I'm Sorry for Being This Kind of Mother
The reunion with her son was the absolute worst.
Looking at the scene unfolding before her eyes, Hera could not help but think so.
It was impossible.
It was something that should never have happened.
That boy was her own flesh and blood, carrying her very lineage.
Yet, how could he... to that woman...
How could he call Eurynome—one of the people she detested most in the world—his mother, while nestled so warmly in her embrace?
This was wrong.
She had to correct this immediately.
Yes.
Even now, she had to tell him the truth.
You are my child.
Not the fake son of a fake mother surrounded by sordid rumors.
But the eldest legitimate son of Zeus.
The firstborn son whom Hera, the Queen of the Gods, had carried in her own womb.
To set this grave error right, Hera stumbled forward toward the two of them.
"Ex... excuse me..."
But then.
"!"
In the very next instant, a chilling sensation suddenly washed over her.
It was...
The sheer, raw hostility radiating from the boy's eyes as he looked at her.
Faced with a hostility so vivid it felt almost murderous, Hera froze in her tracks, unable to take another step.
"? What is it, my son?"
"It is nothing. I merely thought I saw a shameless insect for a moment."
"An insect? What do you mean?"
"...It is nothing. Let us go."
"Ah..."
Coldly ignoring Hera as she reached out a desperate hand, her son finished the brief exchange and vanished with Eurynome.
Like a fleeting mirage.
Leaving absolutely nothing behind.
Yet, the weight of the few words her son had uttered in that brief moment soon pierced Hera's chest like a spear, bringing a sharp, agonizing pain.
"He... knew..."
Yes. The boy already knew.
He knew that she was the one who had given birth to him.
And he knew of the hideous, unforgivable sin of the mother who had tried to discard him the moment he was born.
Even now, three years later, the memory of that day and his feelings toward the mother who abandoned him remained vivid in his heart.
Was it hatred?
Was it anger?
No, it was none of those.
It was disgust.
The worst kind of emotion, where his mother's mere existence made him feel physically sick.
"Ah... Ah..."
Leting out a despairing wail, Hera collapsed to the ground.
The image of her son remained burned into her retinas as if branded by fire.
The look in his eyes, filled with the disgust and contempt one would show a bug.
It was no different from the look he had given her three years ago, just before he fell from Olympus.
It meant only one thing.
Even if she apologized.
Even if she, the Queen of the Gods, knelt and bowed her head to the ground.
That boy would never forgive her.
Just like back then, he would leave her side without a moment's hesitation.
He would never return to her.
Before coming here, she had held onto hope.
The hope that she could reunite with her son and apologize.
But all those hopes were shattered.
She was left with only the bitter reality that her son had been taken by the woman she detested, and the freezing truth that he had no intention of accepting her apology.
Faced with an even harsher despair at the end of her hope, and standing once again before the wall of her sins that she had barely managed to forget, Hera could only hang her head and weep, her eyes dull and cold.
The sanity she had barely pieced back over the last three years crumbled once more, leaving her to mutter empty, hollow words.
"My baby... my... baby... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... for being this kind of mother..."
*
An unexpected reunion with Hera.
It was a sudden situation, but the moment I saw that bitch, I knew immediately.
I knew exactly what she was thinking as she looked at me.
And what she was trying to do.
An apology.
An attempt to beg forgiveness for throwing me away in the past and rebuild our relationship as mother and son.
In the original myth, Hephaestus actually accepted Hera's sincere apology and restored their relationship.
Though there was a minor(?) issue along the way where he bound Hera to a golden throne to use her as a warp beacon... ahem, to teach her a lesson, Hephaestus ultimately forgave the mother who had tried to kill him.
But regardless of the original myth.
At this moment, I had absolutely no intention of accepting that bitch's pathetic apology.
It wasn't just because I wasn't a softie like the original Hephaestus.
If she had truly bowed her head, begged for forgiveness, and sincerely repented for her sins, I might have shown some alpha male magnanimity and given her one more chance.
However.
Just moments ago, I had already overheard the conversation between Hera and my mother.
Hera had insulted my mother and shown blatant jealousy upon seeing the necklace I gifted her.
And when she realized that I was the one who had crafted it, she literally looked like she was about to lose her mind.
Just before that, I had even heard Aunt Doris, Thetis's mother, asking, "Could you make a piece of jewelry for me too?"
So, Hera's intentions in approaching me were painfully obvious.
The only reason that bitch wanted to bow to me was because she coveted my talent and lusted after the treasures I made.
She was the living embodiment of the saying, "Swallow what is sweet, spit out what is bitter."
It was a stark reminder of just how disgustingly shameless the Olympian gods could be.
With that, thinking that if push came to shove, I might just craft a golden throne of my own to give her some "restraint training" like in the original myth, I escorted my real mother and went on my way, ignoring that insect.
Just then.
"Lord Hephaestus? Excuse me for a moment."
Hearing the voice calling out, my mother and I turned around.
