Chapter 233: The Secrete Behind The Shameless Black Bare

Hearing this, the Black Bear Beastman lowered his eyes, knelt on one knee, and respectfully bowed his head.

"Your subordinate is incompetent. I failed to find the Black Bear Foster Mother."

"You didn’t find her?"

Damien’s previously relaxed expression disappeared in an instant.

His eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared at the man kneeling before him.

"Then what did you come here for? Didn’t I tell you that if you couldn’t find her, you shouldn’t bother showing your face?"

As his voice fell, a powerful gust of wind suddenly formed around his palm and swept toward the Black Bear Beastman.

The man immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

He had known the Young Master for long enough to understand that when Damien looked this calm, it usually meant someone was about to suffer.

The Black Bear Beastman hurriedly raised his hands.

"Wait! Young Master, wait! I have other news!"

The wind stopped only inches from his face.

Damien casually waved his hand, dispersing the attack.

He glanced down at the trembling Beastman before him.

"Then I’ll give you one more chance."

He lazily plucked a piece of foxtail grass and placed it between his lips, his expression once again becoming indifferent.

"Speak. What have you found?"

The Black Bear Beastman immediately straightened.

"I investigated the matter concerning the Black Bear person you encountered on the road. I discovered that he is actually the son of the Madam’s Black Bear Foster Mother."

"Her son?"

Damien slowly rolled the foxtail grass between his fingers.

A strange amusement appeared in his eyes.

"So they’re siblings?"

The Black Bear Beastman nodded.

"Yes, Young Master."

"And that Black Bear Foster Mother wanted those two to form a contract totem?"

The more Damien thought about it, the stranger the matter seemed.

So this supposed Foster Mother wasn’t necessarily as kind toward Sora as she appeared.

From what he had heard, it sounded more like she had taken in a young girl and raised her with the intention of eventually making her the contract partner of her own son.

In other words, she had been raising a potential bride for her son.

A cold glint flashed through Damien’s eyes.

The Black Bear Beastman hurriedly shook his head.

"Young Master, there is one misunderstanding."

"What?"

"That Black Bear isn’t the older brother. He’s the younger brother."

The man’s voice became quieter.

"That Black Bear is actually younger than you."

The air around them suddenly became still.

Damien slowly lifted his eyes.

His gaze was so cold that the Black Bear Beastman immediately shrank his neck.

"You think you’ve lived too long?"

"Young Master, I wouldn’t dare!"

The Beastman lowered his head even further.

He had merely reported the information he had uncovered.

Why did he suddenly feel as though he had stepped on the Young Master’s tail?

Damien gave a cold snort.

"So what if it’s a sister-brother romance?"

He casually leaned against the tree behind him.

"He’s nothing but a useless fellow who nearly died on the road. If I hadn’t picked him up, he would have died even sooner."

The Black Bear Beastman secretly rubbed his nose.

He didn’t dare say what he was thinking.

The Young Master hadn’t exactly rescued that man because of kindness.

He had simply been bored.

After having a confrontation with the Lord, the Young Master had run away from home. By coincidence, the place that unfortunate Black Bear was heading toward happened to be the same place where the Heavenly God had said the destined Female would appear.

So the Young Master had simply taken over the man’s identity.

That was how the entire matter had started.

But now...

A younger brother?

The more Damien thought about it, the more irritated he became.

So what if the other man was younger?

How could a young Black Bear possibly compare with a mature and experienced man?

He was nothing more than an immature bear who still had plenty to learn.

Damien rolled the foxtail grass between his fingers again.

After a moment, he casually asked,

"How many years younger?"

The Black Bear Beastman hesitated.

"Five years."

"Five?"

Damien’s fingers stopped.

His expression darkened slightly.

Five years.

That meant the man’s age was noticeably closer to Kaelira’s age than his own.

He frowned.

For some reason, that fact irritated him far more than it should have.

The Black Bear Beastman carefully watched his expression.

He suddenly had a terrible feeling about what was coming next.

After a long silence, Damien finally spoke.

"Change my age."

The Beastman blinked.

"What?"

"Change my age."

"Young Master... what exactly do you mean?"

Damien gave him a cold look.

"What do you think I mean?"

The Black Bear Beastman immediately lowered his head and began thinking furiously.

The Young Master wanted to change his age.

But whose age?

After a few seconds, realization dawned.

"Oh!"

He suddenly looked enlightened.

"I understand!"

He quickly said, "I’ll go to White Bear Mountain immediately and find a way to change the age of the Black Bear Foster Mother’s son so that he matches your age."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Damien’s expression became darker.

"Do you think changing someone else’s age is normal?"

The Black Bear Beastman froze.

"...No."

"Then why would I want that?"

The Beastman swallowed.

He didn’t dare answer.

Of course, he understood what the Young Master meant.

But the Young Master was clearly unwilling to admit that he was jealous.

The Black Bear Foster Mother’s son was five years younger than him.

So instead of making the other man older...

The Young Master wanted to make himself younger.

The Beastman secretly wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He didn’t dare suggest that the Young Master simply behave like a mature adult and accept the difference.

That would probably get him killed.

