To soone like Talia, who wasn’t built for direct combat, all of that probably looked terrifying rather than impressive.
And without the protection that ca with officially belonging to the clan, the fear of dying permanently would’ve naturally beco even worse over ti.
Anyone in her situation would’ve been worried.
Scared too.
And the more I thought about it, the more guilty I felt for not recognizing that earlier. I had been so focused on survival, expansion, new threats, the King’s Gas, and everything happening around the clan that I completely overlooked sothing that should’ve been simple.
I never gave her the minimum reassurance she needed to feel safe.
"You know what?" I said after a mont. "Your fear is justified."
Talia looked slightly surprised by the imdiate agreent.
"And I’m genuinely sorry I forgot about you," I continued honestly. "I really am."
I exhaled lightly before shaking my head at myself.
"It’s actually ridiculous that I haven’t officially done it yet."
Then I looked directly at her.
"Let’s handle it now. We’ll make you an official mber of the clan."
The tension in Talia’s shoulders visibly eased after hearing that.
She let out a long breath of relief before giving a small nod.
"Thank you, Chief."
I imdiately raised a brow.
"That’s the first ti you’ve called Chief this entire conversation."
Talia scratched the back of her head awkwardly.
"Well..." she muttered. "I was avoiding calling you Chief on purpose."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"I just figured that if you pointed it out, I could always say the reason was that you technically weren’t my chief yet."
I stared at her for a second.
"...That’s actually surprisingly calculated."
Talia looked away innocently.
I raised a brow slightly.
"Weren’t you afraid I’d get angry at you?"
Talia shook her head almost imdiately.
"No. Strangely enough, I’m not really afraid of you, even though you’re honestly more terrifying than most of the others."
I blinked once at that description.
That wasn’t exactly reassuring.
"It’s also strange that you never addressed how casually I’ve been speaking to you this whole ti," she continued.
Was it strange?
Not really.
I had noticed it from the beginning.
Talia spoke to more casually than almost anyone else in the clan, yet sohow, I never found it irritating enough to correct.
And honestly, I already knew why.
"I guess it’s because I missed being spoken to casually. Almost everyone around is formal all the ti."
I sighed lightly.
"Well... except Flogga and Zarah, but those two are obvious exceptions."
Talia’s expression softened slightly after hearing that.
"Well..." she said with a small smile. "I can keep speaking casually to you if you want."
For so reason, hearing that made the atmosphere feel strangely lighter than before.
But I said imdiately, my tone turning far more serious than before:
"Don’t. Unless you actually want to die."
Talia froze on the spot, clearly startled by how suddenly my tone changed.
I sighed lightly afterward before explaining.
"Zarah might misunderstand."
Talia nodded quickly, understanding what I ant.
She had bonded slightly with Zarah, so she understood how jealous his partner could be.
"Alright then," I said while straightening slightly. "Let’s officially make you a mber of the clan."
Talia imdiately stood upright after hearing that, the earlier frustration on her face fading into visible excitent.
"What do I need to do?" she asked quickly.
"It’s simple," I replied. "Place your hand over your chest. Legs together, and swear your allegiance to the Erald Midget Clan."
Talia blinked once.
"...That’s it?"
"The ’place your hand on your chest and legs together’ part isn’t important. But yes, that’s all. Technically, you could’ve even done it without coming directly to , and I would’ve received a prompt from the system asking whether to approve or reject the request."
Talia shook her head slowly, looking almost defeated by the realization that she had spent so much ti stressing over sothing that could’ve been resolved so easily.
Then, after taking a small breath, she placed her hand over her chest and joined both feet together.
"I, Natalia Brentwood, swear my allegiance to the Erald Midget Clan."
The mont the words left her mouth, a notification imdiately appeared in front of asking whether I wished to approve or reject her request to join the clan.
Without hesitation, I selected yes, and the prompt disappeared.
I looked back toward Talia.
"Are you happy now?" I asked.
She nodded almost imdiately.
Then I asked another question.
"Do you feel safer now?"
Talia was quiet for a mont before finally answering.
"For now," she said softly. "And, that’s enough."
I gave a small nod to that.
Afterward, we exchanged brief goodbyes before Talia finally turned and walked away, the blanket still held against her chest as she disappeared deeper into the settlent.
anwhile, I remained standing there for a few extra seconds, letting out a long exhausted sigh once the conversation finally ended.
Today had genuinely drained .
By the ti I finally entered my quarters, I no longer wanted to think about politics, clan managent, combat preparations, shelters, oaths, or anything else waiting for tomorrow.
I just wanted to get into bed and lie in the embrace of my one and only.
But the mont I reached the bed, I imdiately stopped.
Because soone else was already there beside Zarah. Nestled comfortably within her arms with its head resting against her chest.
’Ariel.’
I stood there silently for a few seconds while staring at the scene before .
Then I slowly frowned.
"When did those two get so close?"
Honestly, I was genuinely tempted to walk over there and yank the fox straight out of Zarah’s embrace.
But the mont I looked properly at Zarah’s sleeping face, I stopped myself.
She looked... comfortable. Peaceful too.
One arm was loosely wrapped around Ariel while the fox remained curled quietly against her, both of them completely asleep without the slightest awareness of my growing internal irritation.
I stared at them for another mont before eventually exhaling through my nose.
Without saying anything else, I climbed onto the other side of the bed and lay down while deliberately turning away from the two of them.
I was definitely bringing this up with Zarah tomorrow.
Because under no circumstances should this beco a regular occurrence.
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