I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!-Chapter 167: The Strange Bell

"But isn’t it too dangerous?" Azul asked, his voice tight with worry. He spoke before Roxanna could say anything. "Entering someone else’s mind... that means risking your own. If something goes wrong, you could lose yourself too."

Roxanna was pregnant, and everyone knew how much that changed things for him. Azul didn’t want Calen to remain trapped inside his own mind, but the thought of Roxanna getting hurt frightened him even more.

He was in a dilemma, but he wasn’t confused about his priority. Even so, that didn’t mean he would allow Calen to stay inside the maze. "Calen may not be happy to see me, but I don’t think he would truly chase me away," He said firmly. "I’ll go. I’ll do everything I can to break through the walls he built."

Everyone fell silent before Roxanna spoke. "You mean... you want to enter the maze inside his mind?"

[He said that entering someone’s mind is dangerous for me, but why doesn’t he apply the same logic to himself?] Roxanna thought irritably. [Does he think that if he gets hurt, I’ll be okay?]

Aelin finally spoke. "We can’t risk sending someone Calen might reject. You know... our mind are stronger than we think. If he refuses to let someone in, no one can force their way through." She paused. "The fact that he created a maze like that tells us something. Calen’s will is incredibly strong."

"Then we must send someone he truly trusts," Roxanna added. "Just send me in. That’s fine."

Just like Azul, who chose Roxanna as his priority, she also had her own priority, and unfortunately, it wasn’t herself. Roxanna’s hero complex was more stubborn than gum stuck in hair, and just like gum, it couldn’t be removed in such a short time.

"But—"

Aelin spoke before Azul could finish. "How about we send two people into Calen’s mind? Roxie will be the key who can open his guarded consciousness, while the other person will act as an anchor to make sure neither Roxie nor Calen loses their mind."

"I can be the anchor," Azul said before any of the other husbands could speak. "There were times when Calen and I didn’t exactly get along, but... we understand each other. We’ll manage."

Before Azul was thrown into the Mushy Lake, he had been even kinder than he was now, and he had also acted as the glue that held together all the men in Roxanna’s chaotic harem. Because of that, there was a high possibility that Calen would allow Azul to enter his most sacred place, his own mind.

"Then we’ll guard your bodies," Zeir said calmly. Unlike the others, who still looked uneasy, Zeir didn’t argue because he believed his place was here, protecting them in the real world.

After all, even though they had placed many black crystals around the settlement, there was no guarantee they were truly safe. As a commander responsible for protecting the settlement, Zeir chose to fulfill his duty wholeheartedly.

"But how can we enter Calen’s mind?" Roxanna asked in confusion. She knew it was possible to guide a lost soul, but since Calen’s soul and mind were still inside his body, how could they enter such a complicated maze?

Aelin smiled, completely at ease. "There is a way. It’s called soul binding." Her gaze softened. "It’s actually lucky that you and Calen are married. Your souls have already touched before... during your most intimate moments." \

She glanced at Azul. "And since Azul is your husband too, forming a link with him will be much easier."

Even after Aelin’s explanation, Roxanna still looked unsure. The idea was simply too strange, too far beyond anything she had ever known.

Aelin noticed and gave her a small, reassuring smile. "Alright... let’s just try it. Sometimes it’s easier to understand by doing." She then added, "First, we need Calen, Roxie, and Azul to lie next to each other."

Roxanna nodded at once. Without hesitation, she asked her husbands to lay out the floor mattress. The mood in the room turned quiet and tense as they carefully carried Calen from the bedroom and placed him down.

"Roxie," Aelin said softly, "since you are the one who connects them both, you must hold their hands."

Roxanna lay between Calen and Azul. Her fingers closed tightly around their hands, gripping them with silent desperation. It was as if some deep fear whispered that letting go might mean losing them forever.

"Entering his unconsciousness is not the hard part," Aelin explained. She dipped her finger into the bowl of pig’s blood. The dark red liquid clung to her skin before she gently pressed her finger against Calen’s forehead.

