Chapter 188: Death Stare

Xavier squinted at Sora with a smile.

"Kaelira, is what Damien said true?"

Here it comes.

That familiar death stare had returned once again.

Sora could practically feel the temperature around her dropping as several pairs of eyes locked onto her.

She swallowed nervously.

For some reason, being surrounded by so many Beast Husbands and stared at from every direction made her feel as though she had somehow become the culprit in a trial.

She forced herself to remain calm.

"It’s true, this..."

Before Sora could finish explaining, Xavier looked at her with a fake smile.

"Then congratulations. You’ve gained another Beast Husband, and we have a new brother."

His voice was gentle.

His smile was pleasant.

His words, however, sent a chill down Sora’s spine.

Based on everything she knew about Xavier, there was definitely a needle hidden inside that silk-soft tone.

The calmer he sounded, the more dangerous he became.

Sora felt increasingly uneasy beneath his gaze.

"I..."

Before she could explain herself, another voice interrupted.

"Kaelira, don’t tell me you’ve already formed a Contract with this bear?"

Lucas’s expression was filled with disbelief.

"Hmph."

Ace snorted coldly.

"Even Night Guarding has already been arranged. What’s so surprising about forming a Contract?"

His words only made the atmosphere around the table more awkward.

Ryan glanced toward Damien.

Damien happened to be smiling back at him.

The two stared at each other for a moment.

Ryan eventually withdrew his gaze, but his eyes flickered slightly.

Ever since Damien had arrived at the Tribe, Ryan had never been able to figure out what exactly the man was planning.

Damien always seemed to be smiling.

He never appeared particularly anxious.

He never seemed bothered when the others rejected him.

Instead, he simply continued lingering around Sora as though he had already decided that sooner or later, she would belong to him.

That attitude alone was enough to make the others wary.

Lukan remained silent for a long time.

Unlike the others, he didn’t immediately question Sora.

He simply looked at Damien first.

Then his gaze shifted to Sora.

"Kaelira, you should have told us about such a big matter in advance."

His voice was still gentle.

But Sora could clearly hear the faint disappointment hidden beneath it.

It sounded almost as though she had done something that had hurt him.

Sora’s heart tightened.

She looked from one man to another.

Why did they all look like that?

It was as though she had secretly done something terrible behind their backs.

She had only allowed Damien to participate in the Night Guarding.

Why had this suddenly become such a huge matter?

Sora swallowed.

Fortunately, the system hadn’t issued any warning.

That meant she hadn’t accidentally violated one of its restrictions.

The realization allowed her tense heart to relax slightly.

She licked her lips before finally explaining,

"Actually, this matter isn’t what you think. Damien and I don’t have a contract totem."

"Really?"

Lucas sounded unconvinced.

Sora nodded firmly.

"Really."

However, Lucas clearly didn’t completely believe her.

He narrowed his eyes and gave her a mocking smile.

"Then why did you agree to let him participate in the Night Guarding?"

His question immediately silenced Sora.

Exactly.

If she didn’t have those intentions, why had she gone to all that trouble?

Why had she agreed to put Damien’s bamboo stick into the jar?

At the end of the day, wasn’t it because she still had some thoughts about him?

Sora pursed her lips.

Fortunately, she had already prepared an explanation.

"Because he and I have a childhood engagement."

The moment she said this, everyone’s expression changed slightly.

"Mother arranged it for me, so I can’t simply leave him behind."

Sora paused.

Then she deliberately lowered her gaze and added a melancholy tone to her voice.

"If I hadn’t returned to the Wolf Tribe, he would already be my Beast Husband."

Her voice became softer.

"My Mother was very good to me, and I don’t want to let her down."

The moment those words fell, everyone around the table became silent.

Completely silent.

Sora secretly observed their reactions.

It seemed her explanation had worked.

After all, this wasn’t something she had completely invented.

The Original Owner really did have a relationship with Damien’s Black Bear Foster Mother.

