Chae Juyeon returned to the park with everyone.

Gyeoul, still upset about being attacked by the fish, sat glumly on the grass.

‘I could have used ghost form to escape.’

She’d been too startled by the sudden situation to react properly.

Sigh.

Gyeoul let out a deep sigh.

The children hovered around her anxiously.

With Gyeoul feeling down, the children had naturally grown quieter too.

“King, King.”

“Yeah…?”

Levinas shuffled forward hesitantly.

Gyeoul’s eyes, which had been staring blankly into space, regained some life.

“King, can Levinas show you a dance…?”

“Dance? What kind?”

“Like this…!”

Levinas started moving her shoulders up and down alternately.

She slowly swayed her clasped hands up and down in time with the rhythm.

Seeing her innocent display, a smile bloomed on Gyeoul’s frozen face.

“Wow, Levinas is really good at dancing.”

“Yeah! Dancing like this makes all the hard stuff go away!”

Bounce bounce-

Growing more confident, Levinas made her shoulder dance moves bigger.

Gyeoul clapped along to the rhythm.

“Hehe…”

Had she been too dejected in front of the children?

Gyeoul’s tail started swaying gently.

Seizing the opportunity, Chae Juyeon patted Gyeoul’s ears.

“Gyeoul.”

“Yes?”

“Since Master hasn’t visited the guild in a while, I’d like to have something special to eat.”

“Something special?”

“Yeah. I hear the fish in this pond are really delicious?”

Chae Juyeon gestured toward the pond.

Both Gyeoul and Saebyeok’s ears perked up immediately.

“That’s right. The fish in our pond are really tasty.”

“Yeah.”

Gyeoul and Saebyeok answered in turn.

Though she’d known it before, they really did love fish.

Chae Juyeon’s eyes crinkled fondly at the adorable pair.

Now it was time to fully restore Gyeoul’s self-esteem.

“Food tastes best when Gyeoul catches it. Master especially loves food made by others.”

“Yes. Then I’ll catch the biggest and tastiest fish.”

Food made by others was indeed delicious.

Even more so when made by someone you care about.

Knowing this, Gyeoul decided to catch fish for Chae Juyeon.

“I’m really good at catching fish you know? But Saebyeok is good too.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Gyeoul took Chae Juyeon’s outstretched hand and headed to the pond.

It didn’t take long to catch several mackerel from the water.

“Wow, Gyeoul’s really good at catching fish? Master is terrible at it.”

“Hehe…”

Holding a large mackerel in her arms, Gyeoul flashed a bright smile.

Perhaps her gloomy mood from being bested by the fish had lifted somewhat?

Chae Juyeon’s heart melted at the child’s pure smile.

This place really was healing every time she visited.

Saebyeok and Gaeul approached the smiling Chae Juyeon, each carrying a fish.

Levinas, who had struggled with catching fish, held carrots and other vegetables instead.

“This is a gift.”

“…Here!”

Saebyeok presented her fish to Chae Juyeon.

Seeing this, Gaeul, who had been licking her lips while looking at her fish, startled and quickly offered hers as well.

“Thank you. Shall we make something delicious with these?”

“Yeah!”

“Yes!”

Though Chae Juyeon had many tasks at Yeomyeong, she decided to eat something tasty with the children first.

After all, finding happiness was the most important aspect of life.

**

They finished their meal with Chae Juyeon.

Sophia had done the cooking for them.

When Han Yeoreum wasn’t around, Sophia would take care of their meals like this.

“Sophia, you’re quite good at cooking too?”

“I can handle the basics. Comes with age.”

“I see?”

Chae Juyeon, sipping the after-meal tea, turned to look at Gyeoul.

Did she want more tea?

Gyeoul picked up the teapot of dandelion honey tea and poured some into Master’s cup.

“Thanks to Gyeoul, Master is being pampered. I’d like to give something in return.”

“It’s fine. We’re close after all.”

“No, Master really wants to give you something.”

“Um… what kind of return…?”

Chae Juyeon pulled out a card from her pocket.

The black card looked similar to the one their Master carried.

“Then Master should buy our good children some clothes.”

“Clothes?”

“Yeah. I noticed Gyeoul always wears ill-fitting clothes.”

At Chae Juyeon’s question, Gyeoul looked down at herself.

As always, she was wearing an oversized men’s top as a full outfit.

“But this is most comfortable for me.”

“Ah… wearing comfortable clothes is important.”