"But coming back..." Her voice lowered slightly. "That is where the real danger lies."

She drew one straight line on Calen’s forehead, then two straight lines on Roxanna’s forehead, and three straight lines on Azul’s.

"The blood on your foreheads will act as a medium to bind your souls, and also serve as a mark," Aelin explained.

Roxanna frowned. "A mark... for what?"

As the night grew later, Roxanna felt a chill run through her body. However, it seemed that the cold air was not the only thing making her shiver, but also what Aelin was about to say.

"There is something dangerous inside Calen," Aelin said at last. "And I cannot promise that the soul you meet in there will truly be him."

"That is why the mark matters," she continued. "This pig’s blood will leave a trace on your souls. It will help you tell the difference between the real Calen... and whatever else may be hiding inside."

They already suspected that something unnatural lingered within Calen. It did not feel as filthy or cruel as the Demon Fenrir, but that did not mean it was harmless.

Finally, Luan broke the silence. "And how," he asked quietly, "are they supposed to come back?"

"I will guide them by ringing..." Aelin paused, crouching as she rummaged through the things she had brought from the Golden Mountain. The others watched quietly, curiosity written across their faces.

After a moment, she pulled out a small bell. "With this."

Tring.

When she swayed it slightly, the bell rang brightly. Roxanna’s husbands opened their eyes wide, as it was the first time they had seen such an object.

Roxanna, however, frowned in confusion because a bell like that felt oddly out of place here.

Moreover, the bell looked like a keychain.

How could a keychain even exist in a world like this?

[We don’t even have keys or bags to hang a keychain on.] Roxanna thought. [That must be one of my mother’s belongings. But... why does it have a skull symbol? Was my mother a goth or something?]

The more she stared at it, the stranger it felt.

No wonder Aelin had handled the bell so carefully, as if it were a sacred object. And yet, to Roxanna, it looked like something cheap and ordinary, the kind of trinket she could have bought online for one buck.

"Would you like me to ring it a few more times?" Aelin asked kindly. "It may help if you grow used to the sound. Guiding you will be easier if you can recognize it clearly."

"There’s no need," Roxanna replied. "I recognize the sound."

"Oh..." Aelin rubbed the back of her neck, looking slightly embarrassed. "I assumed it was something you’d never seen before."

Roxanna simply smiled. She chose not to tell Aelin that, in her world, a keychain was nothing special, certainly not something sacred.

"Anyway," Aelin continued, gently ringing the bell again, "once you enter his subconscious, just follow this sound."

Tring. Tring.

The clear chime echoed softly in the room.

"Remember," Aelin said, her tone turning serious. "You must only follow the bell. Not my voice. Not your husbands’ voices. Only the bell. Understood?"

From the way she said it, Roxanna could conclude that there was a chance people might get lost if they followed voices they found familiar.

"I understand," Roxanna said firmly.

"Good," she said softly. "Once the binding begins, do not fight it. Just stay calm."

Azul suddenly tightened his grip around Roxanna’s hand. His palm was warm, in contrast to Calen’s cold hand.

"We will be fine," she reassured him softly. "The only thing we need to do is pick Calen up from the maze, convince him to follow us, and then get out."

People say that speaking is easier than doing, and it seemed that this also applied to her.

Aelin, on the other side, was already prepared to begin the ritual. "We don’t have much time. The longer Calen remains trapped in his subconsciousness, the harder it will be to bring him out."

Aelin swayed the small bell once more. "Close your eyes," she instructed gently. "And no matter what you see... do not panic."

Roxanna nodded, and so did Azul. The room then faded into darkness behind their eyelids.

Tring. Tring.

Gradually, Roxanna could only hear the sound of the bell and Aelin’s voice guiding them into Calen’s subconsciousness.

"Imagine yourself standing in a vast meadow wide and open," Aelin’s soothing voice continued. "Feel the ground beneath your feet. The air around you. Let your mind accept it."