At dawn the next day, Caden Albright and his group finally returned, bathed in the morning light.
They were all High-level Star-Marked Beastn, so avoiding a mountain fire was not difficult. However, when they returned, their brows were knitted with gloom, their expressions even heavier than when they had faced the fire the night before.
This somberness did not dissipate even upon seeing that Evangeline, Lachlan, and Drake were safe and sound.
Evangeline took the soundly sleeping Bunny from Caden Albright’s arms, her fingertips gently stroking the cub’s soft, silver hair.
The corners of her eyes lifted slightly as she asked softly, "What happened?"
Caden Albright turned to gaze at the distant horizon. The sunrise dyed the sky a magnificent color, just like the lava from the mountain fire the night before. But when this brilliant morning light fell into his amber eyes, it reflected not a single trace of warmth.
Caden Albright’s voice was low, laced with a rare confusion. "Eva, do you think... the Beast God has abandoned us?"
As his words fell, the very air around them seed to freeze.
Even the ever-unruly Thorne reined in the sharp hostility in his eyes, silently lowering his gaze.
Evangeline paused, her gaze sweeping over the faces of the males. A similar gloom clouded all their features.
She supposed she could understand it as a sort of sympathetic sorrow.
A mountain fire that even High-level Beastn had to flee was more lethal than an avalanche or a mudslide. Anything caught in it would not make it out alive. The beasts, and even Beastn, that had scrambled to escape would have been reduced to a wisp of dust.
The Beastman Continent was frequently struck by natural disasters, and for them, this was tantamount to having a fundantal belief torn apart.
Evangeline looked at them and said softly, "The Beast God has never abandoned anyone. But in the end, survival is up to us. Landslides, seas of fire, mountains of snow—they are all just the natural order of the world. It has nothing to do with any god."
Evangeline’s voice was gentle, her eyes reflecting the rosy glow of the horizon.
"As long as we’re together, nothing else matters."
"We can overco any disaster, can’t we?"
Caden Albright stared at her profile, bathed in the morning glow. He was taken aback for a mont, and in his daze, he felt as if she had co from another world.
He suddenly reached out and gently pulled both her and Bunny into his arms. "You’re right. As long as we’re together, nothing else matters."
He gently rested his forehead against hers, his voice filled with an unprecedented sense of peace. "Eva, let’s go ho."
A gentle smile graced Evangeline’s lips as she nodded. "Okay."
*
When they left Cloudfall Cliff, two more people had joined their party.
Julian had volunteered to take on the responsibility of caring for his older brother, so he carried the unconscious Drake on his back. Thankfully, he genuinely cared for his brother, and his tall, straight figure, like a stalk of green bamboo, was as steady as a rock on the rugged mountain path.
As for Evangeline, she was leisurely enjoying the first-class treatnt of having her "mounts" take turns.
In the morning, she rode on the White Fox’s back to admire the scenery. In the afternoon, she napped on the Snow Leopard’s back. Occasionally, Thorne and Danton would take turns carrying her, and she was frequently fed sweet and sour fruits, as well as roasted at that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Loras always trailed at the very back of the group, quiet and still. Only when the mountain wind carried stray wisps of laughter and cheerful chatter would he lift his eyes, a flicker of envy in his purple pupils. But it was fleeting, quickly dissolving back into his downcast silence.
Along the way, Julian observed with a cool detachnt, and many things gradually beca clear.
Evangeline was not hated and rejected by males, as the rumors claid.
In fact, what he saw was the exact opposite of the rumors. Each of her partners treated her like a precious treasure, wanting nothing more than to cup her in their hands and protect her. Their profound tenderness was even more ticulous than how ordinary males treated females.
What was even more surprising was that each of these males, if taken individually, was a formidable figure capable of holding his own.
Yet now, they all stayed by Evangeline’s side, retracting their sharp edges, willingly guarding her. They didn’t compete or fight, and their rapport was astonishingly seamless. Only occasionally would a few jealous remarks slip out, but they would instantly vanish into the wind at a single smile from her.
