Chapter 48
Love
Like the soft moonlight, the oval gem had a beautiful serene luster. It was truly worthy of its name.
The gem was held in the cub’s mouth and the fluffball approached the youth with his head raised. It was clear that the Knox cub wanted to give the gem to the youth.
"Meah."
The cub was really close but as he was holding the gem he merely called out a second time and did not snuggle into the youth’s arms.
Two azure eyes gazed intensely at him. Xie Tao lowered his head and looked down at the Knox cub in front of him. With chin held high, it seemed as if the was trying hard to show off the gem in his mouth. Xie Tao’s heart inevitably softened a little.
Xie Tao reached out his hands and picked up the cub which was close to his arms and undid the cloak ribbon tied at the front of the cub’s neck.
They were in the hotel room, for the time being he was no longer afraid of being seen.
Without the little cloak, the cub’s fluffy appearance completely appeared before Xie Tao’s eyes.
Xie Tao raised his hand to touch the Knox cub’s back. After stroking it twice, he put his right hand in front of the cub.
As soon as Xie Tao put forward his hand, the Knox cub lowered his head and placed the gem in the center of his palm.
Xie Tao suddenly felt the slightly cool touch of the gemstone against his skin. But after a while he noticed that the elliptical gem seemed to gradually change to a temperature similar to his body temperature and its color faintly changed with it, showing a more subtle color.
What kind of gem was this? When Xie Tao saw the gem’s appearance, he at once vaguely felt the answer in his heart.
Based on its various characteristics, this gemstone fit the description he had heard not long ago.
It was because of this similarity that Xie Tao felt a little delicate right now.
In actuality, this cub, this Knox, had already grown up… Thinking of the dust on that little black cloak and the treasure hunt those people had mentioned before, Xie Tao knew that this cub-shaped Knox must have scavenged the area near the Moon Pond in order to find the gem in his hand.
In the process, the little cloak on the Knox’s body had gotten some dust on it.
Xie Tao played with the oval gem in his hand. The warm touch of the gem transmitted into his palm. He met the cyan eyes who were watching him.
"Moonstone…?" Although it was pretty clear, Xie Tao asked anyway.
"Meaah."
The end of the fluffy tail tilted slightly. The Knox cub then snuggled into the youth’s arms and responded with a meow.
"Why do you want to give it to me?" Although he had a soft feeling in his chest, Xie Tao had always lacked in this aspect and couldn’t make sense of the situation.
Moonstone was mostly used as a token of love among the mermaid race, especially during the Nesela festival, this was considered a very significant gesture.
In theory, it could not be accepted lightly. But just now, the Knox holding the gem had looked like he wanted to give it to him. Xie Tao had sensed this, so he had reached out a hand to receive it without thinking.
This question could not be answered with merely a sound. The Knox cub, who originally had his head pressed against the youth’s shirt, retreated a bit from the youth’s embrace.
Not only because the answer required exact language, but also because the answer was very important and needed to be clearly said in face to face.
All of a sudden the fluffball in his arms disappeared. Xie Tao did not have time to respond and the next second he felt a kind of warm and cool touch at the corner of his lips.
It was light and brief, just like being brushed by a soft feather. Before he could think about anything, Xie Tao heard a deep and slow
"Love."
The man in front of Xie Tao had his eyes and eyebrows lowered, a look that would make most think that he was indifferent. But when the word was uttered, the Knox’s silver tail was lowered, hanging still behind him. This was a sign of seriousness in the Knox race.
Xie Tao was of course stunned. Especially after he finally realized what the soft touch at the corner of his lips had been. He was frozen for a long time.
Frozen and frozen, defrost and melting. Once Xie Tao’s brain started working again, he raised his hand and touched the Knox’s silver hair.
This must be like with chicks, Xie Tao thought.
Some kind of imprinting.
Ya Yi must have said it because the first person he saw after he was born was him and that, except him, few people had shown him kindness.
Of course, Xie Tao did not believe that his love was false, but he felt that this kind of love was not the kind of lovers.
In the future, aside from him, there would definitely be people who would be willing to show the Knox kindness. At that time, Ya Yi should be able to find the person he really loves.
