Renounce him as your follower

One morning, Eucleia, dressed in a maid outfit, woke Promise up.

"Good morning, noble Lord Promise."

Her flaxen hair fluttered in the morning breeze as she gracefully curtsied, showing him a radiant smile.

Eucleia had made the maid outfit herself, inspired by an offhand comment from Promise about servant attire.

The boy yawned as he got up, still wearing the silver shackle on his left hand, though the chain was gone.

Hephaestus had claimed it was a modified version to allow Promise more freedom as long as he stayed within the temple, it wouldn't bind him.

But Eucleia knew better, after all, she had herself seen Hephaestus forge it so she knew it was merely an ornament now.

Goddess Hephaestus no longer restrained Promise.

He could leave anytime he wished, but he chose to stay.

He said it was because Hephaestus had made such a precious artifact for him, so he felt obliged to give her a gift in return.

The best gift Promise could offer was his art, although, due to his promise to Hera, she would be the first Eucleia he would truly paint... though Goddess Athena, the river goddess Aegina, and now Hephaestus could all give him a thumbs-up for that.

The idea of giving a return gift came from Athena's oracle, which led Promise to stay at the temple for over half a month.

But Eucleia believed it wasn't necessary to be so elaborate.

For Hephaestus, the painting from half a month ago and those heartfelt words were already the best gifts she had ever received.

However, she was naturally too smart to say it out loud, after all...

"Good morning, Goddess Hephaestus," Promise, dressed in a simple light blue outfit, his hair tied in a ponytail with a silver ribbon,

greeted the goddess in front of him.

Not long after waking up, he was in to Hephaestus's room.

The goddess was already up and dressed, her long golden hair, as tall as she was, flowing over the pristine bed.

She extended her hands, and Promise carefully lifted her, placing her in a wooden wheelchair.

He then took over from Eucleia, who usually performed this task.

The latter didn't mind, in fact, she watched with a cheerful smile.

Hephaestus had abandoned the idea of cutting her long hair and now had Eucleia meticulously care for it every day, even though she once hated these golden hair very much.

As they made their way out, the puppets they encountered greeted them respectfully, their cheerful voices reaching Hephaestus's ears, who felt that both the sunlight and the moonlight had become gentler and brighter recently.

Each night, she now looked forward to the next day... something that wouldn't have happened if she hadn't needed to rest after crafting that artifact for Promise.

Soon, Promise wheeled Hephaestus into a room where she occasionally carved and created.

Recently, she had been visiting this room more frequently.

The reason?

"Teacher Hephaestus, thank you for your guidance today," Promise said eagerly, picking up a sculpting chisel and hammer.

Yes, Hephaestus was now his teacher, instructing him in the art of sculpture.

Promise realized he was drifting further from the path of a traditional hero, and was instead moving toward becoming a renowned artist.

But he had long come to accept this, knowing from his Heroic Spirit Class Card that even in the worst-case scenario, he would already be an A-rank Heroic Spirit after death.

And with Athena's oath concluded, Promise was no longer worried about death and just focused on finding people and painting the gods.

Hera, Athena, Artemis and Apollo, Demeter and Hades, and now Hephaestus.

Counting them all, Promise had already completed seven paintings.

The remaining major gods included Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hestia.

And possibly Hermes, who might or might not refuse but had already been seen by Promise.

So, in theory, his work was more than halfway done.

"You have great talent. I believe that in one or two years, even I won't be able to find any flaws in your work," Hephaestus said, smiling as she picked up her sculpting tools.

Hearing this, Eucleia, who was listening from the side, couldn't help but glance at Promise.

Goddess Hephaestus never lied about such matters.

Athena's oracle to Promise had described her as 'the hardest to satisfy yet the easiest to please goddess,' referring to her relentless pursuit of perfection.

Hephaestus sought perfection in her creations, never accepting anything less.

This was why she had never truly acknowledged her own puppets .

Her pursuit of perfection stemmed from Hera, who saw Hephaestus as flawed.

So she had long strived to become perfect to gain Hera's approval, until she lost hope.

This had made Hephaestus somewhat obsessive.

For example, her agreement to marry Aphrodite stemmed from a desire to see if she was truly the most beautiful.

But what truly surprised Eucleia wasn't this.

Promise had sought Hephaestus's tutelage in sculpture, following Athena's oracle, without realizing the true extent of this skill.

But Eucleia knew, as did all the dolls in the temple, what this truly meant.

They themselves were created through this skill.

Receiving instruction from a major god like Hephaestus meant Promise was learning to sculpt life itself.

In just over half a month, he had already grasped the basics of sculpting due to his unique artistic talent.

Hephaestus's prediction of one or two years was when Promise would be able to sculpt life.

