"Wh-what do you mean...?"
Hestia's confidence weakened a little.
She kept feeling as though those gray eyes were peering straight into her heart.
"Hestia, aren't you close with Artemis and the others? When your best friends find such rare happiness, shouldn't you be happy for them?"
Freya stated the obvious.
Artemis and Astraea were each savoring the sweetness of love in their own way. As their friend, Hestia should have been blessing them.
"Ugh..."
Hestia pressed her lips together, unsure how to answer.
"I saw it all at the Denatus a few days ago."
Freya recalled Hestia's embarrassing past and added, "You are jealous of them, aren't you?"
Hestia had once publicly declared at the Denatus that she liked Bell Cranel.
Although she had not made clear whether it was the affection of a Familia Goddess or some other special feeling, that sincere fondness had certainly not been false.
Otherwise, Hestia would not have cried so bitterly in front of everyone.
The resentment she felt now was precisely the jealousy born from her feelings for the boy.
"S-so what if I am?!"
Hestia knew she could not avoid the topic and stammered out an admission of her jealousy.
As the boy's Familia Goddess, seeing him act affectionately with other Goddesses, and even possibly cross the line of chastity, naturally filled Hestia with jealousy.
"I am not questioning you. After all, I am only an [outsider]."
Freya's tone remained calm. After pausing for a moment, she suddenly changed direction. "But Hestia, isn't that boy pursuing a harem? Did you not object to that distant dream of his?"
Of the three great Virgin Goddesses famed throughout Tenkai, one had been taken into the boy's harem, while another was his Familia Goddess. No matter who heard it, the result was absurd.
"Bell is different..."
Hestia did not say much more.
Even before the War Game, she had already realized that the bonds between the boy and the girls were beautiful romances that brought smiles. Just like the incident with Artemis, Bell had risked everything he had to save the trapped Moon Goddess.
No matter how jealous Hestia became, she would still support Bell without hesitation.
"I admire that tolerance of yours, but have you thought about this? Since you have accepted the boy's dream and chosen to stand beside him, the number of people in his [harem] will only keep growing."
Freya did not criticize whether Hestia's resolve made her unworthy of being a Virgin Goddess. Instead, she spoke from another angle and laid out a cruel fact.
The boy already had several lovers now, but the number of [encounters] he had was far greater than that.
If things continued like this, Hestia's jealousy would likely have no end in sight.
"Ugh... I guess that's true..."
Hestia could not refute it at all.
The supporter in her own Familia, the samurai girl, and the others clearly had feelings for the boy.
That Wallen-something from Loki Familia had even carried Bell off from the dance and met with him alone...
Just the potential vixens Hestia knew about were too many to count on one hand. And in places beyond her sight, there would only be more girls like them.
"W-what should I do?"
Hestia looked at Freya, momentarily lost.
Faced with this sharp question, the contradictions in her heart were completely ignited.
"Hestia..."
Artemis tried to speak up and comfort her, only to be cut off mercilessly.
"This is very important! Artemis, do not say anything!"
Hestia did not want to hear her friend's advice at all.
Artemis and Astraea were vixens who had seduced the boy, and Hephaestus had also invited Bell to meet her alone when they first met.
Among the Goddesses present, only Freya, who had the least contact with Bell, was someone she could trust.
People often said that outsiders saw things more clearly, and Hestia believed Freya would definitely give her good advice.
"It is actually very simple. There is a way for you to escape the abyss of jealousy."
Freya calmly picked up the topic.
"...What is it?"
Hestia swallowed unconsciously.
Was the problem that had troubled her for so long finally about to be solved?
Under her expectant gaze, Freya gently raised the corners of her mouth and explained,
"Hestia, you are jealous because the boy has entered romantic relationships with other people, right? In that case, why not simply join them?"
"Huh...?"
It took Hestia a full second to understand what Freya meant by "join."
If she also became one of the boy's lovers, all her previous worries would vanish.
"..."
Artemis's gaze fell on Freya's beautiful face, faintly carrying a trace of resentment and confusion.
Silence spread through the garden.
Hestia came back to herself and stammered, "I-I cannot... I am one of the Three Great Virgin Goddesses..."
"Is that so? Then why can Artemis become the boy's lover? Their relationship has spread throughout Orario, but it has not caused any chaos in the city, has it?"
Freya used another Virgin Goddess as an example and cut off Hestia's escape route.
This kind of [Unknown] event had merely sparked a wave of discussion and brought no negative consequences.
There was no such heartless rule in the world that said a Virgin Goddess could not embrace love.
"Ugh... That is Artemis betraying chastity. I cannot do that..."
Hestia lowered her head and argued.
Even if her friend had fallen, she had no reason to follow in her footsteps.
"It may be a little inappropriate for me to say this, but in my view, the definition of chastity is actually rather vague, is it not?"
Freya replied with a smile. "Is kissing forbidden? Is holding hands forbidden? Or does it only count if you go all the way to the final step?"
"Of course that line cannot be crossed! And from the moment love begins, the line has already been crossed!"
Hestia stated her own understanding of chastity.
"If you look at it that way, does it not become even stranger?"
Freya responded quickly.
The word chastity was truly difficult to define when it came to Gods.
Gods did not grow. Neither their appearance nor their bodies would ever change.
Take Hephaestus as an example. The scar on her face was proof of the Goddess of Smithing and could not be erased by Divine Power or any other means.
Likewise, if a God was injured, the wound would heal on its own.
Based on those premises, Freya voiced her outrageous argument in front of the Goddesses.
"For all Goddesses, even if that membrane breaks, it will simply repair itself afterward. In that case, Hestia, what exactly are you worried about?"