Chapter 438: The First Night
Girls...
All she had ever been told before were words like "beastman" or "slaves," accompanied by contempt and disgust.
At those unfamiliar words, tears spilled from her eyes once again.
"Don’t cry so much. You’ll be in trouble tomorrow. Here, drink a little water."
The water given to replenish what she had cried out cooled her throat, which had grown hot from crying.
"Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to my daughter as well. So rest well today and recover your strength."
Tasha thought she had heard something before about a daughter.
A bath, warm food, a warm bed.
Her exhausted body that was worn out from crying naturally began to drift into sleep.
"Please take care of us from tomorrow, Kira and Tasha."
At that gentle voice that seemed to lull her into sleep, she thought that if this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up, as she closed her eyes.
After putting the two of them to bed and returning to the room, Qiong Xing caught Leander as he came in holding Hui.
"You’re late."
"She ended up crying again. Her eyes will probably be swollen tomorrow."
"You’re being too attentive. You don’t need to go that far."
Leander who leaned in as if saying he should be the only one Qiong Xing paid attention to was apologized to before Qiong Xing sat down on the bed.
But without warning, Leander pulled his waist in and placed him onto his lap.
"True, those girls’ master is Ars, but he’s still a child. He probably doesn’t know how to treat them properly yet, right?"
The way beastman were treated that Qiong Xing had always seen before did not apply in this house where they now lived.
Ars was capable, but even so, something he had never done before could not be done simply because he was told to do it.
"That’s true, but..."
"Ars was the one who decided to buy them. But... I was also the one who pushed him toward that decision. If that’s the case, then I need to help him too."
"I get it."
Leander said that reluctantly, but still nodded, and Qiong Xing thanked him.
"But make sure you do something about the older sister. From what I saw earlier, she seemed quiet, but she wasn’t like that at first, right?"
How did he know that?
It was true that her attitude at their first meeting had not been good.
"Who told you that?"
"That kid Ars."
Since when?
Qiong Xing was surprised that Ars had gone out of his way to talk to Leander about it.
"I don’t really like that kid, but I know he cares about you. He said he might not be able to do anything because he’s just a kid, but if that woman ever does anything to you, tell him."
"That child again..."
Qiong Xing did not think he needed to worry so much.
He wanted him to grow up healthy, but there was no need for him to try so hard to become an adult so quickly.
Qiong Xing was already an adult.
It was not that he would not get hurt, but he could brush things off when needed.
More importantly, the girl’s attitude was a form of self-defense for her sister.
Rather than being simply defiant, she was strong, and at the same time, fragile.
"She was crying, wasn’t she? That’s probably how she kept her heart together. Both her own heart, and her little sister’s as well."
No matter how gently Qiong Xing treated her, or even if he told her he was her master, she could have rejected him.
She could have shoved away a human like him and said she would never trust humans.
But she did not.
Iseul had been the same, hadn’t he?
Well, in his case, Raon had been a bit of a problem.
Raon had not been able to restrain Iseul, who lived freely as he pleased, but Qiong Xing knew he had still cared for him deeply as his last family.
Their personalities were different, so they might not be comparable, but it was certain that they had all lacked emotional room and had been constantly on guard.
"I don’t think their distrust toward humans will disappear. I have no right to ask them to forgive what humans have done. But I want them to know that there are also people like us."
"...Aren’t they that kid’s slaves?"
"Do you really think that?"
"..."
Above all, the beastman seemed to hate the word "slave."
"From the moment they came here, from the moment Ars bought them, they stopped being slaves and became companions."
Qiong Xing had not yet told them directly, but he had already conveyed that through his attitude.
Whether they accepted it or not would be decided when the time came, and if not, he would think of another way.
"Tomorrow, I’ll properly introduce Hui and you as well."
He wanted them to understand what Leander, also a beastman, meant to the people living here, and what beastman represented to the children in this house.
Even if they would not understand immediately, he wanted to talk with them.
His proud partner Leander, and his precious, irreplaceable treasure Hui.
"The children said Hui was cute. They said she had cute ears, just like Big Brother Leander ...I was very happy. I would be even happier if those girls felt the same."
His beloved child who resembled the person he loved.
He thought the children here were cute too, but his own child was different, and being praised for her made him happy.
"...Haa, fine. Do whatever you want."
"Thank you, Leander."
"Then I get my reward too, right?"
He really did not miss a chance like this.
But when Qiong Xing kissed him, Leander immediately responded by deeply entwining their tongues without hesitation.
"...Hui is right here."
"If her parents get along, Hui will be happy too, right?"
Leander was scolded for doing such things in front of the child, but he only smirked in response.