Chapter 144: The Poison of Envy

Early that morning, Bell woke up at his usual time.

It was rare to have a relaxing start to the day.

As he sat up in bed, he felt an unusual sense of ease.

'It's better not to use magic to help with sleep when there's no danger around.'

His body felt completely relaxed—no tension at all.

This sensation had become especially noticeable since that night.

'I really am... still clinging to that sense of comfort from the past.'

Bell knew it was his own problem, a part of him he'd hoped to leave behind. In these chaotic times, comfort was a luxury. Even while sleeping, he needed to stay alert to his surroundings.

But ever since that experience, he found himself unconsciously recalling the feeling of peace from that night.

'It might be a bit of a waste, but just this once is fine.'

Logically, making the most of his time would be best. Yet here he was, choosing the inefficient route.

With a quiet sigh and a decision made, Bell turned his gaze toward the other bed. And in that instant, his eyes froze.

The bed, which should have only held Goddess-sama, now had a second occupant—Hephaestus.

Yes, since it had gotten late last night, Hephaestus-sama, who had come over to visit, hadn't returned to her Familia and had stayed the night instead.

Maybe because they were both goddesses, it didn't seem like a big deal for them to share a bed. But to Bell, seeing it the next morning was a different story!

Hestia always wore a white dress, even to bed, so she never needed to change. But Hephaestus had to. Wearing long pants wasn't exactly ideal for sleeping, so she'd taken them off beforehand.

Hephaestus might have a decent sleeping posture, but Hestia definitely didn't. Bell had enough experience to know that well.

As a result, all the blankets had ended up wrapped around Hestia, leaving Hephaestus's legs completely uncovered.

'So smooth… and so pale.'

Bell caught one glimpse and immediately shut his eyes. 'Don't look. Don't look.'

'I didn't expect Hephaestus-sama to like sky-blue stripes.'

Since Goddess-sama preferred pure white, Bell had assumed Hephaestus would have similar taste. He hadn't expected her to favor something so... decorative.

Just as Bell was preparing to leave the basement quietly, an intense wave of malice suddenly radiated from the other bed.

His brow furrowed at once. Without thinking, he walked straight over to the bed shared by Hephaestus-sama and Goddess-sama.

A single glance was all it took to find the source of that malice.

But what he saw made his frown deepen.

'Hephaestus-sama's covered right cheek?'

Maybe it had slipped off while she was sleeping—the mask that usually hid the right half of her face had fallen to the floor, revealing what lay beneath.

Upon closer inspection, the contrast between the two sides of her face was striking. If the left side was angelic and beautiful, the right side was twisted and demonic.

'No wonder Hephaestus-sama keeps it covered.'

Bell didn't feel repulsed—just a bit sorry.

But what made him frown was the malice emanating from that right side. He had sensed this kind of presence before. If he wasn't mistaken, it was 'jealousy'.

Dark miasma swirled around the blemished side of her face, brimming with spite and resentment. Where it had come from, he couldn't say.

Bell rested his chin in thought, then reached out and gently brushed aside Hephaestus-sama's red hair, fully exposing her deformed right cheek.

'Jealousy... I don't know who left this curse on Hephaestus-sama, but it's nothing more than a remnant of the past.'

'Jealousy' was one of the cardinal sins. And judging by the fact that Hephaestus-sama couldn't remove it, its poison was something even gods couldn't dispel.

But that didn't mean humans couldn't.

Humans understood jealousy better than anyone. They knew all too well how destructive it could be.

In moments like this, Bell couldn't be more grateful for the all-encompassing nature of Runic Letters.

Of course, the process wouldn't be simple.

He turned his hand lightly above Hephaestus-sama's face, and six Runic Letters lit up with a soft glow, illuminating her distorted features.

The runes immediately suppressed the seething malice.

Taking advantage of this moment, Bell retrieved a small potion vial from his four-dimensional space.

A mundane container like this wasn't nearly enough to hold something like 'jealousy', so he etched reinforcement and protection runes around it. Without them, the vial would never be able to contain a poison potent enough to harm even gods.

Once the bottle was properly fortified, Bell was ready to transfer the sin.

His fingers danced over the stabilizing runes, slowly guiding the now-contained venom. The black haze compressed into a spiraling vortex, drawn along the path Bell had created and sealed into the bottle, where new runes suppressed it again.

The process demanded precise control over magic—one misstep, and the consequences would be disastrous.

But this was the area where Bell had the most confidence.

Ever since gaining his magic, he had trained relentlessly to control it. Still, even now, he handled it with extreme care.

As the effort wore on, beads of sweat dotted his forehead.

Yet under his focused guidance, the Poison of Envy was gradually extracted from Hephaestus-sama's right cheek, drawn fully into the bottle. That once-grotesque cheek slowly returned to its original beauty, matching the flawless left side.

When the last traces of the poison were sealed, Bell let out a long breath.

'Check everything.'

This wasn't some minor threat. Once 'jealousy' was sealed away, it would be nearly impossible to retrieve again.

Bell double-checked the seal multiple times, then added dozens more rune-locks to the bottle's exterior, making absolutely sure it could never break loose.

Only after everything was secured did he finally turn his attention back to the still-sleeping Hephaestus-sama.

'Yeah, it's clear—there's no trace of the Sin of Jealousy left.'

Her formerly distorted face now shone just as smoothly and elegantly as the other half.

Bell couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

'As expected of a god. Even after being exposed to such a conceptual poison, the damage only affected the surface. A human wouldn't have survived contact like this—their entire body might've been ruined.'

He was struck again by how extraordinary gods truly were.

His eyes, almost by instinct, drifted downward—then he immediately turned away.

'Don't look. Seriously. Keep staring and you're gonna regret it.'