Chapter 94: First Meal
Maeve could clearly see that Ikarus didn’t want her to leave, but since he had already made a promise, there was nothing he could do to stop her.
Besides, it would be awful to leave Lior alone in the settlement without either of his parents.
That was why, before Maeve left for the mating cave with Cerus and Axan, Ikarus decided to steal one long, deep kiss from her.
He even kissed her right in front of Cerus and Axan, as if he wanted to remind them that he had been their mate’s first husband.
Maeve gripped Ikarus’s arm, convinced he would never end the kiss until she completely ran out of breath.
Fortunately, there weren’t many people near the entrance of the settlement. Meanwhile, the guards on duty simply looked the other way, pretending they hadn’t seen anything unusual.
"Hey, that’s enough!" Cerus finally shouted. "Are you trying to kill her or what?!"
The moment Cerus said the word "kill," Ikarus finally pulled away. Maeve gasped for air, her lips still slightly parted. Her whole face was bright red, and a thin trail of saliva slipped from the corner of her mouth.
Cerus clicked his tongue and walked over, gently wiping the corner of Maeve’s mouth with his thumb before anyone else could notice.
"You really have no shame," he muttered as he shot Ikarus a glare.
Ikarus only smiled, looking far too pleased with himself. "I was just saying goodbye to my mate," he replied calmly. "Is that a crime?"
"It is when your ’goodbye’ lasts forever," Cerus grumbled.
Axan let out a soft sigh and stepped beside Maeve. "Can you still walk?"
Maeve covered her burning face with both hands and nodded quickly. "Y-Yes."
"Are you sure?" Cerus asked with a teasing grin. "You look like you’re about to faint."
"I’m not!" Maeve protested, though her voice came out much softer than she wanted.
That only made Cerus laugh even harder.
On the other side, Ikarus reached out and gently brushed a loose strand of hair behind Maeve’s ear. His smile slowly faded as he looked into her eyes.
"Come back safely," he said in a soft voice.
Maeve’s expression softened. She nodded and gave his hand a small squeeze. "I will."
After that, Ikarus finally let Maeve go. Cerus rested a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Let’s get moving before he changes his mind and locks you inside the hut."
Maeve simply laughed and walked away with the two of them. Once they were far enough from the settlement, she turned around and waved at Ikarus.
"Oh, look at him. He still doesn’t want to let you go," Cerus said with a grin. "As if he wasn’t the one who stole you first."
Axan glanced at him. "He didn’t steal her. He married her."
Cerus rolled his eyes. "That’s basically the same thing."
At that moment, Maeve realized it was the first time Cerus and Axan had gone somewhere together without Ikarus. For some reason, she had a feeling this wasn’t the best idea.
After all, Ikarus was the one who always kept the peace between them. Without him, who knew what those two might do?
Thankfully, by the time they were halfway to their destination, they had chosen to stay quiet instead of arguing. Unfortunately, the silence somehow made Maeve even more nervous.
"Do you think the trees will grow thick again in this forest after this?" Maeve finally asked, breaking the silence. "I heard the Aether Energy has already been fully absorbed into the soil."
Axan gave a small nod. "They will. It may take a few years, but the forest will recover."
"It won’t be exactly the same," Cerus added. "Some trees are too old to grow back. But new ones will take their place."
"Yes. We just need to scatter tree seeds across this nearly barren forest," Axan said.
Cerus nodded. "After that, we can finally expand the settlement. We could even build separate houses. Sleeping together is way too cramped, especially with you."
Axan frowned. "What? Are you upset because you’re the smallest one out of the three of us?"
"The smallest? What do you mean by that?!" Cerus fired back, clearly annoyed. "I’m only a little shorter than you!"
Instead of answering, Axan simply held up his hand and pinched his thumb and index finger close together, silently teasing Cerus about his height.
Cerus’s eye twitched. "You want to fight?" he asked as he cracked his knuckles.
Axan calmly nodded. "I don’t mind."
