The Villainess Winning Back Her Beast Husbands-Chapter 54: A Big Piece of Gossip

Evangeline shot him a cold glance. "Instead of worrying about that, you should think about how to rescue them."

After she spoke, she took another bite of the fruit and said coldly, "First, you’ll hear my terms."

Elias Moretti’s body coiled, the joints of his bony spine creaking softly. He slowly raised his triangular head and stared at Evangeline for a long while. "I know. You want the Mermaid Tail Scale."

Evangeline was speechless.

She looked at Elias Moretti, suddenly finding him more infuriating than ever.

Evangeline’s knuckles whitened. With a flash of cold steel, her dagger shot through the air and embedded itself precisely in a gap between Elias Moretti’s Scale Armor, missing his vital spot by a hair’s breadth!

The giant snake’s body shuddered violently. His thick tail slammed onto the ground, sending shattered stone and dust flying.

Elias Moretti hissed in pain, his pupils constricting. Black, venomous blood oozed from the pierced scale. He glared murderously at Evangeline, his fury boiling over. "You!"

Evangeline scoffed, annoyed. "You what? When the Earth-drake rolled over, you used the chaos to cut me with your scales. Did you think I’d forgotten?"

Her voice faded, leaving dead silence in its wake.

Elias Moretti clamped his bone-white fangs onto the dagger and, with a violent jerk of his head, yanked it free, sending a spray of black blood arcing through the air.

The dagger landed with a CLANG at Evangeline’s feet.

Elias Moretti flicked his bloody forked tongue, his scarlet pupils narrowing to thin slits. "Truly befitting the notoriously cruel and vicious Evangeline. You have a remarkably clear memory for old scores."

Venomous blood was still gushing from his wound, but it didn’t stop the mockery in his tone.

"Then let’s cut to the chase. Rescue Lana, and give me the Mermaid Tail Scale. If not, I’ll capture you and trade you to the Monitor Tribe." Here, Evangeline paused, her expression turning peculiar as she looked at Elias Moretti. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Elias Moretti’s expression grew wary. His scales instantly bristled, and he recoiled several feet.

He laughed, a sound laced with anger. "You’re actually entertaining that thought? Evangeline, are you even human?"

Evangeline shook her head, perfectly justified. "Nope. I’m a fox spirit."

’She could actually do it, but then she’d be no different from this body’s original owner. Strictly speaking, Elias Moretti had never done anything truly wicked. If he were really "sold" to the Monitor Tribe, he likely wouldn’t survive.’

’Besides, any tribe that would conspire with Heavy Armor to poison the Grymdale Tribe was truly sinister and ruthless.’

’Doing business with people like that was no different from asking a tiger for its skin—she’d likely end up getting screwed over herself.’

Evangeline finished her fruit and took a few bites of roasted meat. "Where’s the Grymdale Tribe’s Witch? He must want to rescue Lana too, right? Bring him here so we can come up with a plan. We need to get them out as soon as possible. I’m on a tight schedule."

Elias Moretti paused, looking at her with suspicion. "How do you know Ethan Gable escaped?"

"The Monitor Tribe members told me! Now, enough questions. Just hurry up and get him." Evangeline waved her hand dismissively, clearly annoyed.

’This Elias Moretti was a walking encyclopedia of questions; he had to ask about everything.’

Elias Moretti gave her a long, hard look before saying anything else. He then silently slipped into the darkness.

Evangeline paid him no mind and took out several nutritional supplements.

’Even though she didn’t have an overpowered cheat item like the Fertility Pill, this was her area of expertise. She had extensive experience and no shortage of products for prenatal and childbirth care. She could already sense the tiny life quietly developing inside her.’

’Of her seven Beast Husbands, the one to complete the mission first was, of all people, the only one who hadn’t even appeared yet—Caden Albright. How absurd.’

’Still, it was a good thing. It counted as progress, and it had delayed the collapse of this little world.’

*

「Later that night.」

When Elias Moretti returned, he was accompanied by a middle-aged Beastman and a timid-looking female.

Evangeline ignored the two newcomers, her gaze fixed on Elias Moretti. "You can’t shift back to your human form?"

