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

Roxanna bit her lower lip before finally lifting her head. She looked at both of her husbands, her eyes filled with tears. ”These aren’t tears of sadness...” she whispered. ”They’re tears of joy.”

She still didn’t know whether Aelin would truly be able to save Calen. But at least... there was hope now. Even if it was small, it was still hope.

”Roxanna? Are you there?” She heard Luan’s voice from the front of the house. He and Cyrus had returned with the wild horses that had carried them earlier. The animals shifted restlessly outside as the men began unloading the supplies tied to their bodies.

”Luan...” Roxanna hurried out of the bedroom.

The moment Luan saw her tear-streaked face, his chest tightened painfully. For a split second, he couldn’t breathe. ”W-why are you crying?!” he stammered, his eyes widening in panic. ”Has Calen died?! Were we too late?!”

Roxanna was about to say something, but Luan had already become more hysterical. ”H-He’s dead, isn’t he?!” His voice cracked. ”Calen is dead?! Damn it! Sometimes I really wanted to throw him into a ravine, but I never thought he’d die this fast! If he dies now, who else am I supposed to punch—”

”Luan,” Roxanna cut him off before he rambled too much. ”Calen is still alive. He’s still sleeping, but he’s alive.”

The moment she said that, Luan let out a long, shaky breath, as if his soul had just returned to his body.

He dragged a hand down his face, rubbing it roughly again and again, like someone trying desperately to wake up from a nightmare.

”Alive? Calen is alive...” He placed his forehead against the doorframe, whispering, ”That’s good... that’s good. It means I can still punch him after this.”

[What is wrong with this man?!] Roxanna screamed inside her head. [Why does he want to punch Calen so badly?!]

[I thought only real cats liked hitting anything in front of them... but this fake cat is exactly the same...]

Fake cat? Luan’s eye twitched.

Who was she calling fake?! He wasn’t a normal cat, but he was still a perfectly real, dignified cat!

”Oh, your house is so lively, Roxie,” Aelin’s cheerful voice rang out as she climbed the steps toward the terrace.

She gently nudged Luan aside so she could step inside, her ruby eyes instantly scanning the space. ”Interesting...” she said, looking around with curiosity. ”Your house is very... minimalistic.”

All the tears in Roxanna’s eyes immediately went back to her eyes when she heard Aelin’s comment. If she hadn’t known how deeply her mother had influenced the Golden Tribe, she would have been shocked hearing such a modern word from Aelin.

Meanwhile, her husbands were wondering what ”minimalistic” meant. Minimal meant a small quantity, and ”listic” sounded like ”stick,” so... did it mean small sticks?

But they had built this hut using large logs, so what small sticks was she talking about? Them?!

They were anything but small!

Roxanna, unaware of the thoughts running through her husbands’ minds, rushed toward Aelin. She lowered her head several times, feeling guilty for leaving her guest waiting at the gate.

”Aelin, I’m so sorry!” She bowed repeatedly. ”I truly didn’t mean to leave you earlier! I just... I just—”

”Oh, it’s alright, Roxie,” Aelin said casually. She waved her hand, showing no sign of annoyance. Honestly, she looked like a child who was already happy just to be taken outside for ice cream. ”I know you were just too worried about your husband.”

Her ruby eyes wandered around the hut, occasionally glancing toward the window to admire the view outside. All this time, whenever Aelin looked through the window of her own home, the only things she saw were stone walls and stalactites above her head.

That was why she couldn’t help feeling impressed when she could finally see the real sky through the window. Like this, she could finally tell morning from evening, and evening from night, without counting hours inside her mind.

”Aelin,” Roxanna called, pulling Aelin’s focus back to her. ”I know you’re curious about the outside world, but for now... can you help me first? Please. My Calen hasn’t woken up for days, and if this continues, I’m afraid he may never wake up.”

Aelin tore her gaze away from the window and turned to Roxanna. ”Right.” She nodded, as if she had just remembered why she had been brought to the Vixeria Tribe. ”I’m here to check on your husband. Where is he?”

”Here,” Roxanna said, pointing toward the bedroom. ”You can come in now.”

Aelin then signaled Luan to carry her bag filled with herbal medicines and followed Roxanna.

”Calen, I’ve brought a doctor for you,” Roxanna spoke softly. This time, she fought hard against the tears burning behind her eyes, because she didn’t want people to focus on her instead of Calen.

She walked to the bedside, taking his hand and holding it tightly. ”She is Aelin, the best doctor of the Reindeer Tribe,” Roxanna introduced her, even though she didn’t know whether Calen could hear her or not.

His skin felt slightly cold, but not as cold as a corpse. His face looked pale, and even though he had only been unconscious for a few days, Roxanna noticed that Calen had lost some weight, though not too significantly yet.

”He really looks like he’s just sleeping,” Roxanna said softly, her voice heavy with sadness. She bit her trembling lip, struggling to keep her tears from falling. ”If you only saw him for a moment, you wouldn’t even realize he’s sick...”

Aelin stepped closer to the bed. ”Tell me again,” she said gently. ”What exactly happened before he ended up like this?” She took Calen’s other hand and pressed her thumb against his wrist, feeling for his pulse.

”And you’re right,” Aelin murmured. ”He is sleeping...” Her brows slowly drew together. ”But this isn’t normal sleep.”

Roxanna took a deep breath, then said, ”It all started when Calen and my other husbands went into the forest,” she explained. ”They went to kill the Demon Fenrir... so we could obtain the Black Crystals and protect our tribe from other demon beasts.”

She then told Aelin every detail of what had happened before Calen became unconscious, of course with help from her husbands who had also gone to the forest back then.

”He wasn’t acting like himself after the battle,” Zeir finally spoke. His voice was low, weighed down by worry. ”He kept spacing out... especially after he was injured by the Demon Fenrir.”