episode_0273

“Ugh…”

The flushed cheeks showed no signs of returning.

As I watched them absorbed in their letters as if possessed by something, the shame that came over me became all mine.

‘I didn’t give it to you to read in front of me..!’

Athena, Lily, Mari, Dania, and Alina, who is not here. I wrote the letters for the four of them with all my feelings, thinking that they would be my last words.

But not even the last word.

I had to watch their reactions in real time as they read the letters.

Is this the shame I’ve only heard of?

I closed my eyes tightly and lowered my head. I felt someone grab my wrist.

“Ah….Maria..”

A lovely blue girl who grabbed my sleeve with her wiggling fingers. Marie’s eyes were intensely agitated, but they were swaying in a way that made it impossible to discern what emotion she was expressing.

‘Are you…angry?’

What did I write in Marie’s letter?

Clearly, from what I remember, the content was not much different from Athena’s letter. However, since I was not Hera, I think I wrote that I was not Mari’s mother… Could that be why she was angry?

I opened my mouth to immediately calm Marie down, feeling sorry for her.

“Mariya. So what’s written in the letter is…”

“Whaaaang!! Mom!!”

Tears poured down from her blue eyes. Marie suddenly burst into loud sobs and hugged my waist tightly.

“Ma..Maria..?”

“Why isn’t Mom Mom!! No matter what Mom looks like, Mom is Marie’s one and only Mom!”

After a moment of screaming in a voice filled with emotion, Marie buried her face in my waist with tears welling up in her eyes.

“Ma…I’m sorry Mari!! Mari thought her mother hated her…sob…so I thought she was going to abandon her again and leave..”

My heart sank at the sound of Marie’s voice ringing clearly in my ears.

“Ma…Why do you hate Mari?! That’s definitely not the reason!”

“Really…you don’t?? You don’t hate Marie, do you??”

When I saw Marie’s face looking up at me with tearful eyes while hugging me tightly, a deep sense of guilt welled up in my chest.

Even though she is a dragon, she is a young girl who was born not long ago… How could she have caused such a misunderstanding? Even if I had my own reasons, I should have at least clearly told Mari the reason.

I wiped Marie’s tears with my fingers and smiled.

“Mariya. That’s absolutely not true. Why on earth do you think your mother would hate you?”

“I thought Marie caught me touching my body all the time while I was sleeping..

“Huh?”

After a moment of confusion at the unexpected words, Marie wiggled her fingers as if confessing a hidden sin and confessed the truth to me.

“Because Mom’s sleeping face was so pretty..I didn’t even realize it..I just wanted to touch her a little bit..”

“Uh..uh..?”

“But it was so weird seeing my mom keep panting like an animal and shooting a water gun…sob…sorry, mom…

“What…what did you say..?”

Huh? Wait a minute, Maria..?

What the hell is this?

What on earth were you doing while I was sleeping?

And me?…groaning like an animal and squirting…squirting with a squirt gun..

pop-

Blood rushed to me rapidly, and my face started to burn with the sound of something bursting.

‘What the heck… happened while I was sleeping…?’

No matter how much I thought about it, it was definitely not a conversation that a daughter and a mother should have.

“Ma..Maria..A little more detail-?”

But before I could even think about this absurd statement, this time Lily slowly approached me with her sparkling purple eyes.

“Sister.”

“Li..Lily..”

When I saw her face, which had become more mature and gentle than when I first met her at Drax, but was also cold and empty, I couldn’t help but feel that it was all my fault.

What would Lily be thinking? Would she feel betrayed by the fact that I am not Hera, or would she still have an abnormal obsession with me?

..I tried to run away because I didn’t want to face this guilt right in front of my eyes. Now that they’ve read the letter, I have to face it head on.

As I promised myself to accept whatever reaction I got, Lily came up to me and looked at me with unreadable eyes. Then she hugged me tightly from the other side of Marie.

“Li..Lily..?”

“….”

Lily buries her face in my chest without saying a word.

I wanted to ask her what she wanted to say, but I couldn’t get the words out because of her serious face. She just buried her face in my arms and remained silent.

