I Became Artemis’ Boyfriend

The journey back to the Artemis Temple was, in stark contrast to the troubling storm at the beginning, a serene and peaceful one.

When Clothe acknowledged my very existence while bidding farewell,

all interference from storms and whirlwinds had vanished.

I filled the bittersweet feeling of Clothe’s departure with the comforting thought that I could return to the Storm Realm anytime, and thus began another day as a priest of Artemis.

“Phew~ Who knew the work of a priest could be so easy after dumping one request?”

During the time Artemis and I were away at the Storm Realm, Maia, the 9th-rank secretary, admirably took charge of the temple and carried out her duties splendidly.

As a result, even on the day after our return, there was almost nothing left to do.

If there was anything pressing, it was the worry about the ever-growing piles of money in the temple’s treasury, so much so that the space was almost insufficient.

With Luna Burgers successfully branching out in various cities,

now it was time to think about how to use Luna’s funds to contribute to urban economic development.

“The replies to the gift packages sent to the Twelve Supreme Gods are all set to arrive tomorrow, so I think I’ll end my work here for today.”

As the sun dipped behind the mountains and the darkness enveloped the surroundings like pitch, I rose from my seat.

Leaving the office to head towards my living quarters, I heard a call.

“Hey! Look at me a minute.”

Artemis, with a veil-like black facial covering that concealed her entire face, left an ambiguous message and retreated to her room.

Though puzzled by her mysterious concept, I followed her into her private chamber.

At first glance, the room was cluttered with clothes and makeup products scattered across the floor.

Navigating through the chaotic mess of strewn items with some difficulty, I reached the couch as Artemis sat opposite me, watching me intently—no, glaring.

“Why are you looking at me with such a loving gaze again? And why are you wearing that face-covering—could it be you’re a ninja?”

“There’s a reason behind it,” she said.

“What’s the reason? And come on, take it off already—it’s stifling!”

With a slight irritation in her voice, Artemis hesitantly removed the veil, uttering a warning.

“If you laugh, you’re dead.”

The moment the veil was off, static electricity caused her hair to rise up like a ghost’s, floating wildly, while her face was drenched with perspiration.

I couldn’t help but wonder why she, with her beautiful face, had concealed herself so unnecessarily in the stifling attire.

Even as her boyfriend, I could barely touch her hands and yet, it felt worth it to at least gaze upon her stunning features.

“Uh… hey, Artemis… what?”

She clicked her tongue in amusement at my bewildered face, and then raised her fist.

It meant laughing would indeed be fatal.

Yet…

“Guh! Pfft… hah!”

It was immensely hard to contain my laughter.

Because…

the always smooth and peach-colored lips of hers had inexplicably darkened to resemble burnt coal.

“PUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Hey, what is this…?! What happened to your lips?”

The stark contrast of her pitch-black lips against her porcelain skin was striking.

What could have possibly happened?

Had she dipped her lips in black ink perchance?

“Kuh…!”

Her face quickly blushed with embarrassment and shame. From her pocket, she retrieved a small object and hurled it at me.

“Take that! Ouch! …Lip tint? Why…?”

The object, which hit my forehead and landed on my knee, turned out to be a lip tint.

Comparing the lip tint’s color to her lips, they matched perfectly.

“Artemis, what happened? Did you apply makeup?”

Artemis, who ran around in the forest hunting everyday, hardly ever used makeup because it would inevitably run with her sweat. Unless it was a special occasion, she usually preferred going without.

“Why would you? There was nothing on today’s schedule anyway?”

“My heart’s desire! Can I not do this according to my own will?!”

“But what I mean is, the priestesses of the temple usually help with makeup during festivals. If you’d wanted to, you could have asked them to do it for you.”

“Hmph!”

She pouted her lip in a sulk, her blackened lips drawing my attention all the more. Unable to help myself, I almost burst out laughing again.

It seemed that her antics alone had provided enough laughter for the whole day.

And so, it was time to exercise restraint.

Patience.

Patience.

Patience.

“Ahem! Aha! Anyway… Artemis, messing up the first time you apply makeup is natural. Even I had trouble and cut myself shaving. Let’s clean it off now.”

Afraid of mocking her too much and causing her emotional distress, I softened my tone, soothing her as much as possible.

