The construction of the greenhouse was a war against physics and weather.
For the next two days, the Oakhaven estate became a chaotic symphony of industry. Kael was the heavy machinery, driving timber posts into the frozen earth with a mallet that looked like a tree trunk. Caspian was the mixer, churning the mortar of sand, lime, and water with his bare, scaled hands, immune to the corrosive lime. Ignis was the architect, screaming measurements and angles, his perfectionism driving everyone slightly mad.
And Lucian...
Lucian was the "Sparkle Grinder."
The Phoenix sat on a stump near the kiln, a mortar and pestle in his lap, pulverizing chunks of limestone into fine white powder. It was monotonous, dusty work. His delicate fingers were blistered, and his red hair was coated in white dust, making him look like a sugar-frosted confection.
"Faster, Bird!" Ignis shouted from the scaffolding. " The mix is too wet! We need more lime!"
"I'm grinding as fast as I can!" Lucian squeaked, his arms trembling. "My wrists hurt!"
Valeria walked past, carrying a tray of water skins. She paused by the stump.
"Take a break, Lucian," she said gently.
"I can't," Lucian sniffed, not stopping. "If the glass has bubbles, Ignis yells. If the glass breaks, we freeze. I have to be useful. I have to earn my keep."
Valeria watched him. His desperation to belong was heartbreaking. In the novel, Lucian had been the first to die—suicide, unable to bear the shame of his disfigurement. Here, he was grinding rocks until his hands bled to prove he deserved to eat.
"You are earning it," Valeria said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small leather pouch. "Here."
Lucian stopped. He opened the pouch. Inside were five new steel needles, finer and sharper than the sewing ones.
"These are darning needles," Valeria lied. They were actually surgical probes from the Library's medical section. "But they are balanced. If you get bored grinding... practice throwing them at that dead tree over there."
Lucian looked at the needles, then at the tree. "Throwing them?"
"Phoenixes are precision hunters," Valeria said. "You might not have your fire yet, Lucian. But you have eyes that can spot a beetle from a mile up. Use them."
She patted his dusty head and moved on to check the kiln.
Lucian stared at the needles. He looked at the tree ten yards away. He picked up a needle. It felt light, perfect.
He flicked his wrist.
Thwip.
The needle buried itself in the bark, dead center of a knot.
Lucian blinked. He picked up another.
By the third night, the frame was up, and the first rows of glass panes were being installed. The kiln was roaring, kept hot by the firewood Bram had reluctantly delivered.
The team collapsed in the living room after dinner, exhausted. Kael was asleep before his head hit the floor. Silas was chewing on a table leg in his sleep. Even Ignis was dozing in the chair.
Only Valeria was awake, staring at the ceiling, mentally calculating crop yields.
And outside, Lucian was awake.
He had volunteered for the "Kiln Watch." It was the easiest job—just sit by the fire and make sure it didn't go out. Kael had scoffed, saying a stiff breeze would knock the bird over, but Valeria had allowed it to boost his morale.
Lucian sat on a log, wrapped in his velvet cloak, staring into the mesmerising flames of the kiln. It was warm. It reminded him of his nest before... before everything.
Snap.
The sound was faint. A twig breaking under a boot.
Lucian froze. His ears swiveled. He looked toward the treeline.
Nothing. Just shadows and snow.
Most people would have dismissed it as a deer. But Lucian was a bird. His night vision was excellent, and his hearing was tuned to the frequency of predators.
He stood up slowly, reaching into his pocket. His fingers closed around the cold steel of the surgical needles.
He saw movement.
A figure was creeping along the side of the newly built greenhouse frame. It wasn't a beastman. It was a human, small and wiry, carrying a heavy iron bar.
The figure wasn't coming for the house. He was heading for the glass stacks—the fifty panes they had spent all day pouring and cooling.
Lucian's heart hammered against his ribs. He's going to smash them. He's going to destroy our work.
Lucian opened his mouth to scream for Kael.
But then he stopped.
If he screamed, the saboteur might panic and smash the glass before Kael could get there. Or run away and come back later.
I have to stop him, Lucian thought. The idea was terrifying. He was small. He was weak. He was a plucked chicken.
"You have eyes that can spot a beetle," Valeria had said.
Lucian took a breath. He stepped out from the shadow of the kiln.
"Hey!" he chirped. His voice cracked.
