The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 71: It was fun

Fenric sat on the floor with a bright smile on his face. He was spreading his charms and optimistic energy just by sitting there.

Once again, he’s so much different from the first impression I had of him.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Fenric."

"Ah, you must be from the Chrysthorn tribe. The color of your hair and ears gives it away so well." Taruna said and he nodded.

"That’s right." He proudly said.

"I heard you were quite cold but it’s not like what I heard at all. This is why one should never trust the gossip in this village. But what can we do? It’s the only way to gain information about what’s going on in the heart."

"Yes, you’re right. But it’s still fair to never judge before actually seeing it with your own eyes." Fenric said.

The two of them casually hit it off with only a few sentences while I paid attention to the skirt I was sewing.

"I assume you’re Arinya’s spouse." She asked and I flinched. If this had been a real needle, I would’ve already pricked my finger.

"That’s right," Fenric said, with a blush on his cheek. "I’m here husband."

"You must really like her to give her such a precious necklace." She said and we both paused.

Ah, why did she have to bring that up?

I looked at Fenric, wondering how he would react and he acted normal.

"Well, it’s only natural to give something precious to someone precious."

His response made my heart warm up. He just covered up for Damar for my sake but it didn’t look like he was bothered at all.

Instead, he used such nice words.

Thank you, Fenric.

"Oh, what’s that?" Fenric asked as he looked at the things in my hand.

"This? I’m learning how to sew from Taruna," I said. "That’s why I’m here."

"I see." He observed carefully as I did what I was doing.

His presence made me feel a little pressured, and the way his eyes kept moving with my movements... It built up a bit of tension and I decided to stop.

It won’t work out well with him observing me so closely.

"How did you find me, Fenric?" I asked, changing the topic.

"Didn’t I tell you before?" He suddenly wrapped his arm around my waist and drew his face near. "I’ll find you through your scent."

"But that’s..." My face heated up as I felt his fingers crawling more intimately over my skin.

There was someone in front of us but he didn’t care and was doing whatever...

"I made a few stops, though." Not to talk of how I diverted into the small greenery and had a moment with Solin.

"I went through all of them." He said. "But don’t worry, I didn’t stop because your scent kept stretching forward. I passed all the places you had been to."

"That—"

"It was fun," he said and laughed. "It was just like I had been on a hunt to find my treasure. And in the end," his grin on my waist tightened. "I found it."

The look in his eyes as he said this made my insides tingle and I gulped.

I tried to avoid his eyes but couldn’t even tear away from his gaze.

He really did come as he said he would.

"And don’t worry, I finished with the pelts. I even sunned them outside so they can dry up."

"Wait, you did?"

Just how fast was he for him to do everything and still come to find me where I was?

I placed my hands on his face, taking a good look at him, and then smiled.

"You worked hard." I patted his head and he blushed.

Before I knew it, his tail was curling over mine from behind and I blushed.

What was he trying to do right now?

We’re still in someone else’s house.

"Ahem," Taruna cleared her throat and I jolted, pushing Fenric away. "I hate to break your loving moment but it seems like the cubs are awake now." She said.

"No, no, we... We’re the ones who were rudely doing whatever in front of you." I said, trying to wipe the blush out of my face but because I was embarrassed, it lingered.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s always nice to see young ones having a good time." She said, getting up to pick the squirming cubs from the basket. "Ah, they slept for so long. It was quite nice spending a peaceful time with you."

The other time, the cubs had quite the time prancing around us and playing with the tools we were using.

They slept and woke up not even half an hour later.

That was how troublesome it was but I didn’t complain. It was nice watching them play since they were so chubby and cute.

Today, they didn’t wake up in between, so it was peaceful, allowing me and Taruna to talk about different things.

We didn’t talk about gossip but about flowers and then the sea... She liked the sea, she said.

She had gone there once with her spouse and they played in the water.

It was with the tribe that lives close to the sea that she learned how to sew.

What she usually wore before she learned how to sew was crudely tied animal skin. It wasn’t the best but it was better than roaming around naked.

I got curious and asked what tribe lives close to the sea. She said she didn’t remember the name of the tribe but it was a tribe that lived peacefully with the mer folks in the water because they didn’t eat meat or fish.

They ate grass, she said, and that reminded me of vegetarians. They had super soft hair on their head and their backs. Plus, they had curly horns on their heads.

I couldn’t pinpoint what kind of animal that was just from her description but I did get curious.

A tribe that lives in unison with the mer folks, also known as mermaids. And then the tribe that knows what sewing is.

I’d like to go there.

Maybe that will be our first stop after leaving this place. I might learn a thing or two from them.

Anyway, that was the context of our conversation and it made me even more curious about this world.

I definitely have to see it all.

The cubs stretched their little bodies on their baskets and then started coming down slowly.

They were a little clumsy, having just woken up.

One got down, and then another, but it missed its step and bumped its head into the first one that got down.

They both rolled on the floor after that.

"Oh my, careful," Taruna said, and then they stopped in front of us, their bodies flat on the floor.

They were so cute. I really wanted to pinch their cheeks.

"What’s this?" Fenric reached for one of them and lifted it. "Ah, it’s so soft, Arinya."

"That’s because it’s still so young," I said, picking up the second one in front of me.

Its eyes were swirling from all that rolling, and I laughed.

"Aren’t they cute?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yes, so cute I could eat it." I flinched.

Since when did he start talking like Damar?

"Arinya," he turned to me, looking excited, his face lit up, and his eyes twinkled at me. "Let’s have one. No, let’s have five. Let’s have five cubs."

What?!