The Villainess Winning Back Her Beast Husbands-Chapter 53: You Didn’t Hesitate One Bit

The Monitor Beastmen exchanged glances, then one said gruffly, "Lana is the most outstanding Beast-mother in the Grymdale Tribe. How could we let her escape? Of course we took her back to our tribe!"

Evangeline frowned. "Then who escaped?"

"We only know of Thorne, Elias Moretti, the Grymdale Tribe’s Witch, and one other female!"

’So the powerful ones all escaped. As for the other female, that must be Saskia.’

As Evangeline pondered this, she heard the Monitor Beastmen ask cautiously, "Female, we’ve told you everything we know. Can you let us go now?"

At their words, Evangeline lifted her gaze and swept it over the group.

The look in her eyes made the beastmen’s hair stand on end.

When she emerged from Thorne’s cave, the sky was already showing the pale light of dawn.

’Of course, I can’t let these Monitor Beastmen go. I still have to get the Mermaid Tail Scale from Lana, which means I’ll have to make a trip to the Monitor Tribe anyway. If they go back and spoil my plans, it will only create more complications.’

Evangeline left the Grymdale Tribe, found a small stream, and sat down to eat.

’Thorne left with Orion, so I shouldn’t have to worry too much about his safety. The most urgent matter is the Mermaid Tail Scale.’

In her eyes, the fall of the Grymdale Tribe was simply karmic retribution. When they massacred The Oasis, they should have known this day would come—this reckoning just arrived sooner than she had anticipated.

Her hunger sated, Evangeline set off once more.

She planned to go to the Monitor Tribe first to scout out the situation and see if the Mermaid Tail Scale was truly still in Lana’s possession.

According to the beastmen’s fragmented accounts, the Monitor Tribe was entrenched in the wasteland south of the Grymdale Tribe.

Evangeline trekked through the mountains for two days. At dusk on the third day, she finally discovered the Monitor Tribe.

Massive, raised earthen mounds stood starkly on the wasteland. Deep cave entrances split the sides of each mound—this was the unique tribal custom of the Monitor Lizard clan.

Evangeline did not rush to enter the tribe, instead choosing to observe from the outskirts.

The Monitor Tribe’s defenses were not as tight as the Grymdale Tribe’s, with fewer sentries, but their numbers were far from small.

As the horns of the Hunting Party sounded, the Monitor Tribe’s nest erupted into a commotion.

Countless Monitor Lizards swarmed out from the deep caverns. They flicked their crimson tongues, their iron-black Scale Armor glinting with a cold, metallic light under the setting sun.

Even more alarmingly, some of the larger male lizards carried female beastmen on their backs, bound with vines. Their eyes were vacant, and their exposed skin was covered in bruises.

Evangeline’s brow furrowed deeply. Soon, she spotted a familiar face.

Saskia.

The once aloof Witch, with her unnaturally pale skin, now had disheveled hair. Her body was a horrifying canvas of overlapping bruises, a much more ghastly sight than the others.

’So, the female who escaped with Elias Moretti wasn’t Saskia?’

Evangeline was staring, lost in thought, when a slight noise suddenly came from the woods.

Her gaze turned instantly cold. A dagger flashed between her fingers as she walked straight toward the sound.

Before she could get close, however, a poisonous mist filled the air. The tactic felt eerily familiar.

When Evangeline broke through the toxic mist and saw the crimson python coiled in the trees above, she narrowed her eyes. "Elias Moretti?"

The python was blood-red from head to tail. Its eyes flickered, clarity and reason warring in their depths in a very human-like struggle.

At the sound of Evangeline’s voice, its massive body visibly stiffened. It then slowly lowered its fearsome serpentine head, its triangular skull coming to rest inches from her face, its cold Beast Eyes locked unblinkingly on her.

"What are you looking at!" Evangeline slapped Elias Moretti’s triangular head.

Elias Moretti’s head tilted to the side, his forked tongue tracing an arc in the air. By the time he lifted his head again, the coldness in his Beast Eyes had been replaced by clarity. His pupils contracted violently upon seeing Evangeline’s face.

"...Flora?" A tremor of disbelief ran through Elias Moretti’s hoarse voice.

Evangeline said coolly, "If you’re lucid, change back."

"..." A guarded look entered Elias Moretti’s crimson eyes. "How could you possibly have returned from Thorncliff?"

Evangeline shot him a sideways glance. "Is this really the time for that? The Grymdale Tribe has fallen, and you’re poisoned with Viper Saliva. You’re lingering here for your mother and sister, aren’t you?"

At her words, Elias Moretti’s eyes filled with a sinister gloom. His serpentine body tensed, and his scales seemed to emit a cold, rustling hiss.

Evangeline didn’t mince words. "I can help you."

Elias Moretti’s narrow, serpentine eyes narrowed further, his posture radiating sharp suspicion.

He slowly straightened, his scarlet scales glinting under the moonlight. His voice was laced with a bone-chilling cold. "For Thorne, you even dared to jump from Thorncliff..."

He paused, his tone rising with a dangerous edge. "And now you want to help *me*?"

"Heh." Evangeline gave him a cold, mocking smile. "Of course, there are conditions."

A wave of sickeningly sweet rage surged in Elias Moretti’s chest.

Though he had long known he meant less to the little maiden than Thorne did, hearing her try to bargain with him firsthand made the muscles beneath his scales tense uncontrollably. An indescribable resentment welled up inside him.

"How ironic." Elias Moretti drew slightly closer to Evangeline, his tongue flicking. His voice was as hoarse as sandpaper. "When you carved out Thorne’s Beast Crystal back then, you didn’t show a moment’s hesitation."

His forked tongue nearly brushed Evangeline’s face, his tone dripping with mockery. "And now you’re willing to jump off a cliff for him?"

A chill entered Evangeline’s eyes, but it melted away as quickly as it came, like ice in spring.

She gave a contemptuous lift of her red lips. "As expected of the most vigilant beastman of the Snake Clan. To follow a spider’s thread of a clue and pry open Verdant’s mouth... with skills like that, being a mere tribe leader is a waste of your talents."

The only person who knew "Flora" was "Evangeline" was Verdant.

’In the end, I was too soft-hearted.’

’Back when the Midridge Tribe chose to follow The Grymdale Clan, I should have slit Verdant’s throat.’

’And now look. I’ve let Elias Moretti get his hands on this secret, leaving me open to his taunts.’

Elias Moretti chuckled, his forked tongue winding near her ear, every word dripping with venom. "I am genuinely curious... why has our decisive and ruthless Virago of Norfell suddenly taken an interest in a cripple like Thorne?"

A bright smile played on Evangeline’s lips, but her words were anything but polite. "What business is it of yours?"

Elias Moretti froze. Just as he was about to speak, he heard someone shout, "Who’s over there?!"

His scales tightened instantly. With a flick of his tail, he tried to coil around Evangeline and carry her away, but she shot him a cold glare. With a light tap of her foot on his scales, she launched herself dozens of meters away, showing no intention of accepting his help.

Elias Moretti paused for an instant before quickly giving chase.

Once they were far from the Monitor Tribe, Evangeline found a quiet spot and started gnawing on some food.

’I’ve been constantly hungry these last few days, needing huge amounts of food to feel full.’

’If I were just an ordinary female, I probably would have starved to death by now. Caden Albright really knows how to put his mind at ease, doesn’t he?’

The crimson python slithered out, raising its fearsome head. It stared at Evangeline for a long moment, its tongue hissing. "You were clearly just an ordinary female before."

A flicker of confusion crossed his serpentine eyes. "Was it because of your Beast-mother’s death... that you became a Witch?"