Elias Moretti coiled his scarlet body and shook his triangular head. "I can’t. I don’t know what the Viper Saliva is made of. Ethan Gable can’t do anything about it either. I’m just forcibly suppressing it with the power of my Beast Crystal."

Evangeline rested her forehead in her hand, her eyelashes casting a weary shadow beneath her eyes.

She bit down hard on the tip of her tongue. The sharp, metallic taste of blood instantly cleared her head a little. "This Viper Saliva is made from the poison glands of the Monitor Lizards. We’ll have to get the antidote from their home base."

Elias Moretti suddenly reared up the upper half of his body, his scarlet forked tongue flickering rapidly in the air.

As he caught the faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood, his tongue froze in mid-air. His vertical pupils contracted into sharp slits, his gaze locked on Evangeline. "You’re injured??"

Evangeline replied nonchalantly, "It’s nothing. Do you two know the exact strength of the Monitor Tribe?"

Gable looked at the female before him, his brow deeply furrowed. ’He knew she was powerful—she had even returned from Thorncliff—but she just didn’t seem trustworthy. What if she betrayed them?’

Elias Moretti’s gaze remained on Evangeline. At that moment, the other female suddenly drew close, wrapping her arms around Elias’s scarlet body and staring at Evangeline with a wary, defensive look.

"What are you doing?! Let go!" Elias Moretti snapped coldly.

The female burst into tears, clinging desperately to Elias Moretti’s body as she choked out, "I won’t let go! I’m carrying your cub, how can you treat me like this? Elias Moretti, you have to form a Contract with me!"

Hearing this sudden explosion of drama, Evangeline’s drowsiness vanished almost completely.

She opened her eyes and looked at the female clinging to Elias Moretti, and as she did, her eyebrows shot up.

Cecilia West??

’The original owner’s dear friend? The Cecilia West who gave Thorne’s Beast Crystal to Elias Moretti?’

Sensing Evangeline’s gaze, Elias Moretti’s body went rigid. He struggled violently and quickly shook off Cecilia West, moving to one side and staring at her coldly. "We can’t be certain it’s mine."

’Evangeline watched with relish. No wonder Elias Moretti insisted on bringing Cecilia West along when he escaped.’

’But wasn’t he getting hot and heavy with Saskia? She herself had stumbled upon them twice. How did Cecilia West get into the picture?’

’—What a player, casting his net far and wide.’

A female could have more than one Beast Husband, so to confirm the identity of a cub’s Beast-father, one had to wait until it was born. Identification was then possible through the cub’s beast form and bloodline aura.

’From the looks of it, though, Cecilia West had no idea that she was *the* Evangeline.’

"You!" Cecilia West’s face went deathly pale, her anger palpable.

Gable frowned. "That’s enough. The most important thing right now is to get the antidote for the Viper Saliva and rescue everyone!"

Evangeline shrugged. "I only agreed to rescue Lana and Melora Moretti. I couldn’t care less about the others."

Gable let out a sudden, cold laugh, dropping all pleasantries. "The Mermaid Tail Scale you want is in my possession. Are you *sure* you don’t care?"

At his words, Evangeline’s eyes flashed, all traces of drowsiness completely banished. With a flick of her wrist, her long whip shot out.

She let out a low laugh, tapping the long whip with a fingertip. "What a coincidence. Since the scale is right here—"

"Why would I need to go to the Monitor Tribe?"

Gable’s expression darkened. Cecilia West, meanwhile, was so frightened she scurried to the side to hide.

Elias Moretti’s tail swept out, instantly placing itself between Gable and Evangeline. Blood was still seeping from his scales.

He said in a grave tone, "Flora! At the end of the day, you’re still a member of the Grymdale Tribe. The tribe is in trouble. We should be working together to save our people!"

After speaking, he seemed to realize how ridiculous his words must sound to the ruthless Evangeline.

His Beast Eyes fixed on Evangeline, he added, "What’s more, Thorne’s Beast-father is in the hands of the Monitor Tribe. Thorne will definitely show up. Are you telling me you won’t help him, either?"