Chapter 6: Suffer together
Perhaps the only consolation she got was the fact that she wouldn't end up getting infected as they don't look like evolved monsters with rotting scales and gruesome matted furs, spewing fetid miasma.
Regardless, Aella couldn't stop sobbing.
Does she strike the gods to be so desperate for a partner that they give her a snake and a bear in a hurry?
"How can I go back to my clan after having my body sullied by a beast? Father, Motheeer!! Please forgive this unfilial and silly daughter! I think I can't go back home and escape my captors, now I can't return to the clan too!" Aella screamed in anguish.
"How can I face everyone in this state?"
Only pureblood families are allowed in the inner territory. That's why she had to preserve her chastity until she found the right man to be her husband.
But to be honest, she didn't really plan on getting married unless she found someone like her father.
After all, who would want to marry someone else's man? The strict rules and act of preservation of their lineage and noble blood made it hard for them to have any option who to marry at all.
Due to the scarcity of male witches, female witches had to share their husbands, serving them as concubines together with the legal wife.
Apparently, minus some household or palace drama.
But that kind of ridiculous notion still doesn't sit well with her! No matter how it was widely practiced, she just couldn't take it.
Perhaps, it was the reason why some clans became more open to intermarriage with humans despite knowing the fact that they would eventually lose their noble lineage and legacy.
Well, it's either she finds a loyal man who would only take her or nothing at all!
It was the only way, something she could stomach, that would let her stay inside their clan.
However, now that this happens, she will definitely be expelled from the Central Area. She will never meet her parents!
Above all, she will never see her herbal garden and potion crafting room ever again!
Can there be a more heart-breaking scenario for a witch than to lose her beloved ingredients?
Well, as if to make things worse, in reality, if she doesn't accept him, how can she live with honor and be at peace? If it was true, her lifeline is also at stake now!
"A noble witch..." she could only scoff at that useless title.
Maybe she was indeed just noble in name, nothing about her screams noble at all.
Bit by bit helplessness was eating her. It felt like her existence was crumbling into pieces.
"How can I accept a snake as my... hic... my husbaaand?!" She didn't care anymore if her snot was flowing, would that even matter now?
Her carefully painted elegant image will just end up having a beast husband!
Unless he could transform into a peerless-looking young man which she highly doubts!
To end up with a beast, with a snake, and probably with a bear, no less.
Gah! Why still suffer to look good?!
Who wouldn't feel wasted? Boohoo!
Fang and Claw knitted their foreheads, seeing how the previously timid girl was acting the exact opposite and kicking her feet on the floor like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
"Did we rescue a crazy female?" Fang felt ridiculous seeing her actions.
Claw flashed an affable smile, even if you ask him, how would he know
Flatly calling his mate crazy, he reckons only this brazen snake would have the heart to do so.
And besides, "Didn't you said you wanted her to be yours alone? Becoming your wife and you her sole mate, heh!" Claw responded with a hint of mischief. He cleared his throat and added, "Should I be magnanimous and let the female all to yourself, brother?"
"Y-You dare?!" This heartless bastard! How can he still say such malevolent words after witnessing the girl's peculiarity which was already nagging at him like a relentless plague?
"We're in this together in this! Together, you hear? I won't let you off if you abandon me alone with this—" Fang hissed and took a quick glance at the unsightly female, he groaned, "Darn it, I'll help you! So shut your damn mouth and don't say anything weird anymore!"
There's no way he'll take on this matter alone, alright? His brother can't just jump off the ship and leave him alone to shrink with a seemingly mad female!
Claw just shrugged but a sly smirk could be seen tugging up his thin lips. It's just that Fang was too preoccupied with the girl's daunting temperament to even notice.
He had seen overbearing females but not a whimsical doe!
Now, Fang was in a dilemma. He wanted a mate, not a kid to take care of. There's no way he'll suffer alone in the palm of her hands! Claw should be in this and suffer with him as well.
If not then drop dead! What are brothers for?!
Unaware of the two beastmen's restless thoughts, Aella was left in a state of unwillingness and shock.
Even without any man in the picture, she wanted to be with her parents more. She just turned into an adult, she can't be with a wild man.
It's already bad enough that he is not a pure-blood witch, not even a half-blood witch, but worse, she doesn't even know his name and origin.
'Oh god, what have I done? How did I end up like this?'
Her face flared up before growing instantly pallid. Is she being punished for mixing a chilly spread on the bath soap she sold previously?
Perhaps, is it when she pettily put goat's dung instead of raisins in the cookie she gifted her arrogant cousin brother who was always boasting about being born male?
Sigh, in any case, "There's no way I have permitted him to touch my body while I'm sane!" she muttered in a deep breath.
Argh! The curls of her brain are literally starting to spin like a hamster's wheel, trying to rationalize something in her head.
In the end, she felt like it would burst any minute for being absurd and unrealistic.
"You!" her eyes shone dark malice, "You took advantage of me!" Aella glowered.
Despite her swelling lids and heart-wrenching cries, what came to her was the apathetic expression from the snake who claimed her first time.
Fang who was already having qualms about her behavior put on a deep scowl and spat carelessly.
"Took advantage?! Hey! What the... Why are you crying harder now? Darn it! Are you a kid? Why would you call for your damn parents when you're right in front of your mate? I already told you that you're my female! Call for your husband's name!"
"You're not my husband!"
Aella spat, echoing his thunderous voice. In the first place, she didn't even know his name.
So how can she call— argh!
Who cares? It's not like she ever wanted to, okay?!