"I thought you would catch up with us at the farm once you woke up," the Village Chief remarked to his wife, who was seated in the room alongside Ayla, patiently awaiting his arrival.
Zara, wearing a calm expression, replied, "Well, considering that you left the hut early, I decided to wait for a while, assuming you would return quickly. To my surprise, only Thak returned and informed me that you were still occupied with the child. Shortly after, some servants who had gone to gather today's fruits informed me that Hrok had announced his retirement, with Shani taking over his position." She observed her husband's furrowed brow, which gradually relaxed as he settled into his seat. "It seems something eventful occurred at the farm today. Care to fill me in on the details?"
Listening to his wife's curiosity, he turned around to look at the several guards and servants in the room, including Ayla, and said, "You all can leave." They nodded in understanding and exited the room, knowing that this was not something they should eavesdrop on. When Ayla and the other servants left, Zara's expression immediately turned serious as she focused her gaze on her husband and asked, "Is it that serious?"
The Village Chief nodded solemnly, "Yes, it is."
Seeing her husband confirming her thoughts, Zara pressed on, asking once more, "So, what happened?".
"It's that child. Not only does he have a very strange taste, considering the kind of generation of women that he had both penetrated and impregnated, but it seems that he also has a very sharp mind," the Village Chief said, before he explained, "We went to meet with the Caretakers because the boy was not happy with the options that he had been given."
"Do you mean the options that you talked about yesterday?" Zara asked, curiously.
"Yes, but I wasn't the one that brought it up."
Zara nodded her head in understanding; after all, her husband had already mentioned to her last night that there was a higher per cent chance of the Caretakers also considering such an option.
"So instead of laying down his options, which I expected he was going to do, he went ahead and gave us a whole new vision for the future," the Village Chief's face brightened up the moment he thought about the detailed plans that Orion had presented.
"Which is?" Zara asked, her voice filled to the brim with curiosity the moment she saw her husband's face light up from the previous solemn expression, wondering about the kind of plan Orion had proposed and how much of an impact it must have had for Hrok to step down from his position as a Caretaker on the same day.
"He talked about expanding the village."
"But…."
"Let me finish," the Village Chief raised his hand to silence his wife's words. Seeing her patiently waiting for him to continue, he proceeded to explain Orion's plan for expanding the village.
Meanwhile, the village chieftess's eyes widened after every sentence, until the Village Chief finished speaking, to which she couldn't help but exclaim, "That's genius. But then, the children…." Her eyes suddenly opened wide as she deeply contemplated what such a plan entailed.
"Yes, the plan to divert the attention of the Vylkr vines this week will be put on hold as it seems that we will no longer need to sacrifice the children to divert their attention. Instead, they would be useful in helping us build this new settlement once they are old enough," The Village Chief explained, confirming his wife's thoughts.
However, this revelation made Zara's eyes widen as another thought entered her mind. "Does this mean that he also knows about them?" she asked cautiously.
Contrary to her expectations, her husband nodded his head in acknowledgement. He then proceeded to tell her everything that had transpired before and after he had shown Orion the pit. Zara, however, stared at her husband up and down for a few seconds before she said, "And you let him off just like that?"
Listening to her question, the Village Chief understood what she meant and asked, "What did you expect me to do?" shaking his head helplessly.
Zara furrowed her brows in confusion as she said, "What do you mean? Aren't you the Village Chief? Didn't he attack you?".
"You don't understand, Zara," The Village Chief said, shaking his head at his wife's words. "As the Village Chief, it is my job to do what is best for the village. Not allowing that child to let out his anger at that moment would be as disastrous as letting his bitterness fester in his heart and develop into something harmful that could threaten the village in the future."
Sensing what her husband meant, Zara wanted to respond, but she paused to take a minute to sniff the air. She caught an invisible trail that seemed to lead directly to her husband. "You went to the Overseer's Essence Lake, didn't you?" Zara asked with a frown, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at her husband.
Seeing no need to lie to his wife, as using the Overseer's Essence Lake normally leaves a trail of thick flowery scent on one's body, and since his wife already knows the smell, it wouldn't be hard for her to accurately detect it.
The Village Chief nodded and admitted, "Yes, I went there," but before he could continue, he quickly raised his hand to stop his wife from asking further questions. "Before you ask anything else... Yes, I went there because I was injured, though it wasn't a serious injury, just a bloodied nose. And I took Orion to the Overseer's Essence Lake to cleanse his body and improve his health."
Zara's eyes narrowed even further as she listened to her husband's explanation. She couldn't believe everything she was hearing. "So you mean to tell me that this child attacked you, challenging your authority as the Village Chief, and you simply dropped him off at Anara's tree for healing in her lake," she said, her voice filled with incredulity. "Meanwhile, our own son made a thoughtful decision and you made him lead a group of warriors for an exploration?"
