In the dim stone hut, the beautiful young female tilted her head up, looking earnestly at the tall male beside her.
She parted her lips and asked, "Laxus, can I keep it a secret?"
Seeing his sister's solemn expression, Laxus sighed. "If you don't want to say it, I won't ask. But you must promise me not to put yourself in danger. Don't make our parents and me worry, alright?"
Ophelia nodded. "Don't worry, Brother. I'll be fine."
"Here is fifty pounds of rice. Take it back to the Golden Dragon Clan. Keep half for Mother, and have Father distribute the other half to the expecting and nursing females." The Dragon Clan females were highly fertile; most birthed a litter of Little Beastmen every year, and a rare few could even manage two pregnancies a year, so rice was in exceptionally high demand. The tribe could only thrive if its population grew.
She remembered that during this exact year in her past life, a torrential downpour had struck during the approaching rainy season. The rice crops planted by the Mountain Goat Clan had been completely submerged, leaving them with absolutely nothing to harvest. That was immediately followed by a catastrophic blizzard in the winter. None of the Little Beastmen born that winter survived, and many young females across various tribes froze to death, pushing some clans to the brink of extinction. That was why she needed to subtly condition Laxus and her father into knowing she had access to vast quantities of rice. When winter finally arrived, she could provide massive amounts of food without raising suspicion.
"There are ten pregnant females in the tribe right now, so we are indeed in dire need of rice," Laxus said. Seeing his sister casually produce fifty pounds of rice, he knew she definitely had more stashed away, so he didn't politely decline.
After Laxus left, Tyler walked in carrying roasted meat and rice porridge.
"Princess, it's time to eat." Tyler arranged the food on the stone table, then stepped back to stand respectfully at the side.
"Tyler, don't call me Princess anymore. Call me by my name. Ophelia."
Tyler shook his head nervously. "I don't have the right to speak the Princess's name."
"I am giving you the right. No one else has any say in the matter," she insisted. "Say it right now. Let me hear you."
Tyler's tongue darted out to wet his lips. His brown eyes sparkled like fireworks. "Ophelia."
That single, simple name brought Ophelia's memories of her past life rushing back.
In her previous life, Tyler had been brutally strangled to death by Loki while trying to rescue her from captivity. Right before he died, she had seen his lips move. Though no sound came out, she knew exactly what he was mouthing. It was her name, Ophelia.
That had been the first and last time in her past life that she ever saw him use her name. Even on the brink of death, he hadn't dared to voice it aloud. He had loved her in complete silence!
Her eyes burned with unshed tears. Ophelia wrapped her arms around the male's sturdy waist and buried her face in his chest.
"Prin—Ophelia."
"Just let me hold you, Tyler."
She wanted to embrace the male who had sacrificed everything for her in her past life, and she wanted to hold the man who continued to silently protect her in this one.
Sensing the little female's sorrow, Tyler finally mustered the courage to wrap his arms around her. Her body was so soft and warm. Her sweet scent washed over him, making his blood race and his temperature rise.
Feeling a very distinct shift in his anatomy pressing against her, Ophelia broke into a tearful smile. "Eager little thing, aren't you?"
The melancholic atmosphere instantly vanished.
"I'm going hunting in the forest with you tomorrow," she declared. "You'll protect me, won't you?"
Under the young female's expectant gaze, the male couldn't bring himself to refuse, nor did he want to disappoint her.
Meanwhile, in the Clan Leader's stone hut.
SLAP!
A crisp slap rang out, freezing the air in the room.
Loki clutched his cheek in disbelief. "Father, why did you hit me?"
"I hit you because you're an idiot! You toss aside the Princess of the Golden Dragon Clan for some Fox Clan female who has absolutely nothing to her name. You're just as blind as your mother."
"Father, I don't love Ophelia. If you hadn't forced me, I never would have mated with her. You knew Miche and I were truly in love, yet you tore us apart." At the mention of this, hatred flared in Loki's eyes.
He hated his father, and he hated all the tribesmen who mocked him for riding his mate's coattails. All his personal competence and intelligence had been completely overshadowed the moment he mated with Ophelia, making it seem as though everything he had was solely because of her. He went out hunting and worked tirelessly every single day. Whenever he led a hunting party, he was always the most proactive, charging at the very front of the pack. Yet all his hard work was eclipsed by Ophelia's glittering title as the Princess of the Golden Dragon Clan.
The title of Ophelia, the Golden Dragon Princess, weighed down on him like a massive mountain, suffocating him and stripping away his pride. Only when he was with Miche did he feel like a real man.
Soro asked coldly, "Do you know how much rice Laxus took with him when he left?
"A whole basketful. At least fifty pounds of rice."
"What? Where did she get that much rice?" Loki asked, stunned.
"It certainly wasn't from the Golden Dragon Clan. And I suspect she has a lot more where that came from." Soro's eyes narrowed, a calculating gleam flashing in their depths. "You are going to her place tonight. I don't care what methods you use, but you will coax out of her where she hid the rest of that rice. Ideally, you will make her hand it all over."
His father was telling him to seduce her. Loki felt utterly humiliated, but the prospect of that much rice was undeniably tempting.
Seeing that Loki was still clearly resistant, Soro sneered, "If you aren't willing to do it, there are plenty of others who are.
"Don't forget, you aren't my only son."
Male cubs born in the same litter usually looked very similar. If Ophelia hadn't taken a liking to Loki first, and if he hadn't coaxed her into signing an exclusive mate contract, Soro wouldn't have had to pin all his hopes on this one son.
Loki's heart sank. He gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, Father. I understand."
The moon hung high in the sky. The silver-haired male dragged his heavy footsteps, his emerald eyes brimming with reluctance and humiliation.
Back in the stone hut, Ophelia was just about to fall asleep when she suddenly heard the door open. She slipped the sharply ground Bone Knife out from under her pillow. Through the moonlight, she spotted a tall silhouette stepping inside.
"Who is it?" she demanded.
Loki's gloomy voice rang out. "It's me."
Ophelia's beautiful brows furrowed slightly in the dark. "What are you doing here? Get out."
Loki lit the firewood in the stone hut. By the flickering orange glow, he slowly sat down on the edge of the bed.
In a rare display of gentleness, he softened his voice. "I know I've neglected you lately. I'll stay and keep you company tonight. Let's just put all the unpleasantness from before behind us. Let's live a good life together from now on."
Seeing his hand reaching out toward her, Ophelia sharply sat up.
"Are you out of your mind? What kind of nonsense are you spouting?" she snapped. "Who wants to live a good life with you? I'll say it again: I am severing our mate bond."
Hearing her bring up severing their bond time and time again, Loki's frustration boiled over. "Ophelia," he said harshly, "I will never sever our mate bond."
With that, he reached out to grab the young female again. "Amy is getting older. It's time we gave her a younger sibling."
His emerald eyes gleamed with a predatory green light in the dim darkness. Looking at the exquisite face before him, his entire body began to burn with heat.