Meanwhile, Ikki, who had returned home, lay on his back in bed and stared at the ceiling, a bitter gleam in his eyes.
During these two weeks, he had become so lost in the happiness he felt spending all that time with Artemis, that he almost forgot something important—the decision he had made to confess his feelings to her. But he remembered it and tried to do so today.
However, he couldn't get a moment alone with her to make the confession.
Moreover, he had no idea what to say to Artemis. It was incredibly difficult to find the right words for it.
And even though he had done some research over the past weeks to get an idea of what to say when the time came, all the quotes, poems, and similar things he found were lackluster; none of them could describe how he felt about her.
He could say a thousand different quotes or ten thousand different poems, but none of them would come close to describing the feelings he had for Artemis.
"I guess I'll just follow my heart when the time comes. I'll know what to say." A soft voice suddenly escaped his lips without warning.
His mind drifted back to the memories he had created with Artemis during these two weeks.
The first time they hunted together.
...
"It looks like another victory for me. Who would've thought the great King of Heroes could be so bad at something as simple as hunting?" Artemis said, looking provocatively at Ikki. She had a smile on her lips, her chest puffed with pride.
Ikki's eyebrow furrowed at her words. He dematerialized his bow and looked at Artemis. She had the same charming look that stole his heart, and even her age was similar to his.
The two of them were in a pine forest, each a few dozen meters apart. Between them was a bear, with two arrows stuck in its body—one in the middle of its forehead and another a few inches near its heart.
Artemis had her bow in hand and a quiver of arrows strapped to her back, diagonally.
"My loss, huh?" Ikki looked at Artemis skeptically before saying, "Strangely, this bear reacted the moment my arrow was just a few meters away from it, as if it had been warned by someone..."
"I don't know what you're talking about..." Artemis shrugged and looked innocently at him, her eyes glinting with amusement as she said calmly, "You're not making excuses for losing another competition to me, are you?"
"Of course not, Arty. A loss is a loss..." Ikki shrugged and said, "I'm not a sore loser; it was a fun hunt despite everything..."
"Yes, as always... I had so much fun." Artemis nodded and said with a slightly smug smile, "It's always fun to beat you."
Hearing her words and seeing her smug smile, Ikki's lips curled into a smile as a playful idea came to mind.
"Yes, I really have no chance against the Goddess of the Hunt herself, but why all the arrogance?" Ikki smiled kindly, and in a flash of golden light, his phone appeared in his hand. He showed it to Artemis while saying, "Did you forget that I have some good blackmail material on you?"
Hearing Ikki's words and seeing him display the jade calmly, with his kind smile, Artemis' eyes widened.
"Are you blackmailing me?"
"Me? No!" Ikki pointed at himself and looked innocently at the Moon Goddess, then shook his head and said justly, "You offend me, Arty. How could I do such a thing? I'm simply more benevolent than the saints of legend!"
At the end of his words, his lips curled into a small, just, and gentle smile. His eyes had a clearly noticeable amusement.
Artemis looked at him for a minute, narrowing her eyes slightly, and said, "Really? Then why does this feel like blackmail to me?"
"Who knows..." Ikki played with the jade in his hand while smiling, "I was just thinking about how Apollo or the other gods would react if they saw the recording on this phone. I'm sure Hermes would be very proud to know I pulled off quite the prank on the mortal and fierce Goddess of the Man-Hating..."
Before he even finished speaking, Artemis became a silver blur and crossed the distance between them in an instant. When she reached him, Ikki leaned back and pulled the jade in his hand away, as if trying to stop her from grabbing it. At that moment, the Moon Goddess stopped, leaning in to grab the phone in his hand.
At that exact moment, time seemed to freeze, almost come to a halt for the two of them.
Their faces were just inches apart. Artemis could feel his scent; it was intoxicating to her. Looking into those captivating deep purple eyes that stared back at her, her heart raced. She observed his perfect face and his lips curled into a smile that made everything in the world lose significance for anyone privileged enough to see it. A slight blush appeared on her cheeks.
Looking at him so closely made Artemis' heart flutter...
Ikki looked at the beautiful face of the goddess he loved, and up close, she seemed even more stunning. Her silver eyes, her most beautiful feature in his opinion, captivated him completely. His heart raced...
She was so beautiful!
