A few sincere words that inadvertently destroy the darkness in her heart

Narrator POV:

Closing the door behind him, Mikhael entered the basement of the abandoned church, his current home. His tense shoulders relaxed a little as he was finally back in the basement.

The first day in Orario was really hectic.

The arrival, the meeting with Uranus, meeting Hestia, the deal with Miach and his daughter, the bet with Rose, that preliminary exploration of the first floors of the dungeon and then meeting Freya and Helun before finally returning to the church.

Not to mention that annoying vision full of mystery, which his intuition screamed at him was extremely important. But he still couldn't remember or visualize anything aside from "that".

'Hmmm? It seems that Hestia has already returned.' Mikhael walked down the stone steps towards the innermost part of the basement. Recognizing the presence of the goddess by some noises there.

"Ah, Mikhael! How did your first exploration of the dungeon go?"

Hestia appeared as she peeked her head into the dining room from the bedroom. Full of curiosity about the adventure of this first member of her small Familia.

"It was kind of interesting, the dungeon is really mysterious. The enemies weren't too difficult but the whole trip down and up is really a pain." Mikhael held his chin and remembered the War shadows that besieged him.

It had been a decent battle, but it was more interesting to fight against beings with more intelligence or will of their own.

After all, the young man saw the truly interesting thing about the fights in the collision of wills of the fighters who gave everything to be the one who finally remained standing.

"...Interesting, I see..." Hestia just nodded her head with some confusion. After all, she didn't understand what could be so interesting about a place as dangerous as the dungeon.

"Leaving that aside...look! What do you think of these clothes?"

Finally leaving the room instead of poking her head out, Hestia smiled expectantly as she turned to show him the outfit she was currently wearing.

"You look splendid, Hestia, more so than usual, that is."

Mikhael looked with some appreciation in his blue eyes at the goddess's new appearance. Wearing a white dress with blue straps and details as well as white gloves, with a style and colors similar to the characteristic outfit she wore.

Hestia really did look beautiful, although in particular, her skin seemed to shine, had she used some lotion or something? He didn't know, but it's not like that would look bad on the goddess.

"Hehehe, you're not going to get anywhere with flattery, but I won't stop you from continuing, Mikhael."

With a slight blush on her cheeks, Hestia smiled brightly. What she said contrasted with how very satisfied she looked with the young man's sincere praise.

"I'm serious, Hestia is really quite charming."

It was the young man's sincere opinion, it wasn't any kind of flattery or flirting. Feeling that, Hestia turned her head away with the blush on her face deepening to a whole new level.

It was normal, it might offend someone, but receiving a compliment from a handsome or beautiful person felt much better than it did from other more normal people. After all, these people already saw their own faces all the time.

On top of that, the one who gave her such a compliment was not only a really handsome young man, but he also had the bonus brought by being the first member of her currently small Familia.

He was the one who would undoubtedly be someone very special in her heart forever. Even when perhaps some other person would join the Familia later if they managed to recruit someone.

"Hestia, could you please update my status? I'm kind of curious about the growth I can achieve in just one day." Mikhael removed his cloak, resting it on the back of a chair as he requested this lovely goddess of his.

Coming back to herself, Hestia admired for a moment how good her child looked in a new outfit, it wasn't anything impressive, it was just a set of somewhat detailed white clothes. What really made it special was who was wearing it.

'Artemis, what good deeds did you do to have so much luck?' Hestia remembered her friend with some annoyance, who was probably just hunting in the wild. Nodding at the young man's request, they went to the room.

"Come on, come on, don't be shy, Mikhael! Take off your top clothes to make the process easier." Hestia urged the boy who stood frozen beside the bed as she took a needle that she would use to obtain the divine blood.

[Here is... the first great obstacle in the user's path! What will the brave warrior, who has his neck full of kiss marks from another goddess, do at the request of his goddess?!]

Mikhael smiled very stiffly at the gaze of the little goddess. Honestly, he had completely forgotten that little detail. It's not like he used that technique all the time.

That added to the bewilderment and confusion brought by that vision... he totally forgot the marks of passion left by the goddess, which unknown to him, she knew perfectly well.

Freya had left a little gift for Hestia.

Well, what had to come, would come. Mikhael, who now did not know what fear was thanks to the new skill [Völsunga King], took off the clothes on his torso and lay down there.

!

Hestia's eyes suddenly opened as she approached the bed to climb onto the young man's waist to update his status. On the back of the young man's neck, there was something that caught her attention. For a moment, she stood there, bewildered.

