In the late night, when the cool breeze blew, the boy woke up in a certain place.

There were tiny drops of moisture on his face, and when he woke up and slightly raised his head, large sparkling tears fell down.

The boy felt a severe headache, as if there were countless steel needles piercing his brain in all directions.

He groaned in pain and raised his hand to rub his forehead.

After his body adjusted to the awakened state and gradually returned to normal, he felt a little better.

His eyes, which had received the light, gradually opened wider and began to survey the surroundings, and the more he looked, the wider his eyes opened.

"You're awake?"

The girl, with one wing propping up her face, noticed that the boy had woken up when she lowered her head, so she lifted her droopy eyelids and glanced at him with her head tilted.

"Why am I here?"

As expected, the girl knew that the first question the boy would ask after waking up would be this kind of question.

Without any need for cautious words, the girl simply stated the most realistic truth in the shortest words possible:

"When you were waiting for your parents to come back, you collapsed on the roadside, probably starving."

The girl had witnessed famine more than once and understood in this terrifying disaster:

Parents with children usually ate their fill first before considering their children's well-being.

Since this boy's parents had abandoned him, it can be imagined that:

During the period before those parents made the decision to officially abandon the child, they most likely didn't give him anything to eat.

But this child's luck wasn't too bad.

Because later in the afternoon, shortly after the girl and the boy officially separated, she couldn't bear it and turned back again;

And it was at that time that she saw the boy collapsed in front of the ruins, with the howling of wolves nearby.

The girl never thought of herself as kind, nor did she consider herself evil;

When the value of a life conflicted with the mentality of "not wanting to be bothered," she could only choose to be a good-for-nothing person!

In fact, the fact that this child woke up, the girl already considered it a small miracle.

You see:

She wasn't good at medicine herself, even after picking up the boy and starting to take care of him, all she could do was some emergency treatment, such as using a wet towel on his forehead.

Anything more complicated, she couldn't do it at all.

Fortunately, the boy had woken up, even though he was still a child, his vitality was very tenacious;

The girl believed that in such a world, this could also be considered a good quality.

"I made something, do you want to eat it?"

The girl stared at the boy lying on her knees, mentally preparing herself to forcefully stuff food into his mouth if he resisted.

"It's white!"

However, the boy's reaction didn't follow the ordinary logic. He just blurted out a nonsensical sentence and continued to gaze upwards with his eyes.

Following the strange gaze, the girl directed her attention to where the boy was fixated, and then her heart skipped a beat;

Just at that moment, the boy added the second half of his sentence:

"The clothes worn by the sister inside are white!"

Within the room where no other sound could be heard, a eerie atmosphere gradually enveloped this place, reaching the level of silence where even the sound of a falling needle could be heard in the ears.

The girl didn't find it difficult to understand.

In order to make the boy more comfortable, she didn't let him lie on the hard bed board, but instead offered a soft knee pillow.

And so-called "kneepads," as everyone knows:

it is a perfect position to observe a girl's underwear from below, with an impeccable view!

The boy did not deliberately say this.

In fact, at his age, clothes and underwear are the same, just pieces of fabric that are annoying to wear.

The girl naturally knows this, but still couldn't help but raise a wing...

Bang!

She tapped the boy's forehead.

The soft feathers fell on the dry skin, with a touch that felt like wiping water droplets off the face with a towel.

After the casual education, a piece of food was placed in front of the boy.

Yes, just "a piece"!

After all, one cannot expect the Demon Clan to use human utensils.

For the girl, scattering rice grains on crisp and juicy leaves is a way of showing respect.

Do not underestimate this small leaf, it can not only replace bowls or plates, but also eliminate the inconvenience of preparing chopsticks when using it.

Only one thing is a bit inconvenient!

When pouring food into his mouth, the boy had to be extra careful not to chew the leaf along with it.

Munch, munch, munch.

"Is it delicious?"

"It's the most delicious meal I've ever had."

Children don't lie to make others happy, so the girl could take that compliment as the truth.

"Where are my parents?"

After chewing a few times, the boy suddenly spoke.

The girl originally thought this inevitable question wouldn't come so soon, assuming the boy would wait until after eating to ask.

Before answering, she wanted to ask him:

"Do you trust me, big sister?"

"I trust you."

"But you didn't before."

"I didn't know you were a good person back then."

"How do you measure now, to determine that I am a good person?"

"Because big sister saved me and gave me food, so big sister must be a good person!"

The girl hoped to correct this wishful thinking, but now was not the time, and she hadn't answered the boy's question yet.

After thinking for a while, the girl took a gentle approach, unlike the cruel response she gave him last time.

She would pay attention to her choice of words this time, and gently tell the boy:

"Your parents have gone to live somewhere else. They will live well in the future, but they can't continue to be with you. It will be difficult for your family to see each other again."

"Are you saying that my parents don't want me anymore?"

Without searching her memory for the past, the girl understood:

This was the first time she had seen someone cry while still managing to maintain a normal expression.

Not showing a pained expression doesn't mean not feeling sad.

She had heard before:

When someone is so sad to the point of being unable to bear it, even though tears still fall instinctively, there is no change in facial expression.

It's like another way of "spacing out." When entering this state, the feeling of sadness truly reaches its peak.

Because she had no experience in comforting others, the girl was unsure of what to do.

She simply chose the safest way, to stay by the boy's side and wait until he stopped crying, until his tears were completely dried up.

When the boy no longer cried, the girl decided to take him out of the room and formally introduce him to everyone.

