New World with Four Husbands-Chapter 599: What is going on?

Heiren opened his mouth, ready to question Kairo further, but he stopped short when Richard suddenly strolled into the kitchen.

The sight of him was.. Startling, at least.

His neck was covered in love marks— dark and obvious, and all Heiren could do was stare, speechless.

Heiren quickly snapped out of his embarrassment fast, his surprise quickly turning to disbelief.

He jabbed a finger at Richard, his voice sharp and accusatory. "Is this why I haven’t seen you around the house, Richard?"

Richard just shrugged, looking far too undisturbed for someone with hickeys all over his neck.

"I’ve been busy.." He said dryly, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest, refusing to meet Heiren’s eyes.

Beside Richard, Alhai’s eyes drifted to the love bites on Richard’s neck, a frown deepening on his face as he forced his eyes to look the goleter in the eyes.

"Who made those marks on you?" He asked, pointing at the bruises. "Did you bring someone home?"

Richard opened his mouth to respond, but before he could even get a word out.. Zaque had already cut him off, his voice a low growl as he snapped his head at Alhai’s direction.

"It was Lala." The mediator stated. "And she’s suddenly all grown up now!"

Richard just rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, as he grumbled, his voice loud and clear for everyone to hear. "She’s still the same Lala."

Zaque whipped his head toward Richard, his expression tight with anger.

"Exactly!" He hissed. "She’s a fairy! She’s supposed to be small and cute and endearing! Not.." He trailed off, his hands clenching into fists as he took in the hickeys on Richard’s neck again.

Alhai and Heiren were staring between them both in open confusion now, and it was Alhai who huffed. "What the hell is going on?"

Zaque let out a heavy sigh, his hands rubbing at his face as if trying to rub away his disbelief.

"Lala’s not small anymore." He mumbled, the words feeling like rocks in his throat. "She’s grown. Like Coco."

"And how is that even possible?" Heiren asked, raising an eyebrow. "You know what? Instead of feeling lost like this, I’ll just head down to the basement to take a look."

Heiren was already heading toward the door, determined to see for himself what the hell was going on, but Richard’s words stopped him in his tracks.

"You can’t." The goleter said, making Heiren turn, opening his mouth to ask why, but Richard was already speaking again. "She’s naked, and she’s sleeping. I don’t want any of you to bother her.. Except for the puny human."

Heiren felt the color drain from his face, his eyes widening in horror, his expression darkening. "Did you do something heinous to her?!"

Heiren looked almost ready to pounce, making Richard hold up his hands in a surrendering manner, but Alhai stepped in front of Heiren, cutting off any potential lunging attempts.

"From everything I’m hearing—" Alhai started carefully and eyed Richard. "Lala is no longer her small fairy form. She’s grown up and fully adult, human sized?"

Richard sighed, nodding his head, feeling relieved someone finally understood.

"Yes!" He said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Finally. I always knew you were the smartest of the bunch!"

Alhai blinked once, twice, before looking at Zaque and Heiren as he stepped back smoothly and quickly strolled out of the kitchen unruffled, as if what had just happened didn’t really faze him.

"I’m going to wake Coco." He called back over his shoulder. "She needs to know right away."

That was all the warning before he disappeared further into the house because everyone knew that Coco had the last say about the situation.

Alhai stepped into Zaque’s room, feeling rather tired, but that exhaustion vanished when he was met by the sight of Coco sitting up on the bed, her hair disheveled. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Coco raised an eyebrow at Alhai’s sudden appearance, looking slightly puzzled.

"Alhai..?" She called and greeted, her voice hoarse with sleep. "What’s going on? What are you doing here? Where’s Zaque?"

Instead of answering, Alhai’s eyes zeroed in on Coco’s exposed collarbone, noticing the subtle marks there— a couple of dark bruises that were obviously left behind by Zaque.

He also noticed a more prominent bite mark on her neck, his gaze narrowing slightly.

Zaque, you bastard. He thought in his head, cursing the man in his mind, but he quickly forced his expression into something neutral, though the irritation still lingered in his gaze.

He approached Coco with a careful smile— one that was meant to soften whatever bomb he was about to drop.

"Hey." He said, his voice gentle. "There’s.. A situation downstairs. I think it would be best if you hear about it right away instead of later."

Coco nodded, her eyes still half-lidded with sleep as she agreed.

"Hm.. Okay." She murmured, swinging her legs over the side of the bed without hesitation. "Let’s go now."

She stood up, stretching her arms over her head with a soft groan before dropping them to her sides again and glanced up at Alhai, catching the irritation in his gaze despite his efforts to hide it.

"What’s going on?" Coco asked, blinking.

Alhai shook his head, forcing a smile as he leaned in to press a quick kiss on Coco’s cheek.

"Nothing." He reassured her, too quickly for it to be entirely convincing. "Just.. Zaque found Richard and he’s waiting for you downstairs."

His tone was light, but there was an edge underneath it— the kind of warning that said you won’t like this and it’s making Coco a little nervous.

".. Okay?" Coco sighed, before jumping when Alhai suddenly reached out to button her shirt all the way up.

Alhai let out a quiet hum, his eyes sparkling with satisfaction once he finished covering every last love mark Zaque had left behind with the buttoned up shirt.

"There." He muttered under his breath like this was some kind of emergency damage control.