Several days passed after that.
Following the Calydonian boar hunt, life in the royal palace returned to its ordinary rhythm.
"Today, too. Just as always."
As I muttered to myself while reading documents and gazing out the window, the door was thrust open roughly.
"Your Majesty!"
"...What is it?"
The messenger who had burst in bowed to the floor, panting for breath.
"A strange rumor has been spreading near Calydon..."
"A rumor, you say... If it has reached me, it cannot be an ordinary matter. What rumor is it?"
"...A tale of a woman who incurred the wrath of a goddess."
"...Continue."
"Deep in the forest... a gigantic bear of unknown origin is said to have appeared. But there are witnesses who claim that bear moves like a human being."
At those words, I looked down at him in silence.
"And nearby, a bow was left behind, and strangely enough, green fur was... all over its body..."
At that moment, Hecate's words echoed in my mind: that goddesses sometimes deliver cruel punishments.
With unease rising in my thoughts, I stood up, and the chair scraped loudly backward.
"...Prepare."
"Your Majesty?"
"At once."
Though he hesitated for a moment at my words, he obeyed and began making the arrangements.
And so I mounted Noctis and headed for the forest where the bear had appeared.
Once I entered the woods, I advanced slowly.
In the silence, where even footsteps seemed to be swallowed whole, I searched for a presence both familiar and strange.
Then, as I moved deeper into that place...
"...Ha."
There, I saw the bear.
Yet strangely, that bear wore an expression of longing, as though it knew me.
"Hmm? This is turning into quite an interesting situation, isn't it?"
Just as I found the bear, Hecate's voice reached me from the shadows.
"That one was originally human. She was cursed by a goddess and became what you see now."
"A curse? What do you mean... Wait. Then do you know who that is?"
"Hmm... I'm not certain, but she seems to be that girl who is close to you... Atalanta, perhaps?"
At those words, it felt as though my breath stopped.
"What in the world..."
Perhaps sensing my bewilderment, the bear, which had been still until then, moved and came before me.
Then, slowly, its head tilted.
The eyes looking at me were unmistakably trembling.
"This is..."
Then, at that moment—
"You still call her by that name."
A familiar voice came from the sky, and I lifted my head.
Someone was descending from above the forest.
And that figure was exactly like the woman I had seen in the woods before.
No. It was her.
By then I had concluded that she was a goddess, and recalling her connection to Atalanta, I realized her identity was... Artemis, the goddess of the moon.
"...I greet you, Lady Artemis, goddess of the moon."
At my words, she. No, Lady Artemis looked down at me.
"...For a human, you are quick on the uptake."
"...Was this done by you, Lady Goddess?"
At my question, Artemis's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
"It was the result of her own choice."
"...."
"...That is not the face of someone who believes me. Then I shall explain."
When I showed an expression of disbelief, Lady Artemis looked at me and spoke.
"That girl is my hunter."
"...I know."
"And she swore an oath to me. To become my priestess. To live her entire life in chastity. But she tried to cast that oath aside herself."
Hearing that, I widened my eyes in shock.
"...You mean Atalanta tried to abandon her chastity?"
Lady Artemis said nothing in response.
Only that silence answered me.
"...So you placed this curse on her?"
"Yes."
The words fell coldly.
I looked at Atalanta, now turned into a bear.
"...Is there no way to reverse it?"
When I asked about lifting Atalanta's curse, Lady Artemis's interested gaze turned to me.
"Will you take the curse upon yourself in her place? Or are you saying you will undergo a trial to restore her to her original form?"
"...I will undergo the trial."
At my answer, Lady Artemis lifted the corners of her lips ever so slightly and said, "Very well. To lift the curse, bring me a poisonous serpent."
"A poisonous serpent... you say?"
"Yes. Its venom is such that even the slightest touch can bring death to ordinary people. So hunt it down and bring me its blood and heart."
"If I accomplish that..."
"Yes. I shall remove the curse clinging to that girl."
At Lady Artemis's words, I tightened my grip on my spear.
"...Where is it?"
"You will find it easily enough."
Having said that, Lady Artemis turned away.
"...An interesting choice. I shall see how far that choice takes you."
With those words, Lady Artemis vanished, and in the forest there remained only Atalanta, turned into a bear, and me.
"...Wait for me, Atalanta. I will return you to yourself."
Meeting Atalanta's eyes, I said to her in a low voice.
"...I'll be back soon."
After that, I left Atalanta behind and stepped deeper into the forest.
At that moment, someone was watching him from somewhere.
"...So another matter begins. This time, shall I... intervene?"
With a low laugh, the air around that figure twisted.
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