Chapter 126: The New Rooms And The Voice Inside!
Neve stood up and walked toward Cael, reaching out to touch his face gently.
His fingers traced along Cael’s cheekbones, his jawline, his lips. It was a tender touch meant to convey care and concern.
Then he wrapped his arms around Cael, pulling him close and hugging him tightly.
"Don’t do anything stupid, Cael," Neve said, his voice muffled against Cael’s chest. "You know and saw what Soren did to his mate to be. I can’t imagine what he’ll do to his brother if he’s betrayed. I can’t imagine the cruelty he’ll inflict on you."
Cael held Neve close, his large hand stroking the red panda’s hair gently.
"You seem to have forgotten something," Cael said, making Neve pull back and raise a brow.
"What?"
"That bastard brother of mine would not give up until he gets what he wants," Cael said, his voice filled with bitter certainty. "Be it you or to kill everyone of us. He’s willing to do anything to achieve his goals."
He paused and his expression became even darker.
"He even threatened to kill you if I didn’t eliminate Doris," Cael said, his jaw clenching with the memory. "He put a knife to my throat and told me that if I didn’t do it, he would kill you himself. He would kill my mate and my cubs."
"Cael," Neve called his name as his head lowered.
His chest was hurting again. That voice came back inside his mind. That voice that was not his own. That voice that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside him.
"Just let me kill him," the voice muttered through Neve’s lips.
This time, the voice was louder than before. Audible. Cael raised a brow, startled by the sudden change in Neve’s tone and the words that had come out.
"Kill who?" Cael asked, confusion crossing his face. "We can’t let you kill him. No way. That’s too dangerous."
Neve’s lips parted. He wanted to tell Cael that he was not the one who said that. That something inside him had spoken those words. But he could not. He just pressed his lips together, sealing in the secret.
Popi chimed in from the side, shifting the focus away from the strange moment.
"What do we do with these young beastmen?" Popi asked, staring at the sleeping children. "They are all male. Where are they supposed to sleep? We don’t have enough room for everyone."
Cael looked at the wall on the other side of the cave, considering.
"I’ll dig through the walls of the neighbor’s cave," Cael said finally. "He left the tribe, so even though he returns someday, he’ll have to start from a lower rank. That means he doesn’t own the cave anymore. No one is using it."
Neve smiled weakly as he nodded his approval.
"I’ll do it carefully so I don’t wake the kids," Cael said.
"Oh, you can do what you want," Popi said casually. "I already used sleeping powder on them. They’ll be out for hours."
Cael nodded without another word and left the main cave, entering through the neighbor’s side. He started digging immediately, using his tiger strength to break through the stone walls.
.
.
Cael worked throughout the night.
He dug and dug, breaking through the wall between their cave and the neighbor’s cave. He created a passage. He expanded the space. By the time dawn was starting to break, he had created something incredible.
He had dug a new room and inside that huge room, there were three other rooms. Each room was about the size of his bedroom. Perfect for the young beastmen. Perfect for additional storage. Perfect for whatever Neve might need in the future.
Neve was pleased as he walked through and checked each room. Even though he could not give them the makeover they needed yet, he knew he would do so once he was able to unlock the market. Once he leveled up high enough. Once he had access to the system’s rewards.
"Are you alright?" Neve asked, noticing how exhausted Cael looked.
There was a small crack in Neve’s voice as he held a cup of water out to Cael.
Cael took it gratefully and gulped everything in the cup without stopping. He was dehydrated from the physical work.
They had extra rooms now.
Even though the main cave was huge, it was still a bit cramped somehow for everyone to sleep together. Especially with Popi being a female and needing privacy from the male beastmen.
"So, how would you like to share the rooms?" Cael asked, thinking about the best arrangements. "Do you need any more space for the kitchen?"
"Oh no, I don’t need any more space for kitchen," Neve smiled, catching his breath. "One room for cooking is enough. It works well for me."
He walked back to the original main cave where Popi, Ryker, Kelly, Aldric, and his sister Sif had been waiting.
Neve stood in the center of the cave and made the arrangements.
"Since Popi is a girl, she’ll stay with Sif," Neve said, knowing that both of them would prefer to have their own female space away from the males.
Both Popi and Sif agreed without saying anything. They understood the logic of separating male and female sleeping areas for privacy and comfort.
Neve paused and looked between all of them.
"I’m sure you all can find yourself around it as long as you do not get close to the females’ room," Neve said, establishing clear boundaries for everyone.
They all agreed without protest.
"I’ll cook for today," Neve said suddenly.
"Let me do it," Cael offered immediately.
"It’s fine," Neve said with a small smile. "I just want to do it to get something off my head. I need to keep my mind busy."
Cael did not follow him into the kitchen. He seemed to understand that Neve needed some time alone to process everything that had happened.
.
As soon as Neve got into the kitchen and started preparing ingredients, he checked the system.
It was still glitching. Still unavailable. The letters were still scrambled and distorted on the screen.
"It’s still unavailable? What’s happening?" Neve asked aloud, frustrated by the sudden loss of his constant companion.
Suddenly, a voice answered from inside his body.
This time, his lips were not moving. He could hear the voice directly in his mind. It was a voice that sounded almost similar to the sounds a mansion makes. Creaky. Old. Filled with weight and history.
"Hello thief," the voice rasped inside Neve’s head.
The words made Neve’s blood run cold.
Thief? Him? What did he steal?
He looked down at himself as the realization crashed over him like a wave.
He gasped, his hands dropping the vegetables he had been holding.
He stole this body.