Insect Tamer's Ascension

Using the white sheet of cloth, Theo and Clara used it as a sack to capture the viper alive.

Clara could keep it in her hands from tail to head for as long as she wanted, but Theo could already see her snapping the viper's neck mistakenly, so he used the cloth.

Theo reached back at the carriage and saw the slime box still closed and intact. It was finally time to go back to the castle.

A few minutes passed, and they were seated comfortably. Yet, it was then that Clara saw something concerning.

"Young master, are you okay?" she asked in concern.

Theo moved his gaze from the window and gave her a confused expression before muttering, "I am okay, Clara. Why did you ask?"

Clara looked at him in the eyes and then at his hands; her eyes were pained.

"Your hands are shivering," Clara stated, making Theo look at his hands, too.

It was the first time he realized that both his hands, while also being seated on his lap, were still shivering.

Theo was confused - the temperature of the carriage was warm enough, then why the shivering?

'Wait... am I scared?' he asked himself. Theo wasn't feeling anything like being scared. His emotions were feeling normal.

"Young master... you're scared right now," Clara said and kept a hand on his hand.

The warmth helped him feel cozy a little, but Theo just shook his head with a chuckle, "Hahah, what are you talking about, Clara? It's just cold right now."

Theo lied and he didn't even know why he lied. He looked back at his actions to know why he was feeling this way.

He played the whole interaction with the viper in his mind, and that was when he realized it fully - he was scared because of his risky actions.

Even though he wasn't feeling it mentally or trying to suppress it, his body was still showing signs.

"What you did with the viper was very brave, young master. You trusted me completely, and if, by chance, I lost control of it, you were going to get bit right at the neck, young master..." Clara spoke, her eyebrows relaxed and her hand still on his hand. It seemed she was trying to get to a point.

"Clara... I don't want to talk about this right now," Theo said after looking at her. He gently took his hand away and kept it at both sides of the seat.

Clara took a slow breath and nodded. There was silence for a few seconds before Theo glanced at his hands again - his fingers were still shivering, if not his whole hand - he gritted his teeth in frustration.

When Clara saw that, she took a deep breath and couldn't help but speak.

"Young master, I apologize for still speaking when you told me not to... but I will speak," she said.

Theo looked at her with no emotion on his face and nodded - if she really wanted to speak, then why was he stopping her?

"Believe it or not... but what you are feeling right now is 'fear', young master. No matter how many times you disregard it, the fact won't change that you're feeling this way. And it is perfectly okay to feel like this," Clara's voice slowed, and she kept her hand on his hand again.

"I was surprised all this while that you didn't feel fear in the forest - there was a little before but nothing like this one. It made me think that you were very proficient in hiding your emotions, but I was wrong, young master." She stated and continued.

"You were strong enough to go through all that without feeling any fear, but this time? You just used your hands inches away from a beast's mouth that had so much killing intent oozing out its eyes.... If you only felt 'fear' after being in such a risky situation, then you're nothing but strong."

Theo listened to her and felt some calm in his heart. He knew what he was feeling was fear - there was this shiver around his chest too that Clara had fortunately not seen till now.

"What you're feeling right now, young master, please... don't suppress it. Only when you recognize that you're feeling it will you move past it. Fear is a good thing..." she stated with a smile.

"It keeps you sharp," Clara said the last time before she quieted down. Her hand was still holding Theo's.

They sat like that for the whole time. When Theo made peace with his fear and his risky encounter, his hands started to show signs of calm.

It made him wonder why he didn't feel like this when he was close to death when fighting with the big viper who came so close to puncturing his face in its mouth.

He thought about it for a while and wondered about the difference in the situation.

While he was close to death at that time, it was not 'him' that was doing anything; he had been standing in the same place the whole time, and the viper just pounced at him suddenly.

But in this situation, Theo was doing everything on his own - the slithering tail under his weight, the viper just hissing and looking at him, the rough exterior of the viper's body.

It was all something Theo felt on his own, not through his beast this time.

It was a development, and he was proud of it.

'If my mind is scared in this situation on its own, then I will just start being in such a situation many times now - it will start to realize that it's normal.' Theo thought.

He took a deep breath and moved his hands up. He did not shiver anymore. Theo had made peace with it.

When Clara saw Theo get accustomed to it so quickly, her face showed pride for him.

When they reached back to the castle, Theo got out of the carriage and saw someone waiting for him near the entry.

"Elder brother?" Theo asked when he saw Bram just standing there with his attendant and fidgeting hands.

Theo made his way forward with the mantis's box around his arm and the slime's big box in his hands.

"W-Welcome back, Theo. Was your hunt safe this time?" Bram spoke when Theo came up the stairs.

"It was very safe, elder brother. But what are you doing here?" Theo asked with a smile.

With him being this awkward right now, Theo guessed it to either be that he was concerned for him or just wanted to ask something.

"I-It's nothing. I was just waiting for you in the training area for a while, but you didn't come. Then I saw elder brother Lucien, who told me you were gone for some missions of sorts. They are dangerous, right?" Bram asked with concern.

Theo was surprised - he didn't know what he deserved to have such caring people around him. A warm smile crept over his face.

"I am sorry for not telling you that I wasn't going to the training hall today... And as for the missions, they may have been dangerous, but I am strong enough to tackle them all, elder brother. We have trained so much this whole time that it is nothing." Theo stated with a grin and moved his elbow up.

When Bram saw that, his face sparkled, and he quickly smacked his elbow with Theo's.

When the attendant saw Theo carefully, she saw dirt all around him, and when her gaze reached the side of the sole of his leather shoe, she furrowed her brows before becoming normal again.

She also saw the white sack with stains of red, which was held by Clara - the sack was moving a little.

Theo's soles were covered in blood, and his full body had patches of wet soil around.

Bram hadn't noticed as he had seen Theo return from the forest for the first time; for him, it felt like a normal thing.

"Did you want to say something else, too, young master?" Bram's attendant spoke with a smile, and Bram flinched in surprise.

"Uhh... T-Theo, if it's okay with you... Can I go to the forest with you the next time?" He spoke with his innocent eyes.

When Theo saw them, he couldn't help but want to say 'no' - he still felt too young. But when he thought about just how long he had been waiting for him, Theo just chuckled.

"I have to talk to Father about something right now, elder brother. If he approves it, I will send you an invitation for tomorrow. Is that okay?"

"Yes!" Bram shouted but then realized he just shouted, "Ahem, I mean yes. It's okay."

Theo chuckled. Bram was not like the other siblings; even though he was a year older than him, he still didn't shy away from learning from him.

On the other hand, the twins just ignored him now, seeing that he was getting better.

It was the main reason Theo wanted to help Bram - he had all the qualities that were needed to improve.

After bidding farewell, Theo took the slime and the viper to head toward his father.

He could have just given it to a guard and waited for it to reach his father, yet he wanted to do it on his own - it was time he got some more missions, as only a single one was left in the letter he possessed now.