The Villainess Winning Back Her Beast Husbands-Chapter 87: Why the Magnanimous Act?

After eating and drinking her fill, Evangeline looked at the two of them and asked, "So, was my cooking good?"

"Of course it’s delicious!" Caden Albright immediately popped another bite into his mouth to prove his point.

He chewed slowly, glancing over at Thorne, who was still battling his chopsticks, and couldn’t help but let out a sneer. "Some people are just too clumsy. I can’t believe you still haven’t managed a single bite of Eva’s cooking!"

A cold gleam flashed in Thorne’s dark green eyes. The bone knife in his hand became a chilling arc of light as he swung it at Caden Albright’s right hand. The blade whipped up a fierce wind, looking like it would slice his hand right off.

Caden Albright didn’t flinch. A lazy smile played on his lips as he deftly twirled the chopsticks between his slender fingers, suddenly clamping them onto the incoming bone knife. He feigned surprise. "Oh, look at that. I’m already a natural with these things!"

Just as Thorne was about to apply more force, Caden Albright clicked his tongue. Applying a bit of pressure himself, he held the bone knife steady. "Easy there, brute. Be gentle. Eva just brought these chopsticks back from the Illusion Realm..."

He blinked his bewitching fox-like eyes, drawing out his words in a teasing drawl. "What would we do if you broke them?"

Thorne’s bone knife froze in mid-air. He narrowed his eyes dangerously, but he truly didn’t dare to exert any more force.

But as he stared at Caden Albright’s dazzlingly smug smile, his knuckles turned white from how tightly he was clenching his fist.

SMACK—

With a grim expression, Evangeline smacked the back of both their hands with her chopsticks.

Her brows shot up in anger as she glared at them with her slender eyes and sneered, "If you’re going to fight, take it outside!"

Caden Albright immediately let go of his chopsticks and gave a slight shrug. His pale, slender fingertips brushed suggestively against the back of Evangeline’s hand. He shot her a flirtatious wink, his voice a low, seductive drawl. "No more fighting. I’ll listen to Eva."

When he lifted his gaze again, however, his lips curled into a provocative smile at Thorne. He silently mouthed a word:

—Idiot.

By the time Evangeline turned to look at him, the provocative smile on Caden Albright’s face had vanished, replaced in the blink of an eye with a perfectly innocent expression.

Thorne watched the seamless shift in his expression and took a deep breath.

’Foxes. They really are the most cunning and detestable Beastmen!’

’Oh, no—Eva’s an exception, of course!’

Caden Albright pretended not to notice Thorne’s blazing glare. Looking down at the jade-green rice in his bowl, he poked it curiously with his chopsticks. "Eva, what is this? Why does it seem to be glowing?"

"Spirit Rice. It’s very precious. Go on, try it." Evangeline’s gaze shifted between them, a hint of anticipation in her eyes as she pushed the bowls of glistening Spirit Rice closer.

’Spirit Rice was another product of the Realm of Immortals, containing pure Spiritual Power. She just didn’t know if it would have any effect on the Beastmen of the Beastman Continent.’

"Spirit Rice?"

"Spirit Rice?"

Caden Albright and Thorne froze. Despite their rivalry, they shared a rare, synchronized glance. They had never heard of such a thing on the Beastman Continent.

For a moment, a complex, dark light flickered in both their eyes.

The delicate fragrance of the Spirit Rice lingered in the cave.

’In truth, it wasn’t just this jade-like Spirit Rice. The exquisite serving plates and porcelain dishes on the stone table, the shimmering beast skin on the stone bed, every single item she casually produced... and even she herself... they all exuded an aura completely different from anything on the Beastman Continent.’

Caden Albright’s knuckles tightened, and his brow furrowed.

’He knew with certainty that these items could not have been forged by any tribe on the Beastman Continent.’

’The only possible exception was the Beastman World beyond Norfell, at the very edge of the Triangle Sea.’

’Things might be different there, but Evangeline had never left Norfell. How could she possess things like these?’

Thorne’s dark green eyes also narrowed, his lips pressing into a flat line as the tip of his tongue brushed against his fangs.

’She looked exactly the same as the Evangeline from his memories, yet the captivating allure in her gaze and the unexpected gentleness in her actions were things he had never seen before.’

’It was as if she were a completely different person from the Evangeline of the past.’

The torches on the stone wall crackled, casting their three shadows in a wavering dance.

Thorne licked the corner of his mouth, his voice seeming to be shrouded in mist. "Eva, what exactly are you..."

Before he could finish, Caden Albright cut in, the corners of his eyes lifting as his voice took on a musical, lingering quality. "Well, I for one am going to taste this Spirit Rice."