The saboteur spun around. He wore a mask over his face, but his eyes were wide with surprise. He saw the small, cloaked figure.
"Get lost, kid," the saboteur hissed, raising the iron bar. "Or I'll crack your skull."
He turned back to the glass, raising the bar to strike the first pane.
Lucian didn't think. He didn't cower.
He threw.
It wasn't a powerful throw. He didn't have Kael's muscles. But it was fast, and it was terrifyingly accurate.
The needle flew through the air, catching the moonlight.
Thunk.
"Argh!"
The saboteur dropped the iron bar. It fell into the snow with a muffled thud, inches from the glass.
The man clutched his hand. The needle had gone straight through the meat of his thumb, pinning it to his index finger.
"You little rat!" the man screamed, pain turning to rage. He pulled a knife from his belt with his good hand and charged at Lucian.
Lucian stood his ground. He had four needles left.
Thwip.
The second needle hit the man's thigh. The man stumbled but kept coming.
Thwip.
The third needle grazed the man's ear.
The man was five feet away now. He lunged, the knife slashing down.
Lucian squeezed his eyes shut and threw the last two needles blindly.
Roar.
A massive shape exploded from the darkness behind Lucian.
Kael slammed into the saboteur like a freight train.
The impact was brutal. The man flew backward, tumbling through the snow until he hit the greenhouse post. Kael was on him instantly, a clawed hand around the man's throat, lifting him off the ground.
"You touch the Bird," Kael snarled, his eyes glowing gold in the dark, "and I eat your face."
The back door of the farmhouse banged open. Valeria ran out, holding a lantern, with Silas and Caspian close behind.
"Status!" Valeria shouted.
"Intruder," Kael growled, shaking the man who was now sobbing. "Tried to smash the glass. Lucian engaged."
Valeria looked at Lucian.
The Phoenix was shaking violently, his knees knocking together. But he was standing. And in the snow, the saboteur was bleeding from three distinct, needle-sized holes.
Valeria walked over to the saboteur. She held the lantern up to his face. She pulled down his mask.
It was a local villager. A farmhand named Jory.
[Target: Jory. Class: Peasant. Affiliation: Hired by Mara.]
"Mara," Valeria said coldly. "Of course. She couldn't buy the Tiger, so she decided to break his cage."
Jory wept. "She paid me two silvers! She said you were building a demon altar! She said I had to break the glass!"
"It's a greenhouse, you moron," Valeria spat.
She looked at Kael. "What do we do with him?"
Kael tightened his grip. Jory turned blue. "We kill him. Make an example."
"No," Valeria said. "If he disappears, the Village Chief investigates. If he goes back injured... he spreads fear."
She leaned in close to Jory's face.
"Listen to me, Jory. You are going to go back to the village. You are going to tell Mara that the 'Demon Altar' is guarded by monsters. And you are going to tell everyone that the Phoenix..."
She pointed at the trembling Lucian.
"...that the Phoenix plucked your eyes out from fifty yards away. Do you understand?"
Jory nodded frantically.
"Kael, drop him."
Kael dropped him. Jory scrambled to his feet, clutching his bleeding hand and limping on his punctured thigh, running into the darkness as fast as he could.
Valeria turned to Lucian.
The boy looked like he was about to pass out.
"I... I missed two," Lucian whispered, looking at the snow. "I wasted needles."
Valeria walked over and pulled him into a hug. It was stiff and awkward - the Villainess wasn't a hugger, after all - but it was firm.
"You saved the glass," she said into his ear. "You held the line. You did good, Lucian."
Lucian froze. Then, slowly, he wrapped his thin arms around her waist and buried his face in her shoulder. He sobbed, but this time, it wasn't from misery.
[System Notification: Husband Affinity Updated.]
[Lucian: 35% (Adoration). Note: Subject has found self-worth.]
[Unlocked Skill: "Needle Point Accuracy" for Lucian.]
Kael watched them, his arms crossed. He nodded once, a silent approval. The Bird wasn't useless anymore.
The next morning, the greenhouse was finished.
It stood in the yard like a jewel, the glass panels glittering in the sun. It was rough, yes. The frame was crooked in places, and the glass was wavy. But it was sealed.
Ignis walked around the perimeter, checking for drafts.
"Internal temperature is twenty degrees higher than outside," Ignis reported, looking at a thermometer Valeria had provided. "It works."
