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

[Ding! Ding!]

[Congratulations, Host! Side Mission Complete: Read.]

[Reward:

Five-Star Teacher — Effect: When the host teaches someone, their learning speed will increase by 20%, and students can easily understand the host’s explanation.

+27,000 Spirit Points (SP)]

[Total Spirit Points (SP): 216,550]

Even though Roxanna had completed her side mission, her eyes stayed on the book in her hands. Instead of reading from the floating panel, she chose to read her mother’s handwriting directly now.

To be honest, she did it unintentionally, but perhaps it was because her subconscious was trying to find a way for her to feel closer to her mother.

”Are you tired?” Zeir asked when Roxanna leaned her head against his arm, clearly trying to find a more comfortable position.

”I don’t know... maybe,” she said softly. ”I still want to read more because it feels like there’s still a lot I can learn, but—”

She stopped mid-sentence and yawned. ”—my eyes feel so heavy,” she murmured.

It was strange, though. Earlier, she couldn’t fall asleep no matter how long she closed her eyes. But now, they felt so heavy that she had to hold her eyelids open with her fingers.

[Could it be because of my mom’s handwriting?] Roxanna thought. [My eyes even sting a little... even though I’ve only been reading her original handwriting for less than ten minutes.]

Just as she wanted to continue reading, Zeir suddenly took the book from her hands and closed it. ”It’s already late. Maybe we should go inside and sleep,” he suggested.

Roxanna yawned again, so Zeir placed two of his fingers in front of her lips to prevent any insects from getting inside. But instead, she accidentally bit his fingers, though he didn’t seem to mind at all.

Roxanna blinked, then looked up at his face. ”Are you sleepy?”

Zeir gave a small shrug. ”Seeing you sleepy makes me feel sleepy too.” Then he added, ”You can read it again tomorrow.”

”But tomorrow I’ll be really busy,” she said. ”Aelin and I want to try planting the seeds we brought from the Golden Tribe.” She paused, then added, ”And I also want to watch Aelin teach Skiv how to make poison.”

Zeir raised one of his eyebrows upon hearing the word ’poison,’ but he decided to let it slide for the moment. ”Then read it at night,” he said instead. ”If you don’t mind, I can stay with you again.”

Roxanna’s eyes brightened a little. ”Really? Maybe... tomorrow night I can teach you how to read too. If you want it.”

She actually wanted to teach all of her husbands how to read, but teaching five people at once would be hard. So for now, she decided to start with Zeir, since he seemed like a fast learner.

Still, that didn’t mean Roxanna thought her other husbands were dumb.

”That would be great,” Zeir said with a small smile.

Roxanna stayed quiet for a moment as she looked at that smile. Even now, his smile could still make her heart beat so fast that she felt like it might jump out of her chest. Maybe she reacted that way because Zeir rarely smiled, so when he did, it felt especially precious.

[I could watch him smile all day... and I still wouldn’t get bored,] she admitted to herself.

Zeir turned his face slightly because he felt a bit embarrassed by her admiration. After a moment, he cleared his throat and said, ”Alright, let’s go inside. The wind is getting colder.”

Roxanna finally stopped trying to argue and nodded in response. Her husbands, who had been peeking through the window earlier, immediately returned to the floor mattress without making any noise.

They shut their eyes right away, and Calen even pretended to snore softly to show that he had been asleep for a long time.

”Ah, Calen is taking my spot,” Roxanna said as she stepped inside the hut.

[Wasn’t he sleeping next to Cyrus earlier? Did he roll over him or something?] she wondered silently.

Cyrus and Azul, who had been sleeping next to Roxanna earlier, grumbled quietly to themselves. In their hearts, they had already decided that they were going to drag that dog into the river tomorrow.

”Here, we can sleep on this side,” Zeir said softly. He nudged Luan aside with his foot, making just enough space for himself and Roxanna to lie down comfortably.

Roxanna didn’t notice anything strange. She simply nodded and lay down beside Zeir since her body already feeling heavy with sleep.

