"Athena, you can actually sit still?"
Inside the forge-temple of Hephaestus, Jason's teacher Hephaestus sat in her wheelchair and glanced at Athena, who had come to visit without warning.
"You can sit still, so why can't I?"
Athena walked to the crystal table, sat down, and picked up one of the sweet divine fruits on display.
She took a bite, but the irritation and anxiety in her golden eyes could not be hidden at all.
Clearly, the rational part of the Goddess of Wisdom was still barely holding back her impulses.
"Me? I don't really mind. As long as Jason is willing, I would gladly accept it…"
Before she could finish the sentence—
"Stop pretending in front of me!"
Athena cut her off coldly.
"We're all the same. What's the point of acting refined and gentle?
Jason isn't even here right now.
And besides, a wedding bestowed by Father is more or less inevitable at this point…"
As she spoke these words, a soft crunch echoed through the room.
Athena had crushed the divine fruit in her hand without mercy.
Juice and pulp splattered across her white dress.
Yet she didn't care in the slightest. Her current state could be described in a single phrase: green with envy.
Jealousy had twisted her features beyond recognition.
Not a trace remained of the dignified bearing of a goddess, much less the Goddess of Wisdom.
Hephaestus looked at the woman who had just scolded her yet now showed no trace of divine grace and couldn't help laughing.
"Athena, oh Athena, you really should look in a mirror right now. See for yourself how much of the Goddess of Wisdom is still left in you!"
Athena shot her a cold glance, gave a huff, and said, "Laugh all you want. Let's see if you can still laugh when Jason brings Thetis here to visit you someday."
Hephaestus's smile instantly froze.
She didn't even want to imagine that scene!
Yet she still stubbornly replied, "As long as Jason likes her and is willing, I will naturally accept it…"
"Teacher Hephaestus."
Athena suddenly smiled sweetly and called her that.
Hephaestus's heart stopped for a beat.
Her face darkened as he stared at her.
"Why are you glaring at me? I haven't succeeded yet!"
Athena rolled her eyes at her.
"…So you're just going to let this happen?"
"Do you think that's possible?"
Athena replied. She lightly bit her lip, her face full of reluctance and struggle.
"Right now I want nothing more than to rush over, snatch Jason away, and declare that no one but me is allowed to touch him ever again!
But I can't.
Even if it weren't for my own sake, for Jason's sake I absolutely cannot do that.
This is a wedding bestowed by Father himself, and because of that prophecy concerning fate, Father values this matter immensely."
Athena could not intervene. She could not expose her weakness before Zeus.
Even though she was furious right now.
The flames of jealousy burned so hot she wanted to throw all reason to the wind and do whatever she pleased, to vent everything in one glorious outburst!
Yet the Goddess of Wisdom still retained her reason.
Fortunately, Jason understood perfectly well that some things only grow more tangled the more one tries to cut them.
He had decisively stepped forward and cut the knot cleanly the moment he realized Athena's feelings for him.
Otherwise, if desire ever overpowered reason in the Goddess of Wisdom, no one could predict what insane things she might do to obtain Jason…
"Then why are you still sitting here?" Hephaestus raised a brow, puzzled.
"If I don't sit here, am I supposed to go watch Jason get married off by Father?"
Athena glanced at him and said calmly, "Don't worry. Just like you sent Lady Aphrodite to cause trouble, I also nudged someone to go stir things up… a goddess who is my complete opposite."
"Who?" Hephaestus asked curiously.
"The Moon Goddess… Artemis!"
…
"I object!"
At the scene of the divinely bestowed marriage, inside the great hall of Iolcos.
The very instant Jason's father Aeson received Zeus's oracle and excitedly announced its contents,
the entire hall fell into an eerie silence.
Every hero of the Argo turned in perfect unison toward the white-veiled sea goddess Thetis.
"I object! I absolutely object to this marriage!"
A silver-haired goddess with hair reaching her waist appeared beside Jason.
