Willo was at a loss for words. Although she had long known Adele was precocious, discussing such things with her own daughter made her, as a mother, feel incredibly awkward.
After a moment, she sighed, forcing herself to remain calm. "It's not that simple. There's still so much that needs my attention within the tribe. How could I possibly find the time to deal with my own problems..."
For some reason, at that moment, the image of that young priest Charles flashed across her mind, along with the faint hints in Theresa's conversations.
She suddenly felt a wave of heat coursing through her body, but next came a pang of guilt: she remembered his base was at Rockseeker's Outpost, and didn't know if he'd survived that battle...
Ah, if only I had returned a little sooner...
She thought this, but alas, what was done could not be undone.
Adele remained expressionless, more rational than any typical teenager. "It'd still be better than you staying miserable like this."
"And besides, you should give me a little brother or sister. That way, I could finally wean."
Women in the Green Vines tribe, due to their unique constitution, commonly chose to have four or five children in a lifetime: this way, when new children were born, the eldest could naturally wean as well.
But as Willo had only one child, even if no one commented openly, everyone in the tribe privately knew that her daughter was well over fourteen and still not weaned.
Although Adele was mature for her age, she still cared about these things and wanted to push her mother to find a man, have another child, and finally free herself from that reputation.
If nothing else, finding a man who liked milk would do—even though, due to childhood memories of such long-term breastfeeding, it would be hard to find a male satyr like that in the tribe.
These were Adele's true thoughts, and hearing this, Willo laughed softly.
She reached out her fingertip, tracing lightly across her daughter's nose. "Mother still has too many tribe affairs to handle, I really don't have time to give you a little brother or sister."
"How about this: you hurry up and find someone you fancy, and let mother help you raise your baby. Wouldn't that be twice as nice?"
Their tribe's social structure was still quite primitive, and this age was far from modern times. Fourteen or fifteen might seem young, but it was already marriageable age.
As she spoke, Willo glanced down at her daughter's flat chest. "Besides, you might not be able to feed a child yet."
Adele's blood pressure spiked at once.
"No, mother—" She grimaced, looking down at her chest over and over. "It's just... I'm not fully grown yet. I'll definitely be bigger than you one day..."
She argued feebly, but Willo only smiled and hugged Adele's head. "It's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe you'll find it easier to nurse when it's your turn."
Adele fell silent, thinking of the inevitable fate awaiting her after childbirth. After a moment, she couldn't help but whisper, "Is this my inescapable destiny?"
Willo let out a long sigh. "Yes. This is the fate none of our kind can avoid."
"What if I never marry and never bear children in my life?"
At once, Willo's eyes went wide. "Adele, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Adele turned away. "This is my rebellion—my struggle against the shackles that fate has placed on me!"
Willo ground her teeth, but then sighed again and hugged her daughter tightly, reminding herself that she'd come tonight to reconcile, not quarrel.
Through the curtain, she glanced outside—it was far into the night now—so she said gently, "No more nonsense, let's go to bed."
"Tonight, mother will hold you while you sleep."
Adele glanced outside, a wave of anxiety surging within her.
Oh no, I'm really going to be late!
No way, I need to be ruthless!
"I refuse!"
With no other choice, she abruptly pulled away from her mother and moved toward the door. "I'm grown up, I don't need you to hold me. You sleep here, I'll find a place outside to meditate!"
Behind her, Willo grew anxious. "Adele, stop—!"
She called out, voice desperate, but Adele threw on her dark cloak and ran off into the night without looking back.
If she'd hesitated even a little longer, she'd have never worked up the nerve to leave.
Seeing her daughter go so resolutely, the Satyr Matriarch looked utterly dejected.
She started criticizing herself again.
It's true—she's grown up and likes her own space...
Maybe I shouldn't interfere so much... Maybe if I found her a new father and gave her another sibling, our mother-daughter relationship would improve in the end...
Contemplating her own mistakes, she lay down in her daughter's bed, curled up, and felt only cold loneliness.
