New law of Beast Taming

"I am sorry for arriving at such short notice. Please do not mind my visit today. I could head back and return tomorrow if you want me to."

Amane admitted while standing in front of Chen. Her presence startled Chen since he had not expected Amane to arrive so soon. He had hoped to have a few more hours to work with.

But since he was the one who sent the invite, he had no right to complain. He had to grin and bear the responsibility. Your next read is at freewebnovel

"Ah, it’s no problem. Please, come in. I must admit that I did not expect you to visit me this early. This makes my plan…falter a bit."

Chen tried to maintain his friendly image, but he was panicking inside. Most of his preparation had yet to be done. But the first thing he needed to do was invite Yoko Tsurugi inside.

Mother had asked to meet her personally. So, Chen needed to arrange that meeting no matter what happened.

"I know I promised you a tour of this facility, but could you have lunch first? I asked my staff to prepare the best, and they…might have gone a little overboard with the preparation."

Arranging lunch meetings served quite a few purposes for Chen. It fulfilled his condition with his mother and allowed him to put his equipment in the lab.

Now, he only needed Yoko Tsurugi to relax and listen to him. He would easily be able to convince her what he wanted to do.

"You want to have lunch right now? But the timing is…"

Chen felt his heart sink. He knew he should not have banked on Yoko’s mercy but planned something else. He had to think of something else right now, or else-

"Ah, having an early lunch would not be a bad idea. It’ll help me get enough energy to go through the day. What do you think?"

Chen suddenly felt terrible for deceiving Yoko. He was not supposed to feel sorry about his actions, but it happened without his input. He tried to shake his head and eliminate the guilt, but that did not work.

’Let’s forget about feeling guilty. I did what I should have done. There is a priority to things I should cherish, and I am following that order.’

Chen tried to convince himself. But this excuse did not sound solid to him either.

"Here, the dining hall is this way."

Chen led Yoko into the inner dining hall. It was in an artificially created clearing with wisteria flowers. There was no source of water or light in this clearing, but the flowers did not die, mainly because the source of these flowers was not natural in the first place.

"These are some cute flowers you are growing in your garden. I wonder how long it took to develop them."

Truthfully, Father had waved her hand, and the garden had appeared in a single minute. But the time needed to wake Father and get him to cooperate should be included in the development time, right?

"It took us thousands of years to develop this technology. But the result is worth enjoying, right?"

Chen asked as he finally reached the table. Father was already sitting at the table, but she had covered her whole body in black cloth. Even her face was not visible for anyone to see.

It was an odd choice for his father to appear like this in front of anyone. Usually, the father did not care about their company and would take care of the intruder if they did not like it.

But for the first time, her father decided to hide her identity and appear in a mask.

"Oh! I was unaware that someone else would also be joining us for lunch. I would have been more considerate if you told me about this beforehand."

Chen looked embarrassed at being called out. He had not expected an easy-going person such as Yoko Tsurugi to call him out over inviting another person for the meal.

’Shit! Did I offend her? Do you think I should be doing something now? What can I…wait, am I being made fun of?’

Chen only realised something was wrong when the giggling sound reached his ears. He instantly looked up and saw his father laughing. The voice coming out of his father’s throat had been modified, which further solidified the evidence that she did not want to be found out.

"Hmm, is something wrong? You are giggling too much. What do you find so funny that you cannot stop laughing?"

Yoko turned her attention toward the uninvited guest at the table. Chen was afraid of what this confrontation would bring to the table. This might be the last time he could see Yoko Tsurugi again.

"Ah, please forgive me. Your way of joking reminds me of someone I knew long ago. I could not control my chuckles and ended up laughing at you. I hope you do not feel offended by my attitude."

The air had turned tense. Chen was not sure what would happen next. Sparks were flying around, and a fire could be ignited any second. There was a chance that Yoko would get offended if nothing was done soon.

’Ah, I need to take care of things somehow. Father, please! Don’t make this situation any more challenging to deal with. I don’t know how long we will have Yoko Tsurugi’s trust.’

"I remind you of someone you used to know? Oh well, isn’t that surprising? But then again, I have been hearing these words a lot recently. It must be my charm that is attracting everyone, right?"

"Charm is one way to say it. But unforgiving attitude is another word I would use to describe someone like you."

Chen was paying attention to his father. That was a subtle smile on his father’s face that indicated that she was enjoying this encounter. It was the first time Chen had seen such an expression, and he was glad to witness it.

But at the same time, he was not delighted about the timing of such a thing.

’Shit, please don’t be angry. Please don’t leave here and render all my preparations useless.’

Chen looked at Yoko with his breath held tight. Everything that happens from here depends on Yoko and her mood. Just how offended would she feel because of what just happened?

"Hahahaha, you are a funny person. I haven’t laughed this much in a while. I felt slightly gloomy a time ago, but you lightened my mood. I think we will get along fine."

Yoko Tsurugi held her cup up in the air, but Chen’s father did not immediately raise his voice in acknowledgement. He looked at Yoko, testing to see if there was anything else she might want to add.

But when Yoko said nothing more, Kori raised her glass to symbolise friendship.

"I don’t know how long our current friendship will last. I want to say forever, but that would be a foolish promise. All relationships have an expiry date, right?"

Chen looked up sharply at his father. He could not believe these words had escaped his father’s mouth. Kori was the most avid believer of eternal love Chen had ever met.

Even Yoko Tsurugi looked shocked and tried to hide it. But her eyes were not able to hide the shock in them. Still, she pretended as if these words meant nothing to her.

"You are right. All relationships have an expiry date. If not our feelings, then time makes sure they all come to an end. Even if one of the parties can live forever without unchanging feelings, the other party can always change, right?"

Yoko asked, and Chen was sure that this conversation had passed the point of return. Yoko had either taken offence or refused to show it outright. Or she did not care and agreed with Kori.

Whatever the case was, the tension was already high in the air because of it. Chen was supposed to be a defender of peace. But he ended up needing to be more helpful during the conflict.

Once the dinner finally ended, the one to stand up first was Chen. He wanted to break the tension that had emerged in the air.

"Miss Tsurugi, I will give you the promised tour now. It will help you digest your dinner and help you understand what The HIVE has to offer you in return for your partnership."

Chen opened the door for Yoko, and she quietly walked out. She did not look at the uninvited guest at the table again, but Chen had a feeling about it.

Just because Yoko was not looking at it did not mean she was not paying much attention to things either. She had her attention pointed toward Kori until she left the room.

"Chen, please take care of our guest until she is ready to leave. Please, I am counting on you this time."

Chen got goosebumps when he heard his mother talk. She sounded sweet and caring, but Chen had only heard her speaking like this when she was delighted.

And that only happened when someone was meeting their downfall or Kori’s plans were going as she wanted.

Chen did not dare ask what made Kori so happy and chirpy today. He was afraid to hear the answer. He quickly nodded and walked out of the room.

The less he knew about his mother’s choices, the better it would be for his mental health.

’Let mother do what she wants to. The less I think about these things, the better for me.’