System's POV

Chapter 1396: What You Need Is A Little Push

Stella washed her face before looking at her reflection in the mirror before her.

She hadn’t lied to Zion and had indeed gone to the restroom. Fortunately, there was no one to see her sorry sight since she had chosen the restroom reserved for the members of the royal family.

The beautiful lady staring back at her usually looked very confident. But now, she had a tinge of anxiety on her face.

Self-doubt crept in her heart after suffering consecutive losses against Zion.

First was the Go Kart. She might not be the best driver out there, but Stella had played it for many years and had grown proficient in her own way.

She even thought that she would take it easy during the first round and simply enjoy the ride.

However, her wish to show Zion how good she was made her change her plans. Instead of taking it easy, she stepped on the acceleration and went full throttle to reach the finish line.

WHo could’ve expected that the teenage boy on the dead last would catch up to everyone including her and even surpass her? They fought for three rounds, and Zion won all three of them.

She felt frustrated, so she decided to avenge herself and beat Zion in something that she was extremely confident in.

And what was that you say? Of course, it was none other than archery.

She prided herself to be an extremely good archer by the standards of her home world, Hestia.

The young lady even planned to offer to teach Zion how to shoot a bow and arrow after she won their little competition.

However, things didn’t go her way.

Thirteen absolutely went above and beyond everything that she could have hoped for, beating not only her best score, but also her mother’s record.

The record that had not been beaten for the past ten years had finally met its match and fell to second place.

The only saving grace was that Stella and Belle weren’t there when Zion made his comment.

———

"Are the people in this world this bad in archery?" Thirteen replied. "Even my old man can beat my score with his eyes closed. Since no one in the past ten years have broken the top score of this archery range, doesn’t that mean that there is no skilled archer in this world?"

———

Stella and Belle might have started throwing hands then and there. They might even team up to tie Zion with a rope, hang him upside down a tree, and beat him senseless with a wooden stick!

Fortunately, they weren’t there so Zion managed to make a narrow escape.

As the young lady continued to stare blankly at the mirror in front of her, a sigh reached her ears.

"You’re taking this too seriously, Stella."

"Mom?"

Belle reached out to hug her daughter and lightly pat her head. Stella returned her mother’s hug and rested her head on the woman’s shoulder.

"There will be a peak higher than the ones that you have climbed," Belle said softly. "And there will be heavens beyond the heavens. Someone will always be better than you, just like there will always be someone better than me and your father."

"Even father?" Stella asked half in doubt.

"Of course," Belle answered. "Your father is very strong—stronger than any ordinary mortal in the world. But you see, there will always be someone stronger. Someone even stronger than him.

"On that topic, do you remember what you and your father agreed on when you were only six years old?"

Stella shook her head. "I don’t remember."

"Your father said that he will only allow someone to marry you if that person is stronger than him," Belle replied. "Of course, since you were a Daddy’s Girl back then, you said that you will only marry someone stronger than your Dad."

"Did I really make such an embarrassing promise?" Stella asked.

"Yes." Belle giggled. "As you already know, your father is over-protective over his daughters. Maybe he said that to prevent you from getting married?"

"... Dad is really silly sometimes." Stella couldn’t help but sigh helplessly due to how overprotective her father was.

It was then that someone new joined them in the restroom and spoke her mind.

"But I believe your father is serious about that."

Sidonie crossed her arms over her chest, and a mischievous smile was plastered on her seductive face.

She was once the Maiden of Lust and still had the power over one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

However, she had mellowed out a bit after giving birth to two daughters, whom she loved dearly.

"So, Dad really has no intention of marrying me off?" Stella didn’t know if she should laugh or cry at this revelation.

Frankly, she was still too young to marry, and the seed of love was only starting to blossom in her heart.

"Stella, what do you think of Zion?" Sidonie asked in a serious tone.

"I think of him as an amazing person," Stella replied honestly. "He is someone whom people looked up to back in Pangea. They called him ’Supreme Commander’ and led the Wanderers to win wars that many deemed impossible."

"He also has five ladies who are his fiancees," Bella commented. "Does having that many lovers turn you off?"

Stella blinked once then twice before looking at her mother with a solemn gaze.

"Isn’t having more than one wife normal?" Stella asked. "I mean... Dad has more than fifty wives."

"... Your father is not a good role model." Belle smiled wryly.

"Indeed." Sidonie giggled. "But compared to him, Zion is indeed a Saint."

Suddenly, the Lady of Lust flinched before her eyes turned golden in color.

"Stella, I think you should start to face the truth before it’s too late," Sidonie said in a teasing tone.

However, both Stella and Belle realized that the one talking was no longer Sidonie but someone else.

"Godmother?" Stella sensed the power of divinity that was oozing out from her mother’s body. "Mama Sidonie will get angry at you later. You borrowed her body again without permission."

A chuckle escaped Sidonie’s lips as the Goddess of Lust, Eros, playfully pinched Stella’s cheek.

"I’ve been watching everything from the start," Eros replied. "But I can no longer resist and decided to descend to help you a bit. Stella, what you need is a little push. I have a plan."

"..."

"..."

Stella and Belle shared an uneasy glance at each other because the Goddess of Lust was also known for pranking people.

They didn’t know what she had planned in mind, but since she had already descended, they believed that this situation would escalate to something that even they would not be able to predict.