“Yes.”

She’d spent years wearing clothes too big for her body.

She’d worn baggy hoodies to hide her identity too.

Being told to wear properly fitting clothes now would naturally feel uncomfortable.

“Master needs to go to a meeting now, but would Gyeoul like to go buy some comfortable clothes?”

“Yes. I’ll just buy one outfit.”

“Just one? You can get more.”

“It’s okay. One is enough for me.”

“Hmm… alright, let’s start with one then.”

Chae Juyeon nodded in agreement.

Beside her, Sophia cleared her throat.

“Ah! Sophia, would you like an outfit too?”

“…I’ll gratefully accept.”

The tip of Sophia’s tail fluttered back and forth.

As a beast-kin, Gyeoul knew this meant she was happy.

**

They headed to the department store with Chae Juyeon’s card.

Entering the clothing section, they noticed Sophia hesitating.

“Sophia, what’s wrong?”

“…This one has never been to a clothing store before.”

“R-really?”

Gyeoul examined Sophia’s clothes.

She’d thought they were foreign style, but they appeared to be beast-kin clothing.

With Sophia’s large tail, she would need specially made clothes.

“This is my first time buying clothes too. Let’s figure it out together.”

“Yes, let’s do our best.”

As they entered the clothing section like this.

Passing by the children’s section, Sophia flinched.

“Would there be clothes that fit me outside the children’s section?”

“Yes. There are small adult clothes too.”

“That’s a relief. Though I’m small, wearing children’s clothes at my age would be embarrassing…”

“Ah…”

Being small at an advanced age would have such downsides.

Still, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

“Looking young is a good thing though.”

“The problem is looking too young.”

Keke.

Sophia chuckled softly.

She seemed pleased at being called young.

They continued deeper into the store, giggling together.

Gyeoul headed toward the men’s section.

To wear a top as a dress, she needed oversized men’s clothes.

Her shoulders might show a bit, but that couldn’t be helped.

‘What should I buy?’

The dress shirts looked really comfortable and nice.

The material seemed durable too…

As she was browsing different clothes.

Levinas came running from afar holding an enormous top.

“King! Levinas wants to buy this!”

“Isn’t that… too big?”

Gyeoul examined the clothes Levinas brought.

The plus-size garment looked big enough to fit five Levinases.

“Yeah! Want to wear it together with everyone!”

“Ah.”

Levinas did like when they could all fit in one piece of clothing.

Clothes were best when you wore what you liked.

Buying ill-fitting clothes was something Gyeoul did too.

She saw no reason to say no.

“Then Levinas will get this…”

They carefully chose clothes while walking around the store.

Each picked according to their taste.

Gyeoul chose the white dress shirt she’d first selected.

She put the shirt on the counter and spoke to the clerk.

“Excuse me…”

“Yes?”

“Could I borrow scissors…?”

“Scissors? Why…”

“I need to cut a hole for the tail.”

“Ah.”

The clerk nodded and handed Gyeoul the scissors.

After thanking them, she sat on a nearby bench with everyone.

“Sophia, I’ll make the tail hole for you. Would you like to look around? I’m good with my hands.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Sophia handed over her chosen clothes.

She had picked a coat with blue undertones.

‘Sophia’s tail width is…’

Snip snip.

Gyeoul cut the tail hole with the scissors.

She had precise eyes for measuring distances and lengths, and fairly good hand skills.

Thanks to this, she could make an accurate tail hole for Sophia.

“Done.”

Next was Gaeul’s clothes.

Gaeul had chosen a plain white men’s t-shirt.

She picked the most basic option.

Just as Gyeoul was thinking this and starting to cut.

She heard two staff members chatting in the distance.

“Ugh, we had such a difficult customer today.”

“How difficult were they?”

“This crazy woman demanded a refund for clothes she bought two months ago. When we said no, she ripped them up right there.”

“What…?”

Wow.

Ripping up clothes in the store was really going too far.

Gyeoul continued cutting tail holes while listening to the staff’s conversation.

“Oh?”

Then she suddenly noticed the scissors in her hand.

Scissors, torn clothes, and cloth remnants.

Her fur bristled nervously as she quickly looked up at the chatting staff.

Having finished their conversation, they seemed to be returning to work, heading her way.

“……”

What should she do?

She hesitated before quickly hiding the scissors behind her back.

Though she hadn’t done anything wrong, the situation made her tremble.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep