Father's Love

Pierce walked over to the youth lying on the ice bed, who looked as if he were asleep. He gazed at him with kindly tenderness, then carefully smoothed the hair over the youth's forehead.

The youth's face was white as snow, devoid of even the faintest trace of life. At such a moment, Pierce's gentle gaze and movements gave off a hair-raising feeling.

No one knew how long passed before the manor's steward appeared beside Pierce.

Just as Pierce had changed the moment he entered the study, the mild-tempered, refined steward from outside underwent a complete transformation. His entire bearing turned cold and lofty.

The green fluorite lamps cast deep shadows across their faces, instantly making the whole basement feel grim and eerie.

"What was the outcome of the Spencer Family meeting?" the steward asked. His voice was no longer gentle, but sharp and aggressive, even carrying a note of condescension.

"There is some very bad news. Our plan may already have been discovered!" Pierce's voice was calm, utterly stripped of the servility he had displayed in the council hall. "The Icefield Giant Bear Tribe's army of a hundred thousand may be coming for us!"

The steward's expression changed in shock. "You mean there was a flaw in the trap we set in the ruins, and the Icefield Giant Bear Tribe followed the clues there all the way to Eskil City? How is that possible..." As he spoke, the steward shook his head. "In the explosion of those immensely powerful alchemical bombs, everything was reduced to ashes. What could possibly have been left behind? The Three-Eyed Society poured enormous effort and resources into this plan, all to draw the attention of the other tribes in the Ice and Snow Wilderness. Every Beast Tamer we sent out was eliminated."

"It isn't