Villainess is being pampered by her beast husbands-Chapter 414 --

Behind him, one of the vulture women laughed louder, like she’d heard the whole thing. Another called out teasingly, "Prince, are you guarding your bride from us?"

Veer’s ears went red.

He shot a glare back over his shoulder. "Shut up!"

Kaya’s eyes flicked to the women again, still impressed, still a little stunned that faces like that existed without effort.

Veer saw it and made a sound of pure suffering.

Then he leaned closer to Kaya and hissed, low and urgent, "If you ever leave me for a woman, I’m jumping off the mountain."

Kaya finally looked at him properly, expression deadpan.

"Don’t," she said. "You’ll land on someone and cause another rumor."

Veer’s face twisted.

He didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or throw himself into the nearest wall.

So he did the only thing he could think of—he stepped even more in front of her, blocking the view again like a jealous, overgrown bird guarding a treasure.

Kaya sighed, already tired of him.

But she didn’t shove him away.

....

Cutie had been waiting a while.

Kaya had said Veer wanted to "show her around," and then she vanished into the tribe paths like smoke. Cutie told himself it was fine. Kaya didn’t need a babysitter. But when time kept slipping and he still didn’t see her, his feet carried him in the direction Veer had pointed earlier.

He turned a bend and stopped.

Kaya stood there, still as a post.

And Veer was planted right in front of her like a wall.

Cutie frowned. ’Is he an idiot?’

He walked up and patted Veer’s shoulder. "Veer."

No answer.

Veer didn’t even turn his head. "Stay away," he said, stiff.

Cutie’s brow twitched. He patted him again and gave a small shake to his shoulder, like waking someone up.

Veer turned around fast—then froze when he saw Cutie.

The anger wasn’t there anymore.

It was worse.

His eyes looked desperate, like a fish that had finally found water and didn’t want to lose it again. He grabbed Cutie by the arm and yanked him forward, placing him right in front of Kaya like a shield.

"See," Veer said, pointing at Cutie with a dramatic hand. "You can look at him."

Cutie blinked. "What?"

Veer didn’t care. He leaned toward Kaya, still pointing. "Even though he’s not pretty like me," he added, offended on his own behalf, "you can still look at him. Not them."

Kaya stared at Veer like she’d just discovered a new kind of illness.

Cutie looked at Kaya for help, eyebrows lifting in a silent ’what is happening?’

Kaya sighed and shoved Cutie’s shoulder lightly to move him out of the way, like shifting a chair.

"Move," she muttered.

Cutie stepped aside, still confused.

Kaya looked down at Veer again, voice softer now, almost normal. "What’s wrong with you?" she asked. "Why are you blocking the path? Don’t you want to go back?"

Veer glanced at Cutie, then back at Kaya, then puffed up like he was trying to protect his pride from drowning.

"Are you crazy?" he snapped. "Do you think I’m crazy? Blocking the path?"

Cutie answered calmly, face blank. "Well. You are blocking the path." He looked at Veer’s feet like they were evidence. "So I can’t say if you’re crazy or not. It’s... up for debate."

Veer flinched like he’d been shot.

"Damn it," he muttered, then jabbed a finger toward the ledge. "Look there."

Cutie turned his head.

A group of vulture women sat together, laughing, hair loose, sunlight catching their faces. Beautiful. Effortless. The kind of beauty that made people stop walking.

Cutie turned back slowly.

His frown deepened, the look so sharp it could’ve shattered pride on contact.

He stared at Veer with pure judgment.

"You’re getting married," Cutie said, voice flat as stone, "and you’re still looking at other females." He shook his head once, disappointed. "Shame on you, Veer."

Veer’s mouth fell open.

"What?" he spluttered. "Are ’you’ crazy, you bastard?"

Cutie didn’t blink. He pointed past Veer with a small tilt of his chin.

"It wasn’t me looking at them," he said calmly. "It was madam."

Veer’s head snapped toward Kaya so fast his neck almost cracked.

Kaya’s face was deadpan.

She wasn’t flustered. She wasn’t guilty. She looked like a person admiring art in a museum and getting interrupted by a screaming guard.

Veer stared at her, horrified. "You—"

Kaya cut him off, flat. "They’re beautiful."

Veer made a strangled sound in his throat.

Cutie’s mouth twitched—almost a smile, but he swallowed it and kept his tone polite.

"So that’s why you were acting like a door," he said.

Veer turned on him, frantic again. "You don’t understand!"

Cutie raised a brow. "It’s pretty clear," he said. "You’re jealous of women."

Veer looked like he wanted to throw himself off the cliff just to end the conversation.

Kaya finally took one step forward, forcing Veer to move whether he liked it or not. She brushed past him, eyes still flicking once—just once—toward the ledge.

Then she looked at both of them, tired and amused at the same time.

"Are we going," she asked, "or are you two going to keep embarrassing yourselves in public?"

Veer opened his mouth.

Cutie spoke first, calm as always. "We’re going."

And Veer—still red in the ears, still suffering—shuffled after them, muttering under his breath about how this was the worst kind of nightmare: one where his bride wasn’t stealing men, she was appreciating women, and somehow that felt even harder to fight.

.

.

The dim light filtered through the mouth of the cave, casting long shadows that danced across the rough, stone walls.

Kaya sat on the stone table like she owned the cave.

Not relaxed exactly—just controlled. Calm on the outside, eyes sharp enough to cut.

Kaya watched the sparrow flit about, its delicate wings shimmering against the gray backdrop of the cave.

Veer hovered somewhere behind, pretending he wasn’t listening. Cutie stayed near the wall, quiet as always. The fire crackled low.