Gaffer knew his son too well, so when others saw only him strangling the helpless bunny, he heard the light, bubbly hiss of pleasure from his son.
The silver-scaled slim beast, despite wrapping the helpless rabbit tightly, showed no aggression. It didn't even assume a defensive stance. He just excitedly twisted its body, shifting the rabbit in its arms, moving it gently, like a child with a treasured toy, refusing to let go.
Gaffer slowly blinked.
His heart caught somewhere between confusion and a kind of deep unease.
His son didn't show affection easily. His son didn't go close to anything with affinities much more than he carries. And especially, his son didn't trust anything except his father. That was a fact etched into the world since the day the child opened his eyes.
And yet, the silver slim beast was rubbing its snout on the ears of the rabbit, trying everything it could to stick to the rabbit like chewing gum to the sole of a foot.
This was Affection. Obvious affection.
Gaffer exhaled a breath he didn't remember holding. His son wasn't a 'curse' after all.
"Master, the young master isn't eating or attacking the rabbit."
"I… see that," he murmured under his breath, voice low. "He's greeting her."
When he spoke, Linda noticed instantly.
Her fuzzy head snapped toward him, long ears lifting like two white banners in the air. For a moment she froze in caution.
The last time she tried to touch his son who was wrapped around his leg then, Gaffer had suddenly started to transform into his beast dragon form again and it terrified her so much.
She hopped twice in his direction breaking the hug with his son and giving a distance.
But she paused, her ears curling shyly. Was it safe to approach him now?
The sight made something unpleasantly tight move in Gaffer's chest. Something he didn't want to name. Even a small rabbit was avoiding him.
He took one slow step toward her.
"Little White," he said, not sure why he was speaking softly to a creature that couldn't morph, couldn't transform, had no affinity whatsoever, and was definitely of no use to him. "Don't be afraid."
She stared up at him.
Before he could say anything else, heavy footsteps thundered into the room.
"Master Imoogi! We must begin cleansing procedures for the beast pet immediately. We wouldn't want any dirt or infection from it affecting the young master's weak health."
Doctor Swaid approached with two others.
Though in man form, their bodies were massively towering and they definitely casted wide shadows over the rabbit. Their faces were stern, their jaws sharp, their hands too large to ever hold something small without crushing it by accident.
Linda might not have noticed when she was held in Gaffer's warm arms but, now she was on the ground she couldn't miss this huge detail.
They were in man forms but they looked humongous than average humans.
Scliff also had something to say.
He stepped forward, cupping his fists. "Master Imoogi, this subordinate has something to report. It would be best… said in private."
Gaffer nodded. He glanced once at the rabbit and imoogi beast king duo.
The little rabbit had now gone back to letting the young master rub against it, allowing itself to be used as a living pacifier.
Anyway, the child was calm and that was enough. He turned around and followed Scliff into a private chamber.
The chamber was a simple stone table, some carved seats, and a wall lamp kind of room. No one else was inside.
Gaffer hadn't sat yet when he commanded. "Give me the information."
Scliff nodded once and began carefully. "The Council has contacted us again, Master. This is the third time since our departure. They ask how far the mission has progressed… and when you intend to return."
Gaffer's expression darkened by a fraction.
Scliff continued, "And… they want your reply regarding the 'item'. They want to confirm whether you still intend to obtain it, and how far you have met the conditions they set."
Gaffer's jaw tightened.
Every imoogi needed a special item relic when the time came, so that they would be able to transcend and step into true dragonhood. That item relic was the Pearl Blue Crystal.
Without it, they would remain a serpent even after they have surpassed one thousand years.
His son was only a few years old and still young but Gaffer wanted that relic now! He wanted it so that when his boy was ready, he wouldn't have to suffer through tribulations and tests and trials or risk death climbing the heavenly threshold alone.
This was what a father should do.
But the relic was with the council of the Scales Tribe.
And this council wanted something from him first before they could give it to him. Marriage!
They wanted him to get married to the only female of their tribe—Miss May Scalden, who is a dragon-born beastlady.
She was the only beastlady or beastwoman he had ever seen in his entire lifetime.
Beastladies had been wiped out a century ago after a disaster. Many tribes had none left. Miss Scalden, who somehow survived that wipe, had become the pride of the Scales Tribe, and the favored of the whole beast world alongside other beast women survivors.
The Scales Tribe had long wanted her tied to the tribe and the best way was through marriage by him. After all, he already had a son with her.
Scliff waited silently after speaking, but Gaffer didn't reply immediately. The situation wasn't small because the same beastwoman—May Scalden—had left.
She didn't want the tribe that literally gave her everything she had asked for. She didn't want the responsibility of a mother. She didn't want him nor their innocent son.
She wanted freedom so she fled.
She had wounded him deeply.
Even when she fought him in the sky so mercilessly irrespective of the fact that he was holding their son with him, she didn't care and he didn't fight back.
He accepted it all and just let her do whatever she wanted. He was a fool for doing so. Now he didn't even know where she was and the council wanted an answer.
The council didn't care about his feelings.
They only cared about the honor and pride of the Scales Tribe.
Definitely, if he could get another beastwoman that would work as a beastwoman is priceless irrespective of tribe. But what tribe would know about a beastwoman in their tribe and not keep her for themselves?
Besides, beastwomen were almost extinct.
In the entire beast world—with millions of people, hundreds of tribes, cities older than mountains—there were barely five or six females left alive. Some tribes had never even seen a female in their whole history. Others had stories of beast-grandfathers who once met one, but nothing more.
Gaffer himself had lived more than a thousand years… and he had seen only one woman in his entire life.
Miss May Scalden wasn't just a lover, she wasn't just beautiful in her blue scales, she was the only woman there was in the whole of the Tribe.
Anyone in his position would have fallen for her too.
There was no comparison. There was literally no one else.
So when she showed him the slightest attention, when she touched him, when she gave him her time, he had nothing to measure it against. He fell in love easily. He fell completely and hopelessly in love with her.
Because in his world, meeting a woman felt like meeting a miracle.
"So, Master… what do we tell them?" Scliff asked quietly.
Gaffer stayed silent.
He didn't know.