This time, Bell planned to take the initiative properly—just as Freya had told him to.
So when he opened Freya's door and saw Artemis fuming outside, he said something that nearly made her pass out.
"Artemis, let's go on a date."
Oh gods—am I dreaming?
Artemis felt as if she were drifting in a dream.
Before she could even react, Bell seized the initiative and gently took her hand.
"Since we've decided, let's get you ready first."
Still dazed, Artemis let herself be pulled along as she went to prepare for the date just as Bell asked.
In truth, she didn't need much preparation. A small change in clothing—something more fitting for this world—was enough.
As the Moon Goddess, Artemis's natural poise was absolute. No matter what she wore, she looked like a work of art.
Even so, she earnestly sorted through outfits for their date.
Nothing too revealing—Darling's possessiveness was strong, a trait she shared herself.
Naturally, Artemis wouldn't choose anything that would cause unnecessary trouble.
For this date, propriety came first. If she wanted to purposely show off, wouldn't she just drag Bell into a room, shut the door, and let him look all he wanted?
She chose something that complemented her figure's curves without being too alluring.
Artemis subconsciously referenced Freya's usual fashion. Ever since joining this household, even Freya's wardrobe had gotten more conservative.
Everyone once treated such matters lightly and naturally, yet now they all handled them with restraint.
Artemis knew exactly why.
Because things were different now. Once a goddess had a lover, she also had to accept his possessiveness—just as she herself felt possessive of him.
Not fond of overly flamboyant outfits to begin with, Artemis chose clothing that highlighted a lively, cute look suitable for going out.
After settling on her outfit, she happily stepped out of her room.
And immediately saw Bell waiting outside.
Bell wore a black inner shirt—different from his usual attire—with a simple white outer layer. It looked ordinary enough, yet the aura he radiated today felt strikingly different to her.
Especially the warmth and passion in his eyes—it felt like it might burn her to ashes.
'Darling is completely different today.'
Artemis was surprised by Bell's change, but even more than that, she felt excitement and joy.
Bell had always held sincere affection toward her—something she could feel. But because of the coward in this world, she hadn't been able to deepen her relationship with him.
Forget anything substantial—even asking for a kiss would be brushed aside, leaving Artemis frustrated.
But Bell's restraint was understandable. She and this world's Artemis were technically one person, yet also not the same. Like someone with dual personalities—one of them always held primary control.
Their relationship was complicated. She had restored the missing Divine Core of her other half, and the other half had restored her destroyed body.
And crucially, the body fundamentally belonged to the other half. That made progressing physically with Bell extremely difficult.
Because that required the other half's approval.
Bell's restraint was because of this physical ownership.
So if Artemis wanted to deepen her relationship with Bell, the other half also needed to fall in love with him.
It should have been easy. From the moment they fused, Artemis and her other self shared their thoughts and feelings. She was almost certain the other half's feelings for Bell were strong too.
But the problem was…
'Coward! You absolute coward!'
Artemis's other half was currently curled up with her knees hugged to her chest, too scared to speak.
Their fusion had created two personalities, yet they shared each other's emotions and influenced one another.
And as the dominant personality, the other Artemis was constantly overwhelmed by Artemis's blazing, passionate love.
That pure affection for Bell felt like being roasted by fire every single day, making her whole body tense and uneasy.
Especially after understanding Artemis's intense love—and realizing her own feelings for Bell—the other half felt like a traitor. A terrible friend who had secretly fallen in love with Bell behind Artemis's back.
But the thing that tormented her most…
…was that she knew what Artemis planned for today.
And in the end, it would force her to confront the truth about her own feelings for Bell.
What is this? Isn't this just forcing her to come clean?
'This won't work.'
'What if—what if Hestia finds out?'
The only lingering fear in her heart now was Hestia.
And even she hadn't realized it before—back then, what she worried about was getting romantically involved with Bell, because doing so felt too unfair to Hestia.
But now, her worry was that Hestia might discover these feelings.
This was the first time the Danmachi Artemis truly recognized that she had fallen for Bell… yet Hestia remained her moral boundary, the line she couldn't cross.
She was the one who had once lectured the children of her familia that romance was forbidden, that members of the Artemis Familia had to maintain their purity.
As a result, all those children ended up as old maids.
And now, the goddess who enforced that rule was the first to break it.
To be honest, even Artemis felt that the children who once supported her would probably despise her for acting like this.
In the end, she felt like she was the shameless one.
But really, this was only her own sense of shame. Such embarrassment simply didn't apply to the Artemis of the Type-Moon world.