The clink of his chopsticks against the porcelain bowl effectively cut off the rest of Thorne’s question.

Some questions, they didn’t dare to ask too plainly.

’None of these things belonged to the Beastman Continent... so what about her?’

’Did she... also "not belong here"?’

A small smile on her lips, Evangeline watched them quietly, seemingly oblivious to the subtle clash between them.

The instant the Spirit Rice entered his mouth, a shiver ran through Caden Albright’s entire body. Behind him, his snow-white foxtail began to wag uncontrollably.

His already stunning face flushed with an even deeper, more vibrant color. A faint blush crept up to the corners of his eyes, and a low gasp, somewhere between pain and pleasure, escaped his lips, ringing out with startling clarity in the cave.

Evangeline froze, eyeing Caden Albright with suspicion. ’He’s just eating. Is it really necessary to sound so... provocative?’

While she was still pondering this, Thorne let out a muffled grunt. His long fingers dug into the edge of the stone table, gripping it so hard they left marks.

The next moment, dark scales erupted across his taut abdomen. A snake tail shot out, sweeping hard against the ground before snaking out like a hook, furtively reaching for Evangeline’s leg. And his expression... he looked for all the world like he’d been hit with an aphrodisiac.

At the same time, the six-pointed Star Pattern on his forehead flared with a brilliant light, illuminating the entire cave as if it were day!

Evangeline watched with her own eyes as the six-pointed Star Pattern on Thorne’s forehead quietly gained another point.

Evangeline narrowed her eyes, her gaze falling thoughtfully to the Spirit Rice in her bowl.

’So the Spiritual Power in the Spirit Rice can trigger the advancement of a Beastman’s Star Pattern!’

’This is definitely news that could shake the entire Beastman Continent. Looks like I’m getting pretty good at this whole Witch thing.’ A playful smile touched Evangeline’s lips at the thought.

The intense rush came on fast, and faded just as quickly.

By the time Caden Albright and Thorne had returned to normal, Evangeline was already back on the bed, fast asleep and breathing steadily.

Caden Albright stared at Thorne’s forehead for a moment, his eyes glinting. "A Seven-star Pattern... Well, congratulations."

Thorne reached up to touch his Star Pattern, his brow tightening. When he turned to look at Evangeline, his expression was a mixture of tenderness and complexity. "No one can know about this," he said in a low voice.

Caden Albright could feel the power surging through his own body—the power of his Star Pattern.

On the Beastman Continent, the only way for a male to grow stronger was to devour the flesh and Beast Cores of Wild Beasts, thereby tempering their bodies and advancing their Star Pattern. This was the iron-clad rule they had followed for millennia. The only exception was the Fallen Beastmen.

But Fallen Beastmen were viewed as abominations by the entire continent, outcasts with no place in the world. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The Spirit Rice Evangeline had brought represented a third path—a clear road, separate from both the iron-clad rule and the path of corruption.

Caden Albright’s hands suddenly clenched into fists, his knuckles turning a stark, sharp white. A low laugh rumbled in his throat, laced with a dangerous edge. "It’s not enough..."

He gazed at Evangeline’s sleeping profile, an almost paranoid gleam churning in his eyes. "I have to get stronger," he whispered, "to be able to protect her."

Even as an Eight-Marked Beastman, he couldn’t guarantee he could protect her from the many who would covet her.

His Eight-Star Pattern... it still wasn’t strong enough.

Caden Albright’s words sent Thorne into a thoughtful silence. Then he heard Caden say, "You’re still a long way off, black snake."

Thorne sneered and was about to retort when he heard Caden Albright’s thoughtful voice again. "Perhaps... we should help Eva find all those other wastes of space?"

As he spoke, his voice rose at the end of the sentence, each word dripping with hidden meaning and a hint of danger.

Thorne’s pupils contracted instantly, his dark green eyes narrowing to slits that glinted coldly in the shadows.

He tilted his head to glare at Caden Albright, a derisive laugh escaping his throat as the cold, reptilian scent unique to his kind filled the air. "Since when are you so magnanimous?"

Caden Albright lifted his eyelids in a ghost of a smile. "And you?" he said nonchalantly. "Aren’t you just pretending to be meek and docile for Eva?"

He sized Thorne up, the corner of his eye lifting in a lazy, dismissive gesture. "What good could a venomous snake possibly be?"

Just then, Evangeline, lying on the stone bed, seemed to skip a breath.

The two males fell silent instantly.

Thorne’s sneer froze on his lips. The light tapping of Caden Albright’s fingers on the stone table ceased.

The only sounds left in the cave were the torrential rain pouring down outside and the suddenly quieted breaths of the two males.