Coelho was impressed, thinking it was only natural for Mr. Paulo’s grandchild, but he did not know that in reality they were not related by blood at all.

"Even that prime minister has taken a liking to him. He might stir something up again before long."

Neither of them knew that he had already done so.

"When I first heard he was coming, I wondered what kind of ill-mannered child he would be..."

Even if he was Mr. Paulo’s grandchild, Coelho had thought it improper to come visiting during working hours and had even considered making a sarcastic remark.

But instead, Qiong Xing had greeted him properly and even told Mr. Paulo to do his job.

On top of that, when they had tried to give him something for free, he had scolded them, saying they should not hand things out so easily.

More than anything, Coelho had never expected him to be so happy about taking a pot they had been struggling to dispose of.

"The medicinal herbs that child brings are also of very high quality. They make my work much easier."

Hearing Mr. Paulo say that so cheerfully surprised Coelho.

It was rare enough for him to praise anyone, but when it came to medicinal herbs, he was usually the type to get angry over even the smallest flaw.

For him to say that the herbs Qiong Xing brought were helpful was astonishing.

Coelho felt relieved that he had not said anything careless earlier.

...

With Paulo’s help, Qiong Xing was able to secure a suitable pot, and now he had come to gather ingredients.

"Yue, what kind of meat would you like?"

"Big meat!"

What kind of meat was that supposed to be?

Deer? Bear? Wolf?

From a child like Yue’s perspective, most things would seem big.

To begin with, he was not even sure she could tell what kind of meat was what yet.

"Mama, Rui wants fish."

"Do not worry, I have not forgotten. We will go catch fish for Rui tomorrow, alright?"

"Okay!"

Even though they were twins, their preferences were still slightly different.

They were always together and their tastes were mostly the same, but each of them still had things they insisted on.

"Hey, why are they so well behaved when it comes to you?"

Albe tilted his head, puzzled at how easily Rui responded.

"Because I’m their mama. They probably think it is fine to be a little selfish with their older brothers." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Should I be happy about that or get mad?"

Qiong Xing thought that the reason they did not act too selfish toward him was not because they were being especially considerate, but because even as children, they understood that making him truly angry was frightening.

It was not that he would yell or scold them harshly.

He would simply ignore them.

He would leave the two of them crying and complaining, not responding even if they spoke to him, acting as if he did not notice them at all.

Once, this had gone on long enough that Leander entered his rut, and they were unable to meet for several days.

When Leander finally returned, the twins had clung to him crying and apologizing the entire day.

It seemed they had cried and cried, thinking they might never see their mama again.

Qiong Xing remembered how exhausted Joa and Elias had looked at the time.

"I think it is something to be happy about. It means they feel comfortable relying on you."

"I wonder if that is really the case..."

Unlike how they acted with Qiong Xing and the others, he knew that they were somewhat more selfish with Albe.

That said, it was not the kind of selfishness where they demanded things like wanting this or that.

Rather, they thought it was amazing that he could use magic and kept asking to see more.

To them, Albe was a kind older brother who could use magic.

"Well, if you do not like it, you can say you do not. Sometimes it is important to scold them and tell them something is not allowed."

"...Will that not make them hate me?"

Albe looked so troubled, unable to get angry because he did not want to be disliked, that Qiong Xing found it endearing.

There was no way the two of them would hate him over something like that.

"Yue, Rui, do you like big brother Albe?"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Then do not do things that your big brother says are not allowed. Can you promise that?"

"Okay!"

"Okay!"

What good replies.

"Then Rui and Yue, ask your big brother to teach you how to set traps. As for Cari, shall we look for some medicinal herbs nearby together?"

"Okay."

Leaving the twins in Albe’s care, Qiong Xing went to search for medicinal herbs nearby.

He could have joined in setting traps with them, but he wanted to gather some herbs to give to Coelho as thanks for the pot.

Albe had warned him like he was talking to a child not to go anywhere out of sight, so Qiong Xing stayed nearby while searching for medicinal herbs, not wanting to worry him.

"Mama, over here."

After searching for a while, Cari suddenly looked up and tugged on Qiong Xing’s hand.

As Qiong Xing wondered what was wrong, the grass in front of them suddenly rustled.

Sensing something was there, he quickly pulled Cari behind him to protect him, but Cari stepped forward instead.

She standing in front of Qiong Xing as if to shield him and refusing to move.

"Cari, it is dangerous, step back—"

"No. Mama, Cari will protect you."

Qiong Xing tried to step forward, thinking he could not let a child do something like that, but at that moment, a low growl came from the rustling grass, and a large black figure emerged.

"A wolf! Cari, get back—"

"Go away."

The moment Cari muttered that, a blade of water immediately shot forward at incredible speed toward the wolf.