Using this reason to convince himself, Xie Tao gradually pressed down the strange emotions caused by the feeling still remaining at the corner of his lips.
To be honest, he had never been kissed on his lips before. Xie Tao still needed some time to digest this.
Having his hair touched by the youth, Ya Yi obediently lowered his head a little further and raised his pupils slightly.
The youth in front of him was a very beautiful being. He was just like the moon, always there, always shining in the sky, even when all light disappeared, when the vain sun left, throwing the world into darkness. He was there. Attracted by this kind of warmth, this Knox had been unable to take his eyes off the youth from the very beginning.
The was no question, that light in darkness was so much more dazzling.
At last the oval gem gifted was put away properly. To end this matter, Xie Tao wanted this night to pass by as soon as possible.
The was a cub bed in the small pool in the hotel room. Originally Xie Tao had at first hummed a lullaby to lull the mermaid cub to sleep, but the cub had not at all responded as he had expected.
On their way to the hotel, the mermaid cub nestled in his arms had already seemed a little sleepy. But now the cub did not obediently lie down on the shell bed, but reached out a hand and grabbed onto Xie Tao’s clothes as he passed by.
"Papa."
Grasping the youth’s clothes, the mermaid cub in the pool called out to him.
He wanted to sleep with his parent.
Seeing the big bed not far away, the mermaid cub came up with this idea.
From the cub’s line of sight, Xie Tao was able to interpret what the cub wanted. After a second of hesitation, he lifted the mermaid cub out of the pool.
The cub would be fine as long as he was not away from the water for more than 12 hours, it was enough time to cover from now until dawn tomorrow morning.
As the silver haired Knox showed no sign of planning to change back to his cub form any time soon, Xie Tao let the other sleep in the big bed together with them instead of the cub bed at the side.
All rooms in this hotel had wide beds, there was more than enough room for two people and a cub on it.
Ya Yi fortunately laid down on his side, leaving room for them. Xie Tao turned off the light and laid down on the empty spot on the bed.
The cub naturally had to sleep in the middle. Xie Tao inched closer to the middle so that the mermaid cub lying there could easily nest in his arms and sleep.
Wanting to coax the cub to sleep, Xie Tao lightly hummed a lullaby. However Xie Tao was actually the one who ended up falling asleep first this time.
Resting in the arms of the youth, the mermaid cub instinctively lifted his tail fin and gently patted the youth’s body. The patting was very light and did not affect the youth’s sleep.
Rhythmically lifting and gently patting, this behavior showed that the mermaid cub felt safe and that the cub was very dependent on his parent.
Originally, the mermaid cub had been very close to falling asleep after Xie Tao. But as the cub was about to close his eyes, a cold silver tail had attracted the cub’s attention.
The silver tail lightly circled the waist of the sleeping youth, or maybe it was more appropriate to say that it was hugging it. The mermaid cub who saw the silver tail’s action, moved his attention to the person lying next to him, his blue eyes meeting the other’s azure.
"Papa…? Not sure if he should use this word, the mermaid cub only uttered the two syllables in a very low voice. But the cub did not move his eyes away from the other.
The inheritance of the race made this mermaid cub have a vague innate understanding of the various traditions of the mermaid race. The moonstone was a token of love in the mermaid race. The person from whom the youth accept this gift should be the other parent of the little mermaid.
Even if the other was clearly male.
After saying the two syllables, the mermaid cub touched the silver tail out of curiosity. It was very different from his own.
Ya Yi did not respond to being touched by the young cub.
The tail of the Knox race was special. They would not allow someone to touch it unless it was a parent or partner.
But in reality, there was also another exception. If their own cub wanted to touch their tail, they would also comply.
Without saying anything, the Knox recalled the movements of other people and mimicked them, raising his hand to touch the soft golden hair of the mermaid cub next to him.
Sleeping between his two parents, the little mermaid soon fell asleep in this comfortable environment.
Even after falling asleep, the cub’s mood could be seen from the small movements of the tail fin.
The little mermaid seemed to have a very happy dream.
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Translator’s note:
Aw~ Gale got another parent~
Also, kiss!!! ･:*+.\((°ω°))/.:+
Need even more awesomeness? Here is Gale fanart made by ggrrizzly. ^^