After Aphrodite vanished, I stood there dazed for a moment before coming to my senses.
"Regret... If she's going to lay some kind of curse, Hecate can handle that for me..."
Then I recalled what Aphrodite had said before leaving and began to plan for what came next.
"I only came up here to clear my head for a bit, but now I feel even more dizzy..."
After climbing all the way up, I reached the summit and leaned against a nearby rock to rest.
Whoosh—
The night wind that swept past scattered my hair.
"...It's quiet."
Meanwhile, on Olympus—
"...How dare he refuse me on this day?"
The smile had vanished completely from Aphrodite's face after being rejected by Astellon on the surface just moments ago.
"How dare he..."
She quietly raised a hand and snapped her fingers lightly.
Faaat—
At once, a small figure appeared before her.
The winged boy, her son Eros.
"Did you call for me, Mother?"
Eros, summoned by Aphrodite, tilted his head and asked.
Aphrodite slowly brought back her smile.
But that smile was nothing like the one from before.
"...I'm going down to the mortal world."
"Again?"
"Yes. And... I'm thinking of giving one human a little 'gift.'"
At those words, Eros's eyes gleamed.
"...Could it be—"
"Yes. When I descend, shoot your golden arrow at Astellon."
"Understood."
At Aphrodite's words, Eros nodded with a mischievous smile.
"Yes. He should have accepted from the start..."
At Eros's answer, Aphrodite laughed in satisfaction and descended once more to the mortal world.
Meanwhile, I sat on the rock and gazed up at the sky, where the stars hung overhead.
"...The stars look especially clear tonight."
At the same time, while Astellon was reacting like that, Eros stood above Olympus with a bow in hand, looking down upon the mortal world.
"...There he is."
Eros had a single golden arrow nocked to his bow, and Astellon stood below on the earth.
"With looks like that, I can see why Mother took an interest."
Right now, at this very moment, Eros was giggling over the golden arrow he hadn't fired in a long time, eagerly anticipating what would happen next.
What would happen if a married husband became utterly enamored with another woman?
"Hm? There's someone else there?"
As Eros entertained that thought and waited for the right moment, someone else entered his field of vision.
He couldn't make out the face, but a glimpse of silver hair caught Eros's eye.
"Well... I suppose it doesn't matter."
After watching for a moment, he soon raised his bow again toward his original target, Astellon.
"It might be fun if they got hit together."
Just as he finished preparing to fire—
"Achoo!!"
At the sudden sneeze, Eros ended up—
Ting—
—releasing the arrow earlier than intended.
"...Huh?"
And when he saw it, Eros's eyes widened.
The trajectory had shifted slightly.
And the arrow was flying not toward Astellon, but toward the unknown woman.
"Ah. This has become rather troublesome..."
Seeing all of that, Eros immediately realized the situation had gone badly awry.
Meanwhile, Artemis, who had come out hunting alone after a long while, was—
Thud—
"...!"
—suddenly struck by the arrow and froze for an instant.
"Th...this is..."
When she came to her senses, she saw the arrow that had flown toward her, and with her own eyes she confirmed that she had been struck by a golden arrow.
"W-why...!"
As Artemis stood there in confusion, a man seated on a rock entered her sight.
Whether it was because she had been hit by the golden arrow, or because of his appearance shining beneath the full moon, or perhaps both, the way Artemis looked at him began to change little by little.