System's POV

Chapter 1391: It’s That Time Of The Year

Watching from the Celestial Realm, the Goddess of Lust, Eros, had an imperceptible smile on her face as her eyes trailed the figures of Zion and Stella.

Believing Stella would continue to deny the budding feelings she had for him, Eros itched to give her goddaughter a little push in the right direction. From what she could see, a little nudge could push the progress bar a long way.

Eros might not be the Goddess of love, but Stella was obviously starting to see the teenage boy as a man.

Zion also piqued her curiosity. After all, it was extremely rare for someone to be completely unaffected by lust. It made her want to test if he was truly worthy of Stella’s affection.

Well, as much as she’d like to claim she was purely testing the young man... In reality, she had sent him to the world of Hestia for one thing and one thing only.

She wanted to see drama.

Yes!

The Goddess of Lust thrived on drama.

In this instance, she wondered how Stella’s over-protective father, William, would deal with a prospective son-in-law candidate.

Regardless of the specifics, Zion would definitely suffer hardships. The mere thought of it made the Goddess giggle in anticipation on what was next to come.

"Well, then, Zion Leventis," Eros said in a teasing tone. "Let’s see if I can make a man out of you."

A great distance from Eros’ residence, a Celestial Warrior casually poured wine over his wine cup and took a sip.

A faint smile was also plastered on his lips as he observed his best friend from the Celestial Realm.

"This is going to be fun," Sun Wukong muttered. "Alright. Let’s see how Thirteen will handle it."

The Monkey King gave a toast to the teenage boy, who unknowingly scored brownie points from Stella’s mothers.

Sun Wukong believed that in order to survive the Half-Elf’s wrath, Thirteen must first win the hearts of his wives.

Even the God Slayer wouldn’t be able to hurt the teenage boy as long as he was under his wives’ protection.

———

Now that they had finished eating, Thirteen and Stella went to wash the dishes together.

While doing so, the two of them discussed their next course of action.

"How do we return to Solterra?" Thirteen asked. "There must be a way since you can go there anytime you want, right?"

"I think you already know the answer," Stella replied. "But you must be asking to confirm your suspicion, so I will not hide it from you. I can only travel between worlds with the help of Maple and Cinnamon.

"The two of them aren’t home yet, so we’re stuck in Hestia for the time being. My sisters often go into adventures, and the duration varies. Sometimes, it’s only a few days. Sometimes, it could go for weeks. They’ll eventually go home either way, and we’ll just have to wait here patiently."

A sigh escaped the teenage boy’s lips, already expecting this answer.

Right now, he had many things left to do in Solterra, and he couldn’t afford to stay long in the world of Hestia.

"Is there no other way?" Thirteen inquired.

"I can think of two ways, but both will take time and effort to accomplish," Stella answered. "The first one is to connect the Bifrost Bridge to Solterra."

At the mention of the Bifrost Bridge, Thirteen couldn’t help but wonder if he had misheard the young lady’s explanation.

"The second way is to let my grandfather take us back to Solterra," Stella stated. "But I don’t know if that’s a good idea..."

The young lady fidgeted as she wiped the plates dry with a piece of cloth before placing them back to the place where they belong.

"Then let me talk to your grandfather," Thirteen replied. "I met him a few times in the past, and I think that he’s a good person."

Stella couldn’t help but smile because her grandfather was indeed a "good person" depending on who he was dealing with.

To his family, he was a doting grandpa that liked to spoil his grandkids.

To others, he was a scammer, a conman, and a bandit who would not hesitate to use any means in order to gain some profit.

After careful consideration, the two agreed to look for James Ainsworth and ask for his help to return to Solterra.

They found the old man playing with his grandchildren, laughing and running after them in a game of tag.

Naturally, he was the one chasing them, and he purposely allowed them to escape in order to continue the fun.

The giggles of his granddaughters spread in the background, making Stella’s gaze soften.

She felt truly blessed to be born in such a big family, living a life that many envied.

Thirteen gazed at this scene with his hands clasped behind his back.

He also had a soft spot for children, so he simply watched from the side and told Stella he wasn’t in a hurry.

Half an hour later, the game finally ended, with the little children teasing their grandfather that he wasn’t good at playing tag.

"Hahaha! Grandpa will do better next time!" James said before planting kisses on the chubby cheeks of his granddaughters. "You girls are so good at running away, leaving grandpa in the dust."

This earned him another round of giggles before he finally glanced in Stella’s and Thirteen’s direction.

He had already noticed them some time ago, and truth be told, he was very surprised to see Zion in Hestia.

After ensuring that the maids and the nannies had properly taken over to take care of his grandchildren, the old man finally approached the two teenagers and greeted them with a smile.

"Stella, you’re back," James said before hugging his granddaughter. "I thought you’ll be away for a few more months."

"Things happened, Grandpa," Stella replied.

She then began to explain how they suddenly found themselves in Hestia. James listened with great curiosity.

When her explanation ended, James stroked his beard while deep in thought.

A minute later, he looked at the two teenagers with an apologetic gaze.

"I’m sorry, but I can’t take you back right now," James replied. "You see, Sleipnir is with his wife right now... and well, it’s that time of the year."

Thirteen blinked because he wasn’t able to understand what the old man meant by "that time of the year."

Stella, on the other hand, understood, which made her sigh in regret. "It looks like we’ll have to wait for Maple and Cinnamon to return first."

Thirteen closed his eyes and revised the plans he had previously made.

Given the tight schedule, this sudden turn of events threw his plans into disarray.

’Forneus might get mad if I make him wait for a long time,’ Thirteen thought. ’I hope Maple and Cinnamon return soon.’

Just as he was thinking of the two gluttons, something unexpected happened.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone standing right next to him.

Thirteen turned his head to the side and saw a handsome red-headed Half-Elf.

"It’s you..." William glared at the teenage boy, whom he had seen in the world of Artem.

Contrary to what Thirteen believed, this wasn’t their first meeting.

William and James had seen the battle that had happened in Artem and witnessed the power that the teenage boy wielded.

Seeing his daughter standing right next to Zion, William had the strong urge to grab the uninvited guest and take him to a fishing trip.

This fishing trip didn’t involve catching any fish, but feeding the teenage boy to them so that he would never see him again in this lifetime.