The System Said I Pursued the Wrong Beastman After Ten Years

I had spent ten years raising Gavin Cole under a beastman care contract, yet his obedience score remained at zero. For ten years, I raised him with care and taught him how to adapt to human society. Yet he became more rebellious with every passing day, insisting on following a passerby who fed him once in search of freedom. That was when Gavin made plans to run away for the tenth time. A notification chime that had been silent for ten years suddenly rang in my mind. [Host, you pursued the wrong person.] [You should abandon Gavin Cole as soon as possible. Your true love interest is his uncle, Quentin Cole.] Chapter 1 The system’s words left me ice-cold. I could not believe I had wasted ten whole years. [Host, it’s my fault. I suddenly fell into a deep sleep ten years ago and failed to explain who your love interest was. I could only leave you a photograph.] [That was why you mistook the love interest for someone else by sheer coincidence…] The system brought up the photograph from back then. It showed a timid young beastman. He looked only seven or eight years old. He looked almost exactly like Gavin when I first met him ten years ago, so I naturally assumed it was him. His age also seemed to fit better. Only now did I learn that the photograph showed Quentin Cole as a child. Quentin had already been fourteen at the time, and his youthful features had begun to mature. That was why I failed to recognize him. I wasted ten years for nothing. I slowly exhaled the stale breath in my lungs. I raised my eyes toward Gavin Cole, who was protecting someone else in front of me. His hair was dyed an eye-catching yellow, and several piercings decorated his ears and face. He even had tattoos on his arms, written in the beastmen’s exclusive . I could not understand them. I did not want to. The moment Gavin noticed my gaze, he became even more wary. He pulled the girl behind him closer and spoke impatiently. "Lacey, move. Rose told me everything. Beastmen have the freedom to choose their own masters, and we also have the right to terminate our contracts! "I was young and naïve when you tricked me back then. I’m grown up now, and I want my freedom!" Gavin spoke with complete conviction. The girl behind him also looked indignant on his behalf. I only found it amusing. Freedom? Tricked? It seemed Gavin had truly forgotten that, back then, every beastman in his family had been weak and bullied throughout the Beastman Realm. When he was covered in wounds and hovering between life and death, I appeared and spent a fortune to save him. For ten years, I never stopped helping his family. Yet every single thing I did became proof, in his eyes, that he was forced into it and that I did everything willingly. What he owed me went far beyond one life. It seemed I treated him too well and was far too gentle with him all these years. I protected him so carefully that he never experienced even a glimpse of the outside world’s cruelty. That was why he became so arrogant and spoiled. [Host, since you have pursued Gavin Cole for ten years, I received special approval from headquarters to give you one chance to change your love interest.] [Would you like me to change your target?] I barely found the chance to answer. Gavin had already run out of patience when he saw me standing blankly at the door. He assumed I refused to back down and would not let him leave, so he shifted into attack mode. The fur all over his body stood on end, and his cat ears flattened against his head. He looked at me as if I were his enemy. He smashed everything inside the house like a madman, including all the memories we built together over the past ten years. Flying shards cut into my calf, and blood poured from the wound. Even that did not seem to satisfy him. He raised my arm and sank his teeth into it with all his strength. He stopped only when the girl behind him reached out to intervene and gently patted his back. She soothed him softly. "Gavin, don’t do this." He finally stopped and snorted. "Why do you care about her? She deserves it." A photograph of the two of us, torn in half, lay by my feet. A vicious curse aimed at me was scrawled across it, dated three years earlier. I stared at the photograph. Then I suddenly laughed. So, this was how badly he wanted his freedom. Gavin continued ranting. "Lacey, if you refuse to terminate the contract, I don’t mind seeing you in court! You're old, while I’m still young. People should know their place." I took one last, deep look at Gavin and the zero beside his obedience score. My heart died completely. [No need, System. Find out where Quentin Cole is right now.] The system paused for a moment before speaking in a trembling voice. [Host, turn