Handing her several tissues, I noticed her fidgeting uneasily before she suddenly slapped my hand.

Oh, that temperamental streak of hers!

Again, why was she acting this way?

Puzzled, I gave her a quizzical look, and she dropped her head with a shadow of sadness over her face.

“Artemis?”

“…Leave.”

“Huh? What?”

“…Leave me alone.”

“I can’t hear you properly. Say it again.”

In response, Artemis lifted her head sharply. Her eyes glistened with tears, like raindrops on flower petals.

“I can’t get rid of it! They say this kind of tint seeps into the skin like a tattoo and I have to be like this for the whole day!”

“Huh… huh?”

Now it was all clear.

Artemis’s peculiar behavior. The tint was fundamentally a liquid form, and using a tissue would easily wipe it off. However, the tint she applied was a kind that seeped into the skin and could only fade away naturally.

That was why she had spent the entire day hiding behind her veil.

But why black?

Even for a makeup novice, it would be more natural to choose a tint closer to one’s own lip color the first time around…

It was unimaginable that a cosmetics employee, being anything but stupid, could recommend such an eerily black shade.

“That store employee! She really set me up! Did she make a fool out of you?”

“I’m telling you, this black tint was recommended by the employee.”

“Ah, listen to this Ark! Before buying the cosmetics, the employee and I had a little chat about books. Somehow, the conversation drifted to gothic novels. Then the employee suggested that a gothic look would suit me well, and strongly recommended this tint.”

When we talk about gothic novels, it refers to horror novels in layman terms.

The employee must have recommended the most striking tint based on Artemis’s strong and sharp demeanor.

Gothic fashion, centered around black dresses, is an alluring and dark style that suits Artemis perfectly.

And for such fashion, smoky makeup is essential.

Yet ignoring all the core elements of such a fashion, only this black tint was applied.

This was akin to a white squid that violently spewed ink.

“GAH!… Mu, squid! Ink lips… PUH!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, my stomach!!”

“IIIIE! I said don’t mock me or I’ll kill youuu!!”

Artemis, hopping onto my stomach where I was gripping with laughter, glared at me with big, tearing eyes.

Punch! Punch!

With divine power in her fists, they packed quite a punch.

But this time, laughing was just too irresistible, my stomach hurting even more.

“HUHAAH!! AHAAHAHAHAHA!! Ink lips ArtemiiisuhahahahaHAHAHA!!!”

“……”

In stark contrast to my escalating jeers, Artemis stopped her fierce punching.

She loosened her fists, lowered her arms, then rose from atop my stomach.

“Sob. You’re such a jerk… It’s all because of you…”

“Huh…?”

Lately, my girlfriend Artemis has been shedding tears quite often.

However, the tears she just shed differed from the norm.

Her choked-up voice revealed a deep sense of injustice, along with an effort undone on my behalf.

“Because of me…?”

Sensing something was amiss, my laughter abruptly ceased.

I pulled out another tissue and handed it to Artemis.

This time, she snatched it, blew her nose loudly, then flung the snot-covered tissue on my face.

“Damn it! You’re the reason I’ve become like this!”

“Hey! Hey! That’s a scandalous remark others might misunderstand!”

“Sob. Sob. …Black! Waaaah~!”

The goddess Artemis, who had never wished to appear weak in front of a man, began sobbing. She collapsed on the floor with a thud and then began howling like a child.

“It’s all because of you! Ever since meeting you, I’ve changed and it’s all weird!! WAAAAAAH!!!”

“Uh… uh?”

This was a first.

Not just this version of Artemis, but also the knowledge of how to console her.

It wasn’t even funny watching her cry with those ink-black lips so wide open.

“Ah, Artemis. Calm down… uh, what… I’m sorry for teasing you.”

“You bastard!!”

“Okay, okay. I’m a bad person. I’m sorry. So could you explain what’s going on?”

Artemis glowered at me with resentment-filled eyes.

But perhaps she understood my sincere apology, gazing steadily at my gentle hand soothing her head.

Artemis gradually calmed down, her trembling shoulders settling and her sobs subsiding. She then recounted the truth:

“Wah… wah… you exploited Clothe—”

“Uh. Uh.”

With her coal-black lips pouted, she narrated in detail the cause of the event.

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