Outside, Adele sprinted away, gasping for breath. But after a few steps, she looked back at her tent, her silver teeth clenched with guilt across her face.
How could she not love her mother? Even though, to Adele, her mother seemed gentle to a fault, always seeing the best in others, always reflecting on herself, and not good at conflict—a softness that sometimes drove her mad.
But whatever the case, Willo was her mother. Now, having run off like this, Adele knew she'd make Willo sad, and she'd probably spend the whole night reflecting on what she'd done wrong as a mother...
Adele longed to go back and give Willo a hug, tell her there was no need to force closeness: "I love you. I'll always be your precious daughter..."
But she just couldn't get the words out.
If she could really bring herself to lie in Willo's arms and play the spoiled child, Willo wouldn't be so suspicious and self-doubting now.
Besides, tonight, she had more important things to do. She couldn't possibly be late...
Sorry, mother—once I'm done here I'll apologize and snuggle in your arms like I did when I was a child...
Chanting this silently deep inside, she steeled herself, donned her cloak, and prepared to leave the camp.
But after just two steps, a tall silhouette blocked her path. "Where are you going, Miss Adele?"
Adele stopped. The woman before her was the last person she wanted to see at that moment.
Ines.
Tonight, Adele wasn't the only one with a task.
Ines, too, had secret business. In fact, every now and again, she had to sneak out and pass intelligence to her two masters.
Tonight was just one such assignment. After exhausting her three minotaur companions and leaving them in deep slumber, she rushed outside—without even tidying herself up—to build a small altar and send her latest intel to her mistress in another world.
That's when she saw Adele sneaking out as well.
Instantly, she grew wary and stood in Adele's path. "It's late. Where are you going?"
Staring at the female minotaur before her, Adele could see—thanks to her magically enhanced vision—certain stains on the woman's thighs and mouth, and her keen sense of smell picked up a distinctly lustful scent even at this distance.
She was repulsed, but this wasn't the time for disgust. Her hands clenched reflexively and her eyes sparkled as she suddenly burst out, "To see my boyfriend. What, are you going to stop me?"
Ines froze. "Huh?"
"Fine, I'll be honest!" With a voice full of mock despair, Adele shouted savagely, "I'm in love. He's a man from Liberl Port—a Seinite, and his family is a newly risen military noble!"
Ines blinked. Having lived in the tribe for so long, she understood what Liberl Port, Seinites, and military nobles meant. It was the ultimate in negative reputation.
Almost certainly, her boyfriend's family had blood feuds with every tribe in the Alliance of the Mountain Purifiers!
No parent would ever approve of that.
"But I love him! I've already given him everything—body and soul." Adele locked eyes with Ines, her cheeks burning with fever, baring her teeth like a madwoman. "My mother just checked me and found out. She forbade it, wants me married off to a useless tribesman!"
"But nothing can stop me from pursuing love! I'm running away right now to see my lover. If you don't allow it, I'll die right here!"
She let fire ignite in both palms, her gaze savage. "Ines, if you try to stop me, I won't mind giving my boyfriend another military exploit to his name!"
Ines stepped back, nervously waving her hands with an awkward laugh. "Take it easy, Adele, I never said you couldn't go. I just thought you should at least talk with your mother..."
"Why is it that when she was young, she could go wild for love and enjoy every experience, but when it's my turn, I have to think about every little thing?" Adele shouted, cutting her off. "Get out of my way or I'll fight you!"
Great waves of magic began to coalesce. She stepped forward, prepared for real combat. Ines was taken aback; this was the first she'd heard how the gentle Satyr Matriarch had once been so wild.
Instinctively, Ines moved aside, thinking to herself that a love-crazed, rebellious teenager like Adele was truly dangerous—hurting her would be disastrous...
Once Ines stepped away, Adele rushed forward. Surging natural magic gathered beneath her feet—the very earth seemed to lift her—and she shot past Ines on a gust of wind, racing swiftly toward the distant horizon.
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