What the Norse Norn Skuld saw,
was that the outcome of Promise's arrival in this world would be the burning of Yggdrasil.
The reason for such an outcome was quite simple.
Before coming here, Promise had told Merry that the Age of Norse Gods, ruled by the Aesir(the gods of Asgard), was somewhat similar to the Lostbelt of Britain ruled by the fairies.
Everything was built on tyranny, deceit, and bloodshed.
The entire establishment of the kingdom of Asgard was rooted in deception.
In the legend of Norse mythology, two gods are central to the entire saga, leading up to the cataclysmic event of Ragnarok.
The first one is obviously, the king of Gods, Odin, who drank from the Well of Wisdom and wields the spear Gungnir.
The second is Loki, the god of trickery god, who is universally despised.
In fact, even though Odin drank from the Well of Wisdom, Loki's cunning still surpassed his, for Loki was the god of wisdom, trickery, and deceit by nature!
Take, for example, the great wall surrounding Asgard.
This magnificent wall was built by the giants, who sought the goddess Freyja, the most beautiful of all, in exchange for their labor.
The gods agreed on the surface, but deep down, they had no intention of handing over the beautiful Freyja to the giants, whom they deemed too ugly and crude to deserve her.
Thus, in order to ensure the giants would break their end of the bargain, Loki transformed into a mare and seduced the giants' stallion, delaying the delivery of materials and preventing them from completing the wall on time, which allowed the gods to refuse payment.
There are many more examples,
But, to put it simply, the establishment of Asgard and the prosperity of the gods actually came at the cost of the blood of other races.
This is why, when Ragnarok arrived, almost every race rose in rebellion and attacked Asgard.
To illustrate further, the construction of Asgard wasn't even primarily the King of Gods, Odin's doing.
It was Loki who traveled across the nine realms, using trickery and deceit to build it.
The reason was that before Asgard was built, Odin and Loki had formed a blood oath, with Odin promising to share power and glory with Loki. This was why Loki worked so hard.
Yet, ironically, the god who ultimately delivered the fatal blow to the Aesir of Asgard, and orchestrated the arrival of Ragnarok, destroying everything... was also Loki!
Thus, having experienced the journey through the Lostbelt of Britain, Promise's first reaction to such a world was naturally the same as before.
Burn the tree and let it all be over.
After all, it was just another twisted world.
Well, but that's a discussion for later.
Returning to the present, this was precisely the reason the Norn of Norse, Skuld stopped Idunn.
The nine realms harbored nothing but hatred for the Aesir, and they were all waiting for the day of Ragnarok to arrive.
In such a situation, if it were to be revealed that, aside from the heavily protected Goddess of Youth, Idunn, there was another being who could pluck the golden apples, and that being was merely a weak human, what would await him?
Idunn, who had been so happy just a few moments ago, calmed down upon hearing the words of the Norn relayed by the bird.
She turned her head, looking at the delicate child beside her, and thinking of the dangers he would face because of this, she abandoned her earlier idea in an instant.
"You're right. I cannot bring suffering to this child for my own sake."
As she spoke, the goddess of Youth, Idunn reached out and gently patted Promise's head, smiling warmly. "Also, child, the dawn is approaching, so your dream... must come to an end."
Almost as soon as Idunn finished speaking, the first rays of morning sunlight pierced through the darkness, illuminating the golden apple orchard.
Just as the light was about to touch Promise, his body began to fade, disappearing before the goddess's eyes.
The dream ended, and in the cave of the dwarf Mime, Promise opened his eyes.
The golden apple he had plucked slipped from his hand and nearly fell to the ground, but Idunn caught it just in time.
The goddess held the golden apple in her hand, then looked at the emerald bird that had fluttered down.
Recalling the task Skuld had given this little divine messenger, she naturally handed the golden apple to it.
"Thank you for your help."
The bird, holding the golden apple in its beak, quickly shook its head at Idunn's words, indicating it was no trouble.
Then, it turned around to fulfill the mission given by the goddess, leaving Asgard and going to the human world.
From that day forward, every Monday, it would bring Promise the golden apple of youth.
And as the eyes and ears of the Norn who could not leave, it would observe and record everything about Promise.
"Wait a moment!"
Suddenly remembering something, Idunn called out to the bird again.
As the bird turned back, blinking in confusion,
Idunn extended her fair hand and gently tapped the bird's head.
Then, with a slight smile and a tone of inexplicable joy, she said, "Alright, go now. Don't keep the child waiting too long."
The bird blinked, its expression growing even more puzzled as it looked at Idunn.
Because just now, Idunn had given it a small blessing...
Hmm... maybe it's to make it easier for me to come and go from the golden apple orchard in the future.
With this thought in it's mind, the bird, still unaware of what the future held, flew out of Asgard with the golden apple in its beak, heading toward Promise.
On the roots of Yggdrasil, Skuld, who had resumed her seat, quietly watched the bird fly out of Asgard.
And at that moment, as if sensing the ripples of fate, she lifted her hand and brushed aside the hair covering her hidden eye, once again peering into the future.
There she saw the ever-shifting fate brought about by Promise's arrival.
Now, that fate was intertwined with this little bird.
And because of this, Skuld, with her revealed eye, also saw, saw the blessing secretly given by the goddess as the bird departed.
