Chapter 227: The Fox Confession

Sora was somewhat surprised to see Nick Wilde again.

Ever since Martin had fallen ill, she hadn’t seen Nick Wilde for a long time. It was almost as if he had disappeared completely from the Tribe.

At one point, Sora had even wondered whether he had already left the Wolf Tribe.

However, after seeing Mark behaving normally, she felt that perhaps she had simply been overthinking things. Nick Wilde might have merely been busy with his own affairs.

Suddenly, her hand was pulled.

Sora turned around in surprise.

"Do you need something?"

Recently, Nick Wilde had been cultivating diligently day and night because he wanted to break through his Beast Rank as quickly as possible.

Even when thoughts of Sora appeared in his mind, he would force himself to suppress them and continue cultivating.

He hadn’t seen Sora for a very long time.

He remembered it clearly.

Up until today, fifteen sunsets and sixteen moonrises had passed since the last time he had seen her.

Now that he was finally standing before her again, he couldn’t take his eyes away.

She was still as beautiful as he remembered.

Her lower abdomen had become slightly rounded because of the little cub growing inside her, although the curve wasn’t very obvious yet.

Her eyes seemed even larger than before, and her nose looked more delicate and defined.

The more Nick Wilde looked at her, the more his heart raced.

He almost felt as though he might get a nosebleed.

He had heard from Mark that Sora had now become the Leader of a Tribe.

His sweetheart was truly amazing.

It had only been a short time since they last met, yet she had already reached another stage in her life.

Fortunately, he wasn’t too late.

The Heavenly God seemed to have blessed him.

That very morning, he had successfully broken through his Beast Rank.

He was now a Rank Five White Tiger.

The moment his breakthrough was complete, he immediately came looking for Sora.

Now that he was finally standing in front of the Female he had been thinking about day and night, his heart was filled with excitement.

Nick Wilde swallowed hard.

Then he carefully reached into his robe and pulled out a beautifully polished bone hairpin.

He placed it directly into Sora’s hand.

"This is a bone hairpin I made using the latest Fire Brilliance Technique."

His expression was filled with pride.

"I hope you like it."

Sora stared at the hairpin.

"Ah?"

She was slightly confused.

Why was Nick Wilde suddenly giving her something?

She hesitated before looking at him.

"You’re doing this..."

Nick Wilde was completely immersed in his own emotions.

He didn’t notice the confusion in Sora’s eyes at all.

Instead, he looked at her with a silly, happy grin.

"Kaelira, I’m now a Rank Five Red Fox."

Sora nodded calmly.

"Then congratulations. That’s very impressive."

Hearing his sweetheart praise him, Nick Wilde’s entire face lit up.

He cleared his throat.

He was just about to say something when Sora added another sentence.

"But what does that have to do with the bone hairpin?"

Nick Wilde froze.

Why was she asking that?

Wasn’t it obvious?

He had broken through to Rank Five and immediately made a gift for her.

He had even used something precious to create it.

How could she still not understand?

Nick Wilde stared at her in surprise.

"Do you really not understand my feelings?"

Sora:

"..."

He hadn’t even said anything.

How was she supposed to understand his feelings?

Sora was about to answer when her gaze fell on the ivory-white bone hairpin.

It had been polished until it was incredibly smooth.

She then glanced at Nick Wilde from the corner of her eye.

His expression was filled with expectation.

Suddenly, she remembered seeing a similar expression on Lucas’s face earlier.

That was exactly how Lucas had looked when he had given her the iron ore.

Sora’s eyes widened slightly.

Could it be...?

No way.

Was Nick Wilde actually interested in her?

Hadn’t he been frightened away by her appearance the last time?

What was this situation now?

Sora genuinely couldn’t understand him.

Sure enough, before she could figure everything out, Nick Wilde naturally said the words she had been expecting.

"I like you, Kaelira."

His voice was sincere.

"Can I form a Contract Totem with you?"

He pointed toward the bone hairpin.

"This bone hairpin was made from one of my own Red Fox ribs. I used the Fire Brilliance Technique to grind and polish it carefully."

His eyes were filled with affection.

"It can protect you in your daily life. It’s also a token of my heart."

"A... rib?"

Sora stared at him.

She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

He had actually used his own rib to make a hairpin?

Didn’t that hurt?

Just to make a hairpin, he had taken out part of his own body.

Sora couldn’t understand his thinking.

The System’s voice sounded at the perfect moment.

"Host, Red fox ribs possess special significance. Red fox are regarded as masters of heaven and earth, and their bones naturally possess spirituality. Ordinary people who obtain one can avoid disasters."

Sora listened carefully.

Although she now understood that the bone hairpin was extremely valuable, she still couldn’t help asking:

"Wouldn’t it hurt to lose a rib?"

