I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!-Chapter 114: Good Cop-Bad Cop

"L-Leader! Please, clear your mind—"

"Shut up!" Jarva completely lost his patience. His eyes turned cold, and without warning, he stormed toward the man.

Before anyone could react, Jarva grabbed him by the neck and squeezed hard, making the man choke. Then Jarva harshly threw him off the horse like he was nothing.

"If you don’t want to follow my command, then get out of my sight!" Jarva shouted. His voice was sharp and frightening. "But remember this, the Black Fang Tribe will never let you leave without punishment. If you try, you’ll lose your arms and legs."

He leaned down slightly, his eyes full of rage. "So tell me," Jarva growled, "are you going to listen to me... or not?!"

The man in the Black Fang Leader’s grip was shaking so badly his whole body trembled. His lips quivered as he quickly stammered, "I-I will listen, Leader! I’ll listen!"

Only then did Jarva finally let him go.

Jarva turned and walked toward the others, whispering something in a low voice. Roxanna’s fox ears were sharp, but even she couldn’t catch what he said, and that was when Roxanna noticed something strange.

Some of the Black Fang people kept glancing at Vino’s severed head, then looking behind Roxanna. They did that over and over again, and their faces slowly turned as pale as paper.

Roxanna frowned, thinking, [Is there a ghost behind me?]

She turned around and found Luan standing right behind her. He looked completely relaxed, like nothing serious was happening. He even smiled at Roxanna and tilted his head slightly, acting cute.

"What’s wrong?" he asked, his voice soft and playful. "Do you want to kiss me now?"

Roxanna let out a harsh sigh. [This man really has no shame...] she thought. [But maybe he’s still shaken from the murder attempt. Fine. When we get home, I’ll give him lots of kisses and hugs.]

Then Luan spoke again. "If you’re shy to do it now, we can do it later at home," he said casually. "I’m a patient person."

Before Roxanna could respond to Luan, she heard Jarva’s voice again. "Aren’t we even now?" Jarva said quickly. His tone was still harsh, but there was something else in it, like nervousness. "My brothe—I mean, my underling tried to attack your husband. But your husband already beheaded him, right? That should be more than enough."

For some reason, Roxanna felt that Jarva was trying to step farther and farther back, especially whenever he made eye contact with Luan.

[Why does he look so scared of Luan? My Luan is harmless...] she thought. [...at least, most of the time.]

Then, Roxanna finally noticed that they kept staring at the cut on Vino’s neck. Even though she didn’t want to look at that severed head for too long, she finally forced herself to do it.

At first, it looked normal, like someone simply chopped his head off with a stone sword or axe. However, after Roxanna stared at it longer, she realized something.

No, there was nothing wrong with the cut itself, but she found a small circular scratch under the head’s chin.

What kind of mark was that? She didn’t see anyone in the Black Fang Tribe with the same symbol under their chin.

[Did Luan do that?] she wondered. [But why would he carve a circle under Vino’s chin?]

That kind of mark looked like the kind of sign serial killers left every time they killed their vic—

[Wait, what? Did I just think that Luan used to be a serial killer, and the Black Fang Tribe recognized that mark as his signature?!] Roxanna wondered. [Oh, what the hell was I thinking? In this world, it’s normal to kill people, but leaving a mark like this? Yeah, it looks a bit weird...]

Her other husbands immediately turned toward Luan. They also demanded an answer from him. All of them thought he was only a pitiful cat who had to wander through the forest after the demon beasts destroyed his settlement and killed his brother.

But out of nowhere, he was feared by the Black Fang Tribe?! If that was really the truth, then he should’ve woken up earlier!

On the other side, Luan didn’t care about their stares at all. He didn’t even spare them a glance. His eyes were locked on Jarva now. "Even?" Luan scoffed. "Bullshit."

He pointed his chin slightly toward Vino’s head, like it disgusted him just to talk about it.