At that instant, time returned to normal. Because she had leaned in so much, Artemis fell toward him. Without thinking, Ikki caught her by the delicate shoulders to stop her from falling.
"Hey! Be careful, Arty..." Ikki said softly.
Artemis felt the same warm, intoxicating feeling she always had when he showed concern for her fill her chest. She smiled slightly before noticing the phone in Ikki's hand, which was holding her left shoulder. In a swift motion, she grabbed it and jumped back nimbly, distancing herself from him with a victorious smile on her lips.
"Looks like you lost your blackmail material, Mr. More Benevolent Than the Saints of Legends..."
His lips curled into a small smile. Ikki could have stopped her, but chose not to. It wouldn't make a difference if she grabbed and destroyed the phone—he had spells that could display the memory, for instance, so destroying the phone would be useless.
"Destroy it as you wish, I have copies of it."
Artemis narrowed her eyes at him and said threateningly, "If you tell anyone, they'll never find your body. My hunting wolves do an excellent job."
"Is it that pack of wolves I met the other day? You know they adored me. How will you know if the rest of them don't do the same?" Ikki replied innocently.
Hearing his response, Artemis pursed her lips, and her brow twitched. She remembered the hunting wolf who was with her during one of her nighttime meetings with the boy; it had fallen for his... I mean, for the son of Zeus, and that wolf was the one who hated men the most!
So, she could foresee that the others wouldn't harm the Greek King of Heroes either.
"What about I turn you into a coelope?" Artemis said with a small smile. Her silver eyes sparkled with the idea. She had always wondered how cute Ikki would look as a coelope, and she was very interested in finding out.
"No, thanks, Arty. I promise I won't tell anyone about this." Ikki shrugged and said, "And it's not like it was a big deal. It was just the recording of a great prank I pulled on you, and it was so much fun..."
Artemis looked at him before sighing and saying, "Yes, yes. I was just too distracted for you to catch me off guard!"
"Nana, nina, no!" Ikki made a "no" gesture with his finger, crossing his arms with a dignified expression. "That was due to my being handsome, charming, just, and also an incomparable genius..."
Artemis' lips curled as she rolled her eyes and said, "Bragging now? You're getting more shameless by the day..."
She knew he was just teasing her. No matter how seriously he said those words, Ikki couldn't hide the smile on his face, and that was his fatal mistake.
Hearing Artemis' words, Ikki just laughed lightly before saying, "You know I'm just messing around. Now, let's continue our hunt."
"Looks like someone is eager to lose again," Artemis said with a smug smile on her face.
Then the two of them continued their hunting competition.
...
A smile appeared on his lips as he remembered the prank he had pulled on Artemis. It had been so funny.
...
It was just another forest, and emerging from a hole in the middle of it, Artemis looked quite funny! It seemed like someone had dumped a bucket of multicolored paint on her, and she looked like she had fallen into hay and rolled around in it. Her clothes were wrinkled and dirty.
For the Goddess of the Hunt, today was supposed to be just another day. She would meet her friend at the designated spot, and when she arrived, a bucket of paint fell on her. The paint temporarily blinded her, and she walked forward, falling into a trap filled with hay and mud.
She was livid and furious. At first, Artemis thought it was a prank by Hermes or Apollo, but she immediately dismissed that idea. After all, both cared enough about her life to avoid doing something like that.
Then Artemis found the culprit. He looked at her innocently, but there was a hidden amusement in his eyes, and he was holding back his laughter.
The culprit was none other than Ikki.
Still pretending to be innocent, he greeted her and asked what had happened, as if he hadn't been standing there watching everything from the beginning.
After a heated argument between the two, during which Ikki admitted it was him, let's just say she chased him through the forest, trying to shoot some arrows in revenge, and he hid behind a huge tree.
The Goddess of the Hunt had her silver eyes glaring at Ikki hiding behind the tree. She asked calmly, "Ikki, was it really you who set this trap in front of my tent?"
"You're accusing an innocent person. I didn't do anything," Ikki said innocently as he hid behind a tree.
Of course, it was him. Lately, Artemis had been so tense in his opinion. So, Ikki decided to play a prank on her to have some fun.
After meticulous planning, he managed to pull off a perfect prank on the Goddess! And here he was, now facing the consequences of his actions.
