Chapter 74: Cursed Beastmen.
Her beast husbands were wild and hated by all because they were expressing the same hostility they had learned growing up alone and abandoned in the wild.
From a young age, they were tagged as curses. They were treated as monsters amongst their people and cast away to die in the wilderness alone with no help or love.
Everyone treated them like monsters when they were still young. And they learned to grow up with all the brutality and hostility, so it was no wonder they turned out like this.
They had resorted to acting wildly and unruly with these people to survive. Destroying in order to survive. Bringing harm and damage without necessarily caring because no one cared for them. They had comfortably taken the image everyone gave them to survive.
And now, Sunnie couldn’t help but understand them. Because they were never as bad as people made them out to be. They were normal beastmen who wanted to be treated like the rest.
And right now, as they sat amongst others, smiling and chatting, she believed they also felt normal.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations Host! Task completed!]
[You’ve successfully made a meal enjoyed by all]
[Bonus: + 1,000 coins!]
[Affection Percentage Update!]
[Luka = 40%]
[Karl = 0%]
[Eris = 20%]
[Zayn = 2%]
[Azure = 72%]
[Extra: Mer husband is happy to be able to enjoy your meal without issues!]
[Bear husband’s taste palette is excited for the meal!]
---
Sunnie came to join them, sitting down with her bowl in her hand. She looked up at Zayn and Karl who were simply staring at them.
She smiled. "What? Do you want some?"
Karl scoffed. "No. I’m not even hungry." He denied, but his groaning stomach gave him away. Everyone turned and stared at him in the silence.
"Don’t be stubborn. If you’re hungry, you can come and join us," Luka offered.
"Like I would," Karl rolled his eyes. "I’ll never bring myself down to eat her meal again."
Sunnie smiled. "Like I was even going to give you any if you asked." She stared at Karl. "Lazy people don’t deserve to eat in my dictionary. So if you didn’t work, none of you are getting anything."
"....."
Zayn and Karl stared at each other and then at Sunnie.
Little Black said, "Just beg her, then she’ll let you eat so your stomach will stop disturbing everyone."
Karl gave him a cold glare. "Shut up. I’ll never beg anyone for anything. Especially not food." He insisted as he got up to his feet.
Karl added, "You think feeding us some food is going to make us like you?" He said. "No. It won’t. You should just give up on trying. Stop pretending that you care about us. It’s clear that you don’t. No one does."
He continued, "We’re already branded cursed beastmen by every land and cast away to die out since we were young. So nothing can change that." He continued, "Everyone sees us that way. And you included. Months back, I saw you trying to run away from us. You don’t like us. You clearly wanted to leave because you thought we were burdens. So you can’t suddenly change and pretend to care. I’m not buying that." He stared at the rest of his co-husbands. "And you all shouldn’t buy all this either."
He concluded, "Besides, there should be plenty of food out in the woods. I’ll be off to look for them." He insisted as he turned and walked off.
Zayn slowly got up to his feet and left too. The two off to find something to eat in the woods that night.
Leaving silence to befall the once bustling gathering. Everyone was now silent as they stared at each other.
Sunnie could recall the host’s original memory. She didn’t really like her beast husbands. She was scared of them and didn’t like the stress they brought.
So she had tried to escape once but was seen by Karl. She couldn’t escape anymore.
Sunnie was silent as she reflected on Karl’s words. She couldn’t get angry even if she wanted to. She understood him.
Karl seemed like he was hurt the most from what they went through, so he was speaking with the most bitterness. Sunnie understood him from that angle.
But at that moment, the mice had pieced the puzzle together and realized something they didn’t know before.
"Huh?" The male mouse said, looking around. "What did he mean by cursed...?"
"Aren’t they those...?" She closed her mouth as they all realized that they were the infamous five wild beastmen who were tagged cursed and sent out of their lands.
Those who were said to bring destruction wherever they went.
Sunnie could read the fear in their faces. She figured they’d be scared to learn they were living with such people.
Zuna and Zukka didn’t know about the myth of the five cursed beastmen.
"Does that mean...?" one of the women said as the quiet woman held her baby firmly.
They were scared of this news as they stared at Azure, Eris, and Luka who were quietly sitting there now. They were already used to people hating them after realizing they were those wild cursed beastmen who brought chaos. They were used to the sudden turn of reactions they’d get.
So they sat there, expecting it.
But Little Black instantly said, "All these stories are lies made to hate on them. They aren’t as bad as they’re said to be. It was all lies. They even wanted to save you guys from the big bad wolf. So they’re good people. Don’t believe these lies."
Azure, Eris, and Luka stared at Little Black. He was the last person they thought would defend them at all. But he was, and Sunnie could see the shock on their faces.
Sunnie smiled as she said, "Yes. They are the rumored cursed beastmen cast away. And I’m the infamous jinxed rabbit. A lot of things were said about us to bring us to stay here."
She smiled. "I won’t force down a perception of us onto you. I’ll let you all be the judges of what you want. I won’t force you to like us."