Three attempts

Rhea was naturally incapable of having Draven's meticulous mentality. However, she was certain he learned how to ridicule people after being with her for more than month. Nonetheless, his words were like needles piecing her skin even though she tried not to let it get to her. She was so mad she bit down on her tongue to the point of tasting blood in her mouth. Despite her anger, she tried to maintain her smiling face as she spoke,

"My life might have been miserable, yet I still have few people who care about me. In contrast, what about you? You devious ways have led to your downfall, having you to assume a false identity in order to live. Your greed for power has caused the death of many of your own kind," she added, "even death is a lesser punishment for you. You are worse than a devil!" She spat ruthlessly, uncaring of how far her words would go, he'd done the same to her.

Draven froze on the spot. As he faced Rhea, their eyes met and held firm, their mutual hatred unconcealed. They maintained an unwavering stare for an extended period, until Rhea stormed off in frustration and flung herself onto the bed, yanking the covers over her head.

He also returned to his sleeping spot on the floor and laid back down turning his back towards the bed. With rage swelling through his veins, Draven closed his eyes to force himself to sleep before he ended up doing something he'd later regret.

The pair slept holding a grudge against the other. The night went on with either of them making even a slight noise.

The following day, as the sun rose over the horizon, the couple shared an uncomfortable silence during breakfast, choosing to ignore each other's presence. Even the old granny noticed the strange air around them.

She turned to her right side where she knew Rhea would usually be seated for breakfast, "My dear. Why are you so quiet today?" She asked, then added, "Did Jurian say something that upset you?"

"No, grandma. Jurian didn't do anything to upset me." She lied between her teeth.

Of course, this fake Jurian had upset her last night, all she did was try to show him kindness by offering him to sleep on the bed, but in the end, he...he dared say all those vicious words to her. It would be a lie if she said she wasn't offended by his words.

This damn dragon wasn't worthy of any kindness. He was too mean and rude. Knowing she had a miserable life made him happy? How vicious of him. This person should be the devil's kin!

Draven, sitting across from Rhea with his face devoid of any emotion ignored Rhea's stare, he force-fed himself as if the food had some sort of enmity with him. Rhea couldn't help but empathize with the food as she watched on in despair.

He didn't even spare the poor innocent food on his plate. Rhea thought.

"It brings me great joy to hear that the two of you are now getting along_cough!" The granny said to Rhea, "It means that I can depart from this world peacefully, knowing that my dear Jurian will not be alone... My child, I thank you for this." Remarked the elderly woman with a smile on her face, as she placed her wrinkled hand on top of Rhea's hand resting on the table.

Rhea felt a sense of pity towards the woman. Despite the fact that the dragon in front of her was not her real son - Jurian had already passed away - the woman was under the illusion to believe this evil dragon was. Her heart sank at the thought of this.

Following their morning meal, Rhea and Draven departed from the Qieldan residence and made their way to the woods in accordance with their previously made arrangements. Despite this, the duo continued to disregard one another throughout their journey until they arrived at the riverbank where Sila had already arrived with Rinus, who gazed childishly into the distance.

Upon the couple's arrival, Sila greeted them by saying, "At last, you've arrived." However, she apologized for bringing Rinus along due to the fact that he was not accustomed to being alone and may run off into town like he did the other day. As Sila sensed something amiss with the pair, she stopped mid-sentence and turned to examine Rhea and Draven's expressions. "Is there something upsetting you about the fact that I brought Rinus with me?" she asked.

Rhea waved her hand with a smile, "No, not at all, I actually..." As Rhea was speaking to Sila, Draven walked past them to look for his boat.

While conversing with Sila, Rhea's gaze unexpectedly met Rinus's. His sudden intense scowl caught her attention, followed by a sharp remark, "Shameless woman!"

Rhea was taken aback, she arched an eyebrow, "What have I done to you for you to insult me everytime we meet?"

"Foolish cow!" He said again.

Rhea crossed her arms against her chest, "Are we really going to do this again, huh? Does insulting me make you feel good? You should watch you mouth, or else I won't consider your condition and smack you with my hands."

"Cursed seed!"

"Okay, now you've done it!"

Observing how Rhea was becoming angry due to the insults of Rinus, Sila quickly positioned herself between them. This gesture caused Rinus to lose sight of Rhea, preventing him from uttering another word. Nonetheless, Rhea wasn't done and proceeded to roll up her sleeves, she even stoopped down and picked up a long stick meant for whipping.

Sila didn't know if she should laugh or cry when facing someone like this girl. Her temper was like that of dragon, as the creatures were known for being short-tempered. She sighed deeply, "I find it strange that he only talks when you're around. Why would he always insult you, was there some kind of bad blood between you two before?"

"How is that my fault?" Rhea strength her cane, "Now move aside let me teach him a lesson."

Rhea hadn't finished speaking when Draven brought out the boat, "Let's go." He said.

Rhea glared at Rinus before she made towards the boat, but stopped when Sila didn't follow behind her, "Aren't you coming?"

Sila shook her head, "No, I'll wait here for you guys, I can't leave Rinus behind. With his condition, I don't think it'd be good if he steps into the fire barrier cave."

Knowing that Sila wouldn't come along with them, an Inexplicable dread washed over Rhea, but she couldn't understand why. She was apprehensive about heading into an unknown cave with this Dragon by herself. Even though her spikes had returned, she felt a sense of unease that she couldn't shake off for some reason. She wondered what lay concealed within the cave...

Taking a deep breath to soothe her nerves, Rhea acknowledged Sila with a nod and stepped onto the boat. "Let's go,"

Without another word, Draven paddled the boat. Just like last time, they arrived at the cave entrance. Rhea tried to look through the cave, but all she saw was a pitch-black darkness. She carefully raised her hand out, but stopped midair when she felt the heat radiating from the cave.

"The flame barrier seems really strong. I can feel the heat despite my inner snow flurry."

"It's the strongest fire barrier in existence, that's why we only have three attempts, if you fail to open it after your third attempt...it will explode the cave." He remarked with a grave expression. He couldn't afford to fail after waiting for this day for more than decade.