Chapter 135: Giving Gifts

Sora stroked the rabbit a few times, feeling its soft fur beneath her fingers.

After thinking for a moment, she said, "You should make it a nest. That way, it will have a place to stay."

Upon hearing this, Xavier immediately nodded.

Without saying anything else, he turned around and disappeared from Sora’s sight.

Sora blinked.

He had left surprisingly quickly.

She couldn’t understand why he was suddenly in such a hurry to make a rabbit nest.

She didn’t know that Xavier had already made up his mind.

He was going to make the rabbit’s nest as comfortable and beautiful as possible.

That way, when the Moon God Festival arrived, Sora would definitely choose him.

Meanwhile, Sora simply shook her head and stopped thinking about it.

She carried the rabbit with her and walked over to the tea plants.

The tea leaves had been brought down from the Divine Mountain the last time she had gone there with Lukan.

The soil in the primitive forest was extremely fertile, and because Sora hadn’t needed to take much care of the plants, the tea trees had actually grown very well.

The leaves were fresh and green.

Sora took a wicker basket and began picking them.

She carefully selected the tender leaves, placing one handful after another into the basket.

Before long, she had gathered quite a lot.

Once she was finished, Sora set the tea leaves aside to wither.

As she worked, she began thinking about what to make for lunch.

Now that she had fresh tea leaves, she suddenly had an idea.

Maybe I can make crispy tea-leaf chicken.

Just thinking about it made her hungry.

She was about to leave when another hand suddenly appeared in front of her.

Compared with the wheat-colored hand Xavier had extended earlier, this hand was much slimmer and whiter.

But what caught Sora’s attention wasn’t the hand.

It was the object lying in its palm.

Even in broad daylight, the luminous pearl emitted a faint glow.

The light was soft and elegant, making the pearl look exceptionally beautiful.

Sora recognized it immediately.

It was the luminous pearl she had admired from a distance before.

And now that she was seeing it up close, she realized it was even more stunning than she had remembered.

Sora stared at it for a moment before looking up.

"What is this?"

Ryan’s earlobes were slightly flushed.

He pushed his hand toward her.

"This is for you."

He paused before adding,

"Didn’t you say you wanted this last time?"

"For me?"

Sora was stunned.

She had never expected Ryan to give her the luminous pearl.

She remembered how highly he valued this item.

He had even mentioned before that something so precious shouldn’t be given away casually.

Sora immediately shook her head.

"This isn’t appropriate. This thing looks very precious."

She didn’t reach out to take it.

Ryan, however, didn’t give her the opportunity to refuse.

He directly stuffed the luminous pearl into her hand.

Then he turned around and found a place to sit near the round table.

Sora looked down at the pearl in her hand.

She was confused.

Why had Ryan suddenly decided to give her such an important thing?

She glanced at him.

Could it be that he was interested in the food she made?

She vaguely remembered mentioning the luminous pearl to him before.

Had he actually taken her words seriously?

After all, Ryan hadn’t gotten to eat the cake that day.

Perhaps that experience had left an itch in his heart.

The more he tried not to think about the cake, the more he wanted to know what it tasted like.

Ryan himself had his own reasons for giving her the pearl.

The luminous pearl was originally meant to be given to a female as a symbol of fidelity.

Since he had already formed a totem with Sora, it was only right for him to give it to her.

Besides...

Giving it to Sora meant that he could eat her food.

He hadn’t found a suitable opportunity before.

But with the Moon God Festival approaching, this was the perfect time.

Sora looked at the pearl again.

She couldn’t help smiling.

So that was it.

Ryan had finally found an excuse to approach her.

And if the luminous pearl could serve as the price for a meal, then she certainly wasn’t going to refuse.

She had been thinking about how to get closer to Ryan.

Unexpectedly, he had come to her himself.

Sora carefully put away the luminous pearl.

It seemed that today was going to be a day of receiving gifts.

First, Xavier had given her a rabbit.

Now Ryan had given her a luminous pearl.

She wondered what the others would bring.

