Chapter 191: Meticulous Preparation

Lukan also found it difficult to fall asleep.

He had originally thought he wouldn’t care about these things. After all, Sora liked him the most among them. He had always believed that his position in her heart was special and that no one could easily replace him.

But what he thought in his heart was different from what he actually heard.

Even someone as cold and seemingly indifferent as Ryan was now finding ways to sing to Sora just to get her attention.

The beautiful melody continued drifting through the night, making it impossible for Lukan to ignore what was happening.

Would Sora remember more and more people in the future?

Would there eventually be only a small part of her heart left for him?

After all, new things were always different.

Damien was a perfect example.

Today, Damien had suddenly appeared in her life and immediately caused such a huge disturbance in everyone’s hearts. Although Sora had explained the relationship between them, Lukan still couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

He couldn’t help but miss the days when he had fought with Sora for her attention as a child.

Back then, her eyes had been filled with him.

He remembered how she would always look for him, how naturally she relied on him, and how he had once been certain that no one else could take his place.

Even so, Lukan still felt confident that Sora would always have him in her heart.

After all, besides him, who else knew Sora better?

With that thought comforting him, Lukan finally closed his eyes.

Little by little, the noise in his mind faded, and he slowly fell asleep.

Damien, meanwhile, listened to his subordinate’s report while also listening to the enchanting singing drifting through the night.

A playful expression appeared on his face.

"My future Female seems quite extraordinary," he said casually. "She knows how to enjoy herself, easily listening to the singing of a Mermaid. That’s something very rare to hear."

The little Black Bear Beastman reporting to him immediately seized the opportunity to flatter his master.

"Young Master, once the City Lord’s Wife knows how good you are, she will definitely like you very much."

Hearing this, Damien immediately raised his hand and slapped the man’s head.

"You certainly have a silver tongue."

The little Black Bear Beastman rubbed his head and gave an embarrassed smile.

"I’m telling the truth. Our master is so good. The daughter of destiny won’t fail to like you."

Damien gave a light snort.

"What’s the use of just liking? She likes so many people."

The little Black Bear Beastman was surprised.

He was just about to ask why his master had suddenly said something like that when Damien’s next question came first.

"What about Kaelira’s Black Bear Foster Mother that I asked you to investigate? Have you found her?"

The little Black Bear Beastman immediately became serious.

"I asked several Females from Black Bear Mountain, but they all said they hadn’t seen her."

Hearing this, Damien glared at him.

"Useless. You can’t even handle a simple task like this."

"Master, I haven’t finished yet!"

The little Black Bear Beastman hurriedly explained.

"Although we didn’t find the Black Bear Foster Mother you mentioned on Black Bear Mountain, we found some clues concerning White Bear."

"White Bear?"

Damien narrowed his eyes.

"Are you sure it’s the same person?"

White Bears were white all over. They were practically a world away from Black Bears.

"I..." The little Black Bear Beastman hesitated. "I’m not sure either. But the clues match what you told me. I’ll go ask around more and definitely give you an answer next time."

"That’s more like it."

Damien waved his hand impatiently.

"Get out. If you haven’t found anything next time, don’t bother coming back."

"Awoo... Understood, Master."

The little Black Bear Beastman let out a slightly miserable howl before hurriedly leaving.

On the other side, Lucas felt a little uneasy while listening to the song.

The beautiful melody drifting through the night was difficult to ignore.

However, when he thought about the fact that it would be his turn for Night Guarding tomorrow, the little bit of sadness in his heart disappeared.

He had to conserve his energy.

To have enough energy for tomorrow, he needed to sleep well tonight.

With that thought, Lucas casually flicked his hand.

A barrier immediately appeared around him.

The moment the barrier formed, the enchanting singing outside was completely blocked.

Not even the faintest trace of the melody could reach his ears.

Lucas lay down comfortably and closed his eyes.

Before long, he fell peacefully asleep.

Meanwhile, Sora was still listening to Ryan sing.

After Ryan finished one song, she immediately praised him.

"That was really beautiful."

Then, after thinking for a moment, she added, "Can you sing another one? Give the little cub in my belly some rhythm."

Ryan didn’t really understand what Sora meant by giving the little cub some "rhythm."

But when he thought that the little cub in her belly might also be his, he didn’t refuse.

He simply nodded and began singing again.

Among Merfolk, it was very important for a Beast Father to sing to his little cub.

The songs could soothe the little cub, keeping it quiet and reducing the trouble for the Mother.

Ryan had grown up knowing this custom.

Therefore, although he didn’t completely understand what Sora meant, he was more than willing to sing for the little cub.

Sora had initially listened to him with the intention of distracting him.

She hadn’t expected the plan to work so well.

Perhaps because Ryan’s singing was simply too beautiful, the gentle melody gradually soothed her.

The soft notes seemed to float through her mind like a hypnotic charm.

Before she realized it, her eyelids became heavy.

Her breathing gradually slowed.

And eventually, Sora fell asleep.

When Ryan finished singing and looked toward her, he discovered that she was already fast asleep.

