Roxanna didn’t want the seawater to wash away too much of her blood, so she had to work quickly. Carefully, she guided the blood that had mixed with the seawater toward Caspian’s wounds.

The process took a lot out of her. She had already cut herself several times, and each time more blood was needed to heal his injuries.

"This should be the last one," Zeir reminded her. "You need to recover as well."

Roxanna shook her head. "But he still needs more of my blood."

"You’ve already healed a good portion of his injuries, and I think he’ll be fine after this," Azul said. "We just need to move him somewhere safe. I don’t think you need to cut yourself again."

Roxanna still had to breastfeed Azura later, so she really shouldn’t drain her blood until she lost consciousness.

Roxanna still had to feed Azura later. The last thing she should do was drain so much blood that she passed out.

"I still have recovery potions," Roxanna said, trying to reassure them. "I can recover much faster than normal."

Azul and her other husbands still looked hesitant, a sign that recovery wasn’t the only thing they were worried about. They simply didn’t like seeing Roxanna hurt herself so much.

"Your Highness," Heron suddenly said, drawing everyone’s attention. "Caspian has suffered many serious injuries in the past. His body may not recover as quickly as others. It could take weeks for him to heal completely."

Orion nodded in agreement. "He did everything he could to recover the things that the Bunion stole from our kingdom," he said. "Those items are important to all of us. They’re important to you as well... and to the Queen of Aquilian, your mother."

His expression softened. "That is why..." Orion looked at Roxanna with pleading eyes. "Please, Your Highness. Don’t let him suffer for too long."

Azul let out a slow breath because his heart felt heavy. Part of him wanted to protect Roxanna from hurting herself any further. But another part understood exactly why Heron and Orion were asking this.

After a moment, he turned toward Roxanna, silently searching for an answer.

Roxanna gently squeezed his hand. "I’m okay," she said softly. "It’ll be quick. I promise."

The concern in Azul’s eyes didn’t disappear, but he could tell she had already made up her mind. In the end, he gave a small nod.

The moment he did, Zeir carefully cut Roxanna’s hand again and allowed her to continue healing Caspian. Fortunately, she didn’t need to make another cut after that.

The blood from the latest wound was enough to heal the injury on Caspian’s stomach. Several moments later, Caspian’s eyelids slowly fluttered open.

He immediately took a deep breath because for the first time in what felt like forever, his stomach didn’t hurt when he breathed.

His eyes widened. "I’m alive?!" he blurted out. "How? I thought I was going to die!"

Since he had been unconscious the entire time, it was only natural that he had no idea what had happened.

"Her Highness, the Princess, saved you!" Orion shouted excitedly.

Roxanna froze in her place. For a moment, she simply stared at them. It was the first time they had openly acknowledged her as a member of the royal family.

Before this, even though she couldn’t read their thoughts, she had always felt a slight distance between them.

They had been respectful and polite, but cautious, as if they weren’t entirely sure whether she truly belonged among them.

It wasn’t the best feeling to realize that she had needed to prove herself first before earning their trust, but that was simply how life worked.

Trust wasn’t always given freely and sometimes it had to be earned and honestly, Roxanna didn’t think they trusted her now just because she had healing blood or because she was useful to them.

Looking at the relief on their faces, she realized the reason was much simpler than that: she had saved their friend and sometimes, that meant more than anything else.

"Where’s your recovery potion?" Azul asked immediately. "You need to drink it now."

Roxanna nodded. Without saying anything, she took the potion out of her system inventory. Her husbands were only able to breathe a sigh of relief after she drank the entire potion.

The potion worked almost instantly. Roxanna still felt a little dizzy, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle.

"We should leave now," Azul said after a moment.

His gaze swept across the soldiers. Many of them were still celebrating Caspian’s survival, their faces filled with relief and joy. As much as Azul wanted to give them more time, he knew they couldn’t stay here.

"It isn’t safe for us to remain out in the open," he added.

Orion immediately straightened up. "Yes! Yes! Your Highness, we should get moving right away!"

Then he turned toward Roxanna with a bright smile. "Your Highness, if you’re feeling tired, we can carry you."

Roxanna smiled and shook her head. "I’m fine. If I get tired, I can just ask my husbands to carry me."

The smile on Orion’s face instantly froze. He stared at her, then he stared a little longer that he didn’t even blink.

"Husbands?" he repeated slowly. "What do you mean?"

Roxanna looked at him in confusion. "I mean... husbands." She pointed at Azul, then Calen, and finally Zeir. "They’re my husbands."

Orion stood there as if his soul had just left his body. Meanwhile, Calen looked completely pleased with himself. Azul closed his eyes for a moment, already knowing what was about to happen, and Zeir quietly wondered whether Orion was going to faint.

[Ah, why is he so shocked?] Roxanna wondered. [Isn’t it normal for beastkin women to have more than one husband?]

Before anyone could answer, Azul leaned closer and lowered his voice so only she could hear him. "We don’t do that here," he whispered.

Then, after a brief hesitation, he added, "Sea beastwomen can give birth to five or six children at once."

Roxanna froze. This time, she was the one who looked completely shocked.

Her mouth slowly fell open, then it opened even wider. For a moment, she genuinely thought her jaw might come loose.

She immediately grabbed Azul’s arm. [B-But you’re okay with me only giving birth to one child at a time, right?] she asked in a panic. [And... and you’re okay with me having more than one husband, right?]

Now that Azul had remembered this rather important cultural difference, all of Roxanna’s worries came rushing back.

What if he suddenly changed his mind? What if—

"I am." Azul answered so quickly that he didn’t even give her a chance to finish spiraling into panic. His expression softened, and he gave her a reassuring smile. "I’m already used to it," he said. "So it’s fine."

Then he gently squeezed her hand. "Besides, I love you far too much to worry about things like that."

The warmth in his voice immediately eased some of the tension in Roxanna’s chest.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the soldiers didn’t share Azul’s calm attitude. In fact, Caspian looked like he was about to pass out again and the poor man had only just woken up.

"Oh, they’re too much," Calen said, shaking his head dramatically. "Are all fish people this dramatic?"

Zeir let out a long sigh before Azul could say anything. "You’re probably more dramatic than they are."

"I’m not!" Calen immediately shouted.

Before they could start arguing, Roxanna quickly said, "How about we talk about this once we reach a safe place?"

Even though all of them—especially the soldiers—still wanted more time to process their shock, they eventually agreed with her suggestion.

"Please, follow me, Your Highness," Orion said.

They started swimming again, and after a while, he pointed ahead and shouted, "There! Your Highness, that’s our safe place!"

She immediately followed the direction he was pointing toward. At first, all she saw were glowing strands of yellow algae swaying gently in the water, but then she noticed an underwater cave hidden between them.

The moment she saw the dark entrance, her body tensed again because she never thought there would come a day when she would willingly swim into a creepy underwater cave.

Still, she followed Azul inside and the moment she crossed the entrance, however, all of her worries disappeared. She even found herself unable to say anything except, "Beautiful."

The cave was far more beautiful than she had imagined. The walls shimmered with a soft green glow, reflecting the light throughout the cavern like countless tiny mirrors.

The gentle light danced across the water, turning the entire cave into something that felt almost magical.

For a moment, Roxanna forgot about the enemies chasing them, she forgot about the darkness outside, she even forgot about her fear.

All she could do was stare at the breathtaking sight in front of her.

"Your Highness!?" a woman’s voice suddenly echoed inside their minds. Not long afterward, Roxanna saw a woman emerge from behind a large rock inside the cave. "Is it really you, Your Highness?" she asked, tears filling her eyes.