The atmosphere instantly grew tense. Maeve looked from one brother to the other before letting out a helpless sigh.
"So..." she said slowly. "Does that mean you two don’t like sleeping with me either?"
Both of them immediately froze in place.
Cerus turned to look at her and asked, "What?" Suddenly, all the anger that had been filling his heart vanished without a trace.
Maeve let out another sigh and rested a hand on her cheek. "I mean... I like sleeping with all three of you. But if you really hate sleeping in the same place that much, then maybe it’s better for me to sleep by myself."
Axan’s eyes widened slightly. "That’s not what we meant," he said without hesitation.
Cerus nodded so fast it was almost comical. "Yeah! Absolutely not!"
Maeve looked at the two of them with a doubtful expression. "Really?"
"Really," Cerus answered. "The problem isn’t you."
He pointed a finger at Axan. "It’s him."
Axan calmly met his gaze. "And I would say the problem is you."
Alright, that was enough.
It was her own fault for trying to stop the brothers from arguing. At this rate, it felt like they would never get along, even after they left this world.
As Maeve watched them continue bickering without any sign of stopping, Pinky suddenly gave her a new mission.
[Side Mission: Strengthen the Brotherhood!]
[Description: Your mates may love each other as family, but they have spent too many years arguing over the smallest things. Help Cerus and Axan build a stronger bond and learn to work together without relying on Ikarus.]
[Conditions Completed: 0/3
• Spend one full day together without Ikarus and without getting into a physical fight with each other. (0/1)
• Complete one task together through teamwork. (0/1)
• Say one sincere compliment to each other. (0/1)
[Rewards:
3× Harmony Bracelets (Epic) — Effect: Three pairs of bracelets that boost the Host’s and her mates’ strength by 50% whenever they are fighting together on the battlefield.]
Maeve came to a halt the moment she received the mission. The reward sounded tempting, but the mission itself felt like an impossible one.
Before Maeve could complain to Pinky, Axan suddenly stopped walking as well.
His expression turned serious as he said, "Something’s coming."
Cerus immediately dropped his playful attitude. The grin on his face disappeared as he reached for the axe strapped to his back.
Maeve blinked several times, asking, "What is it?"
Neither of them answered. Instead, both brothers fixed their eyes on the vast open land stretching out before them. Only a few dry tree trunks were still standing, making it easy to see everything in the distance. But that also meant there was nowhere to hide.
"I don’t see anything. What is it?" Maeve asked again, her voice growing more anxious as she noticed how serious Cerus and Axan had suddenly become.
Axan narrowed his eyes. "Dust."
Maeve frowned in confusion. "Dust?"
Cerus pointed toward the horizon. "Look carefully."
Maeve focused her gaze. At first, she saw nothing but the empty plain dry forest.
However, after watching it for a moment, she noticed something strange. A huge cloud of dust was rising into the air. It wasn’t drifting with the wind, but it was moving fast toward them.
Her eyes slowly widened as she realized what it meant. "Something’s running!"
"Not something," Axan corrected at once. "Many things."
As if to prove his words, the ground beneath their feet began to shake. The tremors were faint at first, but they grew stronger with every passing second.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Maeve instinctively stepped closer to the two brothers. "They’re heading straight for us."
Cerus rested his axe on his shoulder and clicked his tongue. "They’ve sensed the burst of Aether Energy."
"Many wild beasts left Lumivale Forest as it became drier day by day," Axan explained. "But now that Aether Energy has spread through this land again, they’re naturally coming back."
"We expected them to return someday," Cerus added. "But I didn’t think they’d come this soon."
Maeve held her breath as the approaching silhouettes became clearer. There were countless wild beasts charging toward them, from giant insect-like creatures to massive mammals.
She had no idea where they had been living all this time.
[Pinky’s information to the rescue! These wild beasts migrated to other forests after Lumivale dried up. But now, the other forests have dried up as well.]
[Another fun fact: These wild beasts are starving after their long migration.]
Maeve let out a long sigh, thinking that she was probably about to become their very first meal.