around.] Chapter 2 I turned around and met a pair of golden, vertical-pupiled eyes. Unlike eighteen-year-old Gavin, twenty-four-year-old Quentin had completely shed his childishness. He had also relied entirely on himself since childhood, which made him look even more mature than others his age. The moment I realized he was the love interest I was supposed to pursue, a hint of guilt rose in my heart. I was about to put some distance between us. Then Gavin suddenly charged out from behind me and knocked me off balance. He shoved past me angrily, leaving me with nothing but a look of disgust. "Lacey, I’ll take back the freedom that belongs to me! "From today onward, whatever I do has nothing to do with you!” The girl beside him also lifted her chin at me provocatively. “Lacey, this is a matter for the younger generation. Don’t interfere. Only I can give Gavin the freedom he desires!” After throwing out their threats, the two of them ran off giggling. The system also sounded somewhat hesitant. [Host, did you really spend ten years pursuing a thing like that? [He still hasn’t even shed all his baby fur, yet he’s already chasing freedom.] I blinked without saying anything and tried to steady myself. Fortunately, Quentin quietly supported me when my steps faltered. "Careful." [Look at this. This is the quality standard our system handpicked.] [Graceful, polite, and refined. Even when he grew up on his own, he still turned out perfectly well-bred.] Because we were standing so close, Quentin’s scent drifted uncontrollably into my nose. Unlike Gavin’s overpowering smell of cigarettes and alcohol, Quentin only carried a faint, pleasant scent of laundry detergent. His obedience score was also a full sixty points. I simply had no idea why the tips of his ears were turning red. I was still distracted by these thoughts when the system sighed in my mind. [Oh, Host, I just checked some scenes from his life. The difference between him and Gavin is like night and day. ["Miserable" doesn’t even begin to describe it. There isn’t a single unscarred patch of skin on his body, yet he never gave up on himself in those conditions. He kept fighting his way upward.] I froze. My gaze swept over the skin beneath his sleeve, and sure enough, it was covered in twisted scars. They looked horribly frightening. He must have suffered terribly over the past ten years. I racked my brain, trying to figure out why Quentin was covered in scars and how he had gotten them. After thinking it over and over, I realized that I had devoted all my attention to Gavin. I remembered very little about anyone else. I remembered even less about Quentin. In ten years, I only saw him a handful of times. The first time was the year I took Gavin away. Quentin knelt in a huddle with the other members of his clan. Everyone else fought to be chosen, but he kept his head lowered and made no fuss. The second time was when he fell seriously ill. I happened to return to the clan with Gavin and came across him. I could not bear to ignore him, so I called a doctor and paid his medical bills. The third time was after he recovered. He came to apologize and quietly cleaned the entire yard, clearing up the mess Gavin left behind after throwing a tantrum. I remembered that his eyes always shone brightly. Their light had never dimmed. He rarely smiled and usually kept his face stern, yet his actions told a completely different story. He remained just as calm now. He pulled down his sleeve to cover the scars. Then he quickly and skillfully located the household first-aid kit and carefully disinfected and bandaged my wounds. "Miss Lane, you don’t need to be so upset. "Gavin belongs to the civet-cat branch. His wild instincts are naturally stronger, so he’s difficult to tame. Perhaps once he grows older, he’ll realize that he actually needs you." I lowered my eyes to the cuts covering my arm and gave a self-mocking smile. At the same time, I could not help feeling curious about Quentin. Almost without thinking, I asked, "What about you?" Quentin’s hands paused, and the obedience score above his head flickered. Sixty points. Seventy points. Sixty points. "I…" "I also…" He lowered his eyes. His pitch-black cat ears and tail twitched. In the end, I could tell that Quentin did not want to answer, so I cleared my throat and changed the subject. "I meant, what species are you?" "Black cat." Quentin answered in a muffled voice, then grew even quieter. [Host, black cats have been regarded as symbols of ill omen since ancient times. Perhaps that is why Quentin was never favored by his clan. [Since no one stood up for him, he lived a miserable life among his clan all these years.] I frowned and was about to say something. Quentin apologized first, as if he could hear