Since the Young Master refused to compromise, someone else would simply have to compromise for him.

Finally, Damien spoke.

"Change mine."

The Beastman blinked again.

"Yours?"

"From now on, my age is eighteen."

The Black Bear Beastman’s mouth fell open.

"Eighteen?"

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Could this really be done?

More importantly...

Wasn’t the Young Master being a little shameless?

An old cucumber pretending to be a fresh vegetable.

Would the Madam really believe him?

And even if she did, wouldn’t she eventually discover the truth?

Seeing the Beastman’s complicated expression, Damien narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

The Beastman immediately shook his head.

"Nothing!"

"Do I look old?"

"No!"

The answer came so quickly that it was almost comical.

The Beastman hurriedly continued,

"Young Master, you’re suave, elegant, and handsome. How could you possibly look old?"

He paused.

"Forget eighteen. You could easily pass for sixteen."

Damien’s eyebrows twitched.

"Sixteen is unnecessary."

He looked disgusted by the suggestion.

"That’s too young."

He touched his chin thoughtfully.

"At sixteen, the hair wouldn’t even be fully grown."

The Black Bear Beastman nearly choked.

"Then eighteen?"

"Yes."

Damien nodded with satisfaction.

"Eighteen is just right."

"Yes, yes. Eighteen is perfect."

The Beastman wiped the sweat from his forehead again.

The Young Master was terrifying.

But when it came to matters involving the Madam, he became even more unreasonable.

Damien seemed satisfied with the arrangement.

He turned his attention back to the matter at hand.

"And the letter?"

The Black Bear Beastman immediately became serious.

"Did you handle it?"

"Don’t worry, Young Master. Everything has already been arranged."

The Beastman lowered his voice.

"Although we haven’t been able to locate the Madam’s real Black Bear Foster Mother, we have confirmed that she isn’t dead."

Damien’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"There is still news of her?"

"Yes."

The Beastman nodded.

"Someone has heard information about her, but her exact location remains unclear. Because of that, I already ordered someone to find a female Black Bear of approximately the same age within the Black Bear Tribe."

He paused.

"She will temporarily take her place."

Damien nodded slowly.

"That way, if the Madam wants to send letters to her Foster Mother, there will be someone who can receive them and respond."

"Exactly."

The Beastman looked relieved.

"All the Black Bear Tribes use essentially the same written script, regardless of which branch they belong to. The substitute will be able to imitate the Foster Mother’s manner of writing closely enough."

A faint smile appeared on Damien’s lips.

"Good."

He had personally forged the first letter.

For someone like him, imitating the writing style of the Black Bear Tribe wasn’t difficult.

The real problem had been finding the woman.

He had initially thought the matter would be simple.

It wasn’t.

The Black Bear Foster Mother had disappeared too thoroughly.

Even after searching through several branches of the tribe, there had been no definite information about her whereabouts.

Fortunately, there was still no evidence that she had died.

That meant the plan could continue.

"Young Master, you really are prepared for everything."

The Black Bear Beastman sighed inwardly.

He couldn’t understand why the Young Master was going to such lengths.

If the Madam discovered the truth, the consequences would be terrifying.

But looking at Damien’s calm expression, the Beastman knew that trying to persuade him was useless.

Once this man made up his mind, nobody could change it.

Damien slowly stood.

"Make sure there are no mistakes."

"Yes, Young Master."

"And the substitute?"

"She already knows what she needs to do."

"Good."

Damien glanced toward the distant forest.

His expression became thoughtful.

He had originally believed that finding the Black Bear Foster Mother would be enough.

Now, however, another obstacle had appeared.

A younger male.

A supposed younger brother.

A potential contract partner.

And, most importantly, someone who could possibly become a rival for Kaelira’s attention.

The thought alone made Damien feel inexplicably irritated.

He suddenly remembered Sora’s face.

That clever expression.

That stubborn little temper.

The way she always seemed to attract trouble without realizing it.

And now she had become the Leader of an entire Tribe.

The more he thought about it, the deeper his gaze became.

The Beastman carefully observed him.

"Young Master?"

"What?"

"Is there anything else?"

Damien was silent for a moment.

Then he casually tossed away the foxtail grass.

"No."

The Beastman nodded.

"Then I’ll go make the arrangements."

"Wait."

The man stopped immediately.

Damien looked at him.

"From now on, don’t call me Young Master when you’re around her."

The Beastman stared.

"Then what should I call you?"

Damien answered without hesitation.

"Just call me by my name."

"Your name?"

"Yes."

The Beastman suddenly understood.

The Young Master really intended to make the identity change convincing.

He quickly bowed.

"Understood."

Damien turned away, his expression once again becoming calm.

But inside, his thoughts were anything but calm.

Eighteen.

From now on, he was eighteen.

And if anyone dared to mention that he was actually older, they would have to answer to him first.

Especially that younger Black Bear.

A faint, dangerous smile appeared on Damien’s lips.

Five years younger?

So what?

He would simply become eighteen.

After all, numbers were only numbers.

What mattered was who could actually stand beside Sora.

And Damien had no intention of giving that position to anyone else.