Chapter 50: She Kind of Dislikes Auntie Miche Now

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: She Kind of Dislikes Auntie Miche Now

Ali’s mother had died in childbirth, meaning Ali had never met her. She had never experienced a mother’s love. Although her brother doted on her in every possible way, it could not fill the void of maternal affection in her heart.

That was until she met Ophelia. When Ali was sick, Ophelia would stay up all night caring for her, doing everything she could to cure her. For the first time, Ali felt familial love from someone other than her brother. Whenever Ali complained that the ginger soup tasted awful, Ophelia would make brown sugar from sugarcane just to sweeten it and take away the bitterness.

To Ali, Ophelia felt like a friend, an older sister, and even a mother. Though she always called Ophelia "sister," in her heart, she had long regarded her as a maternal figure. She loved and respected her, and she would not allow anyone to bully her—not even Ophelia’s own biological daughter.

"I’m sorry. I was just too anxious and spoke out of turn." Seeing that everyone was defending Ophelia and no one cared whether Amy lived or died, Loki panicked. He was terrified that Ophelia truly would leave Amy to her fate, so he had no choice but to soften his tone and apologize.

"No matter how pretty your words are, I still won’t save her," Ophelia said coldly, turning on her heel and walking away.

Tyler remained where he was, a piercing chill radiating from his eyes.

Seeing Ophelia leave so decisively, Amy felt as though a hole had been carved out of her heart. Terrified, she screamed, sobbing uncontrollably. The birds resting in the woods were startled by her cries and took flight. Heartbroken for his daughter, Loki could only hold her tight and leave in dejected defeat.

The mountain path was treacherous in the rain, especially in the dead of night. The downpour had washed the trail into a slippery, muddy mess. Loki carried Amy and moved forward carefully, his night-vision eyes locked onto the ground, terrified of slipping. To make matters worse, the lotus leaf he had used as an umbrella on the way here had been crushed during the argument and was completely ruined.

After Loki left, Ophelia stayed in her room and did not come out.

In the kitchen, Grayson was alone, brewing herbal medicine. Laxus couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy when he remembered how Amy had cried until her voice was hoarse and her face flushed red. He asked Grayson to give him three pre-packaged bundles of herbal medicine.

At the end of the day, Grayson was a clan doctor. Even though he knew Ophelia would disapprove, he simply couldn’t bring himself to let someone die without offering help. Moreover, it was the Young Clan Leader who was asking for the medicine. Grayson figured he could just pretend he knew nothing about it.

Meanwhile, as Loki continued trudging through the rain, a deep, masculine voice called out from behind him.

"Wait."

Loki turned around to see Laxus. The other man had chased after him in the downpour, clutching several small Beast Skin Bags to his chest.

"I’ve already left with Amy. What more do you want?" Loki snapped, offering no courtesy to the man who had refused to save his daughter. Since he was cruel enough to abandon his own kin, did he chase after them just to play the good guy now?

Laxus pulled the small Beast Skin Bags from his chest. "These are three doses of herbal medicine I had the clan doctor prepare for Amy. When you get back, boil one bag and divide it into three portions for her to drink. Once she finishes them all, she’ll recover."

"Will this actually work? Are you really that kind-hearted?" Loki sniffed the Beast Skin Bags, catching a waft of bitter fragrance.

"Of course it works. The members of the Golden Dragon Clan have all been cured by drinking this," Laxus said, rolling his eyes in exasperation at Loki’s distrust.

"I understand."

Hearing that Uncle Laxus had braved the rain to bring her medicine, Amy felt a warmth bloom in her heart.

"Thank you, Uncle Laxus," she said gratefully, struggling to lift her eyelids to look at him.

Laxus acted as if he hadn’t heard her. Staring intently at Loki, he said sternly, "From now on, you are forbidden from appearing before Ophelia."

He hadn’t come to deliver the medicine out of love for this little female cub who refused to acknowledge her biological mother. He simply didn’t want his sister’s flesh and blood to die in vain. He was afraid that one day Ophelia might regret it, and in the end, it would be his sister who suffered the heartache.

Upon returning to the tribe, Loki changed Amy into dry clothes and laid her on her stone bed. He planned to coax her to sleep before boiling the herbal medicine.

Suddenly, Galen came rushing over in a panic. "Loki, you’re finally back!"

"What’s wrong?"

"Miche has a fever," Galen said rapidly, his face etched with anxiety.

"What!" Loki leaped up from the edge of the bed in a rush. His mind buzzed as if a bomb had gone off, echoing only with the news that Miche was running a fever. The need to brew medicine for Amy was instantly tossed to the back of his mind.

All he could think about was seeing Miche. He had finally managed to break his mate bond with Ophelia; he couldn’t afford to lose Miche now.

"Father," Amy called out weakly, watching Loki’s retreating back.

Loki had just reached the door when Amy’s voice pulled him back, reminding him of his sick daughter lying in bed. For a moment, he hesitated. Amy needed him right now, but his beloved was also sick. He...

"Loki, Miche has been calling your name. What are you standing around for?" Galen frowned in displeasure.

"Amy, go to sleep by yourself for now. Father will be right back." After tossing out those words, Loki sprinted toward Miche’s stone house without looking back.

Watching helplessly as her father chose Aunt Miche over her, Amy felt an unspeakable sense of grievance. She knew her father liked Aunt Miche, and she liked Aunt Miche a lot, too. But right now, she was sick and desperately wanted her father by her side. Aunt Miche already had her brothers to take care of her, so why did she have to steal her father away?

Crystal-clear teardrops slipped from her eyes. She didn’t like Aunt Miche very much anymore.

In that moment, she suddenly missed Ophelia terribly. She missed her biological mother.

Meanwhile, Loki had rushed to Miche’s home as quickly as he could.

Miche was lying in bed, wrapped tightly in layers of furs. Her delicate cheeks were only slightly flushed, making it obvious that her illness wasn’t nearly as severe as Galen had claimed; it was merely a low-grade fever.

Loki stepped up to her bedside and gently stroked her hair, his heart aching. "Miche, how are you? Are you alright?"

Tears streamed down Miche’s face. Her lips were pale as she sobbed, "Loki, I feel terrible. I feel like my whole body is on fire. Am... am I going to die?

"Loki, I don’t want to die! I can’t bear to leave you."

Miche made sure to cry until her eyes were bloodshot, her whole body trembling in fear.

Her fear, however, was genuine. At the moment, any sick member of the Snow Wolf Clan faced the risk of being driven out—especially those close to Loki.

Ever since Loki had proposed exiling sick clan members from the tribe, everyone had been watching him closely. They wanted to see if it was just easy for him to say when it wasn’t his problem. One by one, they were eagerly waiting to see if he would cast out his own family to set an example.

Her intimate relationship with Loki was obvious to everyone in the clan, which was why she was utterly terrified of being thrown out. The only reason she had maintained this ambiguous affair with Loki—and even pretended to be gentle and loving toward his daughter, Amy—was because of his status within the clan.

She couldn’t be driven out. She absolutely could not die!