Without any regard for the situation, she pulled the slightly pale-faced Jason into her arms.
Her clear blue eyes looked up toward the ceiling of the hall.
"I object! Jason is mine!"
"…Lady Artemis?"
Atalanta was the first to go blank.
Seeing her own patron goddess suddenly appear and hug Jason while declaring ownership, Atalanta's brain short-circuited.
And it wasn't just her. Everyone present suffered collective mental shutdown.
They had just been stunned that God-King Zeus was granting Jason the beautiful goddess Thetis in marriage.
The next second, Zeus's most favored daughter Artemis jumped out, publicly protested, hugged Jason, and declared her claim.
While everyone was still processing this,
"This is absurd!"
The slightly angered voice of God-King Zeus thundered throughout the hall.
"I'm not being absurd! Why should this goddess get my little Jason? What right does she have? I don't even know her!"
Artemis clung to Jason and pointed at Thetis standing not far away.
"Even if you really want to grant Jason a wife, it's definitely not her turn!"
As she spoke, Artemis dragged the dizzy Jason over to the equally dizzy Atalanta, grabbed Atalanta's hand, and forced the two of them to hold hands.
"These two grew up under my watch! If we're talking about who deserves him, it should be my child Atalanta marrying Jason!"
In this situation, Artemis was clearly standing on the side of her believer Atalanta and Jason.
The instant her words fell,
"I don't think so at all."
Two more goddesses stepped out from the shadows.
"Queen Persephone of the Underworld… and Lady Demeter, Goddess of Agriculture?!"
When they entered everyone's view, those who recognized them couldn't help crying out in shock.
The two walked straight to Medea.
They took Medea's hands (Medea wore the same bewildered expression as Atalanta) and brought her before Artemis.
Persephone snatched Jason back from Artemis's pouting embrace and placed him beside Medea.
"Even if we step back ten thousand paces, Jason should marry Medea.
We watched them grow up together. They are the most compatible pair!
Right, Mother?"
"Mm, exactly."
Demeter nodded in full agreement with Persephone and gently patted Medea's head, giving her a reassuring "don't be afraid, I've got you" look.
Before anyone could recover from this turn of events,
"That's not necessarily true. I actually think Jason and Thetis make a perfect couple!"
Goddess of the Hearth Hestia stepped out from a burst of warm light.
"Lady Hestia?!"
Everyone was going numb.
Another goddess had appeared, and the onlookers felt their brains beginning to overheat.
Hestia walked to Thetis's side.
Before Thetis could react, Hestia reached out and removed the white veil from her face.
Thetis's breathtakingly beautiful countenance was instantly revealed to all.
King Aeson, King Pelias, and the others involuntarily sucked in a breath and could no longer tear their eyes away.
"As everyone knows, my child Jason is the greatest and most adorable child in the world."
Hestia took Thetis by the hand and presented her to the crowd.
"He is the great hero who rides Pegasus and wears the white holy garments, the Heracles in White. He is also the captain of the Argo who led the heroes to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it here.
Even we gods can only marvel at such achievements.
And Thetis is the younger sister of Sea Queen Amphitrite, a sea goddess renowned for her beauty and virtue.
I believe only someone like her is worthy of my child Jason, worthy of the most celebrated hero of our age!"
"Exactly!"
Sea Queen Amphitrite popped out of nowhere, stood beside her sister, and strongly supported her.
"I promised Jason long ago that I would introduce one of my sisters to him.
Moreover, my little sister Thetis already has feelings for Jason. I fully approve of this marriage!"
"Whether there will even be a wedding is another matter, but… since when was Jason your child, Hestia?"
Another voice rang through the hall.
Under the collective "we're completely numb" stares of everyone present,
Queen Hera, the most noble and beautiful matron with magnificent golden curls cascading from her crown, walked forth alongside Aphrodite, the most beautiful goddess of all.
Hera raised her proud chin and glared at Hestia.
"He is not your child. He is my child, Queen Hera's child!"