Heather replied to Josef's taunt with a kinda wry grin. It wasn't that she was completely oblivious to Josef's relationship issues with his father. She just massively underestimated them. It's like...she knew that Josef was not, in fact, fond of the story of his three-year-old confrontation with a demon (even if she had some trouble understanding why, because it was a great story). And okay, over the years she could admit that Dimitri probably had given it more weight than it likely actually warranted, in considering some of the choices he made regarding his son.
It's just...she mostly took it as a basically normal case of high parental expectations putting pressure on their child, which she could sympathize with, plus your typical "parent tells embarrassing stories about their child" type stuff (Heather didn't have any personal experience along any of these lines, of course, but the entire corpus of family-centric sitcoms couldn't possibly steer her wrong!) So she interpreted Josef's statement not as a hurtful taunt, but as sarcastic banter. Sure, his tone was serious, but Josef wasn't exactly the most sociable guy in the village. She'd known him for long enough to "know" he was kinda bad at sarcasm.
--
Although to be fair, there were also times when ignoring Josef's tone could get one closer, rather than further, from the truth of what he was trying to express, and Heather took the compliment for what it was. She did notice he seemed a bit distracted, and wondered if he had seen the same sort of thing she had, but she didn't ask because talking about the Blessing process was taboo. And it...kinda made sense, if everyone experienced something like that. It was kinda weird but the idea of talking about it felt wrong to her. It seemed like it should be private.
Thinking about it only made the feeling of melancholy stronger, and this was a happy day so they couldn't have that! She distracted herself by...well, first by listening to Gen's speech, but once he had gone for the Pool she replied, "Even more than it looks. I think the illusions are just kinda part of it, and not even a big part. I can say things and...kinda make them more likely to happen, sort of. I think. Like narrating for reality, almost. It's a little weird. And I had stage fright before but not after. I think it's actually kind of a super-storytelling power. The illusions are just there to help make my stories more immersive. Or something. Sooo...yeah! Pretty 'me' power." Which was...more-or-less what she was going for. Heather, like Laurel before her, bought into a theory - she wasn't really sure how common it was - that if you choose things like Tithes and your tattoo for having strong personal sentimental value, the Blessing would be something that was more "true to yourself". Which is why she had only brought her father's ring and her mother's book, and hadn't asked for anything from the Archives. So...score one for that theory, she supposed!
...Oh. Or it was because she had Tithed a book. That...that would also make sense, in retrospect.
--
Okay yeah Heather could admit it she did look a bit uncomfortable when Gen used his speech to call out the people that had badmouthed his mother. Not that they didn't deserve it, but still. But he finished up with an encouragement to the kids so it didn't actually slow her applause down any.
And then he got back and Heather couldn't help it, she cracked up. Gen, Eugenides, of all people, had gotten super-strength and super-speed. On top of his already existing super-strength and super-speed. Oh man the poor, helpless demons! He was literally running faster than sound! As a newly-Blessed Page! "That is just unfair in all the best ways!" she told him, still kinda giggling.