New World with Four Husbands-Chapter 567: Mama

Cleora stopped in front of Coco, lips pursed and eyebrows furrowed.

She took in the sight before her, Leo was bleeding from the mouth profusely and there was a pained look in Coco’s eyes— but Leo is a king beast, and they regenerate.

"Coco." She called softly, the tears that gathered at the corner of her eyes never falling. "I know you’re mad at him, but hurting him further would do you no good.. Maybe a couple of hits more, then stop with it, okay?"

Leo’s head snapped up, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Master? Just what are you saying to this huma—"

"Shut it, Leo." Cleora stated, barely casting the king beast a glance and keeping her gaze glued onto Coco’s emerald irises. "You were at fault. Coco hitting you once isn’t enough to make up with what you did."

Coco teared her gaze away and frowned. "He said that he would have killed me if it weren’t for you."

The king beast’s eyes widened and quickly turned his attention to Coco. "Don’t dare lie to her! The audacity of you to—"

There was desperation and panic dripping from Leo’s voice, making it easy for Cleora to pick up what was going on and ultimately causing a glare to emerge in her face. .

"You were planning to kill her?" Cleora asked, her tone deliberately slow and low.

"Kill her? No! Why would I? Just because she’s an outlander like you doesn’t mean I’m interested in killing her—" Leo hissed his words out, but he was interrupted when Cleora slammed her foot down onto his back, causing him to fall down onto his stomach.

"I see.. I didn’t know you have this side of you, Leo." Cleora mumbled, the tears in her eyes vanishing completely. "You disappointed me. I don’t want a familiar like you."

Leo gasped, the color on his face draining, and started thrashing around. "No, master! Please believe me! I didn’t say those things to her!"

"I know when someone is lying to me or not, Leo." Cleora stated bluntly, halting Leo from struggling under her foot. "Have you forgotten already? It’s one of the abilities I have, isn’t it?"

The king beast went completely still, the panic and fear evident on the way his body trembled.

"Get out of my sight." Cleora growled, digging her heel into his back once and pulled her foot away, glaring down at him.

The king beast let out a whimper, his wings tucked under him as he scrambled to get up and ran away, barely looking back over his shoulder and shooting a tearful glance at Coco.

That’s not my fault. Coco thought, glaring at Leo in return.

Once the king beast was out of sight, Cleora turned around and faced her, her face soft with remorse and sadness.

"I know the mental toll Leo left on you will not be easy to tend to, but allow me to do it." The older woman said, her tone pleading and trembling, as if she was desperate to change Coco’s view of her.

Coco frowned and shook her head. "No. He had done enough damage."

Cleora’s throat bobbed up and down as she swallowed down the cry that wanted to escape from her lips. "P-Please.. Don’t push this old woman away.."

Coco took a step back, her grip on her hoe tightening. "Why the hell are you trying to meddle with my business?"

Cleora sucked in a sharp breath and let her gaze wander onto the ground. "You just.. You just remind me so much of my daughter is all.. She’s the reason why I came here, you know?"

Coco’s heart couldn’t help, but race, her eyes widening slightly.

"She.. She got into an accident months ago and it was so sudden that it left me heartbroken." Cleora murmured, chuckling softly, but Coco could sense the underlying pain and sadness in her voice. "She was a bright child."

Coco’s vision became blurry, her lips quivering as she listened to Cleora, the woman’s words strangely tugging at her heart strings.

"There was this one time that she was so upset that she pushed an all nighter to finish her project.. And she collapsed from overexertion." Cleora laughed wholeheartedly, but her tears had run down her cheeks.

"My oldest was dead set on keeping her hydrated and well rested." The woman sniffled, wiping her tears, her eyes still glued on the ground. "We were so careful with her, you know?"

There was a moment of silence, Cleora was simply letting the words linger in the air, but still, she couldn’t help herself.

"My little darlings were unique and lovely in their own way." Cleora said, a soft smile making its way to her lips. "My oldest is obsessed with coffee, my second loves hot cocoa, and my youngest is down bad for milk."

Coco’s breath stuttered. All of the things that Cleora had listed to Coco about her daughters felt strangely familiar.

"But you know what’s funny? All of them get so happy whenever I bring home their favorite spread." Cleora chuckled once more, the corner of her lips never going down.

"There’s this chocolate from where I came from that is called nutella, and the three of them goes crazy for it—"

"Mama?" Coco called, interrupting Cleora’s musing.

She couldn’t help it. Cleora looked so similar to Cleora Coison, and the way she carried herself while interacting with Coco is the same as her.

She had grieved the life she left behind, and cried for them because she knew that she will never be able to go back, but here she is again, hoping and wishing that the woman before her is the person she has in her mind.

Cleora’s head snapped up, her eyes wide and blurry with tears.

"C-Come again?" The woman speaks, her voice trembling and lips parting in disbelief as she stares back at Coco.

Coco dropped her farming tool, the hoe letting out a dull sound when it made contact on the ground. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Mama.."