Chapter 212: Of Course, It’s You
Chapter 212: Of Course, It’s You
No matter how much Roxanna wanted to join Aelin and teach Skiv how to make poison, her body simply couldn’t keep up anymore. Right now, the only thing she wanted was to lie down on the soft mattress and rest.
"Are you sure this is normal?" Azul asked, his voice filled with concern. After all, this was the first time he had seen Roxanna this pale and weak, even though she hadn’t given her blood to anyone.
"Azul..." Roxanna spoke in a soft, shaky voice because her stomach hurt so badly, as if something was twisting inside it. "Aelin said my own body will take care of me and the voice in my head said I’ll be fine too."
"Still..." Azul gently fixed the blanket over her and patted it softly. "You look like you’re really in pain."
"I’m in pain." Roxanna reached up and touched his cheek, her voice gentle. "But I’ll be fine."
Not long after, Cyrus walked out of the kitchen, bringing warm water in a bamboo cup. "Is the temperature right?" he asked as he sat beside Roxanna.
Roxanna placed her hands around the cup, feeling the warmth seep into her palms. "This is enough." She turned slightly toward Azul. "Can you help me sit up?"
Without saying anything, Azul quickly helped Roxanna sit up on the mattress. He also stacked a lot of soft things behind her back so she could lean comfortably.
"What can warm water even do?" Luan, who had been sitting quietly in the corner of the room, finally spoke. "It’s just water."
Roxanna turned toward Luan, trying to smile. "It may not be as effective as medicinal herbs, but at least warm water can soothe my stomach."
[Why is he sitting so far away?] Roxanna wondered. [Does he think taking care of me is too troublesome?]
Luan was taken aback when he heard her thoughts. The only reason he had stayed at a distance was because Azul and Cyrus had already been taking care of her, so he didn’t want to crowd her and make her feel uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Calen and Zeir were out hunting with some of the warriors, or they would have made her feel even more crowded.
But strangely, Roxanna didn’t feel suffocated at all. Instead, she felt safer and more at ease when her husbands were around her.
Because of that, she felt irritated when one of her husbands didn’t want to sit near her.
[Can’t he sit a little closer?] she thought. [It would be nice if Luan massaged my head... his hands are so soft.]
Azul immediately glanced at Luan. His deep blue eyes said everything without words, quietly asking him to follow what their wife truly wanted.
Of course, Roxanna would never dare to say what was on her mind out loud. After all, their wife was always afraid of burdening her husbands too much.
"I see..." Luan spoke again after a short pause. Then, a little hesitantly, he asked, "Do you... want me to massage your head? You must feel a bit dizzy too, right?"
Roxanna stared at him in silence for a moment, thinking. [That! That again! He did exactly what I just thought!]
But before she could think too deeply about it, Azul suddenly said, "Wife, then I’ll massage your feet to make you feel better."
Cyrus added, "How about your hands? They must feel sore after you dug the ground. Let me massage them as well."
Digging the ground? Zeir didn’t even let her bend down, so how could her hands possibly feel sore?
However, since her husbands sounded so sincere, why should she refuse?
"If you don’t mind," Roxanna said softly, "then... I’d be happy if you could do that for me."
Luan finally walked toward her, while Azul helped Roxanna move forward a little so Luan could sit right behind her.
"Why would we mind?" Luan said as he sat down. He moved aside some of the soft things behind her back so she could lean against him more comfortably. "You’re carrying our child, so it’s our job to make sure you live comfortably."
His answer wasn’t bad—in fact, it was very good. But for some reason, something didn’t sit right with Roxanna.
[If that’s the case... doesn’t that mean they wouldn’t treat me this well if I couldn’t have children?]
[Children are very important to this tribe, after all... so I guess I’m quite lucky that I can bear children for them.]
Her husbands hissed inwardly. Azul and Cyrus sharpened their gazes as they looked at Luan, thinking that the cat beastman had said something wrong.
"But even if you weren’t carrying our child—" Luan paused for a second when Azul’s gaze sharpened, as if urging him to say something better. "—or even if you couldn’t give us children, we would still treat you well."
Roxanna slowly relaxed when she heard that. She tilted her head back slightly and looked up at him.
"Why?" she asked softly. "Isn’t having children very important in this world? If I can’t give you children, then... shouldn’t you mate with other beastwomen?"
The room fell silent right away. What kind of tricky question was that?
At that moment, they realized that Roxanna’s thoughts had become twice as complicated because of her pregnancy.
Why did they think so? Well, at the very least, they had seen pregnant beastwomen before and many of them became more irritable or acted irrationally toward their husbands.
Out of ten pregnant beastwomen, at least eight would have strong mood swings. And now, they were sure Roxanna was the same.
Not long after, Cyrus cleared his throat and said, "We won’t mate with other beastwomen just because of that."
When he felt that his words still weren’t convincing enough, he added, "In this world, it’s not easy to find the right person. That’s why we won’t just choose someone randomly."
Unfortunately, those words still didn’t seem convincing enough, because Roxanna frowned and narrowed her eyes.
[Not easy, indeed... but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.]
At that moment, Cyrus thought that maybe he should have gone hunting with Calen and Zeir instead.
Flustered, he quickly spoke again, "What I mean is... I have sworn to protect you, and I have given my heart to you. Since then, my heart will only belong to you, my dear wife."
On the other side, Azul took her hands, holding them tightly as he looked into Roxanna’s pink eyes. "My wife, to me, you are the most special woman. But aside from that, my kind only mates with one person in their entire life, so I will never betray you."
In Azul’s words, there were two things that bothered Roxanna.
[My kind? Not tribe? I thought Azul doesn’t remember anything.]
Right after that, Azul froze in place because apparently, he had said that without realizing it, and he hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
But before he could dig deeper into his memories, Roxanna’s thoughts drifted again. [And he has also mated with the evil Roxanna before.]
She let out a soft sigh. [If I hadn’t entered this body... then it means he wouldn’t have been able to mate with me.]
Her fingers curled slightly in his grasp. [So... in the end, I’m just... a replacement.]
The thought came quietly, but it still made her chest feel tight.
Azul’s body stiffened. His pupils shrank as her words echoed clearly in his mind.
"No," Azul suddenly said. "In our case, it will be different." He tightened his grip around Roxanna’s hands. "Even though I have mated with... someone so cruel, it doesn’t mean my heart belongs to her."
"Even if it is forbidden, if you had been born in a different body, I would still love you," he added.
His words sounded so warm, like calm waves resting on the shore. But unfortunately, they could also backfire on him.
Luan and Cyrus noticed that his specific choice of words would only make Roxanna more suspicious that they could truly hear her thoughts.
"You..." Roxanna spoke.
Her husbands held their breath because they thought she had finally realized everything.
But instead, Roxanna’s eyes suddenly turned red. "T-That’s..." her voice trembled, and before she could finish her sentence, tears started to fall.
"I-I didn’t expect you to say something like that..." Roxanna whispered, her shoulders shaking slightly. "That’s... so unfair..."
"Unfair?" Azul repeated, clearly confused.
Roxanna nodded weakly, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "How am I supposed to doubt all of you when you say things like that?"
"I was just... overthinking..." she admitted softly. "I thought... maybe your feelings were only because of this body, or because of the child..."
She lowered her head slightly. "But if you would still love me... even if I were someone else..." Her fingers tightened around Azul’s hand, while her eyes turned toward Cyrus and Luan. "Then that means... it’s really me, right?"
Azul didn’t hesitate this time. "Yes," he answered firmly.
Luan and Cyrus then answered at the same time, "Of course, it’s you."
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