CHAPTER 31: MY CALEN HAS SUFFERED SO MUCH...

Roxanna walked beside Calen with a wide smile on her face. The weather felt nice today as the sun shone brightly above them, and the fresh smell of green grass filled her nose.

Earlier, her other husbands had wanted to come along too. But since Roxanna wanted to spend private time with each of them one by one, she asked the rest of them to help the people of Vixaria Tribe fix the broken huts and clean the ground from the dried blood.

Fortunately, thanks to Roxanna’s blood, there were no deaths. Some people were still recovering, but thankfully, none of the wounds were deadly.

"Let’s grab some water for us to drink later." Calen stopped by the river and filled the bamboo-made bottles. However, his eyes immediately darkened when he saw the pond that had become a silent witness to the heat between Azul and Roxanna last night.

And what made him even more annoyed... was that Roxanna herself couldn’t stop thinking about it!

[I’m so embarrassed...] Roxanna shook her head and covered her hot cheeks. [I can’t believe Azul and I did something so shameless in such an open place. I really hope I didn’t moan too loud last night.]

The corner of Calen’s eye twitched, and he had the urge to go back to the settlement just to strangle Azul.

"Do we need to go to the cursed forest?" Roxanna asked, trying hard to push away all those embarrassing thoughts.

After filling two bamboo bottles with water, Calen stood up and placed them into a sling bag made from animal skin. "No, we don’t need to go that far," he replied.

He then turned toward her and said, "Rabbits are usually easy to find at the edge of the forest, and that place is still fairly safe, unless demon beasts suddenly decide to prey on humans, like the demon bears we faced yesterday."

Roxanna nodded in response, then walked beside Calen again like a duckling following its mother. Since he didn’t want her to get lost, he asked her to hold onto the hem of his animal-skin cloth.

But instead of doing what he asked, Roxanna held onto his arm, and she had no idea that such a simple touch almost made Calen lose his mind.

"How often do demon beasts come to human settlements?" Roxanna asked. But when she realized it sounded like she was new to this world, she quickly added, "I mean... demon beasts rarely enter Vixaria Tribe, right? So... you probably know better than me."

Roxanna had no idea about Calen’s background, but based on the evil Roxanna’s memories, it seemed that Loba had found him at an auction event.

Yes, even in this primitive era, they still held auctions. They used Beast Crystals as payment, which came from the hardened organs inside demon beasts after they died.

If she was not mistaken, Loba had only paid two white crystals for Calen—the lowest-value crystals—because Calen was already half-dead at that time. It seemed like his former master had nearly beaten him to death before selling him.

Because of that, Roxanna never felt annoyed when Calen spoke a little too loudly. After all, no one in his life had ever spoken to him with softness or kindness.

"It depends," Calen said. "Back in the tribe where I used to live, the demon beasts came to the settlement once every four months because, apparently, they needed humans to strengthen their power."

Demon beasts could eat animals or even other demon beasts, but if they wanted to evolve and become stronger, they had to hunt humans.

"How do you know that kind of information?" Roxanna asked. "Did you observe their movements all the time?"

"Yes, I did," Calen admitted. "My former master ordered me to gather information about them. Since someone had to stay close to their nest, he sent me instead of going himself."

Roxanna slowly moved closer and held onto his arm more tightly. "Is that... why you were badly hurt when... my father bought you from the auction?"

Roxanna bit her lower lip, feeling very uncomfortable having to speak as if Loba were her father.

She felt like a hypocrite, and she didn’t like it. But she didn’t have much choice since Calen didn’t know that she wasn’t the Roxanna he used to know.

[What if Calen throws me into the river because I reminded him of the auction?] Roxanna thought in panic

[Loba and his evil daughter were truly horrible! They saw my Calen nearly dead and still decided to torture him once he healed!]

My Calen, she said...

Calen almost jumped into the river himself when he heard her call him that!

Now Azul wouldn’t be able to act proud in front of him anymore, because Roxanna had already acknowledged him as hers too!

"Y-yes..." Calen cleared his throat, trying to hide his happiness. "You could say that. My former master forced me to observe the demon beasts for three years, and last year... I got into an accident."

He had accidentally stepped on an underground nest of demon moles, causing him to almost be eaten alive by a bunch of them.

When he returned to the settlement, his former master was furious with him because he had gone back without permission.

"So... he beat me," Calen said softly, lowering his head as he stared at the dirt beneath his feet. "It happened many times, so I got used to it. But I never thought he would sell me to the auction... and now I’m here with—"

Before Calen could finish his sentence, Roxanna hugged him from the side. She held him so tightly that Calen had to stop walking for a moment.

"I’m sorry..." Roxanna’s lips trembled slightly as she felt deeply saddened by the harsh life Calen had lived in the past, even before he came to the Vixaria Tribe.

[Apparently, beastkins can be just as cruel as humans. Even though the world has faced with dangers, they are still so selfish,] Roxanna thought sadly.

[My Calen has suffered so much...]