19 Spirit Beast’s Bond

Her older sister rubbed her nose, embarrassed. "Well, I'll let you off this time, if you make me another promise?"

The blonde girl gulped nervously. "W-What is it?"

Isabella smiled. "Stay with us longer?"

Bree finally let out a breath of relief. Finally, a wish she could easily fulfill.

"Oh… I had to do that anyway, because of that pink fox."

Now it was Isabella's turn to be confused. What did that cute little thing do to make Bree want to stay? Did she just want to play with it?

"That pet you guys bought back?"

Bree nodded. "Yeah. It's… a spirit beast. A very strong one, probably."

A strong pet… that was a good thing in Isabella's book, so why did her little puppy look so worried?

'Is she jealous of the pink fox just like she was jealous of little piggy earlier? Does she really believe she's a pet?! Have I gone too far with her training?'

But Isabella had no idea how to undo what had already been done. So she could only pretend to be oblivious. "Uh… a strong pet… that's a good thing, right? Don't be jealous, little puppy, sister will always love you the most!"

Bree's face was red. "J-Jealous?! Why would I be jealous?! No, nevermind that, anyway… get serious!"

"Ehehe…"

Bree rolled her eyes. Well, it's good that her sister wasn't depressed now. But she still needed to know certain things.

"Ahem, it can be a good thing that it's so strong… but it can also be a disaster! Spirit beasts are not pets, at their core. Their level of intelligence is not much different from humans. It's alright when it's this young, but once it grows up, there's no telling if the loyalty will stick. Moreover, just like children, they can be unreasonable. But unlike children, their tantrums can be lethal. It's not easy to make even a newborn spirit beast submit!"

Isabella nodded, looking quite calm. "Hm… I suppose I will have to teach my daughter how to train pets, right?"

No matter how much she loved her, Bree had to admit that Isabella could be incredibly annoying at times.

"Can't you be serious, sister?"

The older sister chuckled. "Fufu, alright, alright little puppy, don't puff up. Just tell me what I have to do."

The blonde waved her hand with a sigh. "Nothing… just take those two children and your husband away first, and leave the mansion to me and little Evelyn for tomorrow."

Isabella nodded. "Alright. I trust my little puppy, take care of my daughter."

The blonde smiled. "Of course. Even if you don't tell me, I would protect her with my life."

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When Evelyn groggily opened her eyes the next morning, she felt that something wasn't quite right.

Perhaps the first hint was that she woke up so peacefully on her own, and there was no Vivian barging in and bouncing on her bed to give her a rude wake up call instead.

Even if she were to believe that Vivian was just tired from yesterday, at least Amara should have been here to help her tie her hair up or take a bath, right?

The pink haired girl felt a little disappointed, as she was actually looking forward to getting pampered for once.

"It can't be that… they felt ignored yesterday when we went out? I didn't pay them much attention after all… but… no, it can't be…"

But the more she thought about it, the more anxious she felt.

"No… I have to explain it to them. They can't leave me alone!"

She, who did not have a single person who truly cared about herself in her last life, could not bear to lose this warmth.

And so the little girl jumped off her bed and bolted from her room, only to crash into something soft with a 'oomph'.

Bree held her groggy little niece in her arms carefully, chuckling at her confused appearance. "Well well well, where's my little niece running off to so early in the morning?"

"A-Aunt Bree… Good morning."

The blonde ruffled the little girl's soft pink hair, messing up her already messy head. "Good morning. Now mind telling me where you were going in your pajamas?"

Evelyn didn't realize how puffed up her hair looked, because she was still thinking about the situation with Amara's absence. "I-I was looking for my friends. Did you see them wake up? Are they still asleep?"

It was only then that Bree realized that maybe her little niece was used to a routine, and disturbing it without informing her was perhaps not so thoughtful on her part. "Oh… they already left, and so did your parents."

Looking at her little niece's increasingly confused face, the blonde couldn't help but giggle. "Alright, why is my little Evelyn such a worrywart? I asked them to leave because I need to be alone with you for a while today. Or did you already forget about the little fox you picked up yesterday?"

"Ooh…"

In hindsight, Evelyn felt a little silly. There were many reasons why she hadn't been woken up like usual. For example, maybe they thought she was tired and decided to let her sleep in. Or it may even be that they were tired themselves and slept in.

Perhaps her happiness yesterday was too much, and it brought forth a fear of loss.

While she was still a little absentminded, Bree had already picked her up and walked into her room.

"Let's get you ready first, alright?"

It took a few seconds for her words to register in the pink haired girl's mind, and Bree had already started filling the tub in her bathroom with hot water.

"I-I can do it myself!"

"Fufu… why are you so shy?"

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In the end, Evelyn left the bathroom looking like a steamed bun. She didn't even protest when her aunt helped her pick a purple frock and dressed her up.

She had to admit that Bree was actually quite good at taking care of her. Her shampoo technique was good, and the pressure she applied while lathering her was just right.

Moreover, she was in and out of the bath much faster than she would have been by herself, or even with Amara's help. If she had to complain about something, it would be that her aunt spent the entire time teasing her for being shy.

After tightening the frock's ribbon, Bree nodded in satisfaction. Her little niece looks so adorable today, how can that stupid beast not want such a cute master? She even used some of her most precious shampoo and bath salts to increase her appeal!