A faint hint of regret flashed through his pale blue eyes.

He had wanted to sing for her a little longer.

But seeing her peaceful sleeping face, he said nothing.

He lowered his eyelids and hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to reach out and hold Sora while he slept.

However, that position lasted for less than a moment.

Sora’s sleeping body was extremely restless.

Her arms and legs moved without restraint, and before Ryan could properly settle down, one of her sprawling limbs pushed him away.

Ryan was stunned.

He stared at the person sleeping beside him.

He had never seen anyone with such a poor sleeping posture.

How could someone sleep so restlessly?

In the end, Ryan could only lie down on the side.

He quietly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The next morning, Sora woke up feeling refreshed.

When she opened her eyes, she immediately noticed that Ryan was no longer in the room.

She didn’t know when he had left or where he had gone.

Sora stretched lazily before getting out of bed.

Her mood was surprisingly good.

After washing up, she made her way toward the Wild Kitchen.

As soon as she arrived, several pairs of eyes turned toward her simultaneously.

They sized her up for a moment.

Then, as though nothing had happened, they all looked away.

Sora ignored them completely.

She had seen those exact expressions before.

They had worn the same faces back when she had been trying to win Ryan over.

She couldn’t be bothered to indulge them now.

It wasn’t as though she didn’t know how to do Night Guarding.

Was there really a need to look at her like that?

Sora walked toward the stove.

The moment she arrived, she noticed something unusual.

The cooking utensils were neatly arranged.

Unlike the previous days, there was no mess.

Everything was exactly where it should be.

It seemed that the others had finally realized she was tired of eating the same breakfast every day, so they hadn’t touched anything.

Sora looked around for a moment.

After thinking about what she wanted to eat, she decided to make Dough Drop Soup.

She had eaten too many things she was already tired of over the past few days.

Now, she wanted something warm and light that could whet her appetite.

As she brought the cooking pot toward the stove, her eyes suddenly landed on a pile of bamboo leaves and bamboo tubes in the corner.

There were quite a lot of them.

Sora stared at them for a moment.

What a pity.

If they had rice or glutinous rice, she could have made bamboo tube rice.

That would have been delicious.

Unfortunately, the tribe only had wheat.

Without rice or glutinous rice, these bamboo tubes could only go to waste.

Sora shook her head and stopped thinking about it.

Dough Drop Soup was relatively easy to make.

She placed a pot over the stove and waited for the water to boil.

Once it was boiling, she added the tomatoes and ginger slices.

She then prepared the eggs, beating them carefully so they would be ready to add later.

When the water boiled again, she dropped in the dough pieces she had prepared from flour.

Then she added salt and vinegar.

Except there was one problem.

There were no tomatoes growing in the forest.

Fortunately, Sora had discovered a type of red wild fruit that looked very similar.

When cooked, it also had a sour taste.

There was another problem.

There was no vinegar.

Sora could only squeeze the juice from the wild fruit into the soup.

It was sour enough, but compared with real vinegar, it lacked that distinctive fragrance.

Still, the soup was ready.

The others were already accustomed to eating whatever Sora cooked.

In their eyes, everything she made was delicious.

Therefore, they didn’t spend much time praising the food.

They simply picked up their bowls and started eating.

Soon, the Wild Kitchen became quiet.

One bowl after another was emptied.

In the end, all six bowls were licked clean.

Sora was no exception.

She had eaten every last drop.

Ever since she became pregnant, she had found herself particularly fond of sour things.

The stronger the sourness, the more she craved it.

After finishing the Dough Drop Soup, Sora couldn’t help thinking about how the sour flavor hadn’t been fragrant enough.

She suddenly decided that she should make vinegar herself.

Without rice or sorghum, making rice vinegar or sorghum vinegar was impossible.

But there were plenty of wild fruits in the forest.

Fruit vinegar made from those fruits should taste quite good.

With that thought, Sora wandered into the forest.

After searching for a while, she found a large tree covered with bright red wild fruits.

The fruits looked somewhat like apples.

Sora’s eyes immediately lit up.

This should work.

She rubbed her hands together and prepared to climb the tree to pick them.

She even spat lightly on her palms before rubbing them together, ready to get started.

But before she could climb, a magnificent long feather tail suddenly swept past her eyes.

A figure landed lightly on the tree.

A familiar voice came from above.

"Kaelira, don’t move. You must be careful while carrying a little cub. Let me help you pick them."

It was Lucas.

As he spoke, Lucas began picking the bright red wild fruits with his sharp claws.

Sora stared at him.

She couldn’t understand what was going through this man’s mind.

Something that could easily be solved with a pair of hands had somehow turned into an opportunity for him to flutter around with his long tail feathers.

Still, the person in question clearly didn’t think there was anything strange about his behavior.

In his mind, he looked absolutely stunning.

After all, Lucas had not made these preparations without reason.

He wanted to spend a wonderful night with Sora tonight.

So, he had specially dressed himself up.

And he had even prepared a surprise for her.