Chapter 201: A Bigger Home
"The reason Cari got scared the other day was because Nura couldn’t control his magic well yet. But now, it should be fine, right?"
Qiong Xing smiled gently at the eyes looking up at him, trying to reassure him, but Cari shook his head hard and insisted he didn’t like it.
"Well, you don’t have to force yourself to like them. But these two have also lived with loneliness, without family. That’s not the only reason, but... at least allow them to stay nearby."
"...They don’t have a mom?"
Hearing that they, like him, had no family, Cari seemed curious.
"That’s right. She passed away a long time ago. My younger brother caused you trouble, but please... at least allow him to stay nearby."
Raon bowed his head properly and apologized.
Meanwhile, Iseul who is standing beside him only glanced over quietly without saying anything, so Qiong Xing tapped him on the head.
Ignoring the surprised looks from the others, he scolded him.
"He’s asking this for your sake. Don’t you have something to say?"
Even if he acted like a child, he was no longer at an age where he could hide behind a parent and he didn’t even have one.
He had likely been relying on his older brother instead.
But now that he had become Qiong Xing’s mate, that would no longer be allowed.
He had to show gratitude for what was done for him and use words to express his feelings.
"...Okay. Um... about before, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry... I won’t do it again, so will you forgive me?"
"..."
Cari looked over at Qiong Xing as if asking what to do.
Qiong Xing smiled and told him he could decide for himself.
Even if they had become family, everyone still had their own likes and dislikes.
Just because Qiong Xing said so didn’t mean they had to force themselves to get along and pretend to be a happy family.
Iseul being Qiong Xing’s mate wouldn’t change, but even if the two didn’t get along, Qiong Xing wouldn’t come to hate either of them.
"...It’s fine."
"Thank you!"
"Thank you, Cari."
It was not easy to forgive someone who had caused you pain once.
Depending on the situation, there were things people could never forgive for their entire lives.
That was why the fact that Cari could forgive made him both kind and strong.
"But I won’t give you my mama!"
"Yeah, that’s fine. I don’t need mama."
There was clearly some hidden meaning in that reply and it was not just Qiong Xing’s imagination.
Even so, things had been relatively peaceful lately, even if they could not call it perfect.
And then, a simple question came to Qiong Xing’s mind, what exactly did dragons eat?
It seemed that their main "food" was magic power, but when he asked if they could eat other things too, he was told it was fine.
"Then, how about we try eating together today?"
Maybe because they did not need to eat, Iseul and Raon had shown no interest whenever Qiong Xing and the others ate and they would just lie beside them and sleep.
So when Qiong Xing invited them to eat together, they nodded without any real refusal.
"It’s so good!"
"This is delicious."
Everyone was surprised to see the two of them eating so eagerly as if their past indifference had been a lie.
But then they quickly came back to their senses if they didn’t act fast everything would be eaten, so they hurried to secure their own portions.
"It’s so good. I always wondered why everyone looked like they enjoyed eating so much, but this is really amazing!"
"Mama’s food is yummy!"
"Yeah, yeah. It’s really, really good!"
Cari seemed excited and happily agreeing with Iseul as if he were proud that Qiong Xing’s cooking was being praised.
Iseul also nodded repeatedly, saying it was delicious while continuing to eat heartily.
"If you eat like that, you’ll choke. Chew properly. There’s soup too, so drink some."
Today’s meal included miso soup, at Joa’s request.
Qiong Xing had completely forgotten about making it, but he happened to find the ingredients that morning while preparing lunch.
Joa had tilted his head at the unfamiliar smell, so when Qiong Xing explained what miso soup was, Joa asked him to make it.
Joa had already liked onigiri and it seemed he liked miso soup just as much since he going back for many refills.
"This soup is really good too!"
"It’s amazing that you can make something this delicious."
Qiong Xing felt happy seeing his family eat together like this.
"Let’s make it a vacation house!"
"What’s that?"
The two brothers tilted their heads in sync and looking confused.
Qiong Xing smiled at them, then went to call Albe and the others to ask for their help.
"...So, you’re saying we’re going to build a new hideout?"
"If I put it simply, yes. Considering the size of the rooms, it’s impossible for Iseul to live together with all of us, right? But it would be sad to keep living apart forever. So I thought... why not just build a new house that was big enough for the whole family?"
The idea started because Iseul who hated being alone could not endure living apart and tearfully begged to stay together.
He insisted that he wanted to live with them, but in the room Qiong Xing and the others were using, there were already six people living there.
Qiong Xing, Lian, Cari, Leander, Elias, and Mayo.
Because of the bed size and space, it was difficult to accept Iseul there.
There was no way Iseul would agree to stay in a separate room and after thinking it over again and again, Qiong Xing reached a simple conclusion.
If it doesn’t exist, then just build it.
"That sounds fine, but... where would you even build it? It’s not like you can easily find a place like that."
But actually...
"Don’t worry! I know a good place."