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

Even though the cooked book promised that anything Roxanna made would turn out perfectly, she still had to gather the ingredients herself.

Since they did not have any food ingredients left in the refrigerator, Roxanna decided to ask Cyrus and Azul to gather ingredients near the forest.

”Listen carefully,” Roxanna said, looking at them one by one. ”These ingredients are very important. I need deer meat, wild boar, and wild chicken. They’re good sources of protein.”

”And for fiber, please find wild sweet potatoes and forest potatoes.” She quickly described what they looked like, knowing they might mistake the tubers for useless roots.

Still, a small worry lingered in her chest. What if they picked the wrong plants?

In the end, Roxanna decided to go with them. ”Alright... how about I go with Azul to gather tubers and vegetables, while Cyrus goes hunting?” she suggested.

[It feels a bit unfair to send Cyrus alone... but I’m not very helpful when it comes to hunting,] Roxanna thought. [Besides... I haven’t spent time with Azul in so long. I miss him.]

She didn’t fully understand why she felt that way. Maybe it was because of her pregnancy. After all, Azul was the father of her child. It felt natural that her heart and even her body wanted to stay close to him.

And although Cyrus was not happy with that arrangement, he could understand Roxanna’s wishes. Besides, he had once heard from others that it would be better to always fulfill the wishes of a pregnant woman so their child could be born happily.

”That’s fine,” Cyrus said. ”Go with Azul. We’ll meet again near the river in one hour.”

Roxanna’s smile widened when she heard Cyrus’s words. She immediately picked up the sack made of animal skin and said enthusiastically, ”Okay! See you later, Cyrus!”

Even though she said goodbye, they actually left the tribe together. However, Roxanna walked ahead with Azul, while Cyrus followed behind them.

The moment they got closer to the forest, Cyrus took a different path. It was because to hunt deer, wild boar, and wild chicken, he had to move deeper toward the forest, or nearly into it.

Luckily, although demon beasts roamed the area, they were far less dangerous than those deep inside the forest. Meanwhile, Roxanna and Azul stayed along the edge, where the ground was rich with wild plants.

”This,” Roxanna said, holding up a dusty tuber, ”is a purple sweet potato.” She brushed the soil off gently. ”It’s easy to cook. We just roast it, and we can eat it right away.”

Azul tilted his head, observing the wild tuber carefully. ”Are you sure we can eat it?” he asked doubtfully. ”It looks... unconvincing.”

”It only looks that way because it’s dirty.” Roxanna reassured him. ”We just need to wash it later at the river. Besides, we only eat the inside, while the skin is thrown away.”

Azul finally nodded. ”What does it taste like?”

Roxanna smiled. ”Sweet! It tastes sweet and soft. You definitely won’t regret eating it!”

Azul knew nothing about wild tubers, so he decided to simply trust her. For a while, the only thing they did there was dig the ground to collect sweet potatoes and potatoes.

”Don’t you want to pick some green vegetables?” Azul asked. ”Like... mustard greens we once ate, maybe?”

Roxanna shook her head cheerfully. ”Ah, we don’t need to look for wild vegetables anymore. The Golden Tribe has given us so many vegetables like tomatoes, mustard greens, and carrots. Besides, Aelin will also teach us how to grow vegetables in our tribe.”

Azul nodded again and didn’t say anything again.

At that moment, Roxanna felt that something was not right. Since they left the hut, Azul had suddenly become very quiet.

He only asked about what she wanted to do or made short comments about the vegetables, but aside from that, he chose to remain silent and simply followed her around.

If he were Zeir, she could understand it. But Azul was not the type of person to be this quiet.

”Azul.” Roxanna put down the sack she was holding and focused her gaze on her husband. ”Do you want to tell me something?”

Azul frowned. ”Like what?” He added after a moment, ”Did I do something wrong?”

Roxanna quickly shook her head. ”No! You didn’t do anything wrong. Actually... you didn’t do anything at all, and that makes me worry.”

[Is he upset because I’ve been paying more attention to Calen lately?] Roxanna wondered.

[I also left him behind with Zeir to take care of Calen.]

[What if Azul feels like I don’t care about him?]

In truth, this was Roxanna’s greatest fear when she realized she had more than one husband. It was because it would be very difficult to love everyone equally.

Sometimes, people could become biased without even realizing it, and Roxanna truly did not want that to happen. Her husbands had chosen to stay with her, and the last thing she wanted was to make them feel unloved.

”I’m fine,” Azul said at last. He smiled softly at her and lowered the sack of wild tubers they had gathered. ”Why don’t we rest for a bit?”

Roxanna actually wanted to return home quickly so she would have time to cook before Aelin finished examining Calen, but because she was also worried about Azul, she decided to rest with him for a while.

”Alright... we can sit over there.”

She pointed to a clear patch of ground beneath a wide, shady tree. The sun was almost setting, so the sky was no longer too harsh. Even so, sitting under the shade still gave a comforting feeling.

Azul sat down first. Roxanna lowered herself beside him, folding her legs close to her chest. She lightly brushed her hands together, shaking off the thin layer of soil clinging to her fingers.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The silence stretched longer than it should have.

Roxanna finally turned to him. ”What’s wrong, Azul?” she asked softly. ”Are you upset with me? You’ve been so quiet...”