Chapter 43
“Chloe, no!”
The children huddled behind the tree watched in horror as Chloe ran toward the bear beastman.
Even though they had only met her today, it was obvious that if a kind child like Chloe were caught by that ferocious-looking bear beastman, something terrible would happen.
“No, Chloe! Run away!”
Bears… bears tear people apart…!
Jericho’s eyes filled with tears as he shouted this in his heart.
At that moment, a booming voice called out:
“Chloe, how long has it been since I last saw you!”
The hulking bear beastman tossed Chloe like a toy ball into the air.
Good heavens.
The children screamed at the merciless action. Some even covered their ears and turned away, unable to bear watching.
“Sanchoon!”
But instead of Chloe’s cries, what came from the hill below was the sound of joyful laughter.
“Why were you late to the meeting today? Do you know how long I waited for my niece?”
“Really? My niece was waiting for me? Sorry, I got caught up with the guilds as soon as I entered the Grevis territory. But I barely made it without being late! And as soon as the meeting ended, I rushed straight to see Chloe!”
…Uncle? Niece?
For the children, who had been cowering in fear of the massive bear beastman, these words finally registered.
“Guilds? Uncle, you met the guilds again? You said in your letter that you were busy meeting investors and guild leaders!”
“Well, trying to make a proper magical stone deal after seven years means meeting a lot of people. The more I coordinated, the better deals I got. Anyway, I was too busy to see my niece sooner. Sorry for making you wait.”
The children peeked through the trees, their heads barely showing, their eyes filled with curiosity as they eavesdropped on the conversation between Chloe and the mysterious figure who seemed to be her uncle.
“But you ate well, right? Slept well, rested properly while working?”
“Of course! I ate so much that my assistant scolded me this morning! Hahaha!”
Chloe looked far too cheerful to be a child in danger.
And then there was the word “uncle.”
Jericho, peeking like a mushroom sprouting from the tree, tilted his head and asked quietly:
“You said… uncle, right?”
“Yes. That huge bear beastman called Chloe his niece.”
“Then he’s not a bear? If he’s Chloe’s uncle, he must be a wolf beastman. But do wolf beastmen normally get that big?”
“I don’t know either. I’ve only seen him sitting in the meeting room. It’s the first time I’ve seen him standing like that.”
“Maybe he’s a hybrid? Like a bear and wolf married?”
The children whispered among themselves like peas on a string, clinging to the tree, but they couldn’t stop watching Chloe and her uncle—or whoever he really was.
“By the way, Chloe, have you been well? Nobody bothered you? Nobody annoyed your mom?”
“Yes! Mom and I have eaten well and had fun every day! We even went flower viewing!”
“Really? Then let’s see how much heavier you’ve gotten.”
Wow.
The children watched in amazement as Chloe was tossed up high and then swooped down.
“My little one, you really are heavier than before!”
The wolf-bear beastman easily tossed and caught Chloe, looking genuinely delighted.
“I told you! I’ve grown so tall and gained so much weight!”
Not only that, Chloe also seemed to genuinely enjoy being tossed in the air by her uncle.
“Just you wait! I’ll grow as big as you, Uncle!”
“Hahaha! When I was your age, I could even chew stones! To grow like me, you’d have to chew that rock over there.”
I see. Chewing rocks makes you that big.
The children, now understanding Chloe’s uncle’s secret to growing, watched the two of them with sparkling eyes.
“Higher, Uncle! Higher!”
Chloe laughed incessantly.
“And when you’re done, don’t tell Melissa I threw you that high!”
The massive adult seemed as excited as Chloe herself.
‘This looks fun…’
Any trace of fear vanished from the children’s eyes, replaced by envy.
Chloe’s endless laughter only fueled their admiration.
‘I’ll have Dad play with me like that too.’
Jericho, who envied them the most, was imagining making his own father play like that.
“Looks like it’s not abuse, right?”
A whisper came from above.
“Our maid used to say that children born by prophecy were treated harshly even in wolf or lion families. But from what I see now, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
“Right. Our uncle doesn’t play with us like that. And seeing Chloe today, she seemed so bright and happy—completely different from what Mom said.”
“Yes! Chloe was so kind and fun!”
Jericho nodded vigorously in agreement, looking forward again.
More effective than candy or expensive magical stones was Chloe’s unintentional display.
From how she clung to her uncle’s neck, the children instinctively knew:
Chloe was not a child who had grown up abused.
A child who had been abused couldn’t smile that brightly.
A child like that couldn’t pull on her uncle’s head so freely.
“Let’s go down and ask him to do it for us too!”
Unable to resist the fun, Jericho was about to step forward when…
“Diana.”
A man with red hair appeared at the entrance of the meeting hall.
It was Sanrider Grevis, head of the Eagle family.
“Dad’s here. I’ll go.”
Diana, expressionless, said in a flat voice as she descended the hill.
At the same time,
“Lily! Mom’s here!”
“George, where are you?”
During the short break between the first and second meetings, parents came one after another to check on their children.
While the children rushed to meet their parents…
“Brother, that brat…”
Chloe’s mother, Melissa, also arrived.
“I told you, Chloe! Don’t throw her that high!”
Blake hesitated at the furious steps of his younger sister.
“Me-Melissa, it’s not like that—”
“If you throw her like that again, I’ll throw you onto a rock too! Didn’t I say that?”
Blake instinctively stepped back and turned to flee under Melissa’s deadly glare.
“Chloe, see you next week! I’ll visit the Liander territory!”
“Don’t you dare! Wolf, run away!”
“Mom! Mom!”
Melissa, growling as if ready to chase, calmed herself just enough after Chloe’s pleas.
“Yes, my daughter. Scary, right? I’ll tell your uncle not to do that again.”
“No. I asked for it. I wanted to have fun with my uncle after so long.”
Chloe clung to her mother as she spoke.
“So don’t scold my uncle, okay? He’d be lonely eating dinner alone every day anyway.”
Melissa’s eyebrows relaxed as she gently stroked Chloe’s cheek.
“My little angel. How did such a sweet child become my daughter?”
“Because I’m your daughter, Mom!”
Chloe giggled and recounted what had just happened—giving magical stone pendants to her new friends and sharing the salted caramel she had brought.
“Really? Lucian gave you that many magical stone pendants?”
“Yes! He said just the stones were enough, but he made them into pendants too. Like this!”
Chloe’s face, proudly showing the pendants from her pocket, suddenly became serious.
“Oh! I was going to give one to my uncle too. Mom, can you call him again? I have to give this to him!”
“It’s fine.”
Melissa let out a small sigh.
“I heard the Liander family sent a bunch of new products, so it’s okay not to give it.”
“The Liander family?”
“Yes. So you can keep this, Chloe.”
Melissa smiled slightly, a hint of complexity on her face, and returned the pendants to Chloe’s pocket.
“Now that the Arus territory has plenty of magical stones, you don’t need to hand them out like this.”
Chloe paused for a moment, seeming to process the words, then nodded with a bright smile.
“Yes! Now the Arus territory has tons and tons of magical stones!”
Melissa lifted Chloe in her arms, ready to ask about the day’s events in more detail, when the bell announcing the start of the second meeting rang loudly.
“Ah, we have to go, Chloe. See you later. Mom will come to get you.”
“Yes!”
Chloe waved energetically at her mother several times before climbing lightly back up the hill.
Huh?
But on the chair, where she thought no one would be, someone was sitting.
It was Sion Demos, sitting just as he had when leaving.
