It was also this day.
On Mount Olympus, in an incomparably magnificent and ancient temple.
Two women dressed in dignified attire, with elegant and beautiful faces, sat in the evergreen garden, conversing softly, with numerous beautiful nymphs serving beside them.
"Who is it?!"
Suddenly, the beautiful woman whose body paused slightly, as if sensing something, then abruptly stood up.
She turned her head, her beautiful eyes filled with anger as she looked toward the human world.
"Who dares to privately break the curse I placed on Poseidon's daughter, Lamia!"
Obviously, this beautiful woman was the noble Queen of the Gods, Hera!
At the same time, Lamia was actually Poseidon's daughter; she was the child born to the sea god Poseidon and the previous queen of Libya.
And regarding Hera's anger and scrutiny of the human world, while the nymphs around trembled in fear.
"Hera... sit down." The beautiful woman before her, however, softly commanded Hera!
Hera turned her head to look at this beautiful woman; under the gaze of that beautiful woman's amethyst-like eyes, Hera finally... sat down unhappily.
The one sitting before Hera was a noble woman dressed in a dark purple skirt personally woven for her by Athena.
She had a pair of beautiful amethyst eyes and a head of dazzling golden hair.
And also, a face somewhat similar to Hera and Hephaestus.
Her name was Rhea...
She was the daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus.
She was the wife of her brother Cronus... that's right, she was the mother of Hera, Hestia, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.
The previous queen of the gods, Rhea!
In the entire Mount Olympus, besides her eldest daughter Hestia, she was the only most sacred and ancient divine spirit!
The collapse of the second generation of gods, besides the previous wisdom goddess Athena's mother Metis, was largely due to her efforts.
"Hera, I have told you many times."
The noble beautiful woman Rhea patiently said to Hera, who was sitting unhappily before her, "You are the wife of the current king of the gods Zeus's child, the queen of the Olympian gods; you must always pay attention to your image and set an example for your brothers and sisters..."
"But Mother!" Hera said anxiously, "I am the goddess of marriage and childbirth, presiding over all marriages in the world, but even my own marriage..."
"I know." Rhea sighed, stepped forward to hold Hera in her arms, soothing her emotions, and said softly, "But the more you are like this, the more you must always pay attention to your image, understand?
On this point, you really should learn properly from Themis."
Hearing Rhea mention Themis, Hera opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing, then puffed up her cheeks toward Rhea again.
Themis was their mother Hera's sister, Rhea's sister.
At the same time, she was the goddess Hera respected the most.
Because even the laws of marriage and the concept of family were formulated by Themis; the reason was precisely because Themis, after witnessing the scene of Zeus swallowing Athena's mother Metis, created them to constrain Zeus.
Themis, she was the goddess of order in ancient Greek mythology, the symbol of law and justice.
She was also an ancient god residing on Mount Olympus.
At the same time, she was a goddess with a somewhat bewitching appearance but also impartial and selfless, enforcing the law like a mountain; her external image was usually a white-robed figure wearing a golden crown, holding scales in her left hand and a sword in her right.
She was the creator of order, and also its guardian!
"You..."
Rhea gently soothed the Queen of the Gods Hera, who was showing a mischievous side before her, then issued instructions to the nymphs nearby.
Thus, soon, the messenger of the gods Hermes was summoned by Rhea.
"Do you have something for me? Noble Queen Hera, and Grandmother Rhea."
"I ask you, Hermes." Hera stood up, her beautiful eyes coldly gazing distantly at the temple where King of the Gods Zeus resided.
"Where is Zeus now? What is he doing!"
"This..." Hermes hesitated.
"Say it." Rhea said softly.
Hermes then nodded and said to Hera, "The great King of the Gods Zeus is currently transformed into an eagle, traveling in the human world, overlooking his people."
"I knew it!" Hearing this, anger could not help but emerge in Hera's eyes as she said through gritted teeth, "He actually would, because of that bastard... cough cough, because of that concubine, choose to oppose me!"