Sora quickly put the thought aside.

She had food to make.

In addition to the crispy tea-leaf chicken she was planning, Sora decided to make some noodles.

She prepared the dough and began kneading it.

Once the dough was ready, she set it aside to rest.

Meanwhile, the tea leaves were almost ready.

Sora started another pot and began stir-frying the tea leaves.

The fresh leaves gradually released their fragrance as they heated.

The aroma spread through the wild kitchen.

Ryan, who was sitting at the round table, subtly raised his head.

His attention immediately shifted toward the cooking area.

Just then, Ace arrived.

He glanced at Ryan sitting at the round table.

For a brief moment, his eyes narrowed.

But he quickly looked away as if he hadn’t noticed anything.

His attention shifted to Sora, who was standing beside the stove.

Ace walked over with a smile.

In his hand was a bright feather skirt.

"This is for you."

He held it out proudly.

"Wear this and you’ll definitely look great."

Sora was busy stir-frying the tea leaves.

From the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught sight of Ace shaking a huge bunch of feathers near her cooking pot.

Her expression changed immediately.

"You! Move that thing away."

Ace froze.

"If you get any closer, my pot will be filled with feathers. How am I supposed to make tea then?"

Ace immediately took several steps backward.

He looked down at the feather skirt in his hands.

Sora didn’t even look at him.

She continued stir-frying the tea leaves as though nothing had happened.

Ace’s expression slowly became gloomy.

"Aren’t you going to accept this?"

"What?"

Sora was too busy cooking to understand what he meant.

"I made you a feather dress."

Ace’s eyes carried a faint hint of resentment.

Only then did Sora stop what she was doing.

She glanced up at him.

If she didn’t take a look at the thing he had brought, this stubborn leopard would probably remain restless for the entire day.

So Sora reluctantly put down what she was holding and examined the feather dress.

The moment she saw it, the corners of her mouth twitched.

Again.

She had to once again marvel at Ace’s taste.

The only thing that could defeat his terrible sense of fashion was whatever he would come up with next.

Sora stared blankly at the feather dress.

The color of the feathers was truly ugly.

It was the first time she had seen such an unpleasant combination.

The orange-red feathers were decorated with white spots.

Beneath the white spots were blue lines.

And beneath those blue lines were several strands of long black hair-like feathers.

The overall appearance was...

Sora’s lips twitched.

It looked like a giant moth.

She stared at it for several seconds.

He wants me to wear this?

Was he implying that she wasn’t colorful enough?

Or did he genuinely think this looked good?

Ace, however, completely misunderstood her silence.

Seeing Sora staring at the feather dress without saying anything, he immediately assumed she liked it.

His eyes brightened.

He excitedly began explaining his masterpiece.

"The colors were specifically chosen by me."

Sora’s expression became stiff.

Ace proudly lifted the feather skirt.

"It has all kinds of colors."

Sora silently looked at the dress.

Yes.

Too many colors.

Ace then lowered his voice as if he were revealing a secret.

"And it matches perfectly with my feather dress."

Sora’s face went blank.

She finally understood.

He hadn’t merely made a feather dress for her.

He had made one specifically so that they could wear matching outfits.

Sora looked at Ace.

Then she looked at the feather skirt.

Then she imagined herself wearing it beside him.

The image that appeared in her mind was unbearable.

She would look like a colorful turkey.

And Ace...

Ace looked extremely proud of himself.

Sora almost didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

There is absolutely no way I’m wearing this.

And this man actually expected her to accompany him during the Moon God Festival while wearing it.

How narcissistic could he be?

Sora silently stared at the feather dress.

She suddenly felt that the Moon God Festival was becoming more dangerous by the minute.

Xavier had given her a rabbit.

Ryan had given her a precious luminous pearl.

And Ace had given her...

A feather dress that looked like it had been designed specifically to test her self-control.

Sora sighed inwardly.

The festival hadn’t even begun.

Yet her beast husbands were already competing.

And judging by Ace’s proud expression, this was only the beginning.