CHAPTER 22: THE BATTLE OF THE HUSBANDS

Even though the evil Roxanna had no heart, at the very least she still provided a place to live for each of her husbands and allowed them to sleep in their own huts whenever she didn’t want to sleep with them or didn’t feel like locking them in the basement.

However, the huts she gave them were nothing more than tiny, cramped shelters. Even the roofs were covered only with worn bamboo weaves.

Why? It was because the evil Roxanna refused to let them repair anything. She believed it was their own fault for failing to "take care" of their huts properly.

Among all her husbands’ huts, Azul’s place was the most decent—although the door was now broken—which was why they brought Roxanna there.

"This place can’t really block the cold wind at night," Azul admitted, "but at least there is no trash here."

[He really does look like a clean freak...]

Roxanna looked around and realized there wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere, which was impressive considering they didn’t even have proper walls.

[I see... so Azul is the cleanest of them all.]

The other husbands frowned, especially Luan. His hut was just as clean as Azul’s, at least until Calen broke the wall by crashing into it while drunk. Because of that, Luan still held a grudge and banned that dog from ever entering his hut again.

"I’m sorry... my house is so dirty because I’m such a lazy person," Roxanna murmured, lowering her head. Even though it wasn’t her fault, in their eyes she must have been looked like the messiest person alive.

"I promise I’ll clean my house every day from now on!" Roxanna declared seriously.

[But I don’t think I can remove all the trash that’s in there...] she thought bitterly.

[That evil woman piled rotten meat all over the place. I’ll probably cough blood if I force myself to clean that cursed hut...]

Azul cleared his throat and said, "Ah, about that. Calen, Cyrus, Luan, and Zeir will clean your hut. You don’t have to touch anything disgusting."

Roxanna blinked several times, wondering how they could be kind enough to offer to clean her rotten home voluntarily.

[It seems sacrificing my blood was very worth it!] Roxanna concluded proudly. [They’ll definitely realize I’m not that bad now!!]

The truth was, they had already realized she wasn’t a bad person from the beginning.

"Then what about you, Azul?" Luan asked with a smile that wasn’t friendly at all.

"I’ll stay here with our wife," Azul answered with an equally fake smile, though his smile looked more like mockery. "What if something bad happens to her and no one is by her side? Don’t you think that would be terrible, Luan?"

Luan’s eye twitched, and the word ’bastard’ was already on the tip of his tongue. He didn’t need further explanation, but he knew this fish bastard was simply taking advantage of the situation.

Roxanna had gained two more days of lifespan, but she could also gain five days if she mated with them, and this fish bastard probably wanted to volunteer.

"Why does it have to be you?" Luan asked. "I can take care of her too."

"Because..." Azul turned fully toward Luan, lowering his voice, "...this is my house. So I make the rules."

Roxanna, on the other hand, had no idea why they looked like they were about to fight.

[Are they... arguing because they want to protect each other?] she wondered sadly. [Azul must be sacrificing himself to take care of me, and Luan doesn’t want his friend to suffer...]

The three beastmen in the room froze. Of all the possibilities in the world, why did Roxanna’s brain choose that one?!

Instead of sacrificing himself, Azul was cheering internally!

"Azul knows the most about medicinal plants," Zeir suddenly stepped in, ending the fish-and-cat staring contest.

"If something bad happens to Roxanna, then Azul is the best person to take care of her," Zeir added wisely.

He wasn’t happy either because he wanted to stay beside Roxanna too. But since he was the first person who stabbed her, he didn’t feel worthy to be near her right now.

And if he admitted that, Luan would definitely argue that Azul had also stabbed Roxanna.

Good thing he was able to come up with a solid reason to prevent another fight among them.

Luan clicked his tongue. "Fine!" He turned his face away from Azul, clearly annoyed that he had to back down to that fish. "But if anything bad happens to her, you’ll be the first one I kill!"

[Wait... why does Luan sound like he cares about me? I thought he only wanted to protect his friend...]

Azul, of course, heard every word in her mind and smiled in satisfaction. "Yes, yes, Luan. I’m trembling in fear," he said flatly. "Now move aside. You’re blocking the air."

Luan was honestly taken aback because he never expected the sweet fish to turn this annoying. Had his true façade finally cracked after being thrown into the Mushy Lake?

Luan’s eyebrow twitched again. "I swear, Azul—"

"Enough," Zeir interrupted before another fight could break out. "Roxanna needs rest."

Before Luan could say anything else, Zeir stepped in and firmly pushed him toward the door. Just then, Calen and Cyrus returned, proudly carrying the waterskins filled with water. Zeir quickly stopped them at the entrance and gestured for Azul to take the waterskins instead.

He didn’t want the three of them causing more chaos or starting another round of arguments. His head was already pounding, so without giving them any chance to struggle, Zeir dragged all three beastmen away, even though they kept trying to stay by Roxanna’s side.

"Let me go! Let me stay with my wife!!" Calen shouted at the top of his lungs. "Roxanna! This lizard is trying to separate us and ruin our marriage life!!"

Zeir didn’t even bother to look back. "You still have a marriage life, and now you have to sacrifice yourself by cleaning your wife’s house," he said flatly as he dragged the struggling dog farther away.