"Hera, calm down; I think... things might not be like that."
"How is it not!" Hera looked at Rhea aggrievedly, "Mother, you heard it; Mother, you must stand up for me."
Rhea said nothing, but looked at Hermes, letting him continue.
Because Rhea had a certain understanding of her child Zeus's personality.
She knew he would absolutely not oppose Hera just because of Lamia.
"No, noble Queen Hera, the matter with Lamia actually has nothing to do with Zeus."
Thus, under Rhea's indication, Hermes, as expected, said, "The one who broke your curse was the goddess of the crossroads, Hecate."
"Hecate?... Again Hecate?!"
Hera was stunned, then... even angrier!
Her beautiful eyes filled with towering jealousy and hatred.
"Hecate, it is you, again you!" Hera said angrily, "I have not yet settled the score with you for taking away my child Jason.
You actually meddle in my affairs with Zeus again; do you really think I have no way to deal with you?!
I, I... Mother!"
"Wait, wait a moment." Rhea held her forehead and looked at Hermes, saying, "Hecate?... That child indeed can break Hera's curse.
But I also know that child; during the previous divine war, it can even be said that thanks to her help, she generally does not interfere in these matters, right?"
"Yes, correct." Hermes nodded in reply, "Hecate naturally would not interfere in this matter; this time's incident was actually all coincidence.
It was a hero who brought Lamia to the underworld and encountered Hecate.
Hecate only broke the curse on Lamia when that hero killed Lamia; I think Hecate had no intention of deliberately opposing you, Queen Hera."
"And also..." At this point, Hermes suddenly looked at Hera with a strange gaze, then said, "Now the people of the Kingdom of Libya are all praising you, Queen Hera, praising your mercy."
"...???"
Hera tilted her head, blinked, and looked at Hermes.
"Because now everyone is saying that it was the merciful Queen Hera you who sent a hero to find Lamia.
And that hero, under your guidance, subdued Lamia, then brought Lamia to apologize to everyone, and took her to the underworld to apologize to the dead souls, then used her own life to atone for everything."
Hermes said with an unchanged expression to the bewildered Hera, "Because that now-praised hero's name is—Heracles!"
"...Ha?" Hera was somewhat confused and said, "Heracles? Is he not still with the king of Thebes? I was just preparing to torment him recently..."
"And not only the people of the Kingdom of Libya praising you, Hera; even the people of the Kingdom of Lycia are similarly praising the noble Queen Hera you!"
Hermes did not wait for Hera to finish and continued, "Because in the Kingdom of Lycia, there exists a monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a tail composed of a python, its name is Chimera.
Wherever it goes, everything turns to desolation.
Just when people despaired over this, rumors say it was you, Hera, who guided a hero to go and kill the Chimera!
Great Queen Hera, if you incline your ear to listen, you can naturally hear.
Those people of yours, filled with gratitude, sincerely thanking and praising you!"
Hearing this, Hera naturally subconsciously listened to the voices of humans on earth, and thus she heard, just as Hermes said, because of the matters with Chimera and Lamia, the people praising her.
Even now, in the kingdoms of Lycia and Libya, grand sacrificial festivals were being held, thanking Queen Hera!
At the same time, there were praises for the great hero, Heracles.
Seeing this, Hera naturally subconsciously turned her head, casting her gaze toward the human world, the real Heracles.
That bastard who, because of Athena's little cleverness, drank her breast milk.
Then she discovered that he was still staying with the king of Thebes, even preparing to marry the princess of Thebes!
...???
No, what is this situation?
While Hera was bewildered and puzzled.
"Hera, is this something you did?"
"Ah, no Mother, this..."
Before Hera could finish speaking, Rhea smiled and nodded, satisfied, saying, "Well done."
"...Eh."
"Constant pressure cannot yield good results; actually, sometimes stepping back is the best choice.
Hera, you finally understand this point; Mother is very gratified.
