I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!

”He knows exactly where to strike to make someone lose consciousness without causing serious harm,” Luan continued. ”It only takes a second.”

It really only took a second, but Roxanna hadn’t expected him to be able to fight so efficiently like that.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, fewer and fewer people remained in the tournament. There were probably only about eleven left. Surprisingly—though, deep down, Roxanna had already guessed it—her husbands still hadn’t been eliminated.

None of the beastwomen had managed to last until now. Still, they had tried, and that alone was more than enough. Someday, if they were allowed to train alongside the warriors, they might be able to fight much better.

”This is so boring,” Luan said with a yawn. ”Why are they all so slow?”

Roxanna let out a sigh. ”You’re not even participating.”

Luan only yawned again in reply. He looked genuinely bored, lying flat on Roxanna’s lap like a piece of cloth.

”I give up! I give up!” someone shouted from the field as Calen chased him relentlessly, like a frightening big bad wolf. The poor beastman had almost made it into the top ten, but one of his legs was already broken, so he knew he couldn’t keep fighting any longer.

On top of that, Calen’s fierce presence was simply too much. Fear finally won out, and he chose to surrender.

”Why are you running?” Calen kept chasing the poor beastman, even though the man had already surrendered again and again. Honestly, instead of caring about the tournament, Calen looked like he was simply enjoying the fight.

He just wanted to punch some people.

On the other side, Roxanna let out a deep sigh and asked Commander Marlow to come closer. Lowering her voice, she said, ”Calen is out.”

Commander Marlow’s eyes widened slightly. ”What?” he asked. ”Can we force a participant to stop?”

Roxanna explained with some reluctance, ”He keeps chasing someone who has already surrendered. That kind of behavior is bad. Even if he makes it to the short interview session, there’s a high chance I won’t choose him.”

Commander Marlow let out a rough sigh. ”I understand.” He turned around and shouted, ”Calen Fenrirsson! You’re out!”

Calen, who was just about to catch the man running from him, stopped at once. He clicked his tongue, but he didn’t look angry. It was clear that he had already expected this outcome.

”Well, that was fun!” Calen said as he jumped out of the battlefield. He waved at Roxanna with a wide smile. ”Wife, I fought really well, right? You were watching me the whole time, weren’t you?!”

Roxanna had thought that Calen would be angry at her because she was the one who asked him to step out, but now that she was facing his smiling face, she couldn’t help but smile as well.

She raised both of her thumbs and nodded enthusiastically.

Even though he wasn’t the right person to become a commander, at least Calen was still a good fighter.

”I’m actually better than him,” Luan suddenly spoke up. He looked at Calen with a sharp gaze. ”He’s just a dumb dog.”

”Luan, be nice,” Roxanna reminded him. ”What if someone said you were dumb too? What would you say?”

”I’m not as dumb as Calen,” he replied without any hesitation.

Sometimes, Roxanna wondered why the saying about cats and dogs fit them so well. But as long as they didn’t start biting each other, she felt that was good enough.

Roxanna didn’t say anything in response. Instead, she cupped Luan’s round head and shook it lightly, as if punishing him for having such a sharp tongue.

Not long after that, the number of participants in the tournament kept decreasing until only five remained, and three of them were Roxanna’s husbands.

Honestly, this was also the reason she didn’t want to choose Marlow’s replacement carelessly. At least this way, people could see that they truly had potential, not because Roxanna was playing favorites.

”I think it’s enough,” Roxanna suddenly said to Marlow, making him stop the tournament.

”The Leader told me that the five of you—” Roxanna paused and looked at the remaining participants, her gaze calm but steady, ”—have already proven yourselves.”

The five beastmen straightened their backs at once, their expressions turning serious. Sweat covered their bodies, and their breathing was still uneven from the fight, but none of them complained.

”There’s no need to continue,” Roxanna went on. ”From here on, I’ll speak to each of you privately.”

Commander Marlow nodded in agreement. ”You heard her. The tournament ends here.”

A wave of relief spread across the battlefield. Some of the eliminated warriors looked disappointed, but there was no bitterness in their eyes. After all, everyone had seen the fights with their own eyes.

Roxanna walked toward the field, her gaze moving to Zeir, Azul, and Cyrus. With a gentle smile, she said, ”Rest for a while. After that, we’ll begin the interviews.”

===

”Why is Luan allowed to come, but I’m not?” Calen complained. He whined the moment Roxanna told him that he couldn’t follow her when she went to interview the future commander.

”Because Luan didn’t participate in the tournament, his presence doesn’t affect anything,” she added. ”Meanwhile, you were one of the participants, and it would look unfair if you watched the interview even though you lost.”

Calen still couldn’t accept her answer. ”I can shift into my dog form. They won’t know it’s me.”

”You silly dog, of course they’ll recognize you!” Luan snapped. ”You’ve shifted into your dog form in front of people so many times already! Everyone knows who you are now!”

Calen shot Luan a sharp look in return. ”And you’re a ridiculous, lazy cat! How can you keep sleeping on our wife’s lap like that? You’re going to make her legs sore!”

Luan immediately bristled. His tail flicked, and his eyes narrowed. ”Excuse me? Our wife likes it when I sit there. Unlike a certain loud dog who only knows how to run around and cause trouble.”