The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 299: I sang a silent song

I twisted my lips a bit skeptically. Should I be worried?

Fenric is such a sweetheart, but I can’t say the same about how he treats others that he sees as a potential threat.

Noah let out a long, weary breath and caught my eye. He didn’t look angry, exactly—more like a man who had realized his life was never, ever going to be simple again.

Not like it ever was.

"Well, Little Tiger," Noah murmured, leaning down to my ear as we started walking. "You certainly know how to keep the ’Committee’ on their toes. But you do realize that now I have to explain to the entire kingdom why the Queen is courting a male who wears a leaf?"

"I’ll buy him some pants, Noah," I groaned. "I’ll buy him all the pants in the West Way."

"What are pants?" Noah asked and I tilted my head aside, my gaze drifting to the water.

"It’s what you wear to cover up," I said, my gaze suddenly dropping to his skirt.

He noticed my gaze, and instead of getting the fact that I was explaining what pants are, he smirked, a perverted thought playing in my mind and manifesting on his lips.

"My ’Queen’," he called in a hushed tone, bringing his lips over to my ear and I flinched. "Are you thinking of ’that’?"

The others had their ears perked up as soon as he mentioned ’that’. He didn’t need to be particularly obvious for them to know what he meant.

I blushed.

"You... Of course not," I shoved his chest back and went to pick up my cubs.

They were buried in the sand, but their eyes were fixed on the gorgeous merman on land.

"Come on, babies, it’s time to go," I said but Lyra wouldn’t stop staring.

Thalor caught the gaze of my daughter, and a soft glint glowed in his eyes.

"I remember that one," he muttered and began to move towards me, leaving Fenric’s hold and Damar frowned.

It looked like Thalor was planning to pick up Lyra, but before he could, Damar snatched his daughter away and whipped his tail against a coconut tree, sending it crashing with a loud thud.

He glared at Thalor and warned him.

"Don’t touch my daughter." With that, he turned and started leaving.

I stayed there, dumbfounded.

That was... Intense.

"Quick, Fenric, Noah, pick up the coconuts," I said, dismissing the violent energy from just now.

Worrying won’t get me the sweet coconut milk, so why worry and leave it behind?

"On it," Fenric began to pick them up, and Noah too.

But Thalor did not move. He looked at his hand for a while and then dropped it slowly.

Did he feel rejected? Did it hurt his feelings?

"How do you know my cub?" I asked and he turned to look at me.

There was still this unanswered question about how Lyra went all the way to that alcove and found Thalor.

"She came to my aid," he said, and I blinked. Elaborate, please. "Just as I was dying on the beach, I sang a silent song. One that not many can hear, and she came. Just before I fell unconscious, this little one came to my rescue and I assume, she brought you along."

I looked at him, skeptical.

A silent song?

Does he mean like the kind of song that lures sailors to their doom? He sang such a song and my daughter heard it?

"I did not mean any harm," he said, as if sensing my worry. "It was a cry for help."

He smiled, and that smile reflected the sun so much that I wished I had that pair of sunglasses.

"That explains it then," I said, clutching my basket. "I always wondered how she had gotten all the way there."

"She has sharp and delicate senses." He said and I nodded.

"That’s true," I said, watching Damar’s back. "She takes after her father."

I should probably never mention to Damar that Thalor lured his daughter during a dangerous moment towards an alcove. He might just gut the merman before I can blink.

"We’ve rounded them up, Arinya," Fenric announced, seeming joyful, but when he found Thalor smiling at me, he turned sour. But he did not say anything.

He had already said his part and expressed his disapproval.

He felt, In the first place, Arinya had made it clear she would have other spouses. So, if she chose the merman, he could not object. But it didn’t mean he would like it either. It just meant he had to share Arinya with everyone else.

That was written so boldly on his face, and I couldn’t pretend not to see it even if I wanted to.

It made me rethink this whole thing more carefully. I have to respect my spouses wishes, just as they have been respecting mine.

Ah, and I don’t even think he’s one of my fated spouses. You know, he’s not said anything about my scent this whole time, which means he can’t perceive it.

That’s already a minus for him.

"Look, Thalor," I said. "I know you mean well, and I know you really want to pay me back for saving your life, but I didn’t save you just to own you. Your life is your own, so live it."

He looked at me for a brief second and then smiled again, so charmingly that I wondered if he even heard a thing I said.

"Land-Mother," he said but then changed his tone to show things sweet. "Arinya."

What was this now?

"You have such a pure heart, it makes me want to stay by your side even more. I promise to be of use to you, and make you happy for the rest of your life."

I gulped, tilting my head to the side and rolling my eyes away.

Alright, that just took a rather unwanted turn.

I wanted to put him off the idea of being my mate, but instead, he just kept wanting me so badly.

Maybe we should change the title to something like, Arinya and her clingy husbands. Yeah, that would work.

Now, how do I tackle this issue?