Miche froze for a brief moment but quickly recovered.
"Ophelia, are you really still threatening Loki at a time like this?"
"Fine. As long as you're willing to gather the herbs to cure Amy, I promise to never see Loki and Amy ever again." Miche's eyes grew red at the rims, shimmering with unshed tears.
Loki's expression was icy. "Amy is your female cub too. I really don't like how you're acting right now."
"I'm about to sever our mate bond. What does it matter to me if you like it or not?" Ophelia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"Or, if you agree to break the mate bond with me, I'll go gather the herbs to cure her."
Loki furrowed his brows. "Impossible. Don't even think about it."
"Mother, are you really going to abandon me?" Amy stared in shock. She felt that her mother truly wanted nothing to do with her this time.
"Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't want to go into the forest," Ophelia said. "Her allergic reaction will fade on its own in a couple of days."
Miche clenched her fists, her eyes blazing with anger. Of course she didn't want to go. The forest was teeming with wild beasts. Even the males had to travel in groups when they went hunting. If a small female like her went out there, she wouldn't make it back alive.
"Tell me what the herb looks like. Since you won't take care of her as a mother should, I will."
Ophelia didn't refuse this time. She pulled a shriveled piece of aloe from a Beast Skin Bag in the corner.
"Look closely. There are two types of this plant—one is poisonous, and the other isn't. As for how to tell the difference, you'll just have to find someone to test it on."
In the past, she had always been the one testing the herbs. She wondered who it would be this time. Her gaze shifted back and forth between Loki and Miche. Amy was also looking up at Miche with a face full of hope.
Miche ground her teeth in fury but didn't dare to speak.
Ophelia sneered. "Amy, it seems you aren't that important to your favorite Ms. Miche after all."
Naturally, Loki couldn't stand seeing his beloved being put on the spot. He snapped angrily, "Stop trying to sow discord here. Let's go, Amy. Father will definitely heal your face."
Stepping out of the stone house, Amy looked at her father with concern. "Father, are you really going to break the mate bond with Mot—with Ophelia?"
Loki gripped the Blood Crystal Stone tightly in his hand, remaining silent for a long time.
Miche crouched down and reached out to stroke Amy's soft, short blonde hair. "It's not your father who wants to break the bond right now. It's your mother who doesn't want you and Loki anymore."
Amy puffed out her cheeks in anger. "Hmph, I don't want her either! I want Ms. Miche to be my mother."
Loki's face was as dark as ink. "Let's not talk about this right now. What's important is that I go into the forest to gather herbs to cure you."
Back in the stone house, Tyler looked at Ophelia, hesitating to speak.
"Say whatever is on your mind. Don't hold it in," she told him.
"Princess, why didn't you tell Loki that you've already cultivated a patch of aloe in the forest?" Tyler asked. He had seen with his own eyes how much the Princess used to cherish the little female cub, Amy. He found it hard to believe that she could truly bear to see her suffer.
"It's just an allergic reaction. She won't die from it," Ophelia replied. In the past, her anxiety over her loved ones had clouded her judgment, making her unwilling to let her daughter suffer even the slightest bit of pain. But now, she no longer wanted this daughter. It was no longer her place to worry. Furthermore, she knew Loki wouldn't just stand by and watch anything bad happen to Amy.
After all, having offspring was one of his bargaining chips to compete for the position of Clan Leader. Otherwise, he wouldn't have schemed to abandon his beloved just to mate with her, all because females of the Dragon Clan had strong reproductive capabilities.
"If Loki refuses to agree, are you really going to forcefully sever the mate bond? That will cost you half a year of your lifespan."
"It's fine. Consider it the price I have to pay for being blind these past few years. It's only half a year." Of course, that was the worst-case scenario.
A day passed peacefully.
By nine o'clock the next morning, all the rice in the farm space had ripened. Ophelia found an excuse to sneak into the space to harvest it.
A hundred square meters didn't look very big, but the workload was immense. As she wiped away her sweat, she firmly resolved that once she earned enough points, she would definitely redeem the one-click planting and harvesting function.
She worked until the sun went down, yet two-thirds of the rice remained unharvested. Looking at her uncontrollably trembling hands, Ophelia sighed. It seemed she had been too optimistic. Planting for a full twenty days a month was going to be rather difficult.
Unlocking the one-click planting and harvesting required two hundred points. A rabbit skin could be exchanged for twenty points, a fox skin for fifty points, a wolf skin for two hundred points, and a tiger skin for two hundred points.
Ophelia's eyes lit up. She remembered that Tyler had hunted a red fox skin for her last year. But then she immediately recalled how Loki had snatched that red fox skin away when winter arrived last year, claiming that Miche was weak and needed thick pelts for winter clothing.
Every animal skin Tyler had given her in the past had been swindled or snatched away by Loki under various pretexts. It felt incredibly suffocating just thinking about it now. Fortunately, she had awakened to the truth this time and had even obtained the farm space. She was already very lucky.
"Princess, it's time for dinner." Tyler walked in carrying a roasted leg of lamb and some white rice porridge.
"Smells delicious." Ophelia was completely captivated by the mouthwatering aroma of the golden-brown roasted lamb.
Seeing her reaction, Tyler's lips curled up slightly. He then used a Bone Knife to carve the lamb into small pieces, placing them into a Stone Bowl.
The thick, thoroughly boiled rice porridge paired smoothly with the roasted meat. It was incredibly tasty.
"This is so good. You should try some too." Ophelia scooped up some porridge and roasted meat with a wooden spoon and held it up to Tyler's mouth.
Under the expectant gaze of her bright and shiny eyes, the male simply couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Mhm, it's delicious," he said.
"Ophelia!" A deep, furious voice exploded in the room.
Tyler immediately took the Stone Bowl from her and placed it on the table to prevent another scalding incident like the last time.
Ophelia turned her head and saw an ashen-faced Loki, with Miche and Amy standing behind him.
"We haven't even severed our mate bond yet, and here you are seducing other males! Do you have any respect for me at all? Do you even remember that you have a female cub?"
"Tyler, you damn male!" Loki gritted his teeth and raised his fist, aiming a punch right at Tyler's face.
Ophelia frowned. She raised her hand and threw the beast skin blanket from the bed at Loki. Sensing danger, Loki's attack came to an abrupt halt.
"Ophelia, you actually hit me for him?" Loki's eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
"You were the one who started swinging the moment you walked in. If you start a fight, you deserve to get hit. Got it?" Ophelia shot him an irritated glare.
"You... you..." Loki was seething with anger.
"It smells so good! Mother, what are you eating?" Amy licked her lips and stood on her tiptoes to peer at the table. As a child, she could never resist the temptation of good food.
"Rice porridge. Stop pretending—it's not like you've never had it before."
Amy's cheeks flushed red, and she lowered her head. "I... I haven't had rice porridge in a month."
Miche also glanced at the porridge on the table and secretly swallowed her saliva. She smiled and said, "You really are something. You have rice porridge, yet you don't even think to share it with Amy. She's young and still growing. She needs to eat more porridge to grow strong and healthy.
"Don't you agree, Ophelia?"