"I beheaded your brother because I had to protect myself," he said in a calm but dangerous voice. "That doesn’t mean we’re even."

Then his lips curled into a small, cruel smile. "If you really want us to be even," Luan continued, "then I should sneak into your place while you’re sleeping, try to kill you, and let you defend yourself."

The moment those words left his mouth, Jarva stiffened. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. His face slowly turned pale, like someone had drained all the blood from it.

He looked at Roxanna, then at Luan. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, he finally started to think that he had made a stupid decision by coming to this place.

"N-No," Jarva said quickly, forcing a stiff smile that looked more like fear. "You don’t have to kill me in my sleep. That’s alright. I’m good."

Luan clicked his tongue, clearly disgusted. "Coward," he muttered.

Jarva’s face twitched, like he wanted to shout back. But before he could say anything, Roxanna spoke. "Enough."

"Don’t stand here and talk about fairness like you’re the victim," she said coldly. "Your underling tried to kill my husband. If Luan didn’t react fast, he would already be dead."

Her eyes sharpened as she stared at Jarva, not backing down even for a second. "Honestly, at first I wanted to make a deal with you. I wanted us to work together."

She paused for a moment, like she was forcing herself to stay calm. But when she continued, her voice turned colder. "But now that I know one of your underlings almost killed my husband, and I don’t think making a deal is the right choice anymore."

She took a small step forward, her presence strong and commanding. "If you want to apologize," Roxanna said, her eyes burning with warning, "then prove it." She lifted her chin. "Become my ally."

"Ally?" Jarva frowned deeply. "Do you even know what that word means? If you want us to be allies, then you also have to give me something in return. I need benefits too."

Roxanna’s eyes narrowed. "That was exactly what I wanted to do from the beginning," she said coldly. "But you ruined it. That’s why you should’ve talked first before trying to attack someone."

At first, Roxanna actually planned to exchange the Black Crystals in return for Jarva’s protection. But now... things had changed because Roxanna had finally realized the Black Fang Tribe seemed afraid of Luan, and Jarva himself... was also afraid of her.

So now, Roxanna didn’t need to beg, and she didn’t need to bargain like she was the weaker one.

Jarva’s jaw clenched. "That wasn’t my order."

"I don’t care," Roxanna replied immediately, not even giving him room to breathe. "Your people still did it, and you still came here with your tribe behind you, acting like you could pressure me."

Inside her mind, Roxanna let out a sigh. [But honestly, it will be easier to bind them if I also give them something.] she thought. [I hope one of my husbands can pretend to be the good cop, so I can still give them the Black Crystals without looking unstable in front of them.]

And as if the heavens had answered her prayer, Azul suddenly stepped forward. "But Roxanna..." Azul said, his voice calm and gentle, like he was trying to cool down a fire. "If we really want them to cooperate with us, we can’t just threaten them."

Roxanna blinked several times, staring at him with her round eyes. For a moment, she honestly couldn’t believe it. She didn’t expect to get what she wanted so quickly, almost like her husbands could hear her thoughts.

Could they?

Or maybe, Azul acted that way because he really was that kind of person.

[Yes. My Azul is really kind...] Roxanna thought, and her heart warmed for a moment. [He has always been the one with the softest heart... even toward the "evil Roxanna" from the past.]

Unfortunately, these days, he wasn’t as calm and gentle as before since he was thrown into the Mushy Lake. Even so, Roxanna still believed that Azul still had a soft heart inside him.

Azul fell silent for a while because he actually never thought that he was a kind person. People only saw him as soft and gentle because the others were quick to get angry, and quick to explode. Meanwhile, some of the others barely talked at all.

Compared to being kind, maybe it would be more accurate to say that Azul was a tentative person.

"But they almost killed Luan. Why should I give them something?" Roxanna said at last.

Azul blinked. He shook his head slightly, like he was trying to clear his mind before answering her properly. "Because..." he began, speaking calmly, "...we’re not giving them a reward."