"..."

'Damn, this is really awkward...' Mikhael kept his face pressed against the pillow. He became confused when he heard nothing for a few moments until Hestia just climbed on top of him, seemingly not noticing anything strange about him.

"Mikhael..."

That only turned out to be a vain hope when the goddess leaned over his back, pressing her body on top of him and placing her lips against his ear, speaking to him slowly.

"Who is it?"

The question was asked in a normal, calm tone as if she was asking what time it was or what day it was today. Mikhael felt sweat slide down his forehead at the question. 'No, wait, why the hell do I feel guilty right now?'

Mikhael furrowed his forehead in confusion, for some reason he felt like a cheating husband who got caught by his wife. However, they were just a child and his goddess for now.

Was there even a reason to feel this way right now?

"Exactly who was the one who left all the marks on you? A mortal? No... A goddess, which one did it?" Hestia gently ran her fingers over the skin of his neck. She asked slowly, more agitated with each question.

"Who was the one who left this here with such pretense?"

Hestia didn't know why she was acting like this, it was just a few kisses. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just some... kiss marks. She hadn't had her first kiss, but she knew it was basic.

Yes.

She should just act like a dignified goddess and curiously ask who the woman that caught her child's attention is and give him some good romantic advice. Or congratulate him on finally finding someone who matches his affection.

However, seeing those marks on her child, she unexpectedly felt an unpleasant feeling creeping up somewhere in her heart as if someone had come and touched what belonged to her, staining it and marking it as their own.

She felt that someone had come to unfairly snatch away the person she finally got after so many failures and efforts, the young man who kindly joined her Familia and promised to strive with her to develop it.

What the goddess felt was caused by a mixture of factors.

Whether it was the great amount of frustration or sadness repressed in her for constantly failing every time she tried to recruit someone for months or the happiness when Mikhael joined her.

Also, the great sense of security and relief that the young man gave her with his confident and capable behavior or the relaxing and calming presence that he exuded thanks to [Vanadis Odr].

All of that had already mixed into a jumble of emotions. The goddess, who in another parallel universe dumped a set of similar emotions on Bell Cranel, which caused that terrifying possessiveness that Hestia sometimes showed...

She had already done the same with Mikhael without realizing it.

So, seeing those kiss marks that seemed to want to tell her that Mikhael belonged to whoever made them and being able to feel with her very sharp intuition that the culprit was another goddess...

Hestia felt...fear.

Faced with the prospect of someone coming to take away the small happiness she finally achieved, the sprout of her dream, as well as her beloved first child, the goddess only felt fear.

She was terrified.

The insecurities in her heart whispered to her that anyone would choose to go with another goddess. A goddess who unlike her was capable and had a bigger Familia with more resources.

Yes...

It was the most logical and possible. Even worse, she already knew it could happen, there were already children who in the middle of receiving her offer went with other gods who thought it was fun to tease Hestia a little, nothing out of the ordinary, right?

It was just a mere trivial joke for other gods, but for her, it was the seed of insecurity that would result in an inferiority complex that fed on those failures.

Even a naturally optimistic and cheerful person like Hestia would feel the blows of several dozen rejections during the 3 months after she came down from heaven.

To the point where she went from being full of expectations and anticipation upon coming down from heaven to form her dream family to finally being kicked out by Hephaestus for not going out to recruit people for her Familia by just staying locked up in her house.

All of that exploded at the same time thanks to a few simple lip marks that seemed to be mockingly placed around the young man's entire neck. Also, the contrast between her incompetence and his great talents didn't help.

All of that caused the emotional instability that Hestia showed. Regardless of the low probability of someone like Mikhael giving up on a challenge or as Freya had already told her Mikhael chose her because he truly trusted her.

All of that didn't matter when the goddess finally faced the fears that dwelled deep within her heart. In the face of those fears, even that cheerful and optimistic Hestia...

"I...would understand it..."

After a few moments of considering what to answer, Mikhael felt the goddess's head pressed against his back, two arms wrapped around him and she spoke to him...

"If you wanted to...leave my Familia...and go to a better one..."

Hestia spoke haltingly with a broken voice that seemed to be resisting simply crying, perhaps she didn't want to show a pathetic image to her only dependent.

"I would understand...just tell me...and don't get my hopes up please."

The pleading and weakness in the goddess's tone made Mikhael instantly realize that he screwed up. Now, there was a reason to feel guilty for Hestia. Then, he put aside the nonsense and set out to make up for his mistake.

