"You have gone too far, Hera!"
That familiar figure stood in front of Jason.
In the ancient and majestic temple hall.
Athena, dressed in a sacred pure white gown, blocked Jason behind her on the steps leading to the queen's throne.
Her beautiful eyes glared angrily at Hera above.
At this moment, not only Hera, but even Jason was stunned.
Those emerald eyes reflected the back of the goddess before him.
She had truly come?
Such a thought involuntarily flashed through Jason's mind.
But in an instant, he provided himself with an answer regarding that point.
Yes, she would indeed come.
"I have gone too far?"
Hera pointed at herself and looked at the furious Athena in astonishment.
"I originally thought that even if you were angry, you would... I never expected that you would truly unleash divine thunder!"
Athena glared at Hera and said: "Do you not know that divine thunder would directly shatter Jason's mind, preventing him from even reaching the underworld and causing him to vanish completely from the world?!
Hera, did you truly intend to kill him?!"
"No, I did not. I have not. Do not speak nonsense!"
Hera waved her hands in panic.
"You did not?" Athena raised her voice. "Then how do you explain the divine thunder that my shield just blocked?!
You..."
Before Athena, burning with anger and fiercely protective, could finish her words.
Jason could not help but gently tug at Athena's gown with his hand.
As Athena turned her head in confusion to look at him, he cleared his throat softly.
"Um, Goddess Athena, regarding this matter, it truly is not Goddess Hera's fault. It was I who insisted on forcibly returning the divine tool to Goddess Hera..."
Jason knew he needed to explain quickly, or things would become even more troublesome later.
Thus, he interrupted Athena's words.
Athena paused slightly, looking at Jason, whose gaze was somewhat evasive and whose expression was clearly embarrassed, as if he had done something wrong and dared not face her.
She blinked those beautiful golden eyes.
She looked at the golden dagger in his hand, then tilted her head toward Hera, whose face was etched with grievance. Finally, she glanced at her own position in the ancient divine era.
Connecting this with their personalities and the situation at hand, Athena's mind turned, and she arrived at an extraordinary conclusion.
Thus, Athena herself became somewhat dumbfounded.
"Jason, you, you...!"
Having sorted out her thoughts, Athena could not help but stomp her foot and said urgently to Jason: "Could you not stay out of trouble for once?!
Do you know how worried I was after the last incident? Hecate and Hephaestus, those two, refused to let you meet me no matter what, causing me to be driven back several times when I tried to enter the underworld.
This time, you finally emerged unscathed, and I had not even caught my breath when you nearly got struck by divine thunder.
And the worst part is that it was all your own doing!
You, you, you...!"
Faced with Athena's accusations, Jason obediently lowered his head and endured them.
But inwardly, he could not help but think of a retort regarding that phrase about staying out of trouble.
Because anyone else could say that to Jason.
But you, Athena, of all people, have no right to say it.
For over eighty percent of the reasons Jason could not stay out of trouble were Athena's fault!
At the same time, Hera above nodded repeatedly, fully agreeing with Athena's lecture.
She even wished she could join in and scold Jason herself!
After a few pointed remarks, seeing Jason with his head bowed obediently in a posture of admitting his mistake, Athena felt heartbroken and could not continue.
Thus, she could only summarize in a mild tone: "In any case, you must be more careful from now on, understood?"
"Yes, yes!" Jason hurriedly nodded. Then, looking at Athena's exquisite face as she sighed helplessly, he asked cautiously: "Then, Goddess Athena, you... are you no longer angry with me?"
"What would I be angry with you about?" Athena looked at Jason somewhat depressedly.
"Is that not the case?" Jason tilted his head in confusion. "But if you were not angry, Goddess Athena, why have you not come to see me all this time?
Is it not because you were angry with me?"
Upon hearing this, Athena could not help but widen her eyes and look at Jason before her.
Yet Jason's gaze was exceptionally clear, evidently reflecting his true thoughts.
In response, the corners of Athena's mouth twitched involuntarily twice.
Then, she felt a wave of utter exhaustion wash over her.
She had always worried that if she met Jason, he might notice even the slightest hint of her "intentions." What then?
Therefore, she had not dared to meet Jason.
But now, she suddenly realized how utterly unnecessary that worry had been.
For in his eyes, she was Athena, the lofty goddess of wisdom.
In his words, she was not a goddess to him, a mere mortal.
He did not even have the qualification to speak to her as an equal...
Thus, how could Jason possibly consider the absurd notion that Athena had fallen in love with him?
To describe the current situation with an exceedingly classic phrase.
In Jason's eyes, Athena was not even a woman right now.
Having realized this, and recalling the words she had overheard in Hephaestus's temple earlier, Athena revealed a helpless bitter smile and said to Jason: "Angry? ...How could I possibly be angry with you? You are overthinking it."
"That you are not angry with me and still wish to meet me is already a matter of great joy to me, Jason."
As Athena spoke, she turned around and gently took Jason's hand.
Her golden eyes gazed at him tenderly.
"Um, is... is that so?"
Jason blinked, looking at the Athena before him, who seemed subtly different from usual, and he could not help but feel somewhat uncomfortable.
And watching this scene, watching Athena gently hold Jason's hand and the intimate picture of the two, Hera, with her brows furrowed, naturally felt uneasy as well.
