Chapter 76: Another Papa
He should just accept it happily.
Qiong Xing thought that, but decided not to say it, if he did, Joa would probably sulk.
"So he also told us not to interfere too much even if you were doting on Qiong Xing."
Fei apparently laughed and said that it was simply Joa’s own way of seeking affection, since he wasn’t good at relying on others.
"Fei is a good person, isn’t he?"
"That guy’s no good."
"That’s as far as it goes, got it."
It was meant as nothing more than a straightforward compliment, but perhaps they thought he was trying to make Fei a mate as well, because they told him in no uncertain terms that it was absolutely not allowed.
Why would they think that...
It was true that he liked Fei, but that was purely in a friendly sense, with no romantic feelings mixed in.
If he had to compare it to something, Fei was like the kind older brother next door.
"There’s no way that would happen, right? If I increased the number of beastman mates any more, my body would break down."
He didn’t even know if he could make it safely through Leander’s and Elias’s heat cycles, and now Joa had been added to the mix.
Huh? Maybe this is actually impossible?
When he imagined it, all he could see was himself collapsing in a pitiful heap.
"That’s exactly what I wanted to talk about.."
"Is Mama going to die!? No, no, no!"
Up until then, Cari had been listening quietly, but he seemed to interpret "my body would break down" as "Mama will die," and started clinging tightly around his neck, crying no, no.
Ah, this is so soothing.
He was thinking something that carefree when Joa poked him in the side.
While hugging Cari back, he reassured him that nothing like that would happen.
"That was just a figure of speech. I’m not really going to break. I just meant it’ll probably be very tiring."
When he gently patted Cari’s back and told him it was okay, Cari finally seemed to calm down and loosen his grip.
"More importantly, it means Cari has another papa now. You like Joa a lot, don’t you, Cari?"
"Like!"
"I’m glad to hear that. From today on, Joa is Cari’s papa too. If anything happens, you can rely on Joa, okay?"
"Yeah!"
Cari answered with a bright smile, and Joa looked just as happy.
"What about me!?"
"You can rely on me too, you know!"
They said it in a fluster, but it was probably because those two often focused all their attention on Qiong Xing and ended up putting Cari second.
Claiming, We’re papas too!, the two of them were left behind as they were, while the other three headed off to eat dinner.
Of course, Leander and Elias still followed after them from behind.
"Boss, congratulations!"
"Congratulations, boss!"
The moment they entered the dining hall, everyone showered them with congratulations, leaving Qiong Xing bewildered.
How did they all know?
When he asked, it turned out they had figured it out from the state he was in when he came back.
Qiong Xing had returned while being carried by Joa because of the pain in his waist, and his alluring looked is similar to how he had been after doing it with Leander and Elias the other day.
From that, they realized that something had progressed between him and Joa who had been with him at the time.
But hearing that meant they knew he had slept with Joa, and that realization made Qiong Xing so embarrassed he couldn’t lift his face.
Seeing Qiong Xing flushed bright red and looking down, Joa gave a wry smile and sat down on a chair while still holding him.
Normally, someone would have told him off for making a scene, but being left alone in this state of embarrassment felt too unsettling, so Qiong Xing decided to behave quietly.
"Here, you’re hungry, right? Eat."
He chewed and swallowed whatever was put into his mouth and once he finished, he was promptly carried back to the room.
As for Cari, he was left in the care of Leander and Elias, who were desperately trying to get him to acknowledge them as papas.
"I can’t believe everyone found out..."
"You really hate people knowing about us that much?"
As Qiong Xing rubbed his face against Joa’s chest as if to hide, a slightly sulky voice came from above.
That wasn’t what he meant, but...
"That’s not it. I don’t regret being with you, Joa, and I’m not ashamed of you... it’s just that, um, people knowing that we were doing that is a little..."
It was simply that he didn’t want people knowing they had been having sex.
It wasn’t something to boast about, nor something to spread around.
"Then I guess you’ll just have to build up more stamina."
Hearing Joa’s advice and given that Qiong Xing ended up being carried the next day every time, they nodded in agreement.
It really did seem like stamina was necessary.
"...I said stamina, not muscles."
However, Qiong Xing had already drifted off into thinking about how to build muscle and Joa’s words no longer reached him.
The next day, they decided to go ahead and make jam using the wild raspberries they had picked.
"Then please put the thoroughly washed berries and sugar into a pot and simmer them down."
Halfway through, part of the mixture was bottled together with the liquid that had been released as it simmered.
The remaining fruit pulp, along with a small amount of liquid, was simmered further until the jam was finished.
Rather than crushing it too much, the berries were intentionally left with their shape intact.
At the side, a lemon version was prepared in the same way.
"Shall we try a little taste?"
As the women looked on with excitement, small pieces of bread were handed out, and the freshly made raspberry jam was spread on top.
"It’s so delicious!"
"It’s so sweet!"
"What is this!? This is amazing!"
Hearing their delighted voices, the men also grew curious, so bread topped with lemon jam was handed out to them as well.
"Oh, this is good."
"It’s not that sour."
"It’s refreshing, nice."