'Ah, did I overdo it? Will the stupid beast think it's too good of a deal and become suspicious instead? Like, oh, how can such an adorable master pick little old me, how could I deserve it? Fufufu.'

Bree shook her head, feeling silly. Thankfully, it was not herself going through the bonding today, or her mind was really not in a state to continue. "Well, little Eve, now that you're fully awake and all dolled up… how do you feel? Energetic? Nervous?"

"Oh… I think I feel ready?"

Evelyn fondly strapped the pink jeweled belt around her waist with a nod, having already stored all of her precious items inside it. Whatever comes will come. As long as her loved ones did not abandon her, she felt like she was ready to take on the world.

Bree smiled, looking satisfied with her attitude. "Good. Let's go downstairs then. The sooner we get this done, the less there is a chance of something going wrong."

As the two of them walked downstairs, Evelyn noticed that the hall had already been cleared out. There was no furniture anywhere in sight, and even the carpeting was removed.

And in the center of the dark marbled floor was the glass box containing her tiny pink fox. There were also some very thin and faint red lines on the floor in a strange runic pattern.

"There are only two things you must keep in mind while we go through the bonding process. Listen carefully, okay?"

After getting a nod of confirmation from Evelyn, Bree continued. "The first thing you must make absolutely sure of is to keep your mind empty of distracting thoughts. The only thing in your mind must be your good intentions towards your future companion, got it?"

Evelyn nodded a little nervously. Although she knew what to do, there's no way to know if she'll be good at it. "I-I think so?"

Bree gave her a nod. The first part was not hard to understand, nor execute. Most people can do it if they put their mind to it. The hard thing was the next part.

Her voice became more solemn. "Alright. The next thing you must ensure is that if a foreign energy attempts to encroach upon you, don't resist. Don't welcome it either. You must act as if you are completely indifferent to such invasion, as if you could care less."

Evelyn looked at her aunt in confusion. "Oh…? I-I'll try?"

Of course, how could the blonde feel assured without letting her experience it first, so she knows what to expect?

"Don't worry. Let me do it for you a few times, just so you have some idea."

Bree picked her up and held her close to her chest. The little girl in her arms was tense at first, but slowly settled down once nothing strange happened.

Soon after, just when she was starting to almost doze off in the soft embrace, a strange invasive sensation came from all over her body.

It felt as if she was enclosed in a bubble of strange energy, and for a moment, it felt as if something really wrong was going to happen if she didn't stop it.

She instinctually wanted to resist, but remembered her aunt's warning just in time. There was still a deep unwilling resistance coming from her heart, but Evelyn tried her best to not let her spirit power move without her permission.

—Warning! Deploy spirit power for defense, defeat imminent!

For the first time since her rebirth, the system gave her an 'alert'! Although Evelyn felt a little more anxious, she trusted her aunt.

—Warning! Deploy spirit power for defense, defeat imminent!

Decisively ignoring the warning, Evelyn focused her thoughts instead on neither resisting nor welcoming the encroachment of the spirit energy.

Although it lingered against her skin, it did not attempt to enter her body. It was as if a guest was knocking at her door, waiting for her to either open it and welcome them inside, or yell at them to go away.

It was quite difficult to ignore the continuous 'knocks'. If she hadn't been warned in advance, she would have definitely either thrown the guest out or welcomed them inside, depending on whether she believed them to be beneficial or harmful to herself.

A few moments later, Bree withdrew her aura, and stared at her niece in surprise.

"How strange that you got it so quickly. My little niece is really a genius!"

Evelyn felt a little embarrassed. While she was happy to succeed, she didn't know if just barely making it through was worth such a high compliment. "Um, thank you."

Bree's smile was brighter than it had been almost the entire morning, as if some invisible weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Fufu, don't be so shy. To think I was so worried before… If you can do so well just like you did now, then there's nothing to be worried about. Remember, good thoughts about your pet, and no resistance!"

The pink haired girl nodded obediently in her arms. "Good."

Bree gave her niece a few more minutes to gather her focus before setting her down in the middle of the runic pattern along with the fox. She walked back until she was standing a few feet behind Evelyn in a position where she was no longer in the girl's line of sight.

"Ready?"

"Mhm."

"I'll break the glass. Don't be shocked."

Evelyn just gave her a faint nod. She was already fully focused, and her thoughts kept revolving around the pink fox.

The glass shattered and seemed to vanish into the void, but Evelyn didn't even notice.

The little fox slowly opened its eyes, still looking slightly sleepy. The glow from the runic lines was dull and almost unnoticeable, and the pink haired girl in front of it seemed to glow with an almost divine light.

Her thoughts seemed to ring in its mind.

'Little Ruru is so cute, so adorable!'

'I'll always take care of little Ruru!'

'Even if everyone else goes their own way and leaves me alone, little Ruru won't leave me, right?'

'Little Ruru will be mine, forever and ever.'

'I'll protect you, always.'

However, her thoughts didn't matter to the little fox.

Because… she already felt it. The energy within her body was the same as the one in the stone that allowed her to evolve into a spirit beast.

They were… fated.

And so, the fox slowly crawled off the floor and into Evelyn's lap, docilely snuggling into the little girl who still looked lost in her own world.

Bree's jaw almost dropped to the floor in bewilderment.

Where's the spirit encroachment? Where's the resistance? What's going on?!