Seeing Xavier take the garlic, Lucas no longer cared about the strong smell and took a bite as well. The two of them finished all the meat, alternating between bites of garlic and grilled pork.
After eating, they accidentally exhaled in each other’s faces and immediately recoiled in disgust.
Sora sat to the side laughing uncontrollably. The two wanted to complain, but considering how delicious the meal had been, they swallowed their words and left.
After laughing for a while, Sora got down to rendering the pig fat. By the time she finished, it was nearly noon. She carefully stored the lard and headed back toward the tribe, planning to take a nap.
Just as she reached the village entrance, she ran into Lyra and a large group of tribe members. Among them were several of her beast husbands.
Without even asking for Sora’s opinion, Lyra immediately declared, "Kaelira, from now on, you’ll be responsible for cooking for the tribe."
"I refuse," Sora answered without hesitation.
"Why not? Other females cook," Lyra replied.
"Kaelira, there should be limits to your laziness. Father said so himself. Besides, everyone says your cooking is delicious. You should be proud of that."
Mark, standing nearby, joined in the criticism.
Sora couldn’t be bothered to argue. "I don’t have the time. If everyone wants to eat better food, they’re welcome to learn from me."
"What do you mean you don’t have time?" Mark’s expression darkened.
"I’m trying to lose weight. Brother, don’t you want to see your sister improve?"
Mark was momentarily speechless. He had spent years telling her to lose weight, yet she had never listened. Now that she finally seemed serious about it, his tone softened.
"How much time can cooking possibly take? Besides, the other females can help."
The nearby women immediately nodded.
"Don’t worry, Kaelira. We’ll help."
But cooking for herself and cooking for hundreds of people were completely different matters. Sora had no intention of becoming the tribe’s unpaid cook. She still needed time to improve her abilities, build a better life for herself, and work on her relationships with the beastmen.
Her time was valuable.
"That won’t work. Look at me. If I don’t exercise enough, I’ll never lose weight. Besides, Brother, I’m a married woman now. Shouldn’t I focus on my own household first?"
The atmosphere instantly became awkward.
There was nothing wrong with what she said, yet hearing it come from Kaelira felt strange to everyone.
Xavier, standing nearby, frowned slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kaelira desperately signaling for him not to speak.
The lunch she made was excellent. If she started cooking for the entire tribe, he and Lucas wouldn’t get to enjoy fresh dishes every day. Though he still wasn’t particularly fond of Kaelira, he had to admit she was much easier to get along with than before.
So he kept silent.
Lucas’s expression also shifted slightly. Seeing that Xavier wasn’t objecting, he wisely remained quiet as well.
As for ACE, he appeared completely indifferent, resting nearby with his eyes closed.
Lukan didn’t say anything either.
Even so, everyone knew Kaelira still wasn’t sharing a bed with any of her beast husbands.
It had been Mark who proposed the idea of having Kaelira cook for the tribe, yet now she had openly refused him. His face darkened.
"Impossible?" he scoffed.
Sora gritted her teeth and continued signaling frantically toward Xavier.
"Who says so? Xavier and I are getting along just fine."
Mark snorted.
"Then sleep together tonight."
The moment those words left his mouth, every expression in the crowd became colorful.
Some beastmen were simply there to watch the drama. Everyone knew Xavier’s temper. Getting him to willingly sleep beside Sora was considered nearly impossible.
Some females were eager to see Kaelira embarrass herself.
Others looked bewildered or sympathetic.
But among everyone present, the two most affected were Sora and Xavier.
Sora was stunned.
She never expected Mark to say something so outrageous. They were siblings, and yet he had casually pushed her into such a situation.
As for Xavier, his face cycled through disbelief, embarrassment, annoyance, and conflict.
What exactly did Kaelira mean by saying they were getting along well?
For a moment, he couldn’t find any words.
Meanwhile, Serena was overjoyed.
Letting Mark handle the situation had been a brilliant idea. Now Sora had dug herself into a hole.