Valeria stood in the center of the greenhouse. The ground inside had been tilled by Caspian and Silas. The soil was dark and waiting.
"Time to plant," Valeria said.
She opened her satchel. She didn't plant the purple yams here; those were hardy enough for the field next year. Here, she planted the money crops.
Fire Bloom for Ignis's medicine.
Frost Melon (a luxury fruit in the capital).
And Spirit Wheat, a crop from the Library that matured in two weeks and restored mana.
"Caspian," Valeria called. "Water."
Caspian entered with two buckets of water mixed with a drop of Spirit Essence. He watered the rows carefully.
"Now we wait," Valeria said.
"How long?" Kael asked, leaning against the doorframe.
"With this soil? And the Spirit Water?" Valeria smiled. "We'll see sprouts by tomorrow."
She walked out of the greenhouse, locking the door behind her.
"Kael, Silas," she ordered. "Guard rotation starts now. No one gets near this glass. Not a bird, not a squirrel, and definitely not a villager."
"Understood," Kael said.
Valeria walked back to the house. She needed to prepare for the next phase.
Agriculture was settled. Defense was improving. But they were still isolated. To truly be safe, they needed political leverage.
She sat at the kitchen table and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment.
"Ignis," she called.
The Dragon limped in from the hallway. "Yes?"
"You used to be a General," Valeria said. "Which means you know the nobility."
"I know them," Ignis said bitterly. "I know which ones are snakes and which ones are rats."
"I need a list," Valeria said, dipping a quill in ink. "I need to know who in the capital hates the Beast Taming Guild. Who rivals them? Who wants to see them fall?"
Ignis sat down opposite her. His red eyes gleaned with interest.
"The Duke of Ironclad," Ignis said immediately. "His son was killed by a feral beast the Guild sold him. He hates them. And... the Temple of the White Lotus."
"The Temple?"
"They believe beastmen have souls," Ignis said. "The Guild believes we are cattle. They are theological enemies."
Valeria wrote down the names.
"Perfect," she said. "We're going to write some letters."
"Letters?" Ignis raised a brow. "From who? A dead girl?"
"No," Valeria smiled. "From an anonymous whistleblower who just happens to know where the Guild is hiding a stolen Prince."
She looked at Silas, who was happily chewing on a new bone by the fire.
"We aren't going to hide Silas forever," Valeria said. "We're going to use him as bait to start a war between the Guild and the Temple. And while they fight... we grow."
Ignis stared at her. A slow, terrifying smile spread across his face.
"You really are wicked," the Dragon whispered admiringly.
"I'm just getting started," Valeria said.
Two days later, the village of Oakhaven was buzzing with rumors. Jory had returned with a mangled hand, babbling about a "Needle Demon" and a "Golden Tiger."
Mara was furious, but she was also scared. She hadn't sent anyone else.
In the greenhouse, the miracle had happened.
Valeria stood looking at the rows of green. The Spirit Wheat was already ankle-high, glowing with a faint golden light. The Fire Blooms were budding.
But it was the corner plot that caught her attention.
She had planted a single, experimental seed she had found in the "Restricted" drawer of the Library. It was labeled [Seed of the World Tree - Fragment].
She hadn't expected it to grow.
But there, pushing through the black soil, was a tiny, silver sapling. It didn't look like a plant. It looked like solid starlight.
As she watched, a pulse of pure mana rippled out from the sapling.
The glass of the greenhouse vibrated.
Outside, Silas stopped chewing his bone. Kael dropped his axe. Caspian surfaced from his trough.
They all felt it.
A pulse of ancient, sovereign power.
Valeria touched the sapling.
[System Alert: World Tree Sapling Activated.]
[Effect: Creates a 1-mile Sanctuary Zone.]
[Passive: Increases Beastman Evolution Speed by 200%.]
[Warning: High Mana Signature. Will attract High-Tier Beasts.]
Valeria pulled her hand back as if burned.
"Increases evolution speed," she whispered.
She looked out the window at her husbands.
If they evolved too fast, they wouldn't just be strong. They would be gods. And gods were hard to hide.
"Well," Valeria muttered, covering the sapling with a bucket to hide its glow. "I guess we're skipping the slow burn."
She walked out of the greenhouse.
"Kael!" she shouted. "Double the guard! We're about to get popular!"