The Villainess Redeems Herself, The Beast Husbands are in a Daily Love Battle-Chapter 181: Can’t I Not?

Claire tightly clutched the end of her braid, her fingertips turning white.

"Village chief... When I get married, will I become like this too?"

"What?"

The village chief was counting firewood piles. When he heard her, he turned around with his usual smile, kindness in his eyes, completely unaware of the fear behind her words.

"Ah, my memory! You’re Selene’s friend. She speaks highly of you and specifically asked me to introduce you to this job. Of course, you’ll get your share of the benefits, don’t worry."

Claire shook her head, her voice trembling slightly.

"It’s not about that... I’m not asking about subsidies."

"Then what is it?"

The old man was over sixty, yet he never understood a female’s mind.

"Are those males scaring you? Don’t worry, this time I’ll definitely choose a few obedient ones for you. Before, we were poor, living such tight days, only able to find a match that was somewhat suitable. But things are different now, I’ll specifically choose those with poor family conditions, no confidence, the most important thing is, they must listen to you."

"Village chief..."

She slowly raised her head.

"I’m asking... if I really get married, do I have to... do I have to have children? Do I... do I really have to?"

"Of course!"

When he heard this, he immediately put on a stern expression, his tone decisive.

"If males don’t have children, how will the lineage continue? The family’s heritage would be cut off! Look at those beast husbands from poor families, although life is tough and they can’t even have a decent meal, they keep having one child after another. The house is always lively with children’s laughter, how bustling! How hopeful!"

Claire remained silent, her lips moved slightly but no sound came out.

After a while, she finally squeezed out a sentence from her throat.

"...Alright, I understand. I’ll... follow your arrangements."

She quietly took out the old computer from her pocket.

The screen’s edges were yellowing, and the casing was covered with scratches.

With frozen fingertips, she slowly typed on the keyboard, sending a message to Selene Kane.

"Having children is really terrifying. Just thinking about lying on the delivery bed, being stared at by everyone, being pushed into the surgery room, and hearing the machinery sounds... I can’t sleep at night from the fear."

Selene Kane: ?

She stared at the message for a few seconds, her brow slowly furrowing.

Were they... this close?

Usually, they just greeted each other, merely acquaintances.

When did they start talking about such private topics?

She wasn’t even sure if the other party was really willing to listen to her.

Claire was using such an outdated computer model long since obsoleted.

It didn’t even have basic features like cash receipt.

Turning it on took half a minute, entering text had to be painstakingly done, letter by letter, lagging severely.

Selene knew Claire wasn’t accustomed to new devices and didn’t want to spend money to replace it, so Selene simply cleared all the data from her own two-year-old computer and forcefully gave it to her.

Because she understood how basic the lower-class relied on daily wages for survival; one day without it, their family could run out of food.

Selene intentionally arranged for Claire to go to the finance department every morning to collect money, and then distribute it among the workers.

This was not trust, but a form of protection.

To let everyone see her contributions and make her position irreplaceable.

In the Beastman World, storing food was uncommon.

Lower-class families didn’t even have a basic refrigerator, let alone other appliances.

The meat hunted today spoiled by tomorrow if not consumed, only to waste away in front of their eyes.

When no prey was caught, they could only starve until their bodies weakened, then desperately return to the forest to survive.

This cycle went on day after day.

No one knew which day they might fall in the mountains, never to return.

Now, everyone began farming.

Busy daily with planting, watering, and weeding, with no time to go far for hunting.

Without daily wages, they can’t even afford basic food, risking not even having thin porridge to drink, forced to survive on wild vegetable soup.

All the beast husbands’ payroll accounts were linked under Selene Kane’s main account name.

Even to buy a pack of salt or change shoes, the system automatically recorded and was clearly viewable.

This feeling of being watched made her feel awkward.

Fortunately, females had the authority to turn off others’ viewing functions.

At least some privacy could be preserved.

Selene never actively checked others’ accounts.

She wasn’t a person who liked to pry, nor did she have time or interest.

But once, before she closed the viewing permission, she inadvertently glanced at Ethan Sinclair’s purchase records and found he recently bought many items labeled "secret delivery."

The package annotations were vague, the shipping address wasn’t in the village but sent to a transfer station in a neighboring town.

She glanced at it twice, then closed the page, gently sighing in her heart.

Let him be.

After all, everyone has their own secrets.

Everyone comes from a noble background, who wouldn’t have something to hide?

She herself once scavenged in trash heaps for sellable scrap to survive on spare change.

But thinking aside from working, she is good for nothing.

She previously thought she could become an Imperial Merchant and soar in her career by working zealously.

Never asking about wages, believing wholeheartedly that effort always pays off.

But now she truly awakened to the fact that she was just doing someone else’s work for free, busying in vain.

The royal family’s benefits aren’t that easily obtained.

There are not so many free rewards in the world.

A momentary error in judgment, and she ended up with nothing.

Selene gently asked, "How was it? Was anyone willing to work?"

The Beastmen have always lived by hunting, accustomed to chasing prey in the wilderness, trading claws and fangs for food.

Getting them to settle down in fields planting crops, work from dawn to dusk, she truly felt uncertain.

In the Federation Army, just in Caleb Shaw’s direct command centers alone, there are over twenty, spread across strategic locations in the vast Star Sector.

His position is high, his authority covers the whole system.

The branches are countless underneath, from high-ranking officers to lower-level officers, down to ordinary soldiers.

The structure is immense, akin to the vast cosmos.

Registered soldiers have exceeded ten billion.

Every name is recorded in the central database of The Federation, ready at any moment.

The Insectoids are numerous but have weak individual combat power, relying on quantity to oppress opponents.

On the Federation side, having more people ensures safety; sufficient troops are necessary for effective defense.

Otherwise, the Insectoids attack intermittently, wave after wave, ceaselessly.

Sooner or later they’d wear us down, resources depleted, morale collapsed.

Once the defenses fall, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Even if enlistment conditions are increasingly strict, with fitness tests, mental evaluations, and gene screenings layered on top, countless Beastmen still rush to enlist.

They are born strong, with robust bones, fast speed, agile reactions, a natural fighting species.

The military is happy to absorb such recruits to enhance overall combat power.

If Evan Sinclair and Ethan Sinclair didn’t follow her earlier, according to family rules, they should’ve gone too.