Roxanna blinked, her lashes still wet from crying. "No." She shook her head as hard as she could.
[Did… did he hear someone speaking with my voice? Was that the ghost of the real Roxanna?!]
[She's probably angry because I took over her body, right? But I'm not letting her take it back! No way!]
[She definitely wants to torture these poor beastmen again!!]
Zeir turned around, and the other husbands looked just as confused as he was.
They clearly saw Roxanna's lips weren't moving, yet they could hear her voice as clear as day.
Was it just their imagination? But… since when had the evil Roxanna ever cried just because someone scolded her?
Normally, instead of crying, she would order them to jump up and down until she felt satisfied. Sometimes she made them do it for hours, or until they couldn't feel their legs anymore, then she would finally smile and forgive them.
But the Roxanna sitting before them now looked… completely different.
Her face was the same, but the feeling she gave off… it was like they were staring at a whole new person.
ROARR!!
Roxanna jumped and let out a tiny scream when she suddenly heard a loud tiger's roar from afar. She also heard heavy footsteps walking toward them.
She had survived a snowstorm apocalypse for almost two years, but how in the world was she supposed to survive in a beast world?!
This world was basically a playground for demon beasts, so the only way to survive was to cling to her beast husbands.
[But they must hate me so much. What if they poison me in my sleep? No, no, no—wait, they still have seals on their necks, so they can't hurt their owner.]
[Hold on, owner?! Isn't that the same as me enslaving them?!]
[I don't want enslaving people!] she cried inside. [Just let me die now! Let me go to heaven!!!]
She had already died once, so dying twice probably wouldn't feel that different, right? Besides, what was the point of transmigrating to another world if both worlds were equally hellish?! Even worse!!
Roxanna opened her mouth, ready to shout at the tiger demon to come eat her and send her straight to heaven.
But before she could do that, Zeir—the white-haired man—closed her mouth tightly and lifted her into his arms, carrying her away.
"Let's keep going," he said calmly. "We have to find Azul before sunset."
Roxanna struggled in Zeir's arms, but the more she fought, the tighter he held her.
She stared up at Zeir in horror, thinking he hated her so much he wanted to crush her bones. But the moment she thought that, Zeir's grip slowly softened.
"Where did your servant throw Azul?" Calen, the one who had been yelling non-stop a while ago, suddenly lowered his voice a bit, though he still looked annoyed. "Tell us now. If we can't find him before sunset, he'll probably be eaten by crocodile demon beasts!"
[Eaten by crocodiles?!! No, no, no! Azul… Azul is Roxanna's fish husband, right? The sweet one?! The one who kept asking the others to give her a chance to prove she wasn't as bad as they thought?!!]
[That evil woman!! How dare she throw my Azul into a lake full of crocodiles!!]
Wait, "my Azul"?
She had never even met the poor fish yet, so how dare she act like Azul was truly her husband?
But this was not the time to think about that! The most important thing right now was to make sure they could save Azul!
"I… I'm not sure," Roxanna finally whispered. "But I asked him to throw Azul into the eastern part of the Mushy Lake."
[Arghhh, I really don't know!] she cried in her head. [That horrible woman told her servant to dump Azul somewhere around that area, but who knows if he actually threw him there or not?!]
[Nooo… my Azul will be eaten by crocodiles!]
The other husbands exchanged glances, finally realizing they weren't hallucinating.
They really could hear Roxanna's thoughts, but for some reason, she didn't sound like the Roxanna they knew.
This Roxanna sounded… kind? And weird in a chaotic way.
But if she wasn't the evil Roxanna, then who exactly was she? Oh well. Who cared?
What mattered most was that the evil bitch was gone, and the men were already cheering internally while planning to drink five jugs of alcohol to celebrate the disappearance of her soul from the world.
But for now, they had to find Azul first, because the sun was almost setting, and if they didn't find him before nightfall, searching for him would become much harder.
Luan, the one with cat ears, spoke up. "Let's split into two teams. Cyrus and I will search the western side, while Calen and Zeir search the eastern side."
Everyone nodded at the same time before sprinting through the thick forest. Even while running so fast, they still watched their steps carefully so they wouldn't accidentally step on a demon beast nest.
Roxanna honestly wondered, if they were struggling this much just to reach the Mushy Lake, then how did her servant manage to get through all of this just to throw Azul into the lake?
Wait… did that underling even make it out of the forest? If the memories in her head were correct, that person might still be trapped in here somewhere!
Roxanna really wanted to chase the evil Roxanna's soul, shove it into a doll, and punch it over and over again.
"That's the lake!" Calen shouted. "Let's split up!"
The group immediately ran to their assigned areas. The lake wasn't actually big, but the entire surface was covered with green moss, making it impossible to see what was hiding underneath.
Many beastkins said Mushy Lake was basically a water grave no one should ever touch. But the evil Roxanna somehow thought it would be a great place to torture her husband and force him to become "more obedient" after surviving it.
[Cruel! Cruel! Cruel!] Roxanna screamed inside her head. [Obedient, my ass! Forget being obedient, he probably wouldn't even make it out alive!]
Just thinking about it made Roxanna shiver. She had never met Azul in person before, but after watching him over and over again in the evil Roxanna's memories, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
If he died, then the other beast husbands might truly lose their patience and choose to explode their own heads rather than stay as her husbands ever again.
Zeir lowered his head slightly, glancing at Roxanna. She looked so pitiful, like she was about to cry again, as she imagined them dragging Azul's dead body out of the lake.
He wanted to say something, but in the end, he chose to stay quiet because he still didn't know this new woman well.
"How are we supposed to find him in this mess?!" Calen snapped, losing his patience. All he could see was the thick green moss. He didn't want to jump into the water either, because the bubbles on the surface clearly showed there were tons of crocodile demon beasts underneath.
"Maybe we can just blow up the lake?" Calen suggested. "He'll probably get blasted up too, right?"
Zeir stared at him like he had just discovered the dumbest man alive. "He could also die."
On the other side, Roxanna noticed something moving near the edge of the lake. She widened her eyes, thinking it was one of the crocodiles.
But suddenly, a man's head popped up from beneath the surface.
His entire face and body were covered in moss and water plants, but Calen recognized him immediately. "Azul!"
Azul turned his head slowly toward them, and the moment his eyes met Roxanna's, he stared at her sharply.
But instead of feeling scared, Roxanna only felt even sadder. [Poor fishy… he must be hurt so badly… what should I do? What can I even do for him?]