NOVEL WEB Chapter 11: He can also bring you glory
"Honorable and great goddess Hera, please hear my words..."
Standing before the enraged queen, Promise spoke.
His voice was calm and steady, as always, with no trace of fear.
Hera did not respond, but she also did not interrupt.
She merely glared at Promises with a cold, icy stare, mixed with a touch of complexity.
Even in her intense anger, she understood deep down that what was happening was not the boy's fault.
She had mistaken him for someone else, failed to ask questions or verify identities.
Yet, despite knowing this, Hera's fury was uncontainable.
Promise was well aware that if he handled this poorly, his longstanding wish might come true in the worst possible way.
Descending the mountain, then dying a dramatic death on the path to becoming a hero...
Dying in such a scenario, where Hera's intense love turned into hatred, might actually earn him a place among the Heroic Spirits.
After all, such a dramatic event would surely be remembered for centuries...
Well despite these thoughts, he had no intention of dying just yet.
His own death was one thing, but for Jason to die before his journey even began, before the Argo set sail, was too tragic.
Moreover, he had sworn to help Jason become king.
Thus,
"I am very grateful to you, great and kind goddess, for listening to my vow and coming to the mortal world at this moment to stand up for Jason. I also fully understand your anger."
"I am deeply sorry, for it is I who have deceived you all this time!"
As he spoke, Promise adopted an expression of immense regret and guilt.
Without waiting for Hera's reaction, he turned to face the crowd.
With a look of shame and remorse, he addressed the people who watched him in confusion: "People of Iolcos, hear my confession...
I am guilty!"
"When I followed my senior brother Jason down the mountain, I vowed to the gods that I would help him reclaim everything that was rightfully his. On that mountain, he was my best friend, and I wanted to help him."
"So, from that moment on, I secretly prayed to the great and kind goddess Hera, asking her to help Jason reclaim what was his. But in doing so... I deceived this beautiful and kind goddess!"
"...What?" It was Hera herself who spoke, blinking in bewilderment at this unexpected turn of events.
"To gain the goddess's help, I overly glorified Jason, when in reality, he is arrogant, narcissistic, and full of flaws..."
"Hey!" Jason exclaimed, wide-eyed and instinctively yelling at Promise, "What are you saying?"
The latter ignored Jason's reaction and continued loudly, "But clearly, the noble queen heard my prayers and responded to me..."
Turning his gaze to Hera, Promise said in an excited voice, "Look at her, she is so beautiful and kind!"
...What on earth are you talking about?
As Hera was bewildered by Promise' actions, ready to retort and question him thoroughly.
She suddenly became aware of the gazes of the gathered crowd.
The people, who had been trembling in fear under the dark clouds and lightning summoned by Hera's anger, now looked at her with a newfound understanding and fervor.
"So that's it, that's what happened. The goddess Hera was deceived, which is why she is so angry!"
"That damn scoundrel actually deceived the great goddess Hera!"
"Ah, praise the great goddess Hera, you are so beautiful and kind!"
Eh... eh eh eh eh!
Faced with the crowd's adoring and enlightened gazes, Hera, who usually valued her dignity and enjoyed such adulation, now felt extremely uncomfortable, as if needles were pricking her back.
Knowing the true situation, she found it incredibly awkward!
But, as she opened and closed her mouth silently, she found herself unable to say a word.
The icy expression on her face faded, and she forced a standard yet somewhat stiff goddess-like smile.
Even so, this made the people below cheer and worship her even more fervently.
"Therefore..."
At that moment, Promise spoke again.
He turned once more to face Hera, bowing his head with a look of deep guilt, and said, "Please punish me, the guilty one, great goddess Hera!"
"Ah, this..."
"Do you mean that I alone cannot calm the anger in your heart, goddess Hera?!" Promise raised his voice dramatically in response to Hera's hesitation.
"No, no, that's not what I mean..." Hera, almost instinctively, shook her head and waved her hands, denying it in a panic.
"I understand." The latter lowered his head sadly, "I truly cannot earn your forgiveness."
