Chapter 20: Conditioning A Cat
The food was ready. Lily had cooked, candles were lit, and the two of them now sat at the table in comfortable clothes. She wore a soft gown, while Leo had changed into a simple T-shirt and trousers that looked decent.
Lily looked unusually happy, as if a huge burden had finally been lifted off her shoulders.
She started the conversation.
"So… where's the beast you contracted? From the looks of it, you seem to have had a lot of fun with it before coming home. Hmph! I will forgive you for not telling me first."
She turned her head with an exaggerated expression.
Leo just sighed and summoned Shyra.
The moment Shyra appeared, her eyes locked onto the food placed on the table.
But before she could even drool, a gentle hand curled around her waist and scooped her up.
What followed was an unstoppable onslaught—nuzzling, cuddling and cheek-squishing from Lily.
Hiiisss—!
Shyra made threatening sounds, trying to scare Lily away. She knew Lily wasn't a threat because of her connection with Leo, but this… this had to be stopped!
Gwarrr—Pweeps
Shyra's fierce growls quickly turned into helpless squeaks of pleas as she looked at Leo for help, only to find him watching with an amused, sly smile.
"Leo… What is this?! Why did you keep such a cute thing hidden from me? Aren't you asking for a beating?" Lily snapped, even hissing at him like Shyra.
Leo quickly defended himself, explaining that Shyra needed to stay in the Beast Taming space to recover her strength quickly and stay in good condition.
"What's her name?" Lily asked.
"Shyra."
"Wha—how did you come up with such a good name?" she asked, completely surprised.
"Just… sudden inspiration knocked on my door. But hey, would you like to help me in naming my future beasts?"
Lily just stared at him with a deadpan expression.
"Idiot! Is that even something you need to ask? Of course I will. And don't you dare hide these cuties from me in the future again."
She warned and continued her machinations with Shyra.
"I understand, ma'am!" Leo replied quickly, startled by how fierce her voice had suddenly turned by the end.
They continued eating, but Lily's attention was now entirely on Shyra, feeding her whatever she wanted without a second thought.
Did Lily really forget the bomb she dropped earlier before going to bathe? She acts as if it had been the most natural thing in the world to say…
Suddenly, Lily brought something forward.
"Here, eat this. Master James gave it to help with your internal injuries," she said, handing him a small brown pill.
"This… how did you know I was…" He stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Lily staring daggers at him.
"You…" she said coldly. "If I ever catch you hiding your injuries from me again, trust me, I won't let you off the hook. I will tie you to the bed and keep you grounded until you're completely healed."
What the hell…! Why am I getting yandere vibes from her?!
"And of course, you will be sleeping with me until you have recovered completely," she added, a faint smirk tugging at her lips.
"Wait, wait, wait! What are you even saying?! I am not injured much, and you don't need to—!"
He was cut off as Lily suddenly shot up from her seat. Then, in one swift motion, she grabbed the pill and shoved it into his mouth, forcing him to swallow.
Ding!
Low-grade vitality pill ingested.
+0.8 Vitality
"What were you saying?" Lily asked, her tone dangerously calm, as if she were delivering a death threat. "What don't I need to do?"
Leo swallowed nervously.
That was close…! And what's with this new personality?! Was she always like this? No… wait… now that I think about it, any girl that interacted with me would avoid me like a plague the next day… was it all her doing?! Damn!
_____
Sera's Culinary…
"Lord Zolton, it seems that the restaurant owner was telling the truth. We didn't find any pink-haired girl in the building," Zolton's butler reported to him.
"Tsk. I should ask my father to get rid of that restaurant owner for real this time. Why can't he keep his ass out of my business?" Zolton muttered, clearly annoyed.
When he had first arrived at the restaurant, he had been in an excellent mood. Not only had he awakened, but the Baron had also appointed him as the official heir, granted him an allowance of thirty silver, and even stated that if he continued to improve, his allowance might increase along with greater privileges, perhaps even preferential treatment over his siblings.
The Baron had also given him permission to use force to get whatever he wanted, so long as he didn't offend anyone powerful.
This was precisely the reason he had come to the restaurant.
His plan had been simple—fabricate an offense, claim that Lily had offended and disrespected him in some manner and take her away for punishment. The restaurant owner wouldn't be able to do anything; after all, a commoner had offended a noble, and it was deemed an act worthy of punishment.
"Fuck it… my mood's ruined."
"Have those three dumbasses finished their mission yet? Where are they?" Zolton snapped at his butler, irritation creeping into his voice.
"They haven't returned yet, my lord," the butler replied promptly. "But I am certain they have got rid of that man. After all, dealing with a newly awakened Beast Master, especially one with a common soul, is no different than dealing with a commoner… or, more accurately, an insect." The Butler, Arnold, answered promptly.
The butler, Arnold, was a Low 2-star Great Knight. He hadn't used the term 'insect' before when Zolton hadn't awakened. But now that Zolton had awakened, Arnold was eager to feed his master's ego and perhaps even bag a few coins for himself in the process.
Arnold himself was a Beast Master of considerable potential. He possessed a rare soul and had, by chance, acquired a beast with a super bloodline. And thanks to it, his rise to Great Knight had been relatively swift.
But that quick success intoxicated him.
Driven by confidence, he had tried his luck by venturing out into the wild.
He came across a region sparsely populated with beasts. Seeing this as his opportunity, he used his medallion, which now allowed him to claim up to 20 hectares of land now that he was a Great Knight, and marked the territory as his own.
What he forgot to consider… was why only a few beasts lived there.
And that mistake came back to bite him in his ass the worst way possible.