"Really? Then why did you run?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You attacked me, and I figured it was better to just run," Ikki said, shrugging.
Ikki suddenly made a face like he remembered something and said, "Now that I think about it, I have some matters to take care of. So, I'll take my leave now..."
Artemis' eyes widened, and she immediately said, narrowing her eyes slightly, "Wait! This matter can wait. You owe me an explanation!"
"Unfortunately, I can't. The matter I have to attend to is a matter of life and death. But... Hmm, I wonder how the other Gods would react when I tell them the story about the Great Goddess of the Hunt falling for such a simple prank..." Ikki said, smiling mischievously as he showed her his phone with a video of her falling into the prank.
Artemis narrowed her eyes even further and said threateningly, "As I thought, so it really was you... And you dare blackmail me?"
Although she trusted Ikki a lot, she knew he liked to have fun, so it was very likely that he would tell his childish brother just to get some good laughs. She couldn't let Apollo know about this!
It would be a nuisance for the next century.
"Don't worry, Artemis. I won't tell anyone that the great Goddess of the Hunt fell for such a simple prank," Ikki said, smiling at her before dissipating into countless starry particles.
The last thing he saw before disappearing completely was a scowling Goddess of the Hunt looking at him.
...
Knowing Artemis, he knew she would get back at him somehow. After all, she was quite vengeful when she wanted to be, but he was ready for it.
And well, maybe, she wouldn't even get the chance to do so.
Ikki sighed as he remembered that everything would change with the confession of his feelings. The next time he saw her, he promised himself he would finally tell her how he felt!
He was tired of hiding it, and he was also nervous and anxious about their next meeting.
Although it didn't seem like it.
He was heading into a battle he knew he would lose, preparing to confess to the love of his life, expecting rejection... It was different from his past life when his fiancée left him for another man; he suffered, but it wasn't like it was now. He couldn't even explain it clearly himself...
Indeed, there were many uncertainties, many questions, and many emotions involved in all of this, and he didn't even know what to say to her!
A simple phrase like "I love you" felt insufficient...
Everything would end, whatever awaited him. He would face it with his head held high, and even if she didn't accept his feelings, that was fine. He was happy as long as it lasted.
That was what mattered, right?
But why did it hurt so much, then? Just the thought of not having Artemis with him, not seeing her smile, not hearing her voice, not having her presence in his life hurt so much, but... so much, that he didn't know how to handle such pain.
He could only assume that the pain of being rejected directly would be even worse.
Ikki kept staring at the ceiling of his room as the image of Artemis smiling at him appeared in his mind.
He murmured ironically.
"Dealing with feelings is often painful, but without them, we would just be machines that breathe and talk."
"I thought that as long as I became stronger, everything would be resolved, but... I was thinking in a foolish and naive way. As long as emotions and feelings still exist, there will always be complications, hesitations, and all sorts of unexpected things throughout life. I think that's just part of life..."
"I have to stop thinking this way. Life doesn't need to be perfect to be outrageously happy. No one is perfect, I'm not perfect..." Ikki stopped murmuring for a few minutes before continuing, "Yes, I'm not perfect."
After saying that, as he remembered the moments with the Moon Goddess, he murmured softly.
"It doesn't matter how this ends, I will still clearly remember when I met you, there was a place, a time, and a feeling. The time was marked. The place will always be remembered, and the feeling will forever remain in my heart."
Ikki pulled himself away a bit from his thoughts, but the words still echoed in his mind. He found himself at an emotional crossroads that seemed more challenging than any battle he had ever faced. Fighting against a tangible enemy, with a sword in hand, was something he understood perfectly. But the feelings that enveloped him now, especially the fear of rejection, were a somewhat unfamiliar territory, a silent war against his own insecurities. He had been through this in his past life, but somehow, it felt different.
He sighed, trying to push away the doubts, but the anguish persisted. The simple act of loving someone seemed so full of complexity. Ikki didn't know what the future held for him, but one thing was certain: he couldn't let the fear of failure paralyze him.
Life, he thought, was a sequence of moments.
Moments that he now kept in his heart, like the warmth of Artemis' presence. No matter what happened, these moments would never fade.
He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering every detail of the days spent with her: the laughter, the playful moments, the feeling of being by her side, as if the whole world disappeared when the two of them were together. "Whatever happens, I will follow my heart," he murmured to himself.