A cold breeze swept across the sea of flowers.
In this season when spring set hearts stirring, the gray-haired woman's expression was filled with sorrow.
"Bell, I have to confiscate this diary."
Alfia opened her eyes, her beautiful heterochromatic gaze fixed on Bell.
Those crimson eyes were supposed to be the very thing she hated, yet when their eyes met, the passion within them still moved Alfia.
Bell Cranel was a gentle boy.
Because of his grandfather's influence, Bell had many misconceptions about relationships between men and women, and Alfia's guidance had successfully corrected them.
If not for his damaged memories, Bell would surely have grown into a pure-hearted, kind young man.
But his memories of Alfia had changed everything.
Under the double strain of missing memories and headaches, he reread the diary every day and repeatedly imagined everything written inside it. For a child whose personality had yet to fully take shape, the impact was enormous.
With his harsh training and his determination to become a hero added on top of that, Bell's gentle nature had not changed, yet the way it showed made him seem unusually mature.
"Alfia, please, give it back. I don't want to forget you..."
Bell pleaded with her.
Strength was useless here. If he lost this diary, then the moment his memories disappeared, Bell would never be able to remember anything about Alfia again.
The next time they met would truly be their very first meeting.
"Bell, if this continues, you'll go mad."
Alfia spoke the cruel truth.
Reliving the past through a diary was not memory. It was nothing more than delusion.
The line between familiar and unfamiliar, the difference between a real person and a fictional one, and the headaches that worsened by the day. None of these could be ignored.
Bell was essentially interacting with someone who did not exist. Every day, he imagined dozens of days' worth of time spent together, and when he saw Alfia, he overlaid that fictional person onto her.
To him, a single day meant spending countless days and nights with Alfia.
If that cycle continued, Bell's mind would inevitably collapse.
"Why... Why do I have to forget Alfia?!"
Bell desperately searched for an answer.
Those delusions had affected his personality far too much. Alfia had most likely sensed something was wrong from that and uncovered the existence of the diary.
Words were not memories. They could never perfectly recreate Alfia's personality.
When Bell flipped through the diary, he would unconsciously project those memories onto different stand-ins. Imagining it again and again, then erasing it again and again, he learned how to get along with different girls.
His dream of a harem, which Alfia had originally corrected, had naturally taken shape as well.
Alfia had intended to keep correcting Bell's personality, but now, she realized it was already too late.
Perhaps, whether it was heroes or harems, she herself was Bell Cranel's anchor.
"Bell, even if I told you, you would still forget. Besides, I don't know the details myself."
Alfia looked toward the distant starry sky and added, "Based on my limited knowledge, this must have something to do with the Great God Odin."
"O...din?"
Bell frowned in confusion.
"I was only talking to myself... It's late. Go to sleep. When you wake up, you'll have forgotten everything."
Alfia ended the conversation.
"But..."
Before Bell could ask anything else, the Gospel Fist that stole away consciousness landed on him.
Alfia clenched the diary tightly, and her murmurs sank into the night.
"I really was happy when you said you liked me."
"Bell, if any girl who doesn't know her place tries to set her sights on you, I'll blow her away."
"I wonder when we'll meet again..."
"Goodbye, [my] hero."
Along with that farewell, tinged with reluctance and sorrow, Bell's thoughts returned to nothingness.
The next second, the Sacred Flame began to burn.
...
In a certain luxurious courtyard, beautiful flowers surrounded a round table.
Delicious black tea and pastries had been laid out on the table.
"Freya, you didn't need to prepare this many sweets~"
Hestia wore a bashful smile.
"You say that, but your hands haven't stopped once."
Freya brushed back her silver hair and sat down across from Hestia.
The two had once made an agreement at a tea party: if Hestia ever had any worries, she could come to Freya for advice.
That was why Hestia was here to eat and drink for free. No, to share her troubles.
"So, what did you want to discuss with me?"
Freya asked softly.
In her silver eyes, Hestia was busily chewing through all kinds of pastries.
"Well... cough, cough..."
Hestia had eaten too quickly and choked on the dessert.
"Honestly, what exactly did you come here to do?"
Freya stood up on her own and poured her a glass of milk at just the right temperature.
"Mm... thanks... It's because Bell went on an expedition, and I really miss him..."
Hestia took the cup and drained it in one gulp.
"Is that so? But you've been saying that for the past few days."
Freya pointed out the awkward truth.
Ever since Loki Familia's expedition began, Hestia had been coming here every day, sitting down without the slightest hesitation and helping herself to the pastries.
"Ah, this is so good... Freya, you really are a good person."
Completely unfazed by the awkward atmosphere, Hestia smiled and said, "I heard Odin and the others are really afraid of you, but they're worrying over nothing."
Because of the difference between their domains in Tenkai, the two goddesses had rarely interacted.
Hestia knew that if she showed up without paying a single valis and ate and drank as much as she wanted, even her dear friend Hephaestus would complain a little. Yet Freya welcomed her with a smile every day.
That selfless kindness truly moved Hestia.
To think she had once believed Freya was hard to get along with. How foolish of her!
"Odin... That Great God is still in the Magic Empire, isn't he?"
Freya's lips curved upward as she explained, "After all, my [Charm] is rather special. Even virgin goddesses can fall under it, so it's only natural that Odin would be afraid."
Among the Gods, only certain Great Gods and the Three Virgin Goddesses could resist Freya's Charm. Because of that, the Great God Odin was always wary of Freya, afraid she might cause a large-scale war among the Gods.
"Freya is so kind. There's no way you'd ever do something like that. I heard Idunn tried to persuade you to enjoy your [youth], and it really scared me."
Hestia picked up another sweet and popped it into her mouth.
"...Hestia, you even know about that? Could it be that you're actually quite clever?"
Freya asked softly.
"Mm... because Idunn was always telling the other goddesses, 'Let's enjoy our youth☆,' so of course I heard about it too."
Hestia answered honestly.
"Is that so? Idunn suggested I search for a partner, Od. Thanks to her, I finally left that cold, empty room and found something to do."
Freya thought back to the distant past.
"So, did you find one?"
Hestia asked offhandedly.
"Hehe, that's a secret."
Freya's lips curved upward as her gaze drifted toward the distant Tower of Babel.