Villainess is being pampered by her beast husbands-Chapter 295 --

From nowhere, a sword appeared, a blade crackling with raw lightning, energy dancing across its surface. In a single fluid movement, Cutie twisted mid-air, and the sword cut an arc toward the nearest serpent. A black python lunged, fangs dripping venom—but Cutie met it with lethal grace. The serpent split perfectly into five segments, scales scattering like rain.

The valley seemed to freeze for a heartbeat, holding its breath in awe of the sudden strike. Then the horde surged forward, faster than perception could track. Cutie moved like a ghost, sidestepping, ducking, weaving through snapping jaws, each motion precise, elegant, and unflinching.

Finally, he planted the tip of his sword into the earth. A surge of blue light erupted, a ripple of raw energy blasting back the remaining serpents. The air hummed, thick with power. Cutie’s voice sliced through it, cold, sharp, and unwavering: "Snake Queen... appear."

The valley froze. Hissing fell silent, muscles tensing in anticipation. Then, from the shadowed depths, the largest serpent lifted its head, eyes glowing with a strange, unnatural intelligence. Its sheer presence bent the ground beneath it, scales glinting like ink-dark nightfall, every movement deliberate and terrifying.

As the Snake Queen’s golden eyes locked onto Cutie, he held his gaze, unwavering, a cold, commanding presence that dared her to challenge him. The Snake Queen hissed in response, a sound that rippled through the valley like venom itself.

Cutie’s eyes narrowed. "Before I kill every one of you here," he said, his voice sharp and deliberate, "transform into your human form and speak to me."

For a long moment, the Snake Queen simply stared. A faint, almost imperceptible smile curved her lips, smug and unreadable. Then, as if struck by something unexpected, her entire body stiffened. Veer and Cutie exchanged a glance, sensing the shift.

"Bella," Cutie said, the name like a key unlocking something deep within her.

At once, the Snake Queen froze. Slowly, deliberately, she began to transform. Her massive, serpentine body coiled and shimmered, scales giving way to smooth skin and flowing black hair. Golden, snake-like eyes remained, glowing with ancient intelligence, but the rest of her took the form of a breathtaking woman. Her lower body, however, remained that of a serpent, a sinuous reminder of her true nature.

She regarded Cutie carefully, eyes narrowing slightly, and then a soft smile curved her lips. "Bella, huh?" she said, her voice both musical and dangerous. "It has been hundreds of years since anyone has dared to call my name."

She looked at Cutie with a smug, almost playful smile. "So," she said, tilting her head slightly, "who are you?" Her golden eyes narrowed as they scanned him from head to toe, appraising every detail. "Hmm... does not look like a normal Beastman."

She leaned toward him, her movements slow, deliberate, encircling him with an aura that was both intimate and dangerous. A sly smile played on her lips as she lifted a finger to her chin. "Hmm... rabbit Beastman," she murmured, letting the words linger. Then she shook her head, her expression shifting slightly, a teasing edge in her tone. "Nah... so, really, who are you?"

Cutie’s gaze remained sharp, unwavering, cutting through her teasing. "None of... none that you need to know, Bella," he said, voice low and precise.

The Snake Queen studied him for a long moment, her golden eyes flicking over his form, unreadable and calculating. Finally, she smiled, slow and measured. "So," she said, her tone shifting into something smoother, more curious, "what do you want?"

Cutie’s stare never softened. "Zeh-re-la—poison," he said, each syllable cold and deliberate.

The Snakekin’s surprise cut off mid-hiss; she froze, eyes narrowing as if the words themselves had scraped her scales. She blinked, then tilted her head. "What? Repeat that?"

Cutie repeated the name exactly the same, voice flat: "Zeh-re-la—poison."

The Snakekin took a step back, venom retracting like a question. "Do you know I could kill you in seconds?" she snapped, voice low and dangerous. "And yet you ask for something not meant for you."

She began to coil her tail tighter around him, the muscles in the scaled coils bunching like ropes.

Cutie’s mouth twitched into a smirk. "Do you know I can kill you in seconds?" he said, cool as frost.

Before she could finish constricting, Cutie slid a dagger from his back and drove it into her tail with a single, precise motion. Pain flared across her expression.

"Agh! Ah!" she shrieked, retreating as blood welled from the wound. In a heartbeat she shifted, abandoning the half-serpent bulk and becoming fully human—black hair loose around her shoulders, golden eyes wild with pain. She stared at her leg where the wound bled bright and furious.

Cutie bent toward her, gaze steady and merciless. "I came for one thing," he said simply. "Give it to me, or I will take it."

She pressed a palm to her leg, fingers splayed over the wound, and glared at Cutie. Her voice dropped cold, each word a threat wrapped in silk. "Do you even know how dangerous that poison is? One sip and it kills—swift, clean. Why would you want something like that?"

A short, humorless scoff escaped her. "You’re strong—aren’t you? Then kill with your own hands. Why stoop to an underhanded trick?"

Cutie’s smile went thin and barbed. "No need for your concern," he said, voice soft and deadly. "Just give it to me."

The Snake Queen pushed herself up, limp and deliberate. She stared at Cutie a long beat, then closed her eyes as if weighing him, and when she opened them she had already shivered back into serpentine form. Her coil uncoiled and reared; her voice slid out, low and dangerous. "Leave. We are the poison’s guards. We won’t let you take it."

Cutie glanced once at her, then up at the sky. "More than forty minutes have passed," he said, the calculation quiet, exact. He met her eyes again.

"I can kill you now," he admitted, "but your snakes will pursue me. I could slaughter them all, yes—but it would take about five hours. I don’t have five hours."