Amy's slender brows lifted slightly as she was gradually won over by Miche's reasoning.
"Alright then, I'll go ask my mother for a Crystal Stone."
"Mhm, good girl." Seeing her scheme succeed, the smile on Miche's lips deepened.
Loki simply pursed his lips, not voicing any objections.
Inside the stone house, Ophelia and Tyler were eating dinner. The flickering orange firelight cast a cozy, intimate atmosphere over the room.
"I can't finish all this rice. Help me eat some."
Seeing Tyler only eating roasted meat, Ophelia frowned slightly. She scooped half of the white rice from her bowl and placed it onto his stone plate.
"Princess, males don't have the right to eat white rice." Disapproval filled Tyler's eyes.
Ophelia feigned anger, a playful glint in her sapphire-blue eyes. "What did you call me? I let it slide during the day, but you're still calling me that now. Do you not like me anymore?"
Seeing her anger, Tyler abruptly stood up, shaking his head repeatedly. "Princess—no, Ophelia, I don't."
The little female lightly bit her bamboo chopsticks with her pearly white teeth, her eyes sparkling with teasing amusement. "You don't what...?"
The male instinctively avoided the radiant gleam in her eyes. He lowered his head, exposing his flushed ears instead.
"I-I don't dislike you."
"Oh, so if you don't dislike me, that means you like me."
Tyler grew even more flustered, accidentally knocking over the stone plate holding the half-portion of white rice on the table.
"I, I..." he stammered, feeling his cheeks burn.
The shyer he acted, the more Ophelia wanted to tease him.
"Mother, Mother!" Right at that moment, a little "cannonball" dashed into the house.
She stood on her tiptoes and sniffed. "Mother, you're eating white rice! I want some too."
"If you want to eat, have your father make some for you. I don't have any extra here."
"But you're my mother! Why won't you let me eat?" Rejected, Amy pouted and stomped her foot.
"Spit it out. What do you want this time?" Ophelia certainly didn't believe her ungrateful daughter actually missed her "useless mother."
"Mother, I haven't had fruit in ten days. I want to eat some fruit."
"If you want fruit, go find your father. You shouldn't be coming to me. After all, you hate me the most, don't you? If you despise me so much, why would you eat the fruit I give you?"
Amy opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.
She lowered her head, twiddling her fingers. "Miche said you're my mother, so no matter what I say or do, you'll forgive me.
"You should treat me well unconditionally. Now that I want fruit, you have to give it to me.
"If you don't want to get it, then give me an Orange Crystal Stone, and I'll go trade for it at the market myself."
Amy grew more confident as she spoke, stretching out her hand expectantly.
Ophelia chuckled. The girl was truly arrogant—demanding an Orange Crystal Stone right off the bat. What nerve.
Amy was still young and had no real concept of Crystal Stones, so this idea had to have been instigated by either Loki or Miche. Given his pride, Loki probably wouldn't ask for it directly. That left Miche.
Ophelia remembered that in her previous life, as soon as Loki ascended to the position of Snow Wolf Clan Leader, the first thing he did was send a team of clansmen to the rainforest to gather fruit for Miche. He indulged her every whim without limit, exhausting the entire tribe's resources just to keep her happy. Therefore, Miche—this little female who appeared as pure and noble as a white lotus—was actually incredibly greedy, delighting in extravagance and luxury.
Tyler frowned slightly, a bit displeased with the young cub's attitude.
"Hey, hurry up and give me the Orange Crystal Stone! I know you got a lot of Crystal Stones at the market today. Don't try to trick me." Amy's bravado was waning, but she forced herself to act arrogant and domineering.
"Give up. I'm not giving you a Crystal Stone. From the moment you made a wish at the Wishing Pond for Miche to be your mother, my obligations to you ended.
"You are no longer my daughter, and don't even think about getting anything from me ever again."
This time, Ophelia's words were blunt and utterly merciless.
Sensing her mother's firm stance, Amy panicked a little. She reached out to grab Ophelia's hand but froze in place, pinned by the older female's frosty gaze.
Crystal tears slipped down the young cub's delicate face. Eyes red, Amy turned and bolted out of the stone house.
The next morning.
Ophelia woke up early and got ready. She enlisted five males from the Snow Wolf Clan to help Tyler transport the three hundred catches of prey back to the Golden Dragon Clan.
As compensation, she gave each Snow Wolf Clan male a bag of rice—an incredibly generous reward.
Farm Space: Level 3, Area: 200 square meters.
Points: 0
Warehouse: Level 2, Capacity: 500 catties, Current Storage: 195 catties of rice.
The group of seven left the Snow Wolf Clan in a grand procession with the three hundred catches of prey. Such a massive undertaking caused quite a stir.
By the time the Snow Wolf Clan Leader, Soro, rushed over, all he saw were the backsides of the neatly arranged prey receding into the distance.
He beckoned to a male beside him and whispered, "Follow them. See where they're taking the prey."
The male took the order and quietly trailed after them.
The Snow Wolf Clan wasn't far from the Golden Dragon Clan—only a two-hour journey away.
Laxus had been somewhat confused when he heard his clansmen's reports. However, when he saw the mountain of prey piled at the tribe's entrance with his own eyes, his jaw practically dropped.
"W-Where did this come from? You didn't do anything bad, did you?"
Ophelia shot him a reproachful look. "Laxus."
"I traded rice for this at the market. I can't finish it all by myself, so I thought I'd bring it back to the Golden Dragon Clan. I can't believe you would think of me like that.
"Hmph, since you don't appreciate it, Tyler, let's take the prey back to the Snow Wolf Clan!"
Seeing his sister get angry, Laxus hurriedly put an arm around her and coaxed her with a smile. "I misspoke. Don't be mad at me.
"Mother has been looking forward to your return. If you just leave like this, Father is going to lecture me again."
"Alright, fine." Ophelia waved her hand, letting her goofy brother off the hook.
"Distribute these catches to the tribesmen. But I still need the animal skins—I want to take them back once they're tanned."
"Tanning hides isn't something that can be done in two or three days. If you need them, I'll have the tribesmen give you already tanned hides as payment for gifting them the prey."
Ophelia hadn't expected that to be an option. Her face lit up with joy. "That works perfectly."
"Alright, I'll have them start preparing the hides now so you can take them when you leave. For now, let me accompany you to see Mother."
"Mhm."
Tyler, who had been conversing with a Golden Dragon Clan male, quickly wrapped up his conversation when he saw Ophelia getting ready to leave.
"There's no rush," Ophelia said. "We won't head back to the Snow Wolf Clan until tonight. Tyler, go see your family and friends. The Golden Dragon Clan is very safe; you don't need to stay by my side."
Tyler lowered his eyes. "Okay."
After the two siblings left, the Golden Dragon Clan male who had just been speaking with Tyler walked over.
He nudged Tyler with his elbow. "Does the Princess still hate you this much? She's constantly trying to send you away."