It was already late at night, and if she hadn't temporarily called for them as a deputy leader, most of the Demon Clan would not have wanted to leave their warm nests and come out in the chilly wind.

"Sister Hawk, you didn't find any food when you went out, but you brought back a little devil who can eat food!"

"If it were a stray cat or dog, it would be easy to feed, but he happened to be a child who hasn't even grown his teeth."

That's what the demons said, but they had no ill intentions and were only worried about the child's future.

Another group of demons who adhered to the "labor principle" were pondering another difficulty:

"What can he do here? He doesn't seem to be able to do surveillance, fight, or build. He seems useless."

The girl was annoyed by their self-righteous assertions and immediately retorted, patting the boy's head:

"Who said he's useless? He can be a pet, and he can even speak. Can other pets do that?"

When the topic of pets was mentioned, the restless gazes of the demons all turned to a large dog that was gnawing on a bone.

"What are you all looking at me for? I'm not a pet!"

"Doggy, are you sure you're not? We always thought you were doing reconnaissance while also serving as the team's pet and mascot..."

"Jokes aside, I'm definitely not! I don't want to be raised by any of you. Our relationship is absolutely equal."

"So! Although we have companions doing various tasks here, we are missing someone to play the role of 'pet'."

The girl pointed to the boy with her wings and praised him enthusiastically:

"Isn't this child cute? He looks smart too. If we raise him well, he will definitely be more interesting than an ordinary pet!"

Under the persuasive power of this contagious language, the other demons dumbly nodded in agreement.

The negotiations seemed to be over, and the group of demons reached a unanimous decision to seriously care for and cultivate the boy in front of them as a pet and mascot.

With the mind of an eight-year-old child, he naturally couldn't understand what the strange creatures around him were saying.

But the boy vaguely sensed that he would probably have to stay in this strange place in the future.

He definitely had some resistance, but he quickly thought:

After losing a place to belong, now that he finally had a place that was willing to accept him unconditionally, why be picky?

When the demons welcomed their new member, the boy finally accepted reality.

He decided to treat this place as his new home and the strange creatures around him as his new family.

Since they were family, it was important to get to know each other;

The boy reached out his small hand and pinched the girl's feather, making her look towards him.

"What's wrong?"

The girl bent down and asked the boy.

"Sister, I want to ask you something."

"Ask? Okay, as long as it doesn't involve measurements and age, I can tell you everything else."

After obtaining permission, the boy's eyes sparkled, and his curiosity couldn't be suppressed:

"Then I'll ask: Sister, why do you have wings?"

"You...you just noticed now?"

Honestly, the girl, or rather Hawky;

Before today, she thought that her pair of wings, as a distinctive feature of herself, should be quite noticeable, or at least not easily overlooked until this moment...

Looking at it in a positive light:

From today onwards, Hawky's surroundings did indeed become more lively.

Because there were no other female demons in the team, she took the responsibility of taking care of the boy upon herself.

When Hawky initially picked up the child and decided to raise him, it was simply because she couldn't bear to let him fend for himself in the wilderness.

This means:

She showed compassion!

In recent years, her main attitude towards boys has remained "reluctant" with this emotion.

At this moment, she couldn't imagine:

That her feelings for the boy would change from pure to impure after several years.

XXXXXX

Once the boy's body started developing, it grew at an extremely rapid pace.

In just five years, the child who could barely reach Hawky's chest now had a height similar to hers.

However, rapid growth in height is not necessarily a good thing;

At least for Hawky, who needs to help him bathe, she has to tiptoe every time to reach his "growing" head.

If this is understood as a "care-taking" aspect, Hawky's level of attentiveness can almost be considered "spoiling".

She was used to this way of caring, but the other person might not be.

Entering adolescence and gradually developing self-awareness, Wang already felt uncomfortable with the presence of the opposite sex in the bathroom.

According to his strong request, this was the last time she would help him bathe;

Thinking that there would be no more opportunities in the future, Hawky put unprecedented concentration and patience into helping the boy wipe his body during this bath.

It was currently summer, and the few pieces of clothing on Hawky's body were stripped off before she entered the bathroom, leaving only her underwear and waterproof bra;

But since Wang had his back to her, there was no chance to see those special clothes. For now, he could only accept the service obediently.

Hawky didn't feel annoyed bathing this child who she had watched grow up;

Moreover, she could chat with him in the middle of the bath, the content being nothing too light or too heavy.

Hawky started speaking:

"You've completely adapted to life here in these past few years."

"It's been five whole years. It would be strange if I didn't adapt, right? Besides, if I couldn't get used to it here, how could I willingly become everyone's leader?"

"Hehe, the little kid who was almost eaten by wolves back then never could have imagined he would become the boss..."

"Don't make fun of me. I never bullied you all just because I have a higher rank. Especially you, Hawky, my concern for you even surpasses my attitude towards everyone else!"

As if repaying a favor.

Since Wang's thoughts matured, his frequency of caring for Hawky far exceeded his concern for the demonic group.

Wang always treated Hawky with caution, as if holding a treasure in his hands, always aware of this opposite sex's mood;

For example, today, Wang unintentionally asked:

"Hawky, do you have someone you like?"

One sentence was enough to end the relaxed atmosphere.

The feeling on Wang's body told him:

The damp touch of the wings behind him suddenly stopped stroking and froze in place.

Wang didn't have any other intentions, he was just showing care in his own way;

As a thirteen-year-old boy, his thoughts could be considered "mature for his age".