Villainess is being pampered by her beast husbands-Chapter 296 --

Cutie’s gaze locked with the Snake Queen’s, hard and unflinching. His hand tightened on the hilt of his sword, but his voice dropped, steady and sharp.

"Enough games. Give me the poison, and I’ll walk out of here without carving through every snake you command."

The Snake Queen’s eyes narrowed, venom glinting. "Do you even grasp what you’re asking for? This venom—one drop can rot a heart in seconds. What kind of fool begs for such destruction? Did your enemy slaughter your kin, boy? Or is your hatred so deep you’d rather use poison than your own blade?"

Cutie’s lips curled into the faintest smirk. He leaned closer, his tone cold, but for the first time, a flicker of warmth passed through his eyes.

"It isn’t hatred. It’s love. My wife... she’s fading. And this poison is the only thing that can save her. She is the reason I still draw breath. Without her, the rest is meaningless."

The Snake Queen faltered, her coils shifting uneasily. "What?" she whispered, as if struck. Slowly, she lowered herself until her golden eyes were level with his. "You mean to give this venom... to the one you love most? Are you insane?"

Cutie’s gaze hardened again, the softness gone like a shadow swallowed by night. "Insane or not, it doesn’t matter. I will have it. With or without your consent."

He shifted his shoulder, ready to move, but the Snake Queen lashed her tail and slammed him back. Cutie slid a few steps across the ground, but his stance held firm, sword raised, eyes burning with command.

The Snake Queen hissed, fury and confusion mixing in her voice. "Then give me one reason—one reason why I should let you carry this poison away from my valley."

Cutie’s jaw tightened, his eyes cutting into hers like ice. His voice was low, but each word struck like steel.

"You want a reason? I’ll give you one. She is my reason. My wife—Kaya. Without her, there is no me. If she dies, there will be nothing left worth saving in this world. That’s the only reason you’ll ever need."

For a heartbeat, silence pressed heavy between them. The Snake Queen’s coils shifted restlessly, golden eyes narrowing, searching him for a crack, for weakness. Instead, she found only that flicker—that stubborn, unyielding light burning in his gaze when he spoke of Kaya.

She exhaled sharply, half a scoff, half a hiss. "Tch. Love... What a ridiculous thing to gamble with venom this vile." Her tail uncoiled slowly, the fury in her posture tempered by reluctant respect. "If it weren’t for that vulture circling overhead, I would have torn you apart where you stand. But..." She glanced skyward, then back to him, her lips curling in something between disdain and amusement. "I don’t kill lovebirds. Not today."

She raised her hand, a slow, deliberate motion. "You’ll have your poison. But remember this, rabbit—once it leaves my hand, it’s no cure. It’s death, no matter how you twist it."

Cutie’s expression remained unreadable, though his grip loosened ever so slightly on his sword. From his coat, he drew out a small ceramic vial he had crafted, setting it before her. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The Snake Queen extended two fingers over the bottle. A slow, deliberate drop fell—thick and green as liquid emerald, hissing faintly as it touched the air. Another drop. And another. Until the vial began to fill.

Cutie’s eyes followed every drop, unblinking. The moment it was enough, he corked it swiftly and slid it into his pocket. His voice was a low blade cutting the silence.

"Spare me your warnings. Dangerous, deadly—it doesn’t matter. I said I’ll save her, and I will."

The Snake Queen tilted her head, eyes gleaming with sharp amusement. "Hmph. For someone so cold, you’re reckless where love is concerned. That makes you more dangerous than I thought."

Cutie turned, his cloak snapping behind him as he began to walk away. "And looking at you," he said without turning back, "no one would ever believe you’re the Queen of Poison. Too many wasted words. Too much pity."

Her hiss turned into a scoff, sharp and bitter. "Bastard."

But he didn’t stop.

As Veer’s wings sliced through the air, carrying Cutie high above the valley, the Snake Queen tilted her head back, golden eyes following them until they were just shadows against the sky.

