Date [1]

Chapter 20: Date [1]

[Snowblood mountains]

BOOM...

"Huh... What was that?" Stella muttered, narrowing her eyes toward the foot of the towering snow-covered peaks.

Each time she approached the mountains, an invisible force hurled her back. Frustration etched on her face, Stella summoned the lightning whip in her right hand.

It was a weapon forged by the deity of rain and gifted to her by the heavens on her most recent birthday. If anything could break the barrier, it would be this.

Raising her hand, she aimed the whip at the shimmering barrier and struck with all her might.

BOOM...

Crackkk...

Her heart sank as the whip shattered into countless pieces, scattering across the icy ground. The princess froze in disbelief. This was no ordinary whip—it was crafted by the Lord of Thunder and Lightning himself. How could it break so easily?

She glanced up at the barrier again, her eyes narrowing. A protective spell, perhaps? But as she watched, she noticed snow eagles soaring effortlessly across the boundary. Why was this barrier repelling her and only her?

Taking a deep breath, Stella stooped to gather the fragments of her shattered whip. She cast one last defiant look at the mountains before turning away.

"One day," she whispered to herself. "I will shatter that barrier to pieces."

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[Mythiopia]

"What are you thinking?" Aliza asked as she entered the chamber. Her husband was holding his head in his hands.

She wouldn't say that everything was now fine between them. No. She still blamed him. She was still angry at him. But she decided to support him in whatever he was trying.

"Nothing" Lawrence replied simply. He was really thinking nothing. Just trying hard to remember who this Amantha is.

He had literally replayed all his life till now in his head to see if he had ever met any woman with that name. It was of no use though.

"What if no one like that exists?" The queen questioned. It was possible.

Lawrence sighed. "If I want to find Draphior, then I need to know about this woman. There is nothing else I can do."

But the queen had one question for a while now. "What if Draphior is really dead?"

Lawrence lifted his gaze to meet hers. He had already dismissed this idea. "But the coin is still active."

"He could have reincarnated," Aliza pointed out.

Lawrence frowned. "If someone as powerful as Draphior were reborn, I'd have sensed it, no matter how well they tried to hide."

His words weren't mere arrogance—they were fact. Even the deities of Heaven hesitated to challenge him.

"I know," Aliza conceded. "But he's the gatekeeper. He might have been reborn in another realm."

The king froze. How had he not considered that? If Draphior had indeed been reborn in another realm, finding him would be a near-impossible task.

The king clenched his fists thinking of that possibility. How will he ever be able to open the gate at this rate?

Aliza gently placed her hands over his fists, a silent gesture of comfort. "Let's hope Dexter finds something," she said softly.

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[London]

"How dare you? Are you trying to kill my son?" Mrs Barnett yelled at Benjamin, who almost drove his car onto Dylan.

The car didn't really hit Dylan, but Dylan let it come close enough to fake a fall.

"You are making a scene for nothing Mrs Barnett. My car didn't even touch him." Banjamin stated as he glared at Dylan. He didn't know why he came back today again.

"Wow.. So should I wait till you run the car over my son?" Mrs Barnett countered.

She despised this illegitimate son and his mother, who was also her step sister, and she made no effort to hide it.

Dylan finally found the right opportunity to speak.

"It's okay mom. Brother must be attending an important call. So he didn't notice."

Mrs Barnett fumed hearing this.

"What? Is this how you drive? Will you only notice after killing someone?" Mrs Barnett called the butler of the mansion out as she kept shooting daggers with her glare at Benjamin.

"Madam" The butler politely bowed. Even though Benjamin was the only son of Mr Barnett, the Barnett empire wouldn't have this present glory without Mrs Barnett's help during the early years.

She held the majority stocks in the company, and this was also why Benjamin and Mr Barnett could do nothing more that annoying her with their presence.

"Since this young man here don't know how to take his eyes off his phone, throw all his gadgets out. Every single thing. Probably he will start looking ahead then." Mrs Barnett ordered.

"You are taking it too far Grace." It was Dennis Barnett. He walked towards them with a gloomy face.

Mrs Barnett looked at her cheater husband and rolled her eyes openly.

"He is busy with the company. Be more understanding." Mr Barnett said with authority, earning a snort from his wife.

"How busy can a mere department manager be. If he cannot handle that little work, then tell your son to resign. It's not like I am stopping him from free loading at my home now."

"It was just a .."

"I don't care. Restrict all his gadgets." she reminded the butler again before turning to her husband. "I will leave the father and son for some family time now." Saying this, she walked in with Dylan.

Dylan didn't bother greeting Mr Barnett at all. In his eyes, he was just a cowardly man who used Grace to climb up the ladder.

He knew the only reason Grace adopted him was to make sure the inheritance goes to no one else. One of the reasons why he never felt having a mother. But given this messy family, he couldn't blame her for becoming this bitter person she is now.

Inside, the atmosphere shifted to a cold detente as they sat for dinner.

Grace sipped her wine, her calculating eyes fixed on Dylan. "You'll have semester holidays soon. I've arranged a date for you with Paige Sanders."