Zeir adjusted the position slightly, making sure she was comfortable before settling down next to her. One of his arms stayed close, just in case she shifted in her sleep.

On the other side, Cyrus slowly opened one eye, his gaze landing on Zeir’s back. ’He did that on purpose...’

Azul clicked his tongue softly and spoke inwardly, ’That damn lizzard...’

Meanwhile, Luan, who had just been pushed aside, frowned slightly but didn’t say anything. His tail flicked once in annoyance before he turned his back on them.

Meanwhile, Calen, who was still pretending to snore, almost broke character when he felt the tension in the air.

But in the middle of all that silent chaos, Roxanna had already fallen asleep, completely unaware of the quiet war happening around her.

===

As the morning came, Aelin immediately grabbed Roxanna’s hand as soon as she opened her eyes. ”Come on! We can try to plant the vegetables before the sun gets too hot!” she said excitedly.

”Besides, I also have a promise with Skiv, so we have to finish our errand before lunch,” she kept babbling, even though Roxanna beside her was still trying to fully open her eyes.

”Aelin... the sun just came up,” Roxanna murmured softly. ”I want to sleep a little more.”

”Leader!” Aelin cupped Roxanna’s cheeks and gave them a few light pats, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to wake her up. ”As a leader, you can’t just lie around all day. There are so many things you need to do for your tribe. Besides, if you finish your tasks early, you can rest earlier too.”

Roxanna felt a bit irritated when Aelin kept forcing her to get up, but since what she said was true, she couldn’t stay mad.

Still, something felt off this morning. Her body didn’t feel right.

Maybe it was because she slept too late last night or... could it be that she was finally starting to feel the symptoms of pregnancy?

Actually, that was kind of strange. After all, her baby had been perfectly fine even after her stomach was stabbed back in the Golden Mountain. But now she was feeling nauseous because of morning sickness?

That felt a little hard to believe.

[It’s make sense, Host!] the system chimed in. [Since your pregnancy has reached two weeks, your fetus will grow very quickly, so fast that it will make your body easily exhausted and sore!]

Roxanna frowned slightly, her brows knitting together as she tried to process that information. [Don’t I have a healing ability? Why can I still feel all of those bad symptoms?]

Roxanna frowned slightly, her brows knitting together as she tried to process that information.

[Don’t I have a healing ability? Why can I still feel all of those bad symptoms?] she asked inwardly.

[Your healing ability is working normally, Host,] the system replied calmly. [However, the growth of your fetus is not an injury or a disease. It is a natural process.]

[In fact, your healing ability is the reason why your fetus can grow this quickly without harming you,] the system continued. [But even so, your body still needs energy to support the process. That is why you feel tired and unwell.]

[So, I will get sick more easily after this...] she said inwardly.

[Correct, Host. And if you are not careful, you could even faint.]

Roxanna was about to respond to the system again, but Aelin spoke first. ”Roxie! What are you waiting for? You have to get up now!”

”I will, I will, but... just give me a moment.” Roxanna bent her knees and rested her head on them as her head began to spin. ”Just... a minute.”

”I can go with you instead.”

Zeir’s voice suddenly came from the side. When Roxanna turned her head, she saw that he was already awake.

Of course he was awake. After all, Aelin’s voice was really loud, so it was impossible for anyone to keep sleeping after hearing her. But... apparently, Calen was an exception, because Roxanna could still hear him snoring softly in the background.

”Oh, Commander Zeir, you’re already awake!” Aelin said cheerfully. ”If you want to go instead, then—”

”I want to go too,” Roxanna cut in before Aelin could finish. ”The three of us can go together.”

She didn’t even understand why she said it so quickly, but just imagining Zeir going with another woman made her stomach twist even more.

[What... is wrong with me?] Roxanna scolded herself. [Aelin is my friend, so of course, nothing bad will happen—]

No, that wasn’t completely true.

Lisa had been her best friend too, and in the end... she still stole her husband.