Chapter 72: A Difficult Question
As expected, in this world there were ingredients, but it seemed people didn’t really think about using them to experiment or add various twists.
For the sake of adorable Cari, Qiong Xing would do his best.
Along the way, he also asked Joa to check which tree fruits looked edible or might be suitable for making jam and gathering them as they went.
Humans were creatures that learned, after all.
If you didn’t know something, you just had to ask someone who did, it’s a simple strategy.
"You... you’re not even trying to remember, are you?"
"That’s not... well, I guess you’re right."
"So you admit it!?"
While teasing Joa like that, they eventually arrived at the flower field they had visited before.
"Let’s take a short break."
"Tired already? You’re so weak."
That comment was completely unnecessary.
Feeling a little annoyed, Qiong Xing ignored Joa and flopped down among the flowers.
Because the flowers were so tall, Qiong Xing lying down might have been completely hidden from Joa’s view.
"Surrounded by flowers and basking in the sunlight. If it were just here, everything would be peaceful."
It felt just like a world out of a fairy tale.
"...Hey."
"Yes, what is it?"
Joa’s unusually hesitant tone made Qiong Xing wonder what was wrong and when he propped himself up, he saw Joa walking closer.
Joa sat down right beside Qiong Xing and stared at him intently.
"...Before, I asked you something, didn’t I? About whether you were going to take on another mate."
It was from the time he had introduced the snake beastman.
"Has that... not changed?"
"Well, who knows."
"......"
Those two had become mates quite suddenly themselves, so it wouldn’t be strange if another one were added just as suddenly.
Qiong Xing had a vague sense of what Joa wanted to say.
But he didn’t put it into words, because making that decision required Joa’s own resolve.
"...I like you."
"Thank you very much."
"Ah... no, that’s not it. I’m not saying this because I want to be thanked... I mean... you..."
Saying it would take a great deal of courage.
But this was not something Qiong Xing could help him with.
"No, if you would allow it... would you make me your mate?"
As Joa said this, his gaze did not waver or look away and Qiong Xing likewise met his eyes without dodging them.
"Joa, how far do you intend to keep your promise with Vita?"
"Huh?"
Joa likely didn’t understand what Qiong Xing meant.
"You promised Vita that you would protect everyone. That’s your promise, isn’t it? There are many ways to interpret ’protect,’ but if taken literally, it means you could never leave that place for the rest of your life. But we will probably leave that place someday. When that time comes, what will you do, Joa?"
"......"
If Joa became his mate and someday he left the hideout, which side would Joa choose to stand on?
If he were to remain there, Qiong Xing did not want Joa to experience the sorrow of losing his mate again, and he could not make him a mate in some half hearted way.
"It makes me sad, but Elias and the others never had a place like that. But because of that, they are free, and they can go anywhere. What about you, Joa? Which will you choose? Me or that place?"
It was a harsh way of putting it, but Joa had to be prepared to choose.
Leander, Elias, and Qiong Xing himself might be fine as they were, but for Cari and Mayo, who would surely grow a great deal from now on, they needed to find a place to live.
"...I..."
"I’m sorry for putting you in such a difficult position. But I don’t want you to be hurt anymore."
Having lost the person he loved, Joa must once have wished to die.
Qiong Xing did not want him to suffer any more.
It was the pain that came from being a deeply loving beastman.
"Do you... do you not want to become my mate?"
"If it means that Joa will not be sad."
The fact that Joa chose him made Qiong Xing purely happy.
Joa’s broad and powerful physique that Qiong Xing had always admired.
He was kind and he always thinking of everyone more than anyone else.
Above all, he allowed Qiong Xing to rely on him.
It wasn’t that Qiong Xing didn’t lean on Leander and Elias.
He did rely on them, but if anything, he wanted to spoil Leander and Elias instead.
They were unbearably adorable, wagging their tails as they said they loved him and adored him.
But when Qiong Xing felt down, Joa would stroke his back and comfort him, and if he tried to do something wrong, Joa would properly scold him.
It was a different kind of kindness from Leander and Elias, and it made Joa dependable.
Qiong Xing held him dear, but he had no desire to make him suffer.
"Hey... can I hold you?"
"I wouldn’t recommend deciding things that way."
If holding him would make his emotions swell up and leave Joa unable to choose anything but Qiong Xing, then that would not do.
He wanted Joa to choose and decide properly, by his own will.
"I know. That’s not it, my answer’s already decided."
Just as Qiong Xing realized he was being lifted up by Joa, he was placed facing him and sitting on Joa’s crossed knees.
"I love you, Qiong Xing. But... I probably won’t ever be able to forget Vita for the rest of my life. Even so, if you can accept that, then I want to live the rest of my life together with you."
Of course Joa couldn’t forget Vita.
Qiong Xing had no intention of blaming him for that, nor did he intend to say that such a thing was unacceptable.
"Because that place existed, we’re able to be here like this now, you know? I would never tell you to forget Vita, the one who suggested creating that place, and the one who told you to live even though she knew that if she died, you would be heartbroken. I feel nothing but gratitude toward her. And besides..."