New law of Beast Taming

"Sean, that was rude. You rushed your guests out like that should have made them angry at you. What if it sours your relationship with them later?"

Helios asked as he picked up a nut from the guest tray and popped it into his mouth. He did not sound upset but he did sound curious about Sean's choice.

"My guests understand my temperament so I am sure that they won't be angry. Anyway, they are the ones who want something from me and not the other way around, so why should I care about their mood?"

Sean explained it all to Helios but he vowed to take care of his problem at his end somehow. He refused to pull Helios into his mess.

"Fine, I will believe you if you say that this is the case. You should still sleep now since your mother may want you to investigate the current case more tomorrow. You know, the one with the butterflies."

Sean nodded and lay down. It was not until he was in the sweet clutches of sleep that he realized something.

He never told Helios about the butterfly case. Nor had anyone else involved Helios in this case. And Sean doubted that their mother had opened her mouth.

Then, did Helios gather his information regarding this case? Since when did he know about it? Helios had not shown any indication of knowing about this case all this time.

"Ugh, I am thinking about this too much. I am sure that Helios has his reasons for knowing about this case and he would tell me when it is time. I need to trust him, just as he trusts me."

Sean's sleep was not calm since his brain flashed some disturbing thoughts back at him all the time. But hot tea helped him calm down enough to lie down and go to sleep. When he woke up the next morning, the sun was shining brightly in the sky.

......

Amane headed back home bright and early. No one except some servants was awake at this god-awful hour and the sun was still rising.

No matter how much Amane tried to oversleep, her body was too conditioned to wake up once it had optimal hours of sleep and then it was time to head home.

The door that had blood butterflies behind it was quickly opened and Amane allowed the butterflies to camouflage themselves against her skin. Then, it was time to head out.

Since it was so quiet during the morning, Amane could even hear the soft footsteps of someone running toward her from the other corridor. She quickly stopped so that she could not crash into the running person.

Helios ran past her with a lonely expression on his face. The ever-cheerful look on Helio's face looked dark and gloomy now. Amane did think about stopping him and asking him what happened.

But in the end, she decided that it would be better for her to turn a blind eye toward him. Sometimes, it was better to suffer alone in silence than to have someone confront you about it.

The morning air was fresh so Amane decided to take a long walk toward the Tsurugi estate. It was about 2 hours walk from the divine guild. Amane covered that distance in half the allotted time and then whistled.

The griffin came running and nuzzled her hand. Amane gave it a few pets before she got on it and reached back home. The griffin led her straight to its barn and Amane only got off in there.

"Hey, you are finally back. Would you stop running around…I see that you had a reason to run away this time."

Eclipse sounded tired and he looked tired as well. From the dark circles under his eyes, it was clear that he had not slept in a few days.

"Are you alright? I know I asked you to learn and take care of these beasts, but I never asked you to sacrifice your health for them."

Amane scolded Eclipse but he did not sound sorry or worried. He patted the name on his neck and looked at Amane with a content expression on his face.

"Well, I want to rest as well but my body kind of moves on its own when it comes to these kids. I feel…happy to be needed by them."

Those words made Amane pause and consider what she had just heard. She could not help but feel troubled for Eclipse now.

She had heard about people who had dedicated their whole lives to their art to gain peace of mind. It was a way for them to overcome their loneliness and make themselves feel better. In this regard, Eclipse was no different.

'I did not even realize how lonely this kid had gotten. And I doubted that the kid knew what was going on with himself as well.'

"Eclipse, you need to cut back on your work and rest more. You cannot keep stretching yourself so thin all the time. At this rate, you might collapse."

Amane warned but Eclipse took offense to that statement. His anger rose and he ended up lashing out at Amane.

"I don't want to cut back on my hours here. This work makes me feel like I am worth something and I am also the only one who can do this. Without this, my worth would be…"

Eclipse's anger agitated the blood butterflies and they flapped their wings against Amane's body. Her skin took a blackish tone due to the butterflies and she quickly circulated her soothing energy around her to calm these things down.

As soon as her skin flashed that black color, Eclipse looked shocked and calmed down. There was a fascinated look in his eyes as well.

"Eclipse, calm down. There is no need for you to overwork yourself even if you have this ability. Taking things easy would help you develop your ability faster. So, calm down and think things over."

Amane warned and Eclipse finally considered her words.

"Fine. I guess I did overreact a little bit back there. Maybe I am a little more sensitive than I need to be right now. But honestly, the current atmosphere of our home is stressful for me as well."

Eclipse complained and Amane did not even have to ask him what he meant when the door to the beast house was slammed open and a familiar face entered the barn.

"My dear son. I am here to spend some quality father-son time with you. Are you ready to spend some time with me as well?"

As soon as Amane had heard that loud noise, she knew who the culprit was. She did not even have to turn around and see his face.

From the tired look on Eclipse's face, it was clear that this was not his first run-in with this person. Albus had been annoying him for some time now.

"Does this happen often? You seem used to Albus coming in here."

Amane asked with a surprised voice. She had not expected Albus to be this annoying toward someone who was not family. He behaved formally toward the staff and outsiders from what Amane had observed.

'What is this man cooking? But maybe he will be good for Eclipse? This kid does need a father figure in his life after all.'

Amane had mixed thoughts about Albus approaching Sean. So, she decided to wait around for the man to enter the storage house.

However, as soon as Albus entered the barn, there was something weird about him that Amane could smell. It only lasted for a second, but everyone inside the building had tensed up.

The beasts looked especially agitated and Sean seemed to be on a high alert, even if he did not know why that was.

But just as quickly that smell had come, it disappeared as well and everything went back to normal.

"My dear pseudo-son. How does it feel to be spending some time with me? Oh my! The heavens listened to me and gave me what I wished for! My lovely daughter is here as well. I am so happy right now. Aren't you happy to be spending some time with me as well?" Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Albus questioned as his arms hugged Amane tight. She quickly decided that this was not for her and broke free from that hug.

But on the other hand, it seemed difficult for Eclipse to do the same. The younger was being mindful of Albus's weak spots to not hurt him.

'Ah, I can see that the real problem here is not the excessive workload, but something entirely different. It makes me feel bad for Eclipse.'

"Let go of me. I told you that I am not your son and I want nothing to do with you. Stop trying to force your ideas on me and let me go."

Eclipse finally broke free of Albus's arms and looked at the other with an annoyed expression on his face.

Albus had a look of wonder on his face as he looked at his empty arms.

"Why are you running away from me? Don't you want to feel fatherly love since you did not get any during your life? I am offering this to you."

Albus asked as he held his arms open. But Eclipse recoiled at the cheesy words he heard.

"I do not want fatherly love. Can you please leave me alone?"

Albus sighed but his arms fell. He looked disappointed and that weird smell spread across the air once more.

The more Amane noticed this man who called himself her 'father' the more she was sure that something weird was going on there.