Standing there was a nymph who worked in the deep-sea palace.
"Lord Oceanus is looking for you. Please come to the inner palace immediately."
"Father is looking for my son? For what reason..."
"I do not know either, Lady Eurynome. But you will find out once you go, will you not?"
There was a slightly unusual vibe to the summons.
However, since it was none other than my adoptive grandfather calling, I excused myself from my mother and headed straight to the inner palace.
A moment later.
Oceanus, who welcomed me alone, spoke in a voice carrying a gravity quite different from before.
"I have heard the news. I hear you beat up the Titan messenger... Epimetheus, just a moment ago?"
"Yes, I did."
"Why did you do it?"
"He tried to harass Aphrodite."
"Hmm... As I thought..."
"Is it a problem?"
"No, you did exceptionally well. A real man must know how to protect his woman. Truly, a magnificent spirit worthy of my grandson."
"..."
I wanted to correct Oceanus and tell him that Aphrodite wasn't my woman, but I decided to keep my mouth shut for now.
Knowing his personality, he wouldn't have called me for a private audience just for something like that.
And as expected, the light(?) talk ended there.
The conversation moved straight to the main point.
"In that same vein, I wish to ask for your opinion."
"About what?"
"It is..."
Oceanus began to speak in a solemn tone.
The message from Olympus delivered through Hera.
And the prior meeting with Prometheus.
The details of the conversation that had taken place while I was busy beating his younger brother half to death made me furrow my brows.
"...So, it is finally happening? A real war..."
The rumors of war that had constantly reached my ears over the three years since my reincarnation.
And I knew all too well what that war, now right around the corner, actually was.
Titanomachy.
The great ten-year war fought between the Olympian gods and the Titans for hegemony over the universe.
Through Oceanus, I could tell that its prelude was about to begin.
"Yes. And this assembly is undoubtedly meant to whip everyone into line. It is likely an attempt to force the Titans who have maintained a neutral stance, like myself, to join the war."
"What happens if you do not participate?"
"If we do not, Cronus will surely brand us as traitors. Knowing his temperament, he will try to eliminate us even before dealing with Olympus."
"...I see."
Tightening internal discipline before a war was only natural.
If even one traitor was tolerated, it was obvious that others would begin to waver as well.
Especially since Cronus had already been defeated by his children once and was dreaming of a comeback, he had no choice but to be even more aggressive in keeping everyone in line.
"I must attend the meeting for now... but I still have no intention of participating in the war. Whether they call themselves Olympians or Titans, we are all family. I do not wish to step into a filthy mudfight where those of the same blood slaughter one another."
"I agree with you on that point."
They say family feuds are the messiest fights in the world.
I, too, had no desire to get deeply involved in what was essentially a global-scale inheritance dispute in modern terms.
Of course, I had already resolved to teach the Olympian gods a lesson someday.
But that didn't mean I wanted to side with Cronus—who had literally chugged his own children down his throat the moment they were born—and the Titans who supported him.
In that sense, I shared the same view as Oceanus.
The problem, however, was what to do next.
To avoid being branded as an enemy and subjugated, he had to attend the meeting.
Yet, he did not want to step foot into the war.
Caught between these contradictory conditions, Oceanus was agonizing over what choice to make.
"Hera and a few of the other children suggested aligning with Olympus, but that would still mean participating in the war. Thus, I wish to hear your thoughts. My grandson, what would you do in my position?"
"Hmm..."
Oceanus was asking how a shrimp could keep its back from breaking in a fight between whales, and maintain a stable neutrality.
I began to ponder this.
According to the original myths, Oceanus sided with Olympus and opposed the Titans.
It seemed to be the result of being swayed by his adoptive daughter Hera's persuasion.
However, the problem was that despite siding with Olympus, some Greek mythology texts claimed that Oceanus was imprisoned in Tartarus along with the other Titans.
To make matters worse, his son-in-law Nereus, who had taken a similar path, suffered the humiliation of having his children's divine statuses downgraded.
This meant only one thing.
Just as in this world, Oceanus in the original myths must have disliked the war itself and remained passive until the very end.
A half-hearted alliance often provokes greater anger than outright enmity.
Ultimately, one could infer that Zeus, infuriated by his lukewarm support, threw Oceanus into Tartarus after the war ended—or at least punished him in some other way.
Although his resolve to oppose the war to the end was noble, it ultimately brought about the worst possible outcome: incurring the wrath of both sides.
And now.
Standing at a similar crossroads, I made my decision.
The simplest way would be to actively join hands with Olympus.
However, given Oceanus's personality, that was highly unlikely, and it wasn't something I particularly wanted either.
Consequently, the path I chose was...
"There is a way."
"Oh... Tell me."
"Half-hearted persuasion or reconciliation cannot resolve this situation. In times like this, only one thing is needed."
"And what is that?"
It was, as always, an extremely alpha male approach.
"There is a story called the Story of the Little Hippo."
"...!"