Let’s put aside our confusion for a moment and slowly look around. There was Dania, reading a letter with tearful eyes, and Ariel, looking at me with a bewildered expression as if wondering why she didn’t have anything.

“I’m sorry, Mom.. Marie is so scared that Mom will abandon her again..”

I thought for a moment as I watched Marie apologizing over and over again while shedding tears.

‘Is that a good thing..?’

I don’t know about anything else, but I’m sure I’ve taken a breather.

Their momentum, which had been approaching me as if they were going to eat me at any moment, had softened considerably, and for some reason, they seemed to even feel guilty toward me.

At least for now they won’t threaten me.

Except for one person.

I looked up at Athena, leaving Marie and Lily, who were not leaving my arms, and she still had an ominous air surrounding her.

“No…what are you guys doing?”

Athena rebuked the others in a voice that said it was absurd. But when no answer came from the others, Athena clutched her chest.

“Do you guys agree with this letter? There are so many unacceptable parts, whether true or not?”

Despite Athena’s scolding, Lily and Mari were still clinging to me and sobbing. Athena must have felt frustrated because she came over to me and lifted Mari up by the back of her neck.

“Aren’t you going to let it go right now?”

Mari growled as she hung onto Athena’s hand, but Athena glared at her with fierce eyes.

“Are you mistaken? Nothing has changed. What on earth are you so touched about?”

“It’s enough that my mom didn’t leave me because she hated me.”

Marie’s body hanging on Athena’s hand glowed and disappeared in an instant, then immediately reappeared next to me and pointed at Athena with her finger.

“Mom. He was the one who said to get Mom pregnant. Marie didn’t really mean it, but he was the one who ordered everything.”

“Ha.”

Athena let out a loud voice and looked at me.

“Hera. Let’s talk about it.”

“As you wish.”

Lily, who returned with eyes that were still empty but seemed slightly brighter, came between me and Athena.

“This is a personal story. Can you give me some time for just the two of us?”

“You’ve been taking my sister with you all this time. You want to take her away again?”

“…..”

Athena’s face crumpled even more at Lily’s cold voice, and the tension between them began to grow increasingly fierce.

In an atmosphere where it wouldn’t have been strange for a fight to break out at any moment, I stepped forward and approached Athena.

“Lily. Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“….Yeah.”

Lily, who had been so sharp until just now, backed down more innocently than expected.

She released the hand that was holding me tightly, took a step back, and looked at me wistfully.

As I left Lily behind and approached Athena, she still looked at me with her strongly sparkling eyes and grabbed my hand.

Just then, Athena was about to take me out of the room.

Iris grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

“Hera, the goddess asked me to tell you to come right away.”

“Huh..? Goddess..?”

“Yes. He said there was something he absolutely had to tell me.”

If it’s a message from a goddess, it can’t be taken lightly.

I wanted to go and ask what was going on right away… but since Athena’s face, which was staring at me intensely, could explode at any moment, I suppressed my curiosity and asked Iris.

“Can’t you just wait a little bit..? I’ll just talk to Athena and come back.”

I had a feeling that I shouldn’t leave Athena behind and go see the goddess.

Did you read my thoughts?

Iris looked at me and Athena with a displeased expression for a long time, then finally let out a short sigh and nodded.

“Have a nice trip. I hope you come and see the goddess.”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Only after getting Iris’ permission was Athena and I able to leave the caged room for the first time.

Then, what came into view was a large house that was not fancy, but seemed like it could comfortably accommodate dozens of people.

It felt strange that there was a room made of iron bars in this space.

“Hera.”

Athena stops and calls me.

I swallowed hard and looked up at her.

Athena looks down at me with her blazing eyes without an inch of hesitation.

“Uh..yeah..”

As I nodded timidly, Athena grabbed my shoulder and whispered softly in my ear.

“Hancia.”

“Huh…..?”

‘…..’

‘…..’

“Huh..huh?!”

I was startled and took a few steps back.

Athena is looking at me calmly.

I looked at her, trying hard to suppress my pounding heart.

“Uh..how did you name it..?”

How does Athena know that name?

Hansia.

The name is…

It’s a name that can never be called here…?