"Think whatever you want, but I'm telling the truth." Hela raised her brows and spread her hands with a smile. "She came looking for you, and I kindly told her where you were going. What's wrong with that?"
Aaron took a deep breath, barely calming the anger in his heart. "You really do say that with a straight face! But telling someone's girlfriend that he went looking for other women—doesn't your conscience hurt?"
"Conscience? What's that?" Hela feigned confusion, her eyes carrying a faint trace of bewilderment. "After a thousand years of war, Odin taught me only one truth: those who obey me live, and those who defy me die."
Aaron was thoroughly choked up. Once this princess started acting shamelessly, nobody else could compete with her.
"Princess Hela, do you know how much trouble your 'telling the truth' has caused me?"
"I do." Hela nodded solemnly. "But I can't lie just to help you pick up girls, can I? Wouldn't the Goddess of Death lose all dignity doing something like that?"
"Couldn't you at least have phrased it more tactfully?" Aaron's voice grew more irritated. "You could've said I went out to handle something. Simple and clear!"
"And if she asked what you went out to handle, how should I have answered?"
"You... you're being completely unreasonable."
"Being unreasonable is still better than lying!" Hela smiled teasingly. "Since she took the initiative to come looking for you, that means she'd already been trying to convince herself to accept the sad reality that someone was a scumbag."
"But because of those few words from you, I have to start all over again. This time, letters won't be enough to comfort her. No matter how many I write, she probably won't even look at them." Aaron spoke dejectedly, silently making up