And there really was a childhood engagement between Sora and Damien.

Therefore, she wasn’t exactly lying.

She was simply using the truth to cover the parts of the truth she couldn’t reveal.

If Sora hadn’t returned to the Wolf Tribe, then under normal circumstances, Damien would have already formed a totem with her and become her Beast Husband.

Chronologically speaking, Damien had actually been Sora’s first Beast Husband candidate.

Lukan wouldn’t even have ranked.

Thinking of this, Sora felt somewhat awkward.

But there was nothing she could do.

She had to protect herself.

After hearing Sora’s explanation, the smile on Damien’s face became even more brilliant.

He looked incredibly pleased with himself.

Then, as though he deliberately wanted to make the others angry, he nodded.

"That’s right."

He looked around the table.

"If you calculate things that way, every one of you should call me Big Brother."

Sora’s mouth twitched.

This guy really knew how to take advantage of an opportunity.

Xavier immediately couldn’t stand it anymore.

"Big brother my foot!"

His expression darkened.

"Haven’t you even formed a Contract yet? You keep saying ’should be,’ but weren’t you separated from Kaelira? What does that old history count for?"

Damien’s smile didn’t disappear.

Lucas immediately joined in.

"Exactly. That’s old history."

He crossed his arms.

"The fact is that we formed contract totems with Kaelira before you."

Damien didn’t seem bothered by the attack.

Instead, he turned his attention toward Sora again.

"But now that Kaelira has agreed, it should be very soon, right?"

His smile deepened.

"Kaelira, what do you say?"

Sora remained silent.

She didn’t answer.

Her silence caused several of the Beast Husbands to become visibly disappointed.

Yet because Damien held the title of her childhood fiancé, even though they didn’t particularly like the idea, they couldn’t completely reject Sora’s reasoning.

After all, who could blame Damien for having a childhood engagement with Sora?

And who could blame him for having such a good relationship with her Black Bear Foster Mother?

The Beast Husbands all knew that Sora still cared deeply about her Black Bear Foster Mother.

Otherwise, why would she have learned so many cooking techniques and recipes from her?

They couldn’t simply ignore that connection.

Sora quietly waited for their reaction.

She had expected them to make a huge fuss.

She had even prepared herself for another argument.

But surprisingly...

They fell silent.

Sora’s eyes brightened slightly.

Silence was good.

Silence was golden.

Silence meant acceptance.

As long as they weren’t fighting, it meant they didn’t have too much of a problem with the matter.

Sora secretly breathed a huge sigh of relief.

She decided it was better not to push her luck.

The atmosphere around the round table had become somewhat awkward.

So Sora decided to change the subject herself.

She picked up the ceramic jar and shook it again.

The bamboo sticks inside rattled against the rough ceramic walls.

Then Sora lifted her right hand.

Before reaching inside, she deliberately showed them both sides of her palm.

"Look carefully."

She turned her hand over.

"I don’t have anything in my hand."

The men watched closely.

Only after they were satisfied did Sora reach into the ceramic jar.

The Beast Husbands, who had been somewhat silent just moments earlier, immediately shifted their attention toward the jar.

Their faces revealed faint anticipation.

Some even looked as though they were silently praying.

After all, whoever drew first would have the most favorable position in the Night Guarding order.

Sora’s hand moved around inside the jar.

The ceramic jar hadn’t been glazed, so its inner surface was rough.

Her fingers brushed against bamboo pieces one after another.

She searched for a moment.

Then she finally caught one.

The bamboo slip felt smooth against her fingertips.

Sora pulled it out without hesitation.

"Let me see whose it is."

She lowered her eyes.

A drawing appeared on the smooth bamboo slip.

It was a small Mermaid with a cold expression, wagging his tail while holding a luminous pearl.

Sora’s eyebrows rose.

She hadn’t expected it to be him again.

Ryan.

She lifted the bamboo slip and showed it to everyone.

