Chapter 264: Backstory
They stared at each other as they slowly smiled.
"I guess you really did see through them to make the plan," Karl said. "Even better than we could think of. And here we all are as you predicted—locked up."
Sunnie folded her arms with a smile as she said, "Well, they were actually pretty predictable, I must say. This is typical of villains, and well, they did follow the same pattern." She sighed.
Zayn smiled as he said, "Even after all these years, still the same. Pathetic indeed."
Little Black stared up at Sunnie as he said, "Now that we’re here, what do we do next?"
Sunnie smiled as she stared at the prison gates. "Well, I think it’s about time we kicked off the real game. It’ll be fun to see how it all goes."
Sunnie smiled as she casually recalled how the plan had all started.
---
A DAY BEFORE ZAYN AND KARL SET OFF.
That night after they were done eating, Karl and Zayn were sitting down alone by the waterside. They were sitting alone in silence, staring into the distance.
They watched the water run under the moonlight, listened to its waves as they brushed through the surface. It was a peaceful setting, but they couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened earlier.
The thought of their tribe had them lost in thoughts—sitting and thinking about that toxic and terrible tribe. Thinking about what they went through in that tribe years ago before being abandoned.
The thought of it simply brought back unbearable memories that had them scared for a while. It’s been years, but the memory was still vivid. Thinking about how their tribe people were back to haunt them simply left them in silence.
They said nothing but sat there lost in thoughts.
While they were there, Sunnie and the other beast husbands had approached them.
Sunnie sat down in between them. Luka sat down close by too, while Azure and Eris stood behind them, their arms folded while staring at them.
"Are you guys okay?" Luka asked, staring at them.
"They clearly aren’t. Why ask?" Eris replied.
"I’m just asking," Luka defended as he stared at them. "I’m just worried about them."
Zayn smiled as he said, "You don’t have to worry about us. We’re fine."
Sunnie stared at them. "You two don’t look fine at all. And I think it’s clear." She said as silence engulfed them again.
They sat there quietly staring at them.
Karl sighed as he said, "Of course we’re not. After hearing about people who made our lives hell a while back, we are not fine." He finally said, biting his lower lip while staring into the distance.
Sunnie stared at him. It was rare to see Karl like this—all vulnerable while admitting that he wasn’t okay. And she couldn’t help but feel bad.
Sunnie hesitated as she said, "Mind sharing what happened with me?" She asked in a gentle smile. "I know everyone here must have already known what happened... but I’m pretty curious to join in and know too. I’d like to understand my husbands better."
She said as Zayn and Karl stared at her in silence for a while.
"But it’s okay if you’re not too okay sharing it... I won’t force it." Sunnie wanted to say.
"You’re our mate," Zayn said with a smile. "So you should know as well." He sighed as he stared into the distance. "It’s been such a long time... I wonder if I recall the details... but it’s nothing much, though."
The other husbands were there staring at the two of them while they prepared to share their story from years ago.
It was a story the beast husbands knew. Having stayed with each other for long and first found comfort in each other, the beast husbands were that close to know each other’s backstory and all. It was what pulled them closer the most.
At that moment, Karl smiled as he said, "We both grew up together in that tribe. Since our tribes were close, we naturally got close. And our parents were also friends."
Sunnie listened attentively as he continued.
"We grew up as close friends in the tribe. And it was all just normal... until it wasn’t. Until it decided that we were abnormal. And that we were some cursed monsters of our land." Karl said.
"We were really young back then. Too young to even know how to protect ourselves... so all we could do was try to appeal to the tribe so they could accept us."
"We were desperate," Karl said. "And so we did everything possible—serving the whole tribe like slaves, laboring hard at such a young age so as to be able to please them and make them accept us."
Zayn sighed as he said, "Back then, our parents didn’t seem to help as well. They had instantly rejected us after the priest had announced that we were bad news. They chased us out of their home for the fear we’d bring death to them."
Karl sighed as they continued. "Even though they rejected us, they still used us as their slaves. Everyone in the tribe happily made us into their slaves. Manipulating us for years to work for them while they still treated us like trash... like rejected monsters."
"They didn’t let us join them in anything official or eating. We ate only leftovers. We were basically treated like trash," Zayn smiled.
Zayn added with a sigh, "Nothing changed. They only used us and never accepted us. And one day... it took a darker turn."
"The both of us were attacked by some people one night in our sleeping spot, and they wanted to kill us. Immediately, to protect ourselves, we ended up killing one of them."
"The others ran off and told the tribe that we attacked and killed him." Zayn smiled as he said, "Looking back now, I believe it was a plan to make us into the monsters they wanted us to believe we were."
Karl continued, "And from then, they began treating us worse."
"They tortured us like animals, brutally making us bleed to their pleasure while calling it a means of purifying us. But it was clear they took pleasure in hunting down the ’monsters’ they claimed we were." Zayn said.
Zayn continued, "It simply got worse. They made life hell for us, and even our parents simply watched without doing anything. They were mostly in support of it."
Karl sighed. "I guess we survived through that. Hoping that one day we’d be fine and they’d forgive us. But I guess we were too naive—naive to trust some people in this period, because everyone who we trusted simply betrayed us. They all gave them more reasons to view us as monsters."
"Silly us," he shook his head. "They never intended to accept us. They just wanted us dead."
Zayn added, "And one day, they actually worked toward killing us. They threw us into the river to die, tying us up. They wanted a slow and painful death to fulfill some trashy ceremony."
"But we survived and escaped. They didn’t come after us. They believed we’d soon die... but we didn’t. And they simply discarded us as monsters who shouldn’t be cared about." Zayn said with a sigh.
Silence filled the atmosphere as they all sat there, staring into the water, watching it run and listening to its music.
Sunnie couldn’t help but feel disgusted. All her husbands had similar trauma, and it simply hurt her heart at that moment. She wished she could just destroy all these people who did this to her husbands. She wished she could make them pay in the way they made her husbands feel.
She was casually pissed off as she closed her eyes. "I’m sorry that happened to you."
Zayn smiled as he said, "Why are you apologizing? It’s not like you were the one who did it." He sighed. "It’s already been years, and we’ve grown from it. So don’t worry about it at all."
Karl nodded. "Yes. At least we found comfort with others." He stared at her. "And also found comfort in you and the home you brought us." He smiled. "Thanks."
Sunnie said nothing but stared at him.
Karl hesitated as he added, "And... I’m sorry for all I put you through earlier."
"Why are you apologizing again?" Sunnie asked with a smile.
Karl sighed as he said, "I guess I was being selfish. Considering the fact that my past was like that, I automatically assumed it was worst for me and I had it hard. I didn’t consider you or anything else... I’m sorry."
Sunnie stared at him with a warm smile, patting him on the shoulder. "It’s okay... I understand. As long as you learn to consider everyone too. Because everyone has a story or two to tell."
She said as Karl slowly nodded with a smile, the two of them staring at each other with a warm smile.
At that moment, Sunnie’s system beeped.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations Host, Affection Level of Eagle and Tiger beast husbands are spiking fast!]
[Karl = 80%]
[Zayn = 80%]
[A massive improvement on affection level as they’ve finally opened up to you, Host! Now they’ve fully accepted you!]
Sunnie smiled, impressed at the improvement. Given that these two stubborn husbands who seemed like the hardest to crack had opened up to her simply meant great improvement.
She was impressed.
[Rewards: + 10,000 heart coins!]
[Host has won the full hearts of her beast husbands! Their affection and love for Host is overflowing!]
[New Task available, Host.]
[With the affection level, Host should be ready to bear Tiger and Eagle’s cubs!]