Chapter 437: Chapter 457: Apologies?

Hephaestus woke up to a mirror showing her face. She pushed herself up and her eyes darted left, only to find more mirrors. An octagon of mirrors surrounded her, displaying her panic in all directions.

'Is this a prank? Does Asahi want me to see myself?'

She reached for the back of her head and untied the eyepatch. She held the black eyepatch in place, keeping her other eye on the mirror.

"Here goes nothing."

She closed her eye and took off the eyepatch. Her heart pounded, trying to beat its way out of her chest. Gulping down her anxiety, she opened her eyes and pushed the crimson bangs aside.

She gasped at the flawless face in the mirror. The marks vanished without a trace. The cursed marks she always hated were no longer there. Her chest tightened but her expression remained frozen. She had lived with these marks for so long that she couldn't react to their disappearance.

She didn't know how to react.

"I expected a more emotional response. It's passable nevertheless," Asahi said.

Hephaestus turned her head to see Asahi and Astraea. Asahi noted Hephaestus's current appearance was vastly different all because of her clothes. Her black bra seemed full of her voluptuous breasts, and her stomach full of evident abdominal muscles.

'Holy. She is hot.'

"Don't make her uncomfortable," Astraea whispered and pinched his hand. "Fei, you look beautiful. You were beautiful before too… but now, you can compete with Freya for her title. I want to see those gods frothing at the mouth when they see you."

"I'd say Fei wins the competition by a big margin. I mean look at that midriff. Skinny Freya has no chance against my Fei."

"..."

"..."

Astraea and Hephaestus both looked at Asahi as if he was crazy. Never had Hephaestus imagined a man would praise her… stomach. She quietly took the pillow and hugged it, covering her body from all eyes.

"Don't look at me like that." He shrugged. "I'm a simple man. I see a beautiful woman, I praise her."

"Enough about me," Hephaestus grumbled, pressing her face against the pillow. "Thank you for doing this, Asahi. I appreciate your efforts…"

Astraea giggled at her friend's muffled compliments. "You don't need to be shy. He isn't going to eat you. He'll need to go through me if he wants any piece of you."

Astraea's words weren't exactly assuring to the goddess of blacksmiths. The goddess of justice had already accepted Hephaestus as a part of her family after seeing Asahi's stubborn attempts at pursuing Hephaestus.

Hephaestus pushed down the pillow and leaned her chin on it. "Asahi, thank you. Thanks to you, I can finally live free from the oppressive clouds of my curse."

"You're most welcome, dear. Go and make those men die for one glimpse of your face."

Hephaestus stared at him for a long moment before her face flushed red. "Y-You are so weird… Where is Chiaki?"

She quickly flipped the topic around, trying to cover up this slip of embarrassment.

"Good lord, you're a wreck." Asahi chuckled and pulled out her clothes from his inventory. "Don't worry about her. She is with others."

Hephaestus nodded and quickly got dressed. She stood with her hand on the door, knowing that people stood on the other side.

Astraea patted her friend's back. "You got this."

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Asahi stroked Hephaestus's hair with a smile. "Does this help?"

The duo encouraged her as if they were her parents. She truly felt like a naive daughter going out on her first outing. She could understand Astraea's behavior, but Asahi's support came as a bit of a surprise.

Hephaestus stared at Asahi inquisitively and asked the reason for this caring behavior.

Asahi tilted his head as if her question puzzled him. "What do you mean? I'm always this way."

Astraea also tilted her head like Asahi. "I don't see any difference in Asahi."

Hephaestus scratched her head. Before she was too caught up with exposing Asahi's plan of using Astraea. Then she always got blindsided by his teasing. Amidst all of this, she never noticed the care Asahi showed for her since day one. He never acted against her or even showed any reaction to her attempts to get between him and Astraea.

'I misunderstood him.'

Rather she had avoided acknowledging many of his good qualities even though he strived to learn an entirely different skill just for her sake.

'I'm so stupid.'

Hephaestus closed her eyes and sighed. "Asahi, I'm so sorry."

"What? Why are you apologizing?"

"I'm sorry for—" Hephaestus paused her words and hugged him. "Many stupid things… let's leave it at that."

She backed out cowardly when it came to stating her mistakes.

Asahi gently pushed her shoulders and pressed a hand against her face. "Apology accepted. Now, stop beating yourself over the past."

His sincere eyes hurt Hephaestus to the point she had to look away. He turned to the door and frowned. The familiar presence of the goddess of beauty could be felt at the main gate of the manor.

'Speak of the devil and it appears.'

"Asahi-sama, Freya is here," Aimi informed Asahi through telepathy. "She wishes to meet you."

"Fei, Freya is here. Do you want to meet her with me?"

It would be Hephaestus's chance to show her face to anyone other than him and Astraea. Freya would be a good stepping stone for Hephaestus to reconnect with the world.

"Freya?!" Hephaestus's eyes darted toward the black eyepatch resting on the bed. She tore her eyes away and nodded. "I'll talk to your premier goddess maid."

This was the confidence Asahi wanted to see. He just hoped Freya remained within her boundaries and refrain from speaking anything that hurt Hephaestus.

'Aimi, let her in.'

"Okay."

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