What are you doing? What are you doing? She was still here!
Moreover, was this not her temple, her home ground?
What did Athena intend to do!
"Ahem... Athena, you barged into my temple unannounced and spoke against me. Do you not intend to offer an explanation?!"
Upon hearing this, Athena glanced at Hera and then ignored her completely.
"Jason, you are fine now, right? Come, let me see..."
As she spoke, Athena reached out toward Jason.
"No, no, Goddess Athena, Goddess Hera is still here..."
Jason hurriedly stopped her.
"Then it would be fine if she were not?"
"That is not what I meant... Wait, is there something subtly wrong with this conversation?"
Helplessly, Jason said to the head-tilting Athena: "Goddess Athena, I am fine. Thank you for your concern... Truly fine!
And now, Goddess Athena, look..."
Athena blinked gently; she naturally understood Jason's meaning.
In response, she pouted slightly.
Then, she released Jason's hand, turned toward Hera, and said: "Great Goddess Hera, I am deeply sorry. Please forgive my earlier rudeness."
With that, Athena turned around and vanished from the temple in an instant.
Hera, for her part, had black lines forming on her forehead.
This apology, utterly devoid of sincerity, would have been better left unsaid. Her words and actions were filled with dissatisfaction, and the source of that dissatisfaction was evidently Jason.
However, regarding this, Hera had a bellyful of words she wanted to say.
Who had she provoked? Who had she offended...
Clearly, she had done nothing wrong at all.
As she thought about it, Hera could not help but feel exceptionally aggrieved.
At that moment, as she subconsciously lowered her head, her gaze met Jason's.
Lowering her head, she looked at the golden dagger in his hand.
Instantly, Hera shuddered.
"You calm down. Stand still. Calm down!"
Jason paused, looking at Hera's panicked appearance.
Following her line of sight to the dagger in his hand.
Jason could not help but feel somewhat embarrassed as well.
At this moment, he naturally would not continue walking forward.
Ignorance is bliss; now that he knew, Jason truly felt a bit timid.
After all, divine thunder was a power that could truly kill him and erase his soul.
But evidently, Hera did not believe that point at all right now.
Recalling the scene just moments ago where Jason had nearly been obliterated by divine thunder.
Hera could not help but bite her lip tightly.
Then...
She slowly stepped forward.
After a bout of inner struggle, she descended from the throne symbolizing the queen of the gods, walking step by step toward Jason.
With each step, Hera's expression as she looked at Jason grew more complex.
And after a short while, when the noble queen stood before Jason.
The complexity in Hera's eyes had instead vanished, leaving only a deep sigh.
"Tell me, what exactly do you want me to do..."
"Noble Goddess Hera, I merely wish to return this divine tool to you..."
"You seek my forgiveness, yet you wish to offer nothing in return." Hera looked at Jason and said: "Child, do you think that possible?"
Jason shook his head.
"You know yourself that it is impossible." Hera said wryly. "Then why do you force me like this..."
"Because I know that if I had left just now, I would never have another chance to obtain your forgiveness, Goddess Hera."
Jason replied softly to Hera.
Upon hearing this, Hera's gaze grew complex once more: "You wish for me to forgive you?"
"Yes."
"...Do you not think that this is exceedingly greedy of you?"
"Of course I know." Jason said to Hera: "Moreover, I know that all of this now is the result of my own actions.
In fact, I have no right to covet your forgiveness, Goddess Hera. But... if there is even the slightest possibility, I still wish to try!"
"Goddess Hera, I am a very timid person. I fear my own fate, and I avoid it. But I also have my principles.
At the very least, I know gratitude. Thus, I cannot promise you, Goddess Hera, to leave Hecate Teacher and Hephaestus Teacher.
But likewise, I cannot simply leave you, Goddess Hera.
Goddess Hera, you are my lifesaver, and you have looked after me many times. I have seen all of it in my eyes..."
"Everything already has its conclusion." Hera interrupted Jason's words and said: "From the moment you plunged the dagger into yourself, it had its conclusion.
Thus, you need not feel guilty toward me any longer. You fulfilled your promise to me."
"If that is truly the case, then why will you not accept the return of this dagger from me, Goddess Hera?"
"Why should I accept it?" Hera looked at Jason discontentedly and said: "I simply refuse to forgive you. I want you to always remember that I have not forgiven you. I want you to carry this dagger forever!"
"But even so, I still must return this dagger to you."
As Jason spoke, he extended the dagger toward Hera.
"I still hope to obtain your forgiveness, Goddess Hera. I still hope to see you in the future, Goddess Hera. I still hope that you can give me another chance, a chance to make amends..."
"There is no need for amends. As long as you are willing to leave their side and come to me.
If you cannot do even that, then there is no way to make amends!"
Hera clung stubbornly to this point.
But this was, of course, the natural outcome.
Because evidently, from Hera's various reactions, she had already forgiven Jason in her heart.
But she simply could not get past this hurdle.
She simply could not stomach that Jason, who should have been hers, had been snatched away by others, and that no matter what she did, she could not snatch him back.
Even if she could not snatch him back, she could not bear to destroy him, so she could only let him be.
She, the lofty Queen Hera, when had she ever suffered such a loss!
Yet this was precisely an impasse.