"No, I..."
"But it doesn't matter, I won't give up!" He suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining brightly as he loudly declared, "Therefore, to earn your forgiveness, I will... fulfill my previous vow!"
"Yes, Jason is currently incorrigible and unfit to be the king of Iolcos!"
"Hey!" Jason jumped up, about to argue, but Promise forcefully pressed him down again.
"But even so, it doesn't matter. I still believe in him, and I hope you, goddess Hera, and everyone in Iolcos, will not lose faith in him because of me.
Although he may seem beyond hope now, I swear to the gods that Jason is truly a hero of great stature, a deserving and valiant warrior!"
Jason, who had been struggling, stopped.
He looked up, staring blankly at Promise as he declared this to everyone.
The people of Iolcos, hearing this, fell silent once more and cast their complex gazes upon Jason.
"I know it may be hard for you to believe, given that I deceived you all first. Without any notable achievements, how could my friend be fit to be crowned king?"
"But this doesn't mean we should give up. Great goddess, time will prove everything to everyone.
It will prove Jason's courage and wisdom to the world.
It will prove that he deserves to wear that crown and hold that scepter of power!"
"Therefore..." Promise smiled, turning to Hera, "Great and kind goddess, please grant us a trial by which to earn the crown!"
The latter remained silent.
She looked at Promises with a mix of bewilderment and complexity.
After a long while...
"Would you... be willing to undergo such a trial?" Her amber eyes shifted to Jason as she asked.
The latter looked at Promise, his expression equally complex.
To be honest, the series of unexpected events had left him completely bewildered and his mind a muddle.
But...
'I swear to the gods, Jason is truly a hero of great stature, a deserving and valiant warrior.'
Promise' words echoed in his mind.
So, Jason raised his head, displaying a confident and proud expression, and answered Hera, "Of course, after all... I am Jason!"
With these words, the people of Iolcos cheered, blessing the brave soul who had accepted the divine trial!
This was the Age of Gods in ancient Greece, an era filled with heroes and epics.
In this moment, by accepting the trial, Jason had already gained the recognition of the people of Iolcos!
At the same time, the dark clouds in the sky dissipated.
Bright sunlight shone down once again.
It bathed everyone in its warmth.
Including the highest point of the palace, where Athena, her bright eyes wide, took in the entire scene!
"How should I put it..."
After a long moment of daze, Athena, looking down, couldn't help but remark, "I guess it's true that the child Clotho saw is indeed someone who can bring glory to Hera."
Finishing her sentence, she turned to the petite goddess beside her, dressed in a traditional Athenian white robe... Yes, it was Clotho.
The smallest of the three Fates, Clotho, who controls the future, had appeared once in the Temple of Fate.
Reflected in Athena's beautiful golden eyes was Clotho, whose flawless and youthful face peeked out from under her white hood.
She looked only about twelve or thirteen years old.
Soft strands of white hair fell from her hood onto her shoulders, but her eyes were the most striking feature.
Unlike Athena's beautiful eyes, her eyes, which controlled the threads of fate and the future, were completely white!
Yes, this goddess who presided over the future was a blind goddess.
Though she could see the future, she couldn't see what was right in front of her.
The reason this goddess, who almost never left the Temple of Fate, was here today was because of Hera.
Specifically, because of the prophecy.
Clotho had come to tell Hera that, in the future she had seen, there was another who could bring her glory, besides Jason.
That person was Promise!
She didn't respond to Athena's words.
She hesitated, 'looking' at Athena, or rather, at the thread of fate on her body.
After a moment of hesitation, she said, "Lady Athena, there is something I have always been unsure whether to say..."
"Hmm, what is it?" The latter looked curiously at Clotho.
"...That day, in the Temple of Fate, on the queen's thread, I did see that the boy could bring her glory, but..."
Clotho reached out and gently traced the thread of fate on Athena's body with her white fingers.
"But today, on your thread, I see a similar scene... Lady Athena, the boy can indeed bring glory to Hera, but it seems...
He can also bring glory to you?"
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