"Don’t worry, Host. This rib came from the skeletal structure that naturally fell away when Nick Wilde’s body was reshaped during his Beast Rank breakthrough. It doesn’t have a significant effect on him."

Sora finally relaxed.

That made much more sense.

Otherwise, she would have thought Nick Wilde had completely lost his mind.

While Sora was communicating with the System, several figures hiding in the nearby grass were watching the entire scene.

Their expressions were becoming increasingly ugly.

Ace clenched his teeth.

"This Nick Wilde looks so honest, but he’s actually quite calculating. He even gave her his own rib!"

Lucas also looked extremely displeased.

"Hmph. Red fox ribs are normally only given to their own Females. He’s clearly planned this carefully."

He glanced at the stone he had previously given Sora.

"How can a rib possibly be better than my stone?"

To Lucas, his gift had a beautiful meaning.

Two stones attracted each other.

"You are in me, and I am in you."

What could possibly be more romantic than that?

Ace was still staring at Nick Wilde.

"I was wondering why we hadn’t seen this guy for so long."

He crossed his arms.

"I thought he had finally been scared away after what happened last time. Who would have thought he had secretly gone off to break through his Beast Rank?"

Lucas’s expression remained gloomy.

"I wonder if Kaelira will agree."

Lukan shook his head confidently.

"She won’t. I believe she’ll refuse."

Xavier glanced sideways at Damien.

"That’s not certain. Didn’t what happened last time also end without any movement?"

His words were clearly aimed at Damien.

Ryan spoke up.

"I believe in Kaelira too."

He paused before continuing.

"Nick Wilde is good-looking, but Kaelira doesn’t simply accept anyone because of their appearance. If she had such intentions, she would have agreed long ago. She has already refused him several times."

Damien chuckled after hearing this.

"Is that so?"

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"You trust her that much?"

"What if she’s simply playing hard to get?"

"Impossible."

Ryan immediately rejected the idea.

"She isn’t that kind of person."

Damien’s expression became thoughtful.

"Maybe."

He looked toward Sora and Nick Wilde.

"But first, she sought out Drake. Now Nick Wilde has come looking for her."

He gave a faint smile.

"Her admirers certainly seem to be increasing."

Damien’s gaze deepened.

"I’m curious what choice she’ll make."

This Little Female of theirs seemed to be more popular than any of them had expected.

Meanwhile, Sora had absolutely no idea what was happening behind her.

After hearing the System’s explanation and realizing how precious the bone hairpin was, she felt even more strongly that she couldn’t accept it.

Accepting such a precious gift would essentially be accepting another Beast Husband.

And she didn’t like Nick Wilde in that way.

She already had five Beast Husbands.

And then there was Damien, whose situation remained unresolved.

That was already more than enough to keep her busy.

She was working incredibly hard just to keep everything balanced.

She really didn’t need another complication.

Sora pushed the bone hairpin back toward Nick Wilde.

"This bone hairpin is too precious. You should give it to someone else. I don’t need it."

Nick Wilde looked at the returned hairpin.

He shook his head.

"There’s nothing precious or not precious about it. It’s just a hairpin."

He pushed it back toward her.

"Kaelira, please accept it."

Sora stared at him helplessly.

A hairpin made from your own rib was "just a hairpin"?

If she had pulled out one of her own ribs to make something, she would probably be heartbroken.

"Nick Wilde, this is made from your own rib. It’s not appropriate for me to take it."

She paused before speaking more directly.

"You and I aren’t really a match."

Nick Wilde’s expression changed slightly.

Sora continued gently.

"You can look for another excellent Female. There may be someone more suitable for you."

"No."

Nick Wilde immediately shook his head.

"I think you’re very suitable."

He pushed the bone hairpin back toward her again.

Sora pushed it back.

"I still don’t think we’re suitable."

"Why not?"

Nick Wilde looked genuinely confused.

He didn’t understand.

"I am already a Rank Five Red Fox. I can protect you."

His voice became more earnest.

"I’m not inferior to your other Beast Husbands."

He began listing everything he could offer.

"I’m tall. My features are handsome. I’m strong. I can hunt. I can build houses."

He looked at her seriously.

"If there’s something about me that you don’t like, I can change."

Before Sora could finish answering, Nick Wilde had already interrupted her.

He wasn’t willing to give up.

He had waited fifteen sunsets and sixteen moonrises to see her again.

He had broken through his Beast Rank.

He had even given her a precious Red Fox rib as a token of his feelings.

How could he possibly turn around and leave simply because she rejected him?

Sora stared at him silently.

For the first time, she realized that Nick Wilde was far more persistent than she had imagined.

And somewhere behind the bushes, the five Beast Husbands were staring at the scene with increasingly dark expressions.

None of them knew that Nick Wilde’s confession was only the beginning of another headache for Sora.