Chapter 168: Learning to Weave

When Moye brought the loom over, Lantai was hugging the Crossbow, grinning from ear to ear.

“What’s going on?” Moye asked.

“Nothing.”

Tyler and Klein tacitly hid their bows and arrows behind their backs, keeping them out of Moye’s sight. Seeing their secretive behavior, Moye tried to step forward for a closer look.

The two men stopped him in unison. “Stand there. Don’t come any closer.”

Utterly baffled, Moye looked at Ophelia. She simply shrugged, indicating she had no idea either.

Moye gave the two men a strange look before waving his hand, instructing the other males to place the loom in the open clearing.

“Ophelia, look what this is.”

When Moye pulled back the animal skin covering the loom, Ophelia’s eyes instantly lit up.

“A loom! You actually managed to get a loom.”

Marveling at the device, she circled it, inspecting it from every angle and occasionally touching its parts.

Lantai stared at the massive wooden contraption before him, his attention immediately captivated. “Clan Leader, what is this thing?”

“It’s a loom. The linen clothes I’m wearing were made with this,” Ophelia said, pointing to her garments.

Lantai had long observed Ophelia’s clothing. It was entirely different from ordinary animal skins, looking as though it were woven from plants. He had constantly wondered how plants could be turned into clothing, and seeing the loom today finally gave him the answer. So this fabric was made using a machine—but what was its underlying mechanism?

His eyes bright and shiny, Lantai looked at Ophelia. “Clan Leader, may I study this loom?”

Seeing him eyeing the machine like a butcher sizing up a prize pig, Ophelia’s expression instantly turned serious. “No, you may not.”

“Clan Leader, I promise I won’t break it. Once I figure out how it works, I’ll build you an exact replica.”

Ophelia shook her head. “No. There is only one loom. If it breaks, it’s gone.”

Moye found it rather amusing when he heard Lantai wanted to reverse-engineer the loom. “Do you even know the origins of this loom? This is a product of the Holy Capital, developed through the research of several generations.

“Don’t delude yourself into thinking you can recreate it just by glancing at it. Stop dreaming and go to sleep.”

Since both Ophelia and Moye had put it that way, Lantai finally grasped the importance of the loom. Still, unwilling to give up, he looked at Ophelia with a hopeful gaze.

“Then, Clan Leader, when you use this loom, can I watch from the side? I promise I won’t touch it. I’ll just look.”

Unwilling to expose Lantai’s craftsmanship to others, Ophelia said lightly, “Focus on finishing the item in your hands first. We’ll talk about the rest later.”

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Lantai happily left, hugging his Crossbow.

“Ophelia, this male knows how to weave. The Young Master specifically sent him over,” Moye explained. “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask him.”

Ophelia scrutinized the male standing before her. His skin was as dark as charcoal, seemingly natural, and his physique was slender. In fact, his hands were even more delicate and elongated than hers. She could clearly see calluses on the tips of his thumbs and index fingers.

“Alright. Then please stay with the Fu Clan for a few days,” she said.

“I can do that,” the weaver replied. Before he arrived, Zerev had made him swear an oath: upon returning to the Holy Capital, he was absolutely forbidden from leaking anything that happened in Ten Thousand Beasts City.

Ophelia had originally planned to figure out how to weave on her own. She never expected Zerev to be so thoughtful as to send a weaver along with the loom.

Five days later.

Under the weaver’s guidance and through her own relentless efforts, Ophelia finally managed to weave a piece of linen two meters long and three meters wide. Although the gaps between the linen threads were still a bit wide, it was an incredibly impressive first attempt.

The weaver held up Ophelia’s linen against the sunlight, examining it repeatedly before nodding in satisfaction. “Ophelia, for you to weave something like this in just a few days is exceptionally good.”

“Then can this linen be used to make clothes now?”

“Yes, but if you’re making clothes, you’ll need to layer it a few times to prevent it from tearing easily.”

“Alright, I understand.”

Ophelia knew that the piece of linen she had woven wasn’t enough to clothe an adult male. Therefore, she made a few small bellybands for her three little dragon cubs to wear.

Whenever the dragon cubs took on their human forms, their upper bodies were bare, with only a small animal skin skirt around their waists. Now, with these bellybands, she no longer had to worry about their little tummies getting cold. After all, as someone originally from Hua Country, her absolute baseline for warmth was ensuring the belly button was always covered.

Wearing her new bellyband, Wendy happily spun in a circle. “Mother, Mother! This piece of clothing is so pretty, and it’s not hot to wear at all!”

“Yeah, it’s way cooler than animal skins,” her second cub, Daniel, chimed in with praise.

The eldest, Kohen, tugged at his bellyband and said awkwardly, “Mother, I just need one piece. Let my younger brother and sister wear the rest.”

Seeing Kohen acting so sensibly, Ophelia’s heart softened. She gently rubbed his little head and said softly, “You all get three each. Even though you are the older brother, you don’t have to constantly yield to them.

“You are all equally important in my heart.”

Hearing his mother say this, Kohen was deeply moved, his eyes secretly reddening. Back when his father was around, he would always use Kohen’s status as the eldest to force him to yield to his younger siblings. He had grown accustomed to it and never expected his mother to say something so different.

Ophelia was completely unaware of Zerev’s parenting methods. Had she known, she definitely would have put a stop to it. It was everyone’s first time being a child—why should they be treated differently? Why did the older brother always have to sacrifice for the younger ones?

A few days later, having finished teaching Ophelia how to weave, the male weaver sought her out.

“Ophelia, you have already learned the basics of weaving. From here on, you just need to practice slowly to familiarize yourself with the process, and you’ll be able to weave even better fabrics,” he said. “When that time comes, making clothes won’t be a problem at all. My mission here is complete. I will depart for the Holy Capital within the next two days.”

Hearing that the weaver was returning to the Holy Capital, Ophelia’s mind began to race. “Could I ask you to delay your return by two days? I’d like you to take something back with you for me.”

“Of course.”

Ever since arriving in Ten Thousand Beasts City and observing Moye’s deferential attitude toward Ophelia, the weaver had formed a few vague suspicions. For a little female to make Moye submit to her, and to compel the Young Master to send over a highly prized loom—her identity had to be far from simple. It would only benefit him to stay on her good side.

For the next five days, Ophelia worked day and night, rushing to weave more linen.

Seeing Ophelia working so exhaustingly hard, Klein felt a pang of jealousy. “Is this fabric meant for Zerev?” he asked.

Ophelia didn’t try to hide it and immediately admitted it was.

Stifling his frustration, Klein glanced at Tyler, who was attentively serving tea and pouring water nearby. “Are you just going to stand by and watch her work herself to the bone for Zerev?”

Tyler’s expression remained indifferent. “Zerev cannot be by the Princess’s side. It’s perfectly understandable that the Princess wishes to do something for him.”

Klein coldly scoffed. “You sure are magnanimous.”

He stormed out of the stone house with long strides, unwilling to watch Ophelia so earnestly rushing to finish the linen.

Five days later.

Ophelia finally completed a piece of linen measuring five meters long and three meters wide. Looking at the fabric, she estimated it would be enough to make a full set of clothes.

“Please take this fabric to Jiuying.” After wrapping the linen in several layers of animal skin, Ophelia solemnly handed it to the weaver. Not daring to expose her relationship with Zerev, she could only tactfully bring up Jiuying.

Hearing her request, the weaver silently wondered what kind of relationship Ophelia had with Jiuying. Jiuying was the Young Master’s most favored Beast Servant; if he had put in a good word, it was entirely possible that the Young Master would have agreed to part with the loom.