Lachlan handed a piece of fruit to Evangeline, who was sitting on Caden Albright’s back, then turned to look at Julian, who was following far behind.
He paused for a mont, then walked over to Julian. After checking on the steadily breathing Drake on his back and confirming all was well, he looked up at Julian. His voice was cool as he asked, "What were you just looking at?"
Snow Leopards are the most perceptive of creatures, highly sensitive to probing gazes.
Julian pursed his lips. The mountain wind swept his golden ponytail aside, tracing a sharp arc.
After a mont of silence, he asked in a low voice, "Evangeline... what kind of female is she, really?"
As he spoke, his gaze swept over the Seven-star Pattern on Lachlan’s forehead.
He had indeed heard so of the rumors about Evangeline. The tales of her "vicious acts" toward her Beast Husbands had long circulated in Norfell.
Digging out Beast Crystals, stripping tail scales, breaking Feather Wings, gouging out Beast Eyes... Every single act was horrifying enough to make one’s skin crawl.
He had ntally checked each of these supposed atrocities against the males present, only to discover that the Beastn who were rumored to have been mutilated had all now reford their Star Patterns. Not only that, but their strength even surpassed what it was before.
In that case, Evangeline, as a mysterious and unfathomable witch with extraordinary power, was indeed very attractive to males.
Hearing Julian’s words, Lachlan’s fingertips trembled slightly. As he t the other’s golden eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbed. In a calm voice, he said, "To , she is the most heart-wrenching female I know."
"Heart-wrenching?" Julian was confused, looking at Lachlan with a complicated expression. After all, this was the man whose eyes had been gouged out.
Lachlan’s eyelashes fluttered. "Yes. The pain she gave was real, but so was the path to survival she offered."
At this point, Lachlan’s voice had beco slightly hoarse.
He held nothing back, telling Julian everything about what had happened between him and Evangeline.
From being forced into a Contract and his clansn suffering from a plague, to the destruction of the Oasis Tribe, he spoke of these events with a detached expression, as if they were insignificant parts of the past. But then he spoke of how Evangeline had gone to the Frost-plain Tribe alone, single-handedly holding back an avalanche to save their plague-stricken people, and then how she had plunged into a mudflow to save him and Galen.
These mories seed to be carved into the depths of his soul, and every ti he spoke of them, the pain was heart-piercingly real.
"You’re saying... she once took the initiative to dissolve the Beast God Contract with you??" Julian stared at Lachlan, his face a mask of shock.
On the Beastman Continent, a female willingly dissolving a contract was the stuff of legend. No female was willing to suffer the backlash just to grant a male his freedom. ’Could Evangeline truly be such a kind-hearted female?’
Julian’s gaze couldn’t help but fall upon Evangeline up ahead.
The decisive female from the Goldeagle Tribe was now holding a cub, standing on the White Fox’s back to reach for fruit on a tree. Her laughter was bright, and her long black hair, stirred by the gentle breeze, swept into a soft curve.
Lachlan lifted his gaze to the slender figure ahead, and a fragnted pain flickered in his grayish-brown eyes.
"Everyone sees her strength, but no one has ever cared about her vulnerability."
"She’s a female. She should have been cared for diligently by her males. But being with us, she has only endured endless suffering."
His voice was hoarse. As Julian listened, he couldn’t help but recall the tribal trading assembly, where Evangeline had been stabbed through the heart by one of her own males. At the ti, he had been worried about Drake, afraid that if Evangeline died, Drake, who had not yet dissolved their contract, would be implicated.
Redness rimd Lachlan’s cool eyes, but a mont later, a hint of gentleness crept in.
"Other females are protected by their males."
"But my Eva... she has always been the one protecting us."
He let out a soft chuckle, his long fingers gently tracing the Red Fox Contract Mark on the side of his neck. "I’m very happy to be her male."
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