It was a blessing from the King of the Gods, or rather... an awakened eye!
"...It seems that from now on, you will fly very far."
Skuld spoke softly, and in that moment, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
Well ...it had almost been ten years since she first found Promise.
And in those ten years, she had often invited Promise to meet her by the spring of Urd in his dreams.
Yet, even after a decade, Promise and she were still merely acquaintances.
Back in the Greece, with Clotho, the other Goddess of Fate, it had taken less than a year for Promise to make the once-proud goddess blush with shyness.
To be honest..it couldn't be said that after all this time, his goddess conquering skills had digressed or this goddess was like Hecate, who found him annoying.
The reason for such a thing was actually quite simple:
Back then, from the very beginning, Promise had said that Clotho was truly adorable.
This wasn't about her appearance, which was obviously adorable..but rather her personality too.
During the initial trial in the Pure White Court, Promise caused her a lot of trouble. Yet, even so, Clotho's reason for seeking out Promise wasn't to punish him.
She had even stopped her two elder sisters, fearing they would really punish Promise.
Although her words seemed stern, but they carried a hidden joy for the rewritten fates and tragedies of those who had died.
Her scolding of Promise stemmed more from concern, for those who meddle with fate are destined to be consumed by it, leading to even more tragic ends.
Even back then, she, who had glimpsed Promise's fate, had already crafted the crystal ball and held his destiny in her hands.
Thus, Promise thinks that such a goddess, who put on a stern facade but was secretly a bit of a tsundere was too adorable to be honest.
But though she was also a Norn of Fate, and the youngest one at that, overseeing the future, Skuld gave Promise a completely different impression.
Or maybe it was because, she was the true Norn of Fate.
She observed everything in the world with detachment, recording and observing its changes.
She never allowed herself to be swayed by the joys or sorrows of anyone's fate.
And after ten years, from her probing gaze, Promise had long since understood the reason why she had gone to such lengths, even suffering the backlash of Yggdrasil, to find him.
At first, Promise thought she was the same as Odin, seeking to alter fate.
After all, the three Norns were bound to the world tree, Yggdrasil for their existence.
If Yggdrasil were destroyed, they too would perish.
But later, Promise realized that Skuld didn't care about that at all.
The real reason she was looking for Promise was simply out of curiosity, out of desire.
Because she had always been gazing into the future, the unchanging fate had become far too dull for her.
But the arrival of Promise had disrupted that predetermined future.
For Skuld, it was like a black-and-white television suddenly turning into color, with the channel changing to something entirely new as well—filled with the unknown and a fresh sense of excitement.
This was also why Skadi had her divine envoy go to Promise's side in her place.
Just as she had said, it was to witness and record everything.
...
When night fell.
In the realm of the dwarves, Svartalfheim.
After flying for an entire day, the bird finally crossed several realms and arrived before Promise as the sun set.
It placed the golden apple it had been carrying in its beak into Promise's hand.
Then, exhausted, it collapsed onto Promise's shoulder, unwilling to move even a little.
The thought that this would be its routine for a long time to come made it want to die!
Starting from today, every Monday, it would have to go to the golden apple orchard, receive the golden apple from the Goddess of Youth, and then bring it to Promise.
Its eyes rolled back as it contemplated its fate.
"Hey, Nor, who is this little bird?"
Just as Promise, having accepted the golden apple, found its appearance q bit amusing and reached out to pat its head, Sigurd, who happened to be passing by, couldn't help but ask curiously.
The dwarf Mime also turned his gaze, his eyes filled with suspicion.
Because he sensed the aura of a god emanating from the bird!
"It's the eye of the Norn of Fate."
Promise answered without hiding anything.
After all, both Sigurd and Mime knew that Promise had been brought here by the Norn of Fate.
But the eye of the Norn of Fate?
Wrong!
To be precise, it was now the eye and ear of the gods!
"Oh, what's its name?"
After a moment of surprise at the mention of the Norn of Fate, Sigurd couldn't help but ask again, even reaching out to touch the bird, only to have his hand swatted away in disdain.
"Hmm... I don't think it has a name yet."
Promise looked at the bird and under his gaze, the bird reluctantly nodded.
Oh well..It really didn't have a name, being after all, it was just an insignificant little divine messenger.
"Then, how about I give you a name?" Looking at hia smile and looking into his clear and bright green eyes, the little blue bird was stunned for a moment before it nodded.
"How about... Little Green? Or Little Jade?"
Hearing Promise blurt out these names while looking at its feathers, the bird, despite being too tired to move, angrily flapped its wings.
It began pecking furiously at Promise's head, causing Sigurd, who was watching from the side to laugh so hard that he held his stomach.
"Stop pecking, stop pecking! I was wrong, okay? I'll think of something better, I promise!"
Promise held his head and quickly begged for mercy.
Only then did the little blue bird let him go.
Standing on the nearby table, it even glared at him, its expression clearly saying, You better be serious this time!
"Hmm, let me think… Since you are the divine envoy of the Goddess of Fate…"
Muttering to himself, Promise turned around and set up an altar, casually offering something to the Goddess of Fate.
After a brief exchange and receiving her approval, before anyone could even react—
"All right, she agreed."
Turning back with a smile, Promise looked at the little bird and said,
"From today onward, your name shall be Shini… Alright then, Shini, I'll be counting on you from now on~~"