"W-what should I do? Hestia must hate me now..."
Artemis pulled her white nightgown tight around herself and looked at Bell, completely at a loss.
Her emerald-green eyes, bright as jewels, shimmered with tears, as if declaring that in this holy war, there had been no winners at all.
Bell smiled softly. "So Artemis has a cute, girlish side too."
"Huh?! Is this really the time for Orion to be saying something like that?!"
Artemis hurriedly climbed down from the bed.
Now that the impulse had faded, all that remained in her heart was guilt and remorse.
Her relationship with the boy should never have become a blade aimed at Hestia.
"Artemis, if you want to make up with Goddess-sama, I do have an idea."
Bell spoke in a quiet voice.
"What idea?"
Even in her somewhat revealing nightgown, with so much of her fair skin exposed to the boy's eyes, Artemis threw her embarrassment aside and looked at Bell expectantly.
"Before that, let's wake up the Dea Saint over there who's pretending to be asleep..."
Turning slightly, Bell reached out with his left hand and lightly flicked Airmid on the forehead.
"Mmh... I've been found out?"
Airmid opened her eyes. There wasn't the slightest trace of drowsiness on her exquisite face.
"So you were only pretending to sleep while clinging to Orion?!"
Artemis frowned. "That's deceiving a goddess. And that blonde elf over there, opening the door like that deserves judgment too!"
The goddess's rebuke rang through the room.
Artemis had once taken the lead in battle and hunted monsters alongside her Familia, yet the way she looked now, like a sulking young girl, only made her seem all the more adorable.
"With Artemis-sama's skills, if you hadn't been worried about your nightgown, you could have stopped Laurier even while naked, couldn't you? Compared to Hestia-sama, Bell-sama's opinion matters more to you."
Airmid had been awake for a while now. After listening to everything, she calmly pointed out the heart of the matter.
"Eh...?"
Artemis fell silent.
A dear friend she had known for eons had somehow lost to this brief, fleeting romance.
More importantly, she had no way to refute that blunt observation.
"In that case, Artemis-sama stays on guard even while sleeping, doesn't she?"
Laurier followed up with another merciless point. "I didn't shove you. I only made space in the middle. Artemis-sama was the one who moved over and hugged Bell herself."
"Eh?!"
At once, Artemis remembered the hazy dream she'd had the night before.
Under the moonlight, she had chased after a white rabbit, then finally caught it in her arms and played with it.
Had she really reached out and embraced Orion without realizing it?
That...
That couldn't possibly be true...
Shaken, Artemis looked at Bell. The warmth and beauty of that dream had somehow become reality, knocking against the windows of her heart.
"With such a beautiful goddess beside me, I think I had a very pleasant dream last night."
Bell spoke softly, almost like a sigh.
"Eh?!"
Artemis's face turned bright red, and her startled voice rose in an endless rush like steam.
Amid their embarrassment and laughter, Bell was able to enjoy a rare, precious moment of ordinary life.
…
The sky was a clear blue, and the sunlight was warm.
Under that peaceful calm, cheerful commotion echoed through the Hestia Familia mansion.
"Orion, ah..."
In front of Artemis was a rich, delicious soup made with milk and all sorts of ingredients.
She scooped up a spoonful, blew on it gently in front of her lips, then tenderly brought it to Bell's mouth.
"Mmm... Artemis, the mushroom just now was really good."
Completely unconcerned with the eyes on him, Bell tasted the food and praised it openly.
"Really? Then I want some too. Ah..."
Artemis parted her lovely lips with graceful elegance, as if waiting for the boy to feed her in return, her face tinged with a rosy blush.
"You're hopeless."
Copying her gesture, Bell fed the warm spoonful into her mouth.
The sweet atmosphere around them only deepened.
The dining hall was spacious, and for the current Hestia Familia, it felt especially empty.
And yet, as if by unspoken agreement, everyone kept glancing toward Bell and Artemis from time to time.
"What exactly happened? Is Artemis-sama really that kind of person?"
Lili asked quietly.
"Mm..."
Cassandra didn't dare look for even a second longer, afraid her eyes might meet the boy's.
"Maybe her state of mind changed. After all, the other person is the Captain..."
Daphne spoke with a sigh.
After tasting a spoonful of the soup, she added, "Mikoto, does seeing this not make you feel anything? You made this soup, didn't you?"
"As long as Bell-sama is enjoying it, I think this kind of behavior adds even more flavor to the meal..."
Mikoto stared blankly at the boy.
"Mikoto-sama, do you still remember the contest in the Dungeon?!"
Lili frowned, trying to dig out the true meaning behind the samurai girl's words.
"I, I am not dwelling on that! I have never looked forward to something like this!"
Mikoto replied with a blushing face.
"Ah, so you do remember."
"T-that can't possibly be..."
Watching the two of them, Daphne smiled faintly. "You two are awfully relaxed... For certain people, this scene is pretty hard to sit through."
The girls' cheering rang in Hestia's ears.
"Artemis-sama finally gets it!"
"Just keep it up and win Bell Cranel over. Hurry up and cross that line already~"
"Ah... I can't take it anymore after seeing this..."
Twenty girls offered their blessings to Artemis in their own ways.
Laurier and Airmid simply continued eating in silence, utterly unmoved.
Only one person was quietly brewing a murderous mix of jealousy and fury like an enraged demon.
"Hiss..."
Hestia ground her teeth in anger.
The delicious soup had become bitter medicine. Every sweet word and gesture exchanged between Bell and Artemis turned into sharp spears that stabbed straight into Hestia's heart.
"Ah, I've had enough!"
Hestia slammed down her spoon and shot to her feet.
She marched right between Bell and Artemis, using her own body as a wall to separate them.
"Break it up! Stay away from my Bell!"
Bell gave a smile that said he had expected this all along. "Didn't Goddess-sama say you were going to ignore Artemis? I need to comfort her."
"Mgh... that was only something I said in the heat of the moment!"
Hestia puffed out her cheeks as she answered.
"So that means Goddess-sama still sees Artemis as a good friend?"
Bell asked gently.
"Of course I do."
Hestia answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Then no matter what Artemis does from now on, you won't get angry with her?"
Bell tested her with another question.
"Th... that..."
Hestia hesitated.
"I see. Goddess-sama, you're in the way."
Bell reached for the spoon again.
Hestia hurriedly cut him off.
"Mgh... fine, I get it!"
"No matter what Artemis does, I'll still treat her as a good friend! So stop leaving me out anymore!"