At least for now, that was the most important thing to her.
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