A soft rustle came from behind her. A small black serpent slithered up the rocks, coiling tightly before its body twisted, bones reshaping until a man stood in its place. His face was sharp, his expression tight with unease.

"My Queen," he said, voice low but edged with urgency, "why did you let that monster walk free? And worse—why did you give him even a drop of the poison? You’ve always said it is our heritage... that not a soul beyond our kind should ever touch it. So why?"

The Snake Queen turned slowly, her coils tightening around her. Her smile was thin, her voice cold.

"Are you questioning me?"

The man stiffened, a tremor running through him. He bowed his head quickly. "N-no, my Queen. I would never dare. I was only—"

Her golden eyes narrowed, a shimmer of green-black venom rippling faintly across her skin. The air itself seemed to darken around her.

"You always forget yourself when you speak, little one. Careful... or I’ll remind you why even our own kind fears me."

The man forced a laugh, though his face had gone pale. "Ah... y-you always grow so terrifying when you’re serious. I was only jesting, my Queen."

Her smile returned, unsettling in its calm. She turned her gaze back to the sky, her voice soft but laced with something unreadable.

"Did you see their eyes?"

The man frowned. "Their... eyes?"

"Yes." Her tone was firm, though her gaze remained distant. "Did you not feel it? That fire? That madness?"

The man blinked, then shook his head. "I only saw what anyone would—an insane vulture who would gladly kill us all, and a rabbit beastman far too arrogant for his own good."

The Snake Queen’s laughter slipped out, low and chilling, her fangs flashing as she bared a grin.

"Arrogant? No. You’re blind. Do you truly believe a mere rabbit could walk into our valley, breathe our poisoned air, face me... and still leave alive?"

The man froze, disbelief etched across his features. "...Then... what is he?"

The Snake Queen’s smile widened, her eyes gleaming like molten gold.

"Something far worse than a rabbit."

The Snake Queen’s gaze flicked back to her subordinate, her lips curling into a sharp smile. "Tell me... do you know why that vulture was flying here at all?"

The man hesitated, confused. "Because... he was afraid, I suppose?"

At that, the Snake Queen threw her head back and laughed. A low hiss broke into a sharp, mocking laugh.

"Pfft—hahaha! Afraid? If he were afraid, do you really think he’d dare step foot in this valley? No. That was no cowardly bird."

Her golden eyes narrowed, gleaming with cruel amusement. "That was the Vulture Prince. The same mad prince whose words carry more weight than the Old Master of his tribe. The youngest leader their kind has ever had—and the most dangerous."

The man stiffened, his face paling as he bowed slightly. "Of course, my Queen. I know he’s dangerous. I know he’s the Vulture Tribe’s leader, followed with blind loyalty. But that doesn’t mean he could simply walk into our nest and kill at will. Even if he tried, we could have overwhelmed him."

The Snake Queen’s laughter cut through him again, sharper this time, mocking. "Overwhelmed? You fool." She slithered closer, her voice dropping low and cold. "Do you know why we always lose to the vultures? Time after time, no matter how venomous, no matter how many of us gather?"

The man swallowed, then murmured, "Because... they are stronger?"

She shook her head, scales rasping against stone. "No. It’s not strength. It’s the sky. Our curse." Her voice sharpened, venom dripping from every word. "The vultures don’t need to match our poison. They don’t need our cunning. All they do is seize us, tear us from the ground we command, and drag us screaming into the air. Up there, above the earth, we are nothing. Weak. Helpless."

Her eyes gleamed with hatred as her coils tightened. "And before we can sink our fangs into their flesh, they throw us down. Bones shatter, bodies break—and then they devour us raw, piece by piece, while we still twitch."

The man shuddered, his throat dry. "...So that is why... we always fall."

The Snake Queen’s smile returned, cold and merciless. "Yes. And that is why you should never mistake that vulture for a fool—or that rabbit for prey."

The subordinate hesitated, then asked, voice tinged with confusion and fear, "My Queen... I have one question. Why... why didn’t he intervene for that rabbit? When he saw you moving to strike, why didn’t he come down? Why did he stay in the sky?"