As Hephaestus explained and demonstrated the techniques, standing close to Promise and guiding him, a puppet hurried in.

Seeing the scene, she didn't dare interrupt but whispered something to Eucleia.

The latter, after hearing the news, glanced at the happy Hephaestus and reluctantly approached. "Goddess Hephaestus, someone is here to see you."

"Who? I don't want to see anyone!" Hephaestus snapped, then noticed Eucleia winking at her and glancing at Promise.

Hephaestus immediately knew who had come.

After all, this wasn't the first time in the past half month.

Despite her irritation, Promise smiled reassuringly, saying he didn't mind and urging her not to worry about him.

Hephaestus pouted but reluctantly left the room.

After she left, Promise quickly asked the doll outside to help unveil a large, partially completed statue covered by a cloth.

It was a statue of Goddess Hephaestus, a gift from Promise to her.

Knowing Hephaestus's pursuit of perfection, he understood the statue had to be flawless to truly please her, though he was not yet capable of such perfection.

Yet Athena had described Hephaestus as the easiest to please because what she sought upon returning to Olympus wasn't a godly position or to humiliate Hera, but simply Hera's approval and a private apology.

Athena had trusted Promise with Hephaestus, because she knew that her seemingly cold and detached demeanor hid a fragile heart.

The statue, embodying Hephaestus's teachings and Promise's growth, was his heartfelt gift.

For a teacher, the first creation by their student, despite its imperfections, is always the most beautiful in memory.

Meanwhile, Hephaestus, now in a foul mood due to being interrupted, was pushed by Eucleia back into the temple.

Though, her spirits lifted instantly when she saw the anxious goddess waiting for her.

"Hephaestus, what do you want?"

As soon as she saw Hephaestus, the waiting goddess stood up.

Her beautiful golden curls cascaded from under her crown, and her amber eyes, reflecting her anger, were fixed on Hephaestus.

"Return Promise to me immediately!"

It was Hera, back once again.

Hephaestus did not respond immediately, merely smiling with a happiness that was tinged with unmistakable mockery.

"My esteemed and beautiful mother goddess, is it really necessary for you to come and disturb me repeatedly, even going so far as to involve Father, over such trivial matters?"

"Oh, my lofty mother goddess, when did you become so kind-hearted, to care so much about a mere human?"

"And my revered mother goddess, the greatest queen among the gods, don't you think you're somewhat losing your composure here, making such a fuss and displaying such an ugly demeanor?"

"As your daughter, I hope you can tone it down a bit. It wouldn't look good if other gods saw you like this.

Such behavior doesn't befit the throne I made for you. Don't you agree, dear Goddess Hestia?"

With that, Hephaestus glanced over at Hestia, who was sitting beside Hera, blinking and smiling with a clear look of amusement.

Well...the last of the three virgin goddesses.

Hestia had accompanied Hera, simply because it was interesting.

And without someone to bolster her courage, Hera wouldn't have dared to come.

Even with Hestia by her side, Hera was so unnerved by Hephaestus's mention of the throne that she instinctively wanted to flee.

In fact, she had run away a few times already.

But today, she gritted her teeth and held her ground.

"Hephaestus, my issues with you have nothing to do with Promise. Release him and stop tormenting him. If... if you are dissatisfied, I am willing to apologize to you once more!"

Hera said this with her eyes reddened.

Hestia looked on in surprise, her eyes wide as if she were meeting the goddess for the first time.

At the same time, she became even more interested in Promise.

Hestia had seen children favored by gods before.

But this was the first time she had seen someone who was so favored by Hera and even surrounded by so many gods!

Hephaestus fell silent upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, Eucleia, who had her head lowered, and the other puppets around them, also lowered their heads, displaying unusually strange expressions.

They knew well how things were for Promise here.

What release? What torment?

He was almost becoming the second master of this place!

If Hermes had been accompanying them instead of Hestia, he would probably be overjoyed.

After all, these two goddesses were mother and daughter!

"It's simple if you want me to release him," Hephaestus eventually said, her voice calm. "Just vow to renounce him as your follower. If you do that, I will no longer confine him."

"Impossible!" Hera rejected outright.

"Then there is nothing more to discuss." Hephaestus turned to the maid and said, "Eucleia, let's go."

The latter, in silence, began to lead Hephaestus away.

At this moment, Hestia glanced at Eucleia, suddenly became interested, and blinked.

Because she found that her maid outfit was quite pretty.

"Wait, wait, Hephaestus! Aside from that condition, I will agree to whatever you ask!"

Seeing that Hephaestus was really planning to leave, Hera hurriedly exclaimed.

But the latter had no intention of paying her any mind and left the temple just like that.