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(Fate) Chapter 141: That Painting Will Be Etched in the Sky, Eternal and Unchanging
🕑 Added 2024-09-16 17:01:01 +0000 UTC"That’s great! After all, this gown was made by..."
Taking to the boy, Helen nearly mentioned Goddess of Beauty, Aphrodite’s name but quickly caught herself, covering her mouth in alarm.
Then she glanced nervously at Promise, and soon felt relieved when she realized he hadn’t noticed.
Letting out a soft sigh of relief, she remembered the promise she had made to Brother Promise: not to lie to him.
So, if he had really asked, things would have gotten quite complicated.
Thinking about the goddess Aphrodite, thinking about what her goddess told her in the temple, and looking at the boy in front of her, Helen was stunned for a moment, staring blankly.
"Is something wrong?" Promise asked, noticing her gaze. "Is there something wrong with my outfit?"
That can’t be right...
After all, it was Goddess Athena herself, who picked it out for me.
"Oh, no, no, nothing’s wrong!" Helen quickly waved her hands in denial, flustered. "You look very handsome, really good, and... very, very beautiful!"
"Beautiful?" Promise chuckled, feeling a bit speechless as he flicked her forehead playfully. "Helen, that’s not a word you use to describe a guy."
In that moment, he also started to understand why Goddess Athena, Hera and the others had enjoyed teasing him earlier.
When faced with something cute, it was hard to resist wanting to poke fun.
"But you are... really beautiful..." Helen covered her forehead and muttered softly.
When Promise saw this, he couldn’t help but think about the scene when Helen finally boarded the ship.
'Once this girl got on board, she would probably become the little princess of the Argo in no time... By the way, if Helen really established good relationships with all the members of the Argon, what would the future Trojan War turn into?'
'Ah, but come to think of it, that probably has nothing to do with me anymore.'
'After all, this adventure is my final destination.'
"Brother Promise, Brother Promise..."
As he was lost in thought, Helen gently tugged on Promise’s clothes.
And when the boy finally came back to his senses, she was looking up at him with expectant eyes, blinking, as she asked, "Brother Promise, would you dance with Helen?"
As she spoke, a faint blush appeared on Helen’s face.
After all, at a banquet like this, a woman inviting a man to dance often carried a deeper meaning.
"Ah, no." But the result was that Promise refused without even thinking about it.
However, seeing Helen’s face look like the sky had fallen, he shrugged and explained, "Because I don’t know how to dance at all."
Promise had never learned; he didn’t think it was useful...well.. basically useless..
The centaur sage Chiron had actually considered teaching him.
At one point, Chiron even had a thought similar to Jason’s—perhaps if Promise learned these things, he could easily hook up with a rich lady after leaving the mountain.
In the end, instead of meeting any rich ladies, goddesses appeared one after another as if they were free...
"Not knowing... doesn’t matter. Helen can teach you. Brother Promise is so smart, you’ll definitely learn in no time!"
Helen, snapping back to herself, quickly tried to persuade him further.
"No, it’s not possible."
Promise smiled, ruffling her hair as he said, "I am a devoted follower of Goddess Hera. I can’t do anything that would bring shame to Queen Hera."
Upon hearing this, Helen bit her lip in frustration.
Damn Hera!
Just as Helen was feeling a bit upset, she suddenly noticed that Promise seemed a little distracted.
Following his gaze around the room, she saw that many people were subtly watching them, and she quickly realized the truth.
She understood that Brother Promise didn’t really enjoy being here.
So, Helen took the boy's hand and led him away.
With the gentle night breeze and the soft moonlight illuminating their path, Helen and Promise walked along the palace corridor.
Every now and then, the girl would glance at him.
"Is something the matter?" Seeing this, Promise couldn’t help but ask curiously.
He had actually noticed for a while now that Helen had been acting strange ever since she returned from the temple.
However he didn't think much about it thinking that she was afraid of being scolded or something.
Upon hearing his question, Helen remained silent for a while.
Then, when she raised her head, her enchanting violet eyes looked at Promise with hesitation, before she asked him a question that took him completely by surprise.
"Brother Promise, why do you ..always make your life so difficult?" When Helen asked this, her eyes were filled with a hint of sadness as she looked at him.
"In fact Helen already knows everything... She knows that Brother Promise is truly an amazing person, a very amazing person."
At the temple, the reason Helen returned so late was because she had asked her goddess about Promise.
And for some unknown reason, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, told her everything she knew.
When Helen learned of everything Promise had done so far, her first thought wasn’t about how remarkable he was or that he was a great hero.
Instead, she thought about that night when Promise had arm-wrestled with her, lost to her, and then sulked while fighting and arguing with Pegasus...
"But it must be exhausting, walking this path all the way until now." Helen couldn’t help but say to Promise, "So isn’t it already good enough? Brother Promise, you’ve already done so much and so well.
Since that’s the case, why not try to stop and take a little rest?"
"...Helen, do you not want to go on this adventure with us?"
After thinking for a moment, Promise couldn't help but ask this question.
However,
As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a light tap on his head, as if someone was irritated with him.
Confused, he glanced around, but there was no one.
"Of course not!" Helen quickly shook her head in denial.
Looking at him, she continued, "I just feel like Brother Promise has done so much, worked so hard, and yet has neither received the reward nor happiness you deserve.
I think.. it’s... just too unfair!"
Hearing this, Promise finally understood.
Looking at Helen, whose eyes were filled with both concern and frustration, he couldn’t help but smile as he said.
"I really am slow to realize things...
Now that I think about it, the question the Goddess of Fate, Clotho and Atalanta, asked me a while back was probably the same."
...Huh?
If Helen had an ahoge (a stray hair), it would definitely have been standing alert at this moment.
"They asked me if even after all this, I still sought to become a hero, if I was searching for that grand ending. Now that I think about it, what they truly meant was this, wasn’t it?"
After all, thinking about it carefully, both Atalanta and Clotho were a bit reserved—just a little bit tsundere, really.
They were never frank with their words so, even though the cared, they wouldn't say it out loud...
So, they probably meant this, right?
"So, of course, my answer will remain the same."
"Because this is the life I’ve chosen for and by myself.
Even though it is steep and challenging all along, it is also incredibly beautiful.
And walking this path, I’ve seen and even participated in the things that most people will never even witness in their lifetime.
So, Helen, I think this is fair after all, and I have always been happy."
"And now, I’m very close to achieving it, so much so that I can barely contain my excitement."
Promise said, then smiled as he reached out, drawing from the night sky a pure white paintbrush, lifting his gaze toward the starry heavens above.
In Helen’s eyes, at that moment, the boy before her seemed as though he was holding the whole world in his hands.
"So, come on, let me leave that painting behind in this world, a painting that will astonish the entire world."
"And it will be etched in the sky forever, eternal and unchanging!"
