Chapter 424 - It's a secret. (Patreon)

Some time later, Bella and her mother returned, bringing the tea they had prepared. Bella sat down beside me, and her mother poured tea for the two of us before serving herself. Once we were all seated, Bella’s mother asked:

“So, what are you two working on now? A new book?”

Hearing her question, I looked at Bella, who began to speak. “We’re working on something called manga.”

“Mnagá?”

Bella’s mother looked confused, so Bella began explaining to her what it was. She explained it very well. Bella is a very intelligent girl, and she understood perfectly what manga is. When she finished explaining, Bella’s mother was amazed.

“Wow, a story told through drawings… That’s going to be a lot of work, isn’t it? You’ll have even less free time from now on. I’m getting a little worried about you, Bella. You’ve been working too much.”

“I like working!” Bella said without thinking. “Even if it’s tiring and I spend nights awake thinking about what to draw, I still love what I do!”

“Staying up all night?” My eyes widened. “Are you having that much trouble? You used to be able to produce artwork very quickly.”

“Because you used to help me by giving me ideas about what to draw. You even gave me sketches to use. It’s hard to think of everything by myself.” Bella let out a discouraged sigh and rested her head on the table.

“I’m terrible at coming up with ideas. I always end up drawing the characters doing the same things…” She raised her head, and her eyes were beginning to water.

‘Is she going to cry!?’ I was surprised.

“Hey, hey, you don’t need to be so hard on yourself. I know it’s very difficult work, so you don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself. I also have a lot of trouble drawing.”

Well, actually, I don’t have difficulties because of my past and my perfect memory. My artistic ability is currently at the maximum level, but I can’t create something completely from scratch.

I always look for references in my memories.

“You? But you improved your skills so quickly… You don’t seem to have any trouble when it comes to drawing. You drew those two entire pages as if it were nothing, and in just a few minutes!”

“You could draw something like that too,” I said.

“Yes! But I’d probably spend hours drawing each one of those pages! You put so many details into them!”

“Pages? What is she talking about?” Bella’s mother asked.

I put down my teacup and then took the two pages I had drawn out of my inventory.

I placed the pages on the table, and Bella’s mother began examining them. She had very good eyes and carefully analyzed both pages. As soon as she finished examining them, she said, “This is impressive. This is how you read it, right?”

She ran her finger across the page, asking if that was the correct reading order.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“The reading flow is very smooth. It’s incredible. And just like Bella said, there are so many details. You drew this in a few minutes?”

“She exaggerated. It took me almost an hour to draw all of this.”

“Almost an hour…” Bella’s mother smiled. “You’re a monster. Bella, he’s already surpassed you.”

“I know that. You don’t need to tell me that,” Bella said, visibly irritated.

####

After that, I talked with Bella and her mother for a little while longer before saying goodbye. Bella asked me to leave the two pages I had drawn with her, and I gave them to her. She said she would use them as a reference.

She said she would try to replicate something similar before starting to work on our manga.

Then, I used my teleportation ability and returned to the mansion.

As soon as I arrived in the living room, I found Hestia sitting on the couch. I approached her and sat down beside her.

I wrapped my arm around her and hugged her. She stopped reading her book and looked at me. “How was your visit to Hephaestus? Did you two talk a lot? Or perhaps you had sex with her…”

“That didn’t happen. We talked about my books, that’s all. She really seemed to be a fan of mine. I was quite surprised.”

“…”

“But the way she was trying to provoke me was pretty obvious. She made a point of showing me her cleavage throughout our entire conversation. It was even a little comical.” I couldn’t hold back and laughed.

“Hephaestus did that? Wow…”

“Don’t pretend to be surprised. You know very well that she’s interested in having that kind of relationship with me.”

“Actually, I was there and found her as soon as you left. I called her an idiot since all she did was show you her cleavage.”

Hearing her words, I was quite surprised. “You followed me and waited for me to leave?”

“Well… I was curious to see what would happen.”

“I see.” I laughed and then held her chin. I looked into Hestia’s eyes and said, “So? What did Hephaestus say to you?”

“The same thing you did. That you two just talked. I asked her if she wanted my help, but she refused. She wants to conquer you on her own or something like that.”

“Conquer me? That’s pretty difficult.”

“Is it? Isn’t it enough for a woman to be beautiful?” Hestia smiled, and I lightly pressed my fingers against her lips.

“Of course not. I don’t only look at a woman’s appearance. Personality matters too.”

“When you first met me, you were interested in having sex with me right away, weren’t you?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You had never seen me before, so how could you be interested in my personality? You were just looking at my breasts!”

“I had seen you before. I knew you very well even back then.”

Hestia realized that I wasn’t lying, and her eyes widened.

“And of course, I’ve always been in love with you.”

It was true. I had always been in love with the “character” Hestia.

“What? What do you mean?” Hestia asked, extremely surprised.

With a smile, I said before kissing her lips, “It’s a secret.”