Look, now the world is praising your virtue, acclaiming you; you did it very beautifully; even if Themis knows, she will surely be happy and proud for you."
Hearing this, Hera was silent for a while.
Then she raised her head and said seriously, "Yes, that's right; it was me who did it; it was I who let that child go resolve all this; yes, it was all me!"
After '坦然' admitting it, under Rhea's affectionate gaze.
Hera finally... could not stand it and slipped away.
Before leaving, she kept tilting her head, bewildered by the situation before her.
But this could not mask the pleasure in her heart at this moment.
Even the original idea of dealing with Heracles was thus eased.
And seeing Hera slip away, Hermes was originally preparing to slip away too when...
"That child Hera has gone far." Rhea smiled at Hermes, "So Hermes, should you not tell me the truth now?"
"Eh?" Hermes blinked, then smiled and said, "As expected, nothing can be hidden from the clever Grandmother Rhea you."
"That child Hera... is actually quite innocent sometimes."
Rhea sighed lightly and said, "Her demands are actually not many... but she is the queen, and that child Zeus is the king of the gods."
Hermes lowered his head and did not respond; he did not dare to respond to these words!
"Say it." Rhea, who then smiled, softly asked Hermes again, "That Heracles, exactly which child is he?... You were just protecting him all along.
You even deliberately used your own power to influence Hera's judgment."
"Grandmother Rhea, you know everything." Hermes said with a dry laugh.
"Of course; I just did not say it."
Rhea paused slightly, then continued, "Moreover, even if you do not say, I can guess which child it is... after all, during this time, I hear you all chanting his name every day, and unusually in harmony, unanimously hiding it from Hera.
That child is Hecate's student, and also Hera's child... Jason, right?"
Hermes nodded, then looked at Rhea curiously and said, "Grandmother Rhea, you also know Jason?"
"Now in the entire Mount Olympus, besides Hera and Ares whom you all are hiding from together, who does not know." Rhea chuckled lightly, "Moreover, even Themis and I were deeply attracted by the tribute Jason offered to that child Artemis.
Romantic... it deeply captivated us.
Not to mention that recently, that child Artemis praises the tribute she received to everyone she meets, even making me a bit jealous."
At this point, Rhea thought for a moment, then said, "Not to mention recently, that child offered Hephaestus her most cherished tribute—companionship.
This made Themis full of praise for that child, and she even mentioned before me that if she has time, she wants to meet that child personally."
Hearing this, Hermes did not know what to say for a moment.
"By the way, why did that child suddenly think of using the name Heracles; is he preparing to reconcile with Hera?"
"I think... probably not."
Hermes hesitated for a moment before replying, "That child is a bit special; he does not want to become a hero, nor does he want the world to praise his name.
So I think he used the name Heracles purely... because he has a very good relationship with Heracles."
"Good relationship?" Rhea blinked.
"Yes." Hermes nodded and said, "Athena also said that Jason that child probably purely thinks that after using the name Heracles, even if his senior brother Heracles knows, he will only smile helplessly."
In fact, it was indeed so.
"Oh..."
Hearing this, Rhea blinked her eyes, then said to Hermes, "Then tell me, Hermes; how did that child... handle the matter with Lamia this time."
Thus, under Hermes's narration, Rhea intuitively learned how Jason handled the matter with Lamia this time.
When she finished listening, a different color could not help but emerge in Rhea's eyes.
"This child... is really quite interesting."
Rhea could not help but laugh and said, "No wonder you all care about him so much; even that child Athena recently has her eyes only on him.
Hm... right, next he is to offer tribute to Apollo, right?"
Hermes nodded.
Rhea's eyes turned, and she stood up.
"Then like this... Hermes, go find Athena and tell her not to prepare the next divine oracle for Jason."
With that, under Hermes's surprised gaze, Rhea, who had almost never appeared since the collapse of the second generation of gods.
At this moment, left Mount Olympus and headed toward the human world.
Obviously, whether because of Hera or for some other reason, this queen of the second generation of gods was preparing to meet this special child.