"Hestia, could you let me turn around so I can look into your eyes?"

Mikhael waited a moment until the goddess loosened her arms around him before turning around with her still on top of him.

However, Hestia didn't let him see her face as she pressed it against his chest, that black hair completely covering her expression.

Still, Mikhael tried to talk to her to explain something to her.

"Hestia."

Seeing how she ignored him, Mikhael simply hugged her himself this time. Wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on hers, he spoke softly to her.

"I don't know what you misunderstood, but I have no intention of leaving your Familia and going to another one, not now or ever..."

"...You're lying to me, why would you stay with me?..."

"Don't be unreasonable, you know I speak the truth, just as you know I can see the future. I'm a little embarrassed to say it, but I knew what your personality was like before I met you before."

"..."

"Of all the gods of Orario, no, of the world, I joined you because I trust you completely from the bottom of my heart, at the same time, I appreciate your dream of having a family and I share it, I didn't join for any other reason than one..."

"..."

"Hestia is Hestia."

"...That sounds very stupid..."

"However, it's the truth, what can I say, I must admit that I'm stupid, but I won't back down from the things I believe. Would you do me a favor and support this stupid me, my goddess?"

"But... I don't have any outstanding skills or powers... just a control over the divine flame... but that's useless normally..."

"Still I insist, I don't look for Hestia for what she can do but for who she really is as a person. I'm looking for you, not a goddess of beauty, goddess of forging, or god of wine, only you."

"... Aren't you going to regret those words?..."

"I regret some things I didn't do, but never the ones I did."

"..."

After a few seconds of only the sounds of their breathing, Hestia stood up and sat on him. Facing him with both hands on her waist, she replied.

"It can't be helped, since you asked me so sincerely, from now on this goddess will always support you without fail." Hestia smiled brightly, although her hair was now messy, she looked even more beautiful than before.

But there was a fundamental difference in the softness and affection with which she looked at him compared to before. The intensity of her gaze was worrying, but Mikhael didn't notice it.

Still unaware that her skill [Vanadis Odr] created a bridge for her words to reach the goddess' heart, where certain insecurities were pulverized by them.

There was nothing to worry about, he would never leave her. After all, he promised, he had to keep that, right? No, he had to take responsibility for his words, yes.

'It's okay'

Hestia looked softly at the young man beneath her, now sitting on his waist, she felt more relaxed than she had been in months, at the same time, honestly very happy.

'It's okay if for a while it's just me and Mikhael...'

***

"By the way, Mika, who was it that left those marks on you?"

Mikhael turned his gaze from the papers with his new status to the goddess. Hestia looked like a serial killer eager to discover the identity of her next victim as she gritted her teeth remembering the origin of that whole conversation.

"Mika?"

"It's just a little affectionate nickname from a goddess for her child, don't worry about it, would you please answer me?"

With no other option but to answer truthfully since he needed to use his technique beforehand if he wanted to get around the gods' ability to sense lies, he answered her.

"Well...on the way home I met Freya...wait, wait, wait, you don't need to look at me with recrimination, I know you warned me about her, but Freya isn't as bad as she seems."

"Does that opinion of her have something to do with her generous mouth?" Hestia puffed out her cheeks with an annoyed expression.

Although Freya told Hestia her intentions, she underestimated her speed. So that's was the way of how things were, huh? Hestia wouldn't underestimate her or anyone anymore.

"No, I sincerely believe it, Freya isn't really a bad person." Mikhael expressed his sincere opinion about the woman upon learning parts of her past thanks to the vision, the only part he could barely decipher in parts due to its duration.

"Who knows, anyway, now that we're done with your status, I'll take you to show you the best places in the city, I think you'll love the Coliseum." Hestia took the young man by the arm and led him away, leaving the basement with him to start the date.

As for their reaction to his state, Mikhael just nodded half satisfied and Hestia simply twisted her lips at her son's absurdity, then...

Once his status was updated and she closed it to avoid prying eyes on her captain's information and amidst the interference of a goddess and her assistant, it was time...

The date/war began.

***

Mikhael Eden Ascart

Lv. 1

strength: E 474

Endurance: F 357

Dexterity: E 498

Agility: E 465

Magic: I 0

Magic:

[Artemis Agnós: The innocent love of the goddess of the moon]

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Skills:

[Orion]

[Vanadis Odr]

[Völsunga King]

[Future Sight]

[Mark of the Outsider]

[Mimicry]