"The first one is Ryan."

"What?"

Lucas stared.

"How is it him again?"

His expression was filled with disbelief.

"How can his luck be so good?"

Sora also felt that Ryan’s luck was explosive.

He really gave her the feeling of some kind of Gacha King.

No matter how many times they drew, somehow he always managed to land himself in a favorable position.

But there was nothing anyone could do about good luck.

Luck was luck.

Who could argue with it?

Ryan stared at the bamboo slip.

A faint light appeared in his usually cold eyes.

The change was extremely subtle.

But anyone paying attention could tell that he was happy.

Ace, on the other hand, looked disappointed.

He had secretly believed that because he had personally made his bamboo stick, perhaps he would be the first one selected.

But once again...

It was Ryan.

Mo Xuan couldn’t help feeling that fate was deliberately playing with him.

Sora didn’t pay attention to his expression.

She simply reached back into the ceramic jar.

This time, her fingers touched a round bamboo slip.

It was easy to grasp.

She immediately pulled it out.

After looking at it, Sora gave a small chuckle.

Then she showed it to everyone.

"It’s a Phoenix."

Lucas froze.

Then his eyes widened.

When he saw the drawing on the bamboo slip, excitement immediately appeared on his face.

It was his.

After waiting for so long, it was finally his turn.

Lucas couldn’t help feeling deeply moved.

Sora continued drawing.

The third bamboo slip she picked was also easy to handle.

This one was square-shaped.

She pulled it out and looked at the drawing.

"Lukan."

Lukan’s expression remained calm.

However, Xavier’s eyes immediately changed.

When Xavier saw the third bamboo slip, his eyes dimmed.

But before he could react, Sora reached into the jar again.

The next bamboo slip she pulled out belonged to him.

Sora looked at it.

Then she raised her eyes.

"Xavier."

Xavier’s expression became slightly better.

Although he was behind Lukan, he had still managed to secure a relatively early position.

After four bamboo slips had been drawn, only two remained.

Ace stared at the ceramic jar.

His expression was tense.

Beside him, Damien remained as relaxed as ever.

A smile rested on his lips.

Ace secretly held his breath.

Sora reached inside.

Her fingers touched another bamboo slip.

This one was different.

It had been carefully carved.

Sora pulled it out and examined it.

A Black Bear had been carved onto its surface.

Her eyes widened slightly.

She hadn’t expected Damien to know how to carve.

For a primitive man, being able to create such a delicate carving was quite impressive.

After a moment of surprise, Sora turned the bamboo slip over.

Then she announced,

"The fifth one is Damien."

Ace’s expression immediately collapsed.

He had become the last.

His luck was truly terrible.

And what made it worse was that he had been ranked behind the newly joined Damien.

Ace felt even more unlucky.

Sora, however, didn’t have time to think too much about it.

That night, she yawned repeatedly while waiting for Ryan to come over.

She had already become sleepy.

After everything that had happened during the day, she simply wanted to rest.

Finally, she lay down on her animal-hide bedding.

But the moment her body touched the bedding, she suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Something was beside her.

Sora froze.

She slowly turned her head.

Xavier was lying beside her.

His head was resting lazily on one hand.

A smile curved across his lips.

But there was something chilling about that smile.

"Kaelira."

His voice was soft.

"You didn’t think the matter from earlier today was just going to end like that, did you?"

Sora’s heart jumped.

She gave two dry laughs.

"Xavier..."

She tried to sound innocent.

"What are you talking about?"

Xavier smiled.

He didn’t answer.

His hand slowly moved toward Sora’s face.

His fingertips slid gently along her cheek before his hand moved lower.

Then he leaned toward her.

Sora’s eyes widened.

She hadn’t expected Xavier to be so bold.

Before she could push him away—

Knock.

A sound suddenly came from outside the door.

Sora froze.

A familiar voice followed.

"Kaelira, it’s me."

Ryan had arrived.

"I’m here."