"Mother!"
On Olympus, little Eros anxiously rushed into his mother's temple, calling out to her.
Not long after his voice faded, accompanied by a fragrant breeze of roses, his beautiful mother appeared on her jade throne, leaning on the armrest, looking at him lovingly, and asked:
"My dear Eros, what's wrong?"
"Mother, I failed."
Little Eros came before his mother, lay on her lap, and looked at her with a face full of shame. Aphrodite quickly dotingly stroked her son's head and said gently:
"It's alright. Behind that witch stands the Moon Goddess and that scoundrel Ares. It's normal that you couldn't defeat them. If you failed, then you failed. At least you've done what you were supposed to, and it counts as fulfilling our deal with Athena."
After a moment of thought, Aphrodite asked again:
"So, if you didn't shoot Medea, then who was hit by your arrow?"
As a main god, although Aphrodite's primary divine duty was the Goddess of Beauty, she also governed love. Therefore, if little Eros had used his divine power to connect others, she would still need to inquire about it.
Once little Eros's arrow of love was drawn, it would definitely hit a target, so Aphrodite didn't consider the possibility of the arrow of love missing its target.
Upon hearing his mother's question, little Eros suddenly became a bit embarrassed. His hesitant look fell into Aphrodite's eyes, and she was silent for a moment, then asked:
"Dear Eros, could it be... that you were the one hit by the arrow?"
Little Eros lowered his head in shame, and after a long while, he whispered, "Yes."
To have his golden arrow of love taken by a mortal like Medea, and even to be shot by it himself in reverse, was undoubtedly the greatest humiliation for a god as self-important as Eros.
"Hmm, never mind. I was going to choose a good match for you, my dear."
Aphrodite thought for a moment and decided that the consequences of little Eros being hit by an arrow were nothing to worry about.
The places he went to carry out his missions were all mortals and demigods. As long as he didn't see the witch who had Ares and Hecate as her backing, it didn't really matter.
Little Eros knew the effect of his golden arrow of love. After being affected, he would certainly not seek death by looking at those rough male heroes. Therefore, the one he gazed upon and fell in love with was most likely a handmaiden present.
A handmaiden, Aphrodite only needed a word to make her obediently lie on Eros's bed.
So the Goddess of Beauty asked gently:
"Eros, who is the person you fell in love with? Is it a handmaiden in the Colchis royal palace?"
"No." Little Eros shook his head.
"Hmm, did you actually manage to hold back and return?" Aphrodite mused inwardly. In that case, he must have seen a goddess on the mountain, or even herself.
Some minor goddesses would be fine, even seeing herself would be easy to resolve. The most troublesome scenario would be if he saw powerful female main gods like Athena or Demeter.
Aphrodite thought for a moment, then asked again:
"So Eros, tell Mother, who exactly did you fall in love with?"
"Actually, that witch was also guarding against me seeing her, so after I was hit by the arrow, she immediately cast a spell and teleported me to an abandoned temple. I didn't see anyone; I only saw the goddess in that temple."
Little Eros replied obediently.
"An abandoned temple... Hmm, that's not bad." Aphrodite stroked her fair chin and nodded.
Since the temple was abandoned, it meant that the goddess enshrined there had either declined or even died. However, abandoned temples were likely left behind by indigenous deities conquered by the Olympus pantheon. Even if such deities were conquered, their status on Olympus was very low, and it would simply be a matter of a word from Aphrodite, a main god.
"Mother," little Eros asked expectantly, "Can you help me find that goddess and woo her?"
"Oh?" Seeing her son's adorable, slightly shy appearance, Aphrodite couldn't help but smile. She teased her son, asking, "Why don't you go woo that goddess yourself?"
"I'm too embarrassed." Little Eros shyly lowered his head, but because of his beautiful youthful appearance, he didn't look awkward at all; instead, he made Aphrodite feel pleased.
Having teased her son enough, the Goddess of Beauty was in a good mood, so she patted her chest and said, "Alright, in that case, Mother will go and woo that goddess for you. Do you know the name of the goddess you like?"
Little Eros shook his head, looking a bit troubled, and said:
"But I remember what she looks like. If I see her, I'll definitely recognize her."
"Hmm... Is that so? Then we'll have to call all the goddesses other than the main gods over and have you identify them one by one." Aphrodite sighed with some difficulty, "Alas, it seems I'll have to ask Hera..."
"I don't think that's necessary."
At this moment, a clear, cold voice suddenly rang out from the entrance of the Temple of Aphrodite. Then, Aphrodite and her son saw the bright-eyed Goddess of Wisdom, Athena, walk in from the temple's entrance.
For some reason, looking at Athena, Aphrodite always felt she was a bit strange today, because she was not only wearing armor and carrying a spear and the aegis, but even the composed smile that always hung on her face was gone.
The Goddess of Beauty felt inexplicably uneasy, but at this moment, Athena had already arrived in front of the jade throne of love. She looked up at Aphrodite and her son, then said:
"I know who the goddess Eros fell in love with is."
"Really? As expected of Athena." Suppressing the unease in her heart, Aphrodite forced a smile and asked, "Then what is the name of this goddess?"
"The primordial Goddess of Wisdom, Metis." Athena took a deep breath and said, "Which is... my mother."
"What did you say?" Aphrodite's smile froze on her face.
But before she could react, she saw the Goddess of Wisdom opposite her suddenly raise her arm and then fiercely hurl the spear in her hand towards little Eros, who was leaning beside the throne of the Goddess of Beauty.
Athena was not only the Goddess of Wisdom but also the Goddess of War. Her spear throw was naturally too fast for Aphrodite and her son to react. As soon as the spear left her hand, it immediately transformed into a golden light. Little Eros only felt a sudden chill in his chest, and his chest was already pierced by Athena's spear.
It was only then that Aphrodite realized what the goddess in front of her had done. She let out a tragic scream, quickly reached out and hugged her son, and shielded him with her body to prevent Athena from harming him further.