CHAPTER 175: CHAPTER 174 - ARIETTA.

Long before the name Grandpa_Hot_Pot became a cosmic meme and long before divine trials and realms were built from her whimsical boredom, she was known as Arietta.

She was also called the Silent Star, the Gloomwalker, and the One Who Watched From Afar.

There were more, but none that she liked.

Her legend wasn’t forged in golden halls or sung in heroic sagas.

It was whispered—quietly, fearfully—by those who once sought her light and were swallowed whole by it.

Because Arietta was always strong.

Too strong.

Even when she was young—if gods could be called young—her tales had already begun to stack.

Each new divinity was born not from stories she wanted, but from stories she was given.

Her tales were stories of Power. Stories of Fear. Stories of Loneliness.

When she first walked the mortal realm, she didn’t wear flowing robes or wield flashy powers.

She wore dark cloaks, and her hood was always pulled slightly too low.

Not because she was shy—she merely didn’t want people to run.

After all, mortals always judged gods by how they looked.

But they always ran away. Or worse... they didn’t.

Because underneath that gloomy look, her body was divine.

Curved in all the right places.

Soft where softness mattered.

Toned where strength needed to be known.

Some mortals, demigods, and even fellow divine kin—they noticed. Oh, they did more than that.

They came to her.

They didn’t come for her thoughts, her dreams, or for the aching emptiness she carried like a shrine.

They came for her body, her treasures, and her power.

Arietta, however, never lost hope.

She thought that there would be someone good among all of them. She hoped there was.

That hope started a cycle—one where she gave and was taken from.

The cycle went on for a long time. It went on for so long that she was losing hope. Slowly.

Some tried to bed her with sweet lies, some showed the desire to marry her, hoping to pry open her divine vaults, while some just wanted to say they’d "tamed the Silent Star."

Every time she allowed herself to hope—even a little—she got burned.

Still, Arietta didn’t break.

Not immediately.

Because some hope was still left.

Then, as if answering to her struggle, he came.

He was normal in a way that made her heart feel... safe.

He was a kind man with crooked teeth and rough hands, a smile that wasn’t fake, and eyes that didn’t look at her like she was a prize.

He listened when she spoke, held her hand without fear, and made her feel—just for a moment—like Arietta and not a goddess.

They danced in the rain once. She remembered that clearly.

It was the only time she ever laughed.

Until she saw him... holding the hand of someone else.

A tall and beautiful woman. She had hair like gold. Her face was like spring. There was no gloominess around her.

She was her opposite.

She was bright.

Arietta didn’t say anything.

Not when he introduced her as "an old friend."

Not when he said, "It wasn’t you; it’s just—she makes me feel lighter."

Not even when he said, "I hope we can still be friends."

She just smiled.

Then she kissed his forehead.

The next day, she killed him.

It was so painful that she wanted to die, but she didn’t.

Instead, she changed.

Her tales—once stars of possibility—turned into cages of self-doubt and divine spite.

She no longer believed in love or kindness.

She no longer trusted anything.

So she took on a new name.

A joke.

A mask.

Grandpa_Hot_Pot.

Because if the world only ever saw her as a tool, a vault, a body—then she’d rather be something absurd.

A messy god with no taste in fashion. A bitter old man who meddled in mortal affairs.

It was easier that way. Safer. No one would want to love Grandpa_Hot_Pot.

It somehow worked.

Even if people tried to talk to her, none of them stayed for long.

In the god’s trade channel, many people tried to message her. Some of them were people she had known when she was Ariette and not an eccentric old man.

She ignored everyone, wanting to live her life in silence.

For centuries, she was safe.

Until Raven came.

She was the one who contracted because he was interesting.

He probably didn’t know that she was the strongest god in the server, yet he never shooed her away, nor did he stop talking to her.

No matter what nonsense she spoke about, and no matter how random she behaved, he stayed there and talked to her.

Yes, he never seemed happy to talk to her, but it was interesting to see him panic and butter her up occasionally.

He was funny.

Without realizing it, she started laughing again.

In a mere two years, he brought her so much joy that she had never even thought she deserved.

Above all, he never tried to ask her to give him anything.

In time, she began staring at their chats, smiling and waiting for him to come online.

The day she talked to him more was a good day, and the day she didn’t was a bad day.

But she was scared of what would happen if he met her in reality.

Will he run away in fear? Or would he turn into people she hated?

She was scared, but she decided that running away wouldn’t do her any good.

She felt that he was the one she shouldn’t let go.

Arietta couldn’t imagine herself smiling without him. Without her realizing it, he had taken a major spot in her heart.

So, she started to construct a magical link that would bring him to her no matter how far he was.

But then, she heard the news.

"One of them minor gods claims to have an artifact made by Grandpa_Hot_Pot."

She didn’t believe it at first.

After all, there was no one other than Raven who had her artifacts, but she still looked into it, only to find out that one of her gifts to Raven was sold for some mortal items.

To make it worse, it was given to a goddess—one with a lively and cheery personality.

Something snapped inside her the moment she heard that.

Then, she asked him if he had sold the item, and he honestly admitted it, apologizing by saying that he was in dire need of divinity.

So, she decided to forgive him.

After all, he was in need.

But then he said, "You didn’t kill her, right? She was the one who helped me in the moment of crisis."

Things went downhill from the moment he decided to worry about another goddess.

She had to use the link she was preparing to give him a sweet surprise like a punishment device.

However, to Arietta’s surprise, he was able to pin her down and bring the situation to a stalemate.

It was true that she wasn’t using even a percent of her power, but he did end the match with a draw.

Above all, he had complimented her, unlike her initial expectations.

He wasn’t scared of her.

He didn’t even look at her body.

Raven only looked at her face and praised her.

That made all her anger vanish.

From then on, it wasn’t even a fight. Arietta was merely testing his limits, wanting to see how the match would end up.

However, just when things seemed to be going toward the right track, he had to ask another annoying question.

"Why did you go through all of this just because I sold one of your divine artifacts? You said that those items were useless to you! You gave them to me! I just—I just traded it with another goddess!"

’Just traded it with another goddess?!’

Her aura flared, barely being suppressed by the divine law.

’Why?! Why another goddess?!’

Yes, why a goddess?!

Couldn’t he have traded it with a god?

Well, even if he did, why did he seem close to her?!

Above all, why did he seem annoyed about the fact that she was angry when he was the one who sold one of her gifts without even asking?!

No. Why would he even want to go to another goddess when he had her?!

"Why would you want to go to another goddess when you have me?"

Her question had frozen him in the spot.

She could see the shock in his eyes. There was also a light of resignation and defeat.

It was as if he had seen something in her eyes that he hadn’t expected to see.

For a while, there was only tense silence while the divine law in the room tried to keep her aura from exploding and killing Raven.

Then, Raven, despite trembling under the sparks of her aura, spoke with a sigh.

"I never knew you were a girl, alright?" Then, he held his head like he was having a headache. "Heck, I didn’t even know you liked me or something. If I knew, I would never even have talked to another goddess."

’He never knew...’

Realization hit Arietta as she heard that.

Her anger calmed down, and the surroundings stabilized.

Before Raven could even recover from the shock of the sudden change, she summoned a chair and a tea table, sitting on one and gesturing for him to sit on the other.

"Please, have some tea."

Raven, blinking at everything, nodded with a dumbfounded look, sitting on the chair opposite to her.

All of this just made her giggle, realizing again that he really was someone she didn’t want to lose.

Not now, not ever.