Just imagining Xavier rejecting Kaelira in front of everyone and forcing her to admit she had lied filled Serena with satisfaction.
The humiliation she had suffered recently would finally be repaid.
Lucas had been enjoying the show from the sidelines and never expected the trouble to land on Xavier so quickly.
He immediately took a cautious step backward.
Then, realizing his reaction might be too obvious, he shifted to the side instead.
Afterward, he looked at Xavier with sympathy.
"Brother," he thought, "what are you going to do now? If you offend Kaelira, you might never get another good meal again."
Even so, Lucas couldn’t help feeling a little pleased. If Xavier stopped eating with Kaelira, that meant one less person competing with him for food.
Lukan was also somewhat surprised. Over the past few days, he had clearly noticed that Kaelira had changed for the better. Why had things suddenly developed into this situation again?
A hint of disappointment flashed through his pale golden eyes.
ACE, meanwhile, was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle. His eyes were filled with both disdain and schadenfreude.
Xavier had spent the last several days staying close to that ugly, overweight female. Now he was caught in a difficult position, wasn’t he?
Sometimes people really needed to control their mouths.
Otherwise, they might end up sacrificing future happiness.
Sora, on the other hand, was growing increasingly anxious.
Suddenly, the system’s voice rang out in her mind.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host. Attraction Value has increased to 15. ACE, Lukan, and Lucas are all paying attention to your movements."
Sora nearly rolled her eyes.
Of course everyone was paying attention. The entire tribe was waiting to watch her embarrass herself.
As for the Attraction Value, she still had no idea how the system calculated it. Her Heartbeat Value hadn’t increased at all.
Normally she would have questioned the system further, but she was too busy worrying about her current predicament.
If Xavier refused, she would be in serious trouble.
Thinking quickly, Sora gritted her teeth and shot Xavier a meaningful look.
After spending several days together, Xavier’s attitude toward her had softened slightly.
He still found her appearance difficult to accept, but thanks to her cooking, he could at least tolerate being around her.
However, the look she was giving him now left him completely baffled.
She kept raising her eyebrows and widening her eyes.
Was she trying to flirt?
Her face scrunched up so much that he felt slightly nauseated.
He immediately looked away.
Then he noticed her making a gesture as though she were cracking an egg.
His expression changed.
Was she threatening him?
If he refused, there would be no more food.
Xavier never imagined a day would come when Kaelira would hold his meals hostage.
Then Sora pointed at her animal-skin skirt.
Xavier instantly understood.
She was signaling him to cooperate first and discuss everything later.
Just like the previous misunderstanding.
After a long silence, he still said nothing.
At that moment Serena stepped forward with a sympathetic smile.
"Brother, how can you speak to Kaelira like that? If she doesn’t want to do it, let’s forget about it."
Her seemingly kind words only made Mark feel more strongly that Kaelira needed stricter discipline.
After Serena finished speaking, Mark glared at Kaelira.
"If you won’t do it, then come back and cook. Stop being lazy."
Some of the females in the crowd had already started laughing.
Sora glared at Mark before turning toward Xavier.
"Who says it’s impossible? We’re sleeping together tonight, aren’t we?"
Serena sneered inwardly, waiting for Xavier to reject her publicly.
Yet to everyone’s surprise, Xavier remained silent.
One female who admired Xavier laughed mockingly.
"Kaelira, look. Xavier isn’t even responding. Why humiliate yourself?"
Sora immediately shot back.
"Silence doesn’t mean rejection. It could just mean he’s shy."
Since Xavier wasn’t denying it, she decided to treat his silence as agreement.
Otherwise, with his personality, he would have walked away long ago.
The female’s face instantly reddened.
"What are you so proud of? Xavier just doesn’t want to waste his time talking to you."
Several experienced married beastmen shook their heads.
"Not necessarily. Xavier isn’t the type to stay silent if he truly disagrees."
The female still looked doubtful.