novelraw Chapter 218: A New Beginning (1)
Chapter 218: A New Beginning (1)
"Do you want to take back your words?"
Roxanna quickly shook her head. "No, no, no! I won’t take them back!" She let out a small sigh before adding, "If I make a promise, I’ll keep it. I won’t go back on my word, so you don’t have to worry!"
She bit her lower lip and instinctively reached for Luan and Zeir’s hands, holding them tightly to calm herself down.
She wanted to say more, but when she looked at the faces of the Vixeria Tribe people, her chest tightened. In the end, she didn’t have the heart to make them wait any longer than they already had.
[Ah... they all look like good people, though,] Roxanna said in her mind. [But still... I have to consider what Luan said earlier.]
When Roxanna stayed silent, Luan stepped in. "Don’t worry," he said calmly. "Our Leader will free all of you. But unfortunately, she can’t do it all at once."
Grandma Mia, who was standing closest to them, asked, "Why not?"
Even though most of them were still unsure whether Roxanna would truly free them from the cursed oath, they still hoped that she wouldn’t break her promise.
"I—"
"Did you forget her earlier announcement?" Luan cut her off before Roxanna decided to just free them all at once. "My wife is pregnant. Since this morning, she’s been in pain because the baby is growing bigger inside her. That’s why it’s impossible for her to perform the oath-release ritual in a single day."
Luan’s words were a mix of truth and lies, but it sounded reasonable enough that no one questioned it.
"That’s true. That’s true." Grandma Mia nodded. "I almost forgot about that. You’re right, we shouldn’t burden the Leader with this task while she’s pregnant."
Marlow lifted one of his eyebrows. "To be honest, I don’t mind waiting longer."
Some of them—those who had interacted directly with Roxanna—didn’t show any signs of objection, which meant they truly trusted that she wouldn’t do anything to hurt them.
However, among those who trusted her wholeheartedly, there were still a few who looked doubtful. They didn’t seem to hate her that much, but if Roxanna looked closely, she could see a hint of anger in their gaze.
They whispered quietly among themselves, wondering if her words were real or just empty promises.
[They look angry, but... I don’t think they’re truly angry at me,] Roxanna thought.
In her past life, she had met all kinds of people; those who pretended to be kind to her, those who didn’t really care about her, and those who secretly hated her.
In Leon and Lisa’s case, it couldn’t be used as an example because Roxanna seemed to have had a bit of Stockholm syndrome toward them before the apocalypse, so she always ignored their true nature.
However, when it came to other people, Roxanna could clearly tell, and the people of Vixeria didn’t look at her with complete hatred, at least after she admitted that she was the evil Roxanna’s twin.
"The process will definitely take a long time since... I need to let my body rest properly." Roxanna glanced at Luan, quietly asking if it was alright for her to continue speaking.
The moment Luan nodded, she continued, "But please trust me. No matter how long it takes, I will definitely keep my promise, so please bear with me." She softened her voice, pleading, "And... help me build a better home for all of us."
"So when I finally free all of you from the Foxblood Oath, you won’t just be free, but you’ll also have a place where you can truly live in comfort." She smiled brightly, adding more softly, "Besides, I believe the more comfortably we live, the more children we will have in the future."
Her last words created a stir among the people. After all, the Vixeria Tribe had been facing a child crisis for years, to the point that their birth rate was extremely low compared to other tribes.
"What does that have to do with it?" one of the beastwomen asked.
She was Lila, a rabbit beastwoman who had just married three husbands a few months ago.
Rabbit beastkins were known to be fertile all year round and to have high libido, so the people living near her hut knew that Lila and her husbands mated every night or even when the sun was still up.
But despite having so much sex, she still hadn’t gotten pregnant, and she had started to worry that she might have fertility problems. She had even asked the evil Roxanna to call a doctor from another tribe.
Of course, the evil Roxanna ignored her request and instead punished her and her husbands for asking for something that was clearly forbidden.
[That evil woman...] Roxanna hissed inwardly. [She even separated Lila from her husbands for three weeks just because she asked for something for her own well-being.]
It sounded like a mild punishment, but for a rabbit beastwoman with a high sex drive, it could drive her crazy when she wasn’t able to meet her husbands for three weeks.
[But... if my sex drive is as high as hers, maybe I could satisfy my husbands every night.]
The system had once said that she was a pervert herself, but it seemed like she wasn’t horny enough.
Well, anyway, that wasn’t important right now!
"Do you know what can help a woman become fertile?" Aelin suddenly asked, stepping forward to answer Lila.
Everyone immediately turned to look at Aelin, since she was the most trusted doctor at that moment.
"Well, what else?" Lila replied casually. "We just have to mate all day and all night, right?"
Roxanna pressed her lips together because apparently, everyone now looked like they thought she had mated with her husbands so much that she was able to get pregnant so quickly.
Aelin didn’t rush to answer. She glanced at Lila for a moment, then slowly looked around at the rest of the tribe. "That can be one of the factors, but it’s not enough."