Villainess is being pampered by her beast husbands-Chapter 409 --

Another hit landed, a perfect slap to the side of his shiny head. The sound rang so sharp someone in a nearby cave actually glanced up, wondering which bell stone had fallen. Veer’s father chased him once more around a pillar, breathing hard, rage and embarrassment mixed on his face.

"You made me stand there and ASK her," he snarled, jabbing the air with the shoe between swings. "In front of elders! In front of my son! ’Marry my boy,’ you said. ’She’ll say no,’ you said!"

WHACK.

Robert hunched his shoulders, hands clamped over his skull. "My lord, she ’was’ supposed to say no! Who smiles like that and says yes to being cornered? She’s a demon! A beautiful, terrifying demon—"

Veer’s father finally slowed, chest heaving. He planted the shoe on top of Robert’s head and leaned on it like it was a walking stick.

Veer’s father was still fuming, pacing holes into the floor.

"Enough with this nonsense, you bastard," he snapped at Robert. "Think of a way to get that woman out of my house. If not..." His eyes went flat and sharp. "I’ll choke you into pieces and forget you were ever my loyal subordinate."

Robert flinched, then slowly raised a trembling finger.

"M‑my lord... there ’is’ a way."

Every vulture in the chamber turned to look at him with the same expression: pure sympathy. In their heads they were already lighting candles. Who survives the first execution and then volunteers for another?

Veer’s father slowly smiled, the kind of smile that made feathers itch.

"Oh?" he said. "You have an idea. Again."

A shiver ran down Robert’s spine, but he straightened anyway. "Yes, sir. There is."

Veer’s father waited.

"If we tell that woman," Robert began carefully, "that if she wants to stay, she must give the tribe an offspring—"

He didn’t get to finish.

Veer’s father grabbed a burning piece of firewood from the brazier and lunged.

"ROBERT, YOU BASTARD!" he roared, swinging. "Now you even want her to have my ’child’s child’? My grandchild? I’LL KILL YOU!"

Robert yelped and ducked, arms over his shiny head as the flaming stick whooshed past.

"My lord! My lord, listen first!" he shouted, running in wild circles around the fire pit while the older vulture chased him, jabbing the burning end at his back.

"Today I curse the day I met you!" Veer’s father snarled. He pointed the fire so close that Robert could feel his feathers singe. "If you dare give me another useless idea, I’ll chop you up right now and sprinkle salt on what’s left!"

Robert shook so hard his knees knocked. "My lord, at least hear the ’rest’ of the plan!"

Veer’s father skidded to a stop, chest heaving, still holding the firebrand like a spear.

"Your plan," he spat. "To tell that woman to bear my grandchild so she can stay. That bitch would ’do it’ just to live here. And then what? I’ll be stuck taking care of four bastards on my head, is that it?"

Robert blinked, thrown. "Four... bastards, my lord? How four?"

Veer’s father jabbed the burning stick at him one by one.

"You," he snapped. "My son. The woman. And—"

Understanding finally clicked in Robert’s eyes.

"Oh. Now I under—"

He didn’t get to finish that either.

That night, Robert’s screams echoed all over the mountain. Every vulture lying in their nest stared up at the dark ceiling and thought the same thing as they quietly mourned him:

That night ,

Kaya slept like a stone.

Outside her room, the whole mountain was awake. Vultures tossed on their perches, replaying wedding rumors and Robert’s screams. Veer lay on his back, eyes wide, caught between excitement, fear, and disbelief. The sparrow stared at the ceiling, feeling like his soul had been yanked out, slapped around, and shoved back in. Cutie sat against a wall, just... looking at it, expression calm while nothing inside him was calm. In the cousin’s room, the jinx sparrow didn’t dare close his eyes with the other sparrow glaring at him like he’d personally cursed the entire mountain.

Only Kaya lay peacefully, breathing slow, like her body had finally stolen a full night back from the world.

Morning slid in grey and cold.

Kaya woke at her usual body time, stretching her arms overhead until her shoulders popped. The sleep heaviness fell off fast. She looked around the small room, then smiled to herself.

"What a good morning," she said.

For her, it was.

For everyone else, it was hell.

She opened the door and stepped out, toothbrush in hand, ready to find some water and air.

Three shapes were already standing there.

Veer. Cutie. The sparrow.

All three had dark smudges under their eyes, hair and feathers a mess. They stared at her like three pandas—if pandas had insomnia and trust issues.

Kaya stopped, took them in, and wrinkled her nose.

"Did monkeys chase you all night?" she asked, disgust edging her tone. "Why do you look like this?"

The three of them exhaled almost at the same time.

Good. Her voice was the same. Her mouth was still sharp. No mysterious soft illness had swapped her out.

Cutie’s shoulders dropped a fraction. Veer’s tense jaw loosened. The sparrow muttered something under his breath that sounded like, "She’s still a demon. Thank god."

Kaya brushed past them with her cup and brush, stepping out toward the outer ledge to get some cold air while she cleaned her teeth.

She froze.

More eyes.

Half the walkway was filled with vultures trying to look casual—leaning on walls, pretending to fix feathers, whispering—but their faces were wrecked. Big dark circles under their eyes. Slumped shoulders. Every one of them tracking her with a mix of fear, awe, and sheer exhaustion.

Pandas, everywhere.

Except pandas are cute.

These were just... ugly bird men who hadn’t slept.

Kaya stared at them over the foam at the corner of her mouth and thought, ’Do beastmen not sleep?’

’Strange’.