"Alright, everyone can leave and attend to their various tasks so that they can finish up on time. Failure to arrive at the meeting on time will result in severe punishment," the Village Chief said before he turned around and shapeshifted into his giant green-horned owl form, immediately taking to the sky and swiftly heading towards the Village.
Caretaker Ivor and the others soon began to leave one by one after welcoming Saria back to the Village once more and congratulating her and Orion on becoming partners. They wished a safe delivery of their children in advance, knowing that Orion's extreme fertility was capable of impregnating a tree nymph, with a tight, strange smile on their faces.
Caretaker Shani, however, seemed like she had something else to say.
"If you don't mind, I hope you can visit my hut this evening after the meeting. I would like to speak with you over a bowl of breast milk," Caretaker Shani said with a smile.
Orion furrowed his brows inwardly, pondering what she wanted to discuss, before nodding in response.
"Alright, I will be sure to be there," Orion responded.
Caretaker Shani nodded in response.
"I'll be expecting your arrival," she replied. "Congratulations on becoming partners, both of you, and welcome back to the Village once more," Caretaker Shani said with a warm smile as she nodded at Anara and the others before walking away.
Meanwhile, the Village Chieftess and Seth, who were also about to leave, had heard Caretaker Shani's words, especially the Village Chieftess, but she chose to pay no mind to it. They understood that it must be something private; as such, whatever Caretaker Shani and Orion wanted to discuss was none of their business as long as it didn't cause any harm or problems for the Village.
However, even after considering Stronghold Leader Drakar's actions, that didn't mean they had to place suspicion on every key figure; doing that would only aggravate the problem. Nonetheless, since Caretaker Shani had uttered those words publicly, it was highly unlikely that it should be anything that would arouse suspicion from her.
However, as Caretaker Shani passed by them, Seth's expression eased, with a sigh escaping his lips, "My condolences for your loss, Caretaker Shani. We tried our best to..." he said.
However, Caretaker Shani interrupted before he could finish his sentence, shaking her head as she responded, "Don't worry, Warrior Seth…" She wanted to continue speaking. However, she suddenly paused, exhaling deeply before continuing, "I'll need to head back to my work. See you later, Warrior Seth."
She nodded at Seth and the Village Chief before turning around and walking forward, disappearing into the clusters of trees and bushes.
At the same time, although Orion had been unable to hear anything from Seth and Caretaker Shani's conversation while he approached Anara and the others, with a glance, he could notice the tension among them.
Regardless, he focused his attention forward since he couldn't find anything and could only wait until this evening to understand what Caretaker Shani wanted to discuss.
Anara rushed into his arms wordlessly, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
"Grace and I missed you so much," Anara said, snuggling her head on Orion's chest as she looked at him with a warm smile.
Orion wrapped his arms around her as well. "I missed you," he responded, hugging her tightly.
"Huh!" Saria, delighted to personally introduce her partner to the Tree Nymphs' Overseer and her sisters, couldn't help but stand rooted in her spot, stunned as she observed the scene unfolding before her.
"What… is going on?" Saria asked, managing to speak before she became dumbfounded at Anara's sudden coquettish behaviour.
She patiently waited for Orion to explain what was going on.
Hearing Saria's words and seeing her expression, Orion understood she was confused about Anara's sudden behaviour.
"I didn't tell you anything about it before because I wanted to introduce you two properly to each other. Saria, Anara is my partner and the mother of my first child," Orion responded.
It felt as though Saria's mind was turned upside down the very moment she heard Orion's words.
"What… What did you just say? Anara… is your partner and the mother of your first child," Saria said, her voice stuttering with a mixture of shock and disbelief. She pointed a finger at Anara, and her eyes immediately snapped down towards Anara, who was staring at her as though intensely examining her expression before her gaze shifted back towards Orion.
Anara!
Anara, the Tree Nymphs' Overseer!!
The oldest tree on the farm, whom everyone, including her, sees as a respectable figure, a motherly figure over every one of the tree nymphs that none of them could ever help but look up to, was also the partner of her husband and the mother of his first child….
Impossible!!
This is impossible!!
How? How could she believe such a thing?
For all she knows, they might be playing tricks on her and trying to test whether she could truly hold onto the decision that she had just made.
'Yes, that might be it,' Saria thought, nodding inwardly as she came to such a conclusion.
However, she couldn't help but feel her emotions twist uncontrollably, as though they were in a storm, making it difficult for her to express her feelings accurately.
Witnessing Saria's conflicted expression, Orion understood that he should have revealed his words little by little, allowing Saria to digest such a revelation slowly instead of blurting them out all at once.
He had initially planned a way to introduce Saria to Anara, but seeing as Anara had immediately called out to him and jumped into his arms, it caused him to change his plans.
Regardless, he understood that whatever he said right now might sound untrue to Saria, and the only way to make her believe that he wasn't lying was to show her grace or let Anara do it.
Fortunately, Anara seemed to have read his mind and immediately chuckled loudly.
She looked at Saria warmly before shifting her gaze back towards Orion. Before Saria could react, Anara used her finger and flung it hard against his forehead.
