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

”They had been planting poison in our land from the very beginning?!” Orion shouted. ”This is insane! How could they betray the trust you gave them, Your Highness?!”

Azul immediately raised a finger to his lips. ”Sshh... don’t shout so loudly,” he warned. ”You might end up attracting the Devourers.”

The color drained from Orion’s face. He quickly covered his mouth with both hands, suddenly worried that his shouting might actually bring the monsters to them.

Meanwhile, Calen stared at Azul as though he had just discovered an entirely different side of him.

”I had no idea you were that kind of person,” he said.

Azul blinked. ”What kind of person?”

Calen frowned. ”I know you can be soft-hearted sometimes, but trying to take in that many strangers?” He shook his head. ”That’s new.”

Roxanna was about to jump in and defend Azul because she thought Calen was mocking him. However, she quickly realized she had misunderstood.

”Azul, I don’t deserve this friendship!” Calen suddenly shouted, somehow even louder than Orion had. ”You’re too kind! And I... I’ve been too mean to you sometimes!”

”Sometimes?” Zeir raised an eyebrow. ”I think you’re being very generous with that number.”

Calen immediately looked offended. Azul, meanwhile, rubbed his forehead.

”Alright, calm down.” He sighed. ”I already told you not to shout. If the Devourers hear us, we’re going to have a much bigger problem.”

Roxanna quickly joined in. ”Yes, and besides...” she said, ”I think we have a much bigger problem to deal with right now.”

She tightened her hold on Azura and noticed that the little girl’s skin felt colder than before. At first, Roxanna had thought it was because they were underwater, but now she could tell that wasn’t the only reason.

”Her condition is getting worse,” Roxanna said softly. ”If we don’t do something soon, she could be in danger.”

The playful mood instantly disappeared because of her remark.

”Roxanna is right,” Azul agreed. His expression turned serious as he looked at everyone gathered around him. ”We need to find my mother as soon as possible.”

Before anyone could respond, he turned toward Orion. ”You and the others have been watching the Devourers since the beginning. I’m hoping you know where they’re keeping the Queen of Aquilian.”

Orion took a deep breath before nodding. ”We do know,” he said. ”But it’s a little complicated.”

Roxanna tilted her head. ”What do you mean? Do they keep moving her from place to place?”

”No,” Tian answered. ”That’s not the problem.”

He paused for a moment. ”We believe the Queen is still being held in the same location. The problem is that she’s being kept in the middle of the Fire Field.”

”The Fire Field?” Roxanna asked in confusion.

At first, the idea made no sense. Fire underwater? But then she suddenly remembered something. ”Wait... do you mean something like an underwater volcano?”

Orion’s eyes lit up. ”Yes! Exactly like that!”

However, his excitement slowly faded. ”How do you know that? Most land beastkins don’t even know there are mountains beneath the sea.”

Even Calen looked surprised. Meanwhile, Zeir seemed thoughtful, as if he had heard of such things before.

Roxanna laughed awkwardly. ”I just... like learning about geography.”

”G-Geo what?” Orion frowned. ”Is that the name of a mountain or something?”

Roxanna immediately waved her hand.

”Never mind. Forget I said anything.” Before Orion could ask more questions, she quickly changed the subject. ”More importantly, we should start discussing how we’re going to reach the Queen of Aquilian.”

”Right.” Orion cleared his throat and forced himself back to the main topic.

”The Fire Field is heavily guarded,” he explained. ”There are usually around ten Devourers stationed there at all times.”

His expression darkened. ”Sometimes there are fewer if their commander gathers them for another mission, but most of the time, the guards never leave their posts.”

Azul looked at Bion. ”When does the commander usually give them new tasks?”

”Usually right after they make a big catch or discover some kind of danger,” Bion replied.

Silence fell over the group for a moment. Everyone seemed lost in thought as they considered his words.

Then Roxanna suddenly broke the silence. ”Do you think...” she asked slowly, ”a kraken would be enough to create a distraction?”

Before anyone else could respond, Calen’s eyes lit up. ”Wife, you’re a genius!” he shouted, sounding far more excited than the rest of them.

===

”Your Highness, this...” Orion trailed off, struggling to find the right words as he stared at the kraken that had suddenly emerged from the darkness. ”This is really something.”

He swallowed hard because even after spending years protecting the Aquilian Kingdom, it was still rare for him to come across a giant kraken in the ocean.

The main reason was that their population was extremely small, and the second reason was that very few people were unlucky enough to survive an encounter with one.

”Everyone, meet Mr. Kraken!” Roxanna said cheerfully, pointing at the giant kraken behind her. ”Mr. Kraken, meet everyone!”

Even though Roxanna was clearly trying to make the situation feel less tense, Helga and the soldiers remained stiff where they stood. None of them dared to make any sudden movements. After all, they had no interest in becoming Mr. Kraken’s emergency snack.

The giant creature’s glowing yellow eyes slowly moved from one person to another. The way it looked at them made it seem as though it was carefully deciding who would fit best inside its stomach.

Several soldiers swallowed nervously. Then, without warning, Mr. Kraken’s eyes narrowed. Its tentacles began to wiggle excitedly as it let out a strange but cheerful sound. ”Wooo.”

The sudden change caught everyone off guard. Calen, however, immediately clapped his hands as if this were the most normal thing in the world.

”See? It looks like Mr. Kraken is happy to meet all of you!” he said with a wide grin. Then he pointed at the kraken and added, ”As friends, of course. Not as food.”

Unfortunately, his explanation did very little to calm anyone down.