my conversation with the system. "I’m sorry, Miss Lane. I frightened you." He carefully tried to hide his fur color, but I shook my head to stop him. "Not at all. It’s beautiful. I like it." Quentin’s eyes brightened even more. The corners of his lips lifted, then quickly fell back into place. His voice was almost too soft to hear. “Gavin isn’t the only one who needs you. I do too.” He was answering my previous question. Chapter 3 Quentin stayed behind. He was considerate, obedient, and excellent at taking care of others. His steadily rising obedience score also made me feel utterly at ease. On top of that, Quentin always managed to accurately guess what the system and I were thinking, as if he could read minds. Compared with Gavin, he was practically the perfect love interest. [Host, at Quentin’s current rate of increase, you’ll complete the quest successfully in less than three months.] Three months… The system’s words left me dazed for a moment. I never expected that I would actually see the day I would completed a quest. I thought I would spend the rest of my life struggling with Gavin, guarding that zero until the end of my days. With that thought in mind, I immediately deactivated Gavin’s cards and revoked his access to my home. I withdrew every privilege I had gave him. I also cut off all support for his clan. During the three days Gavin and the girl disappeared while chasing freedom, the Cat Clan descended into chaos. When Quentin heard that I cut off their supplies, he did not even tremble as he watered the flowers. The corners of his lips even curved upward, making it clear that he was in an excellent mood. "You’re not going to plead for your clan?" Without my support, many beastmen in the Cat Clan would probably starve. Quentin remained completely calm. "It’s time they learned to support themselves. "Besides, they’ve already received more than enough benefits from using Gavin to win your favor all these years." When he finished speaking, he lowered the watering can and looked straight at me. "They don’t deserve your compassion." I chuckled softly. At first, the members of the Cat Clan treated me with the utmost respect and worshipped me as their savior. But after they saw Gavin lose his temper with me and bite me, while I still dutifully followed him around and cleaned up his messes, all their respect and fear vanished. They returned to their arrogant ways. Whenever they made unreasonable demands and I refused to agree, they would even deliberately order Gavin to leave home and lead him astray. They used it to pressure me into giving in. Gavin, unfortunately, was too foolish to see through them. He assumed their behavior meant that his clan valued him. This time was no different. The members of the Cat Clan had no idea what was happening and assumed Gavin had made another mistake, so they called Quentin. He held the phone in one hand and glanced at me. The clan leader and Gavin were arguing on the other end. The clan leader was genuinely panicking this time and urged Gavin to apologize to me. "Gavin, do you realize how much trouble your latest fit of stubbornness has caused the Cat Clan?" However, Gavin remained unconcerned. He kept the girl safely behind him and patiently comforted her while arguing impatiently with the clan leader. "You know what Lacey is like. She’s only trying to scare me. "I’m not going back. I’ll only return if she accepts Rose. Then I might reluctantly agree to keep living with her!" He sounded completely justified. [Host, does he mean that you’re supposed to support not only him but also his girlfriend?] I nodded. It seemed Gavin’s mind had truly rotted from being spoiled. "I’m sorry. I didn’t know Gavin was there." Quentin frowned and ended the call, his face full of guilt. He only wanted me to see the Cat Clan’s true colors. He had not meant to upset me. When I remained silent, he stared at me for several seconds before speaking in a hoarse voice. "Miss Lane, I know I’m in no position to advise you. But I still want to say this. Gavin is no a good beastman." I froze. By the time I reacted, Quentin had already lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong. Yet his back remained perfectly straight. He knew he might be punished for speaking out, but he had still chosen to say it. "I’ll accept whatever punishment you deem fit, Miss Lane." [Host, seize this opportunity! Completing the quest is within reach! Once this chance is gone, it may never come again!] The obedience score above Quentin’s head continued to flash wildly. Seventy points. Eighty points. It finally settled firmly at ninety-five points. My eyes lit up, and I could barely contain my excitement. [System, officially bind Quentin as my love interest. As for Gavin, abandon him.]