CHAPTER 32: THE POOR DOG WHO TRIED TO LIVE

Calen had lost his parents when he was five years old, or more precisely, about one year after the voids appeared in the beastworld.

Since his parents were Nomads—people who constantly moved from place to place and were not tied to any tribe—he had to struggle to survive on his own for years. And once he finally entered a tribe, he was not welcomed as a member, but he was turned into a slave.

His master placed a crystal seal on him when he was only ten years old. Since then, he had lived chained by that seal.

Most slaves chose to simply blow their own heads off after one or two years, but for some reason, Calen kept choosing to live.

No, it wasn’t because he truly wanted to live. It was because his father and mother had sacrificed their lives so he could escape from a group of demon beasts.

His parents had given him his life, so he felt that he had no right to throw it away.

Because of that, no matter how badly people treated him, no matter how cruel the words they threw at him were, Calen kept holding on. He kept living, just so his parents’ deaths wouldn’t become meaningless.

Still... he was not strong all the time.

There were moments when he wanted everything to end, like the time he chose to go back to his master even though he knew he would be punished.

The reason he did that was because he wanted his master to beat him to death, so he could finally be free. But instead of giving him peace, his master pushed him from one hell into another.

Once again, Calen suffered under someone’s cruelty. But strangely, during that painful time, he gained something new.

He gained companions.

Maybe not true friends... but as fellow victims of the same cruel woman, the other husbands treated him like a person. They spoke to him normally, and they even called him by his real name.

So Calen chose to stay alive a little longer, just to feel the kindness he had never received before.

That was also why, when he heard that the evil Roxanna had thrown Azul into the Mushy Lake, something inside him snapped. He realized that as long as that woman stayed alive, none of them would ever be free.

He had actually planned to kill the evil Roxanna and sacrifice his own life because he was tired of everything. But to his surprise, that evil bitch disappeared on her own, and he finally met an angel.

"Why are you apologizing?" Calen felt a bit awkward because no one had ever hugged him like this before. He wanted to push her away, but for some reason, he found it comforting to be held like this.

"Because I bought you from the auction and even tortured you for a whole year!" Roxanna suddenly cried after saying it.

[I wasn’t the one who did those things, but this body did... so I can’t just pretend I’m not guilty.] Roxanna said in her heart.

"I can give you a chance to change," Calen said as he turned his face away from her. "I can see that you’ve really changed a lot. So... let’s just forget about the past."

Roxanna blinked at him in disbelief because she didn’t expect Calen to be able to forgive someone who had tortured him for one year so easily.

She found it strange, but as strange as it was, she also felt relieved.

[My Calen is too kind. I’ll do everything to treat him well!]

Calen clenched his fists tightly every time Roxanna called him that. His heart pounded so wildly that he was afraid she might hear it.

"I will change!" Roxanna declared with determination. "I promise I will never hurt you again! And... and I can release your seal crystal right now!"

[It might be a bit tricky to release the seal right now because what if he chooses to leave me alone in the forest?] Roxanna felt a little hesitant.

[But whatever, Calen has suffered a lot, and releasing his seal crystal will surely make him feel truly free!]

"We can do that later," Calen said. His refusal was something Roxanna did not expect. "If you want to release my seal, then you must also do the same to your other husbands!"

"O-Of course I’ll do that to my other husbands too!" Roxanna said firmly. "But I can do it to you first."

Calen still shook his head. "It would be better if you do it all at once."

Before Roxanna could argue, Calen had already started walking again and gently pulled her along. "Come on. Let’s catch the rabbits first. Heavy talks should be done with a full stomach."

Roxanna didn’t protest when he led her toward the edge of the forest, but she still sobbed a little because she truly felt bad for Calen.

"Alright, I’ll teach you how to track a rabbit first!" Calen said with excitement as they reached the forest’s edge.

Roxanna had stopped crying, but her eyes were still a little red. Even so, she already felt better because she really wanted to learn how to catch rabbits.

"What should I do first?" Roxanna asked eagerly, like a diligent first-year student.

"First, you need to look for the rabbit’s tracks." Calen squatted down and pointed at some small, dark brown pellets. "See this? This is rabbit poop. If you see this, then there’s a chance a rabbit is nearby."

"Besides that, you also need to look for other signs, like grass that has just been bitten or holes near the bushes," Calen added.

Roxanna leaned closer and stared hard at the ground, trying her best to study the signs Calen had shown her. "So... if I see these little things, it means the rabbit was here?"

"Yes," Calen nodded. "And if the poop is still soft, it means the rabbit hasn’t gone far."

Roxanna squatted beside him, her brows pulled tightly together as she tried to look serious. She pointed at another spot nearby. "Like this one?"

Calen leaned in to check, their shoulders almost touching. "That’s old. It’s dry already."

"Oh..." Roxanna looked a little disappointed, then quickly pointed to another area. "What about this grass? It looks broken."

Calen’s eyes lit up. "That’s a good one. The edge is still fresh."

Roxanna’s face immediately brightened. "So the rabbit is near?!"