Chapter 2: Which Bastard Did It?
Creus raised his hands in mock surrender, utterly unfazed.
"My, so feisty! Careful, princess. That fire's gonna make me very excited." the man said and shamelessly licked his wet lips.
On the same note, her lip curled but in sheer disgust.
"Pervert!" Asha bellowed hatefully without hesitation.
Stop flattering yourself. You're disgusting. Get out of my room now before I call the guards to drag you away from my sight!"
But the words barely left her mouth before her vision spun. In a blink, he was gone from her front—and appeared behind her.
Hot breath danced against her neck.
She whirled, hand swinging—but he caught it, easily.
Asha froze.
Not out of fear. But out of rage and the bone-deep chill of recognition.
Golden fur sprouted from his ears. His once playful eyes sharpened to slits of predatory heat.
"Let go," she hissed. "Don't touch me. We're not mates!"
But his hand moved anyway—light and deliberate—fingertips tracing down her cheek, brushing her collarbone, then stopping just above her well-endowed peaks.
And then just as he was about wander his needy hands and have a better feel on their softness— the man flinched and let out a sharp hiss of pain. His hand recoiled like he'd touched fire. And his entire demeanor shifted as if threatened by something unseen yet viciously intimidating.
"Shit!" He muttered as though realizing something dark and ominous looming over him.
Feeling a dire stench of danger, Creus shuddered and took a step back.
Gone was the flirtation. In its place, were fury and caution instilled by his primal instinct as a beast like being alerted whenever stepping into an apex predator's territory.
But how could it be with happen while involving the spirit beast maiden—and his fucking female no less!
"Asha Hale," he growled, low and lethal. "What the hell have you done?" He gripped her shoulder, pressure sharp and unyielding.
The man had seemed to forgo all of his past courtesy if he was even.
"Ow! Hey, it hurts! Let me go—what's your problem?!"
"What's my problem? There's a beast mark on your body! That's my fucking problem, woman!"
Creus raked his hand through his hair, pacing.
The guards said that she was accompanied by a lethal green snake but there was no sign resistance at all even when he had approached her this close despite having no prior relationship that would make him get recognized by her natal spirit. Normally, her natal beast would have struck him to protect her from strangers but there wasn't even a shadow of that thing coming forward to lunge at him.
"No wonder there was no defensive surge from your natal beast. It was missing!"
Damn it all! Creus felt so betrayed despite not being bonded. But how could he not? This woman is promised to him yet some clueless shit just waltz in and claimed his woman without thinking of the possible aftermath.
"You bonded with a premature spirit! Are you fucking stupid?" Creus was enraged but mostly due to her negligence as well as her glaring ignorance.
"I-I don't understand what you're talking about—"
"Oh, you will understand," he snapped. "You've been locked in here, untouched and protected, because if a feral beastman even breathed too close, he might've claimed you—and killed you in the process!"
Asha's heart pounded and rocked harshly against her chest. Protect? They treated her as a prisoner, devoid of freedom! Why is he trying to twist facts? She didn't know what she felt all this time while growing up bound inside the suffocating walls of her room.
And besides...
"Wha... What do you feral beastman? I'm confused!"
Aren't all beasts feral just the same?
She had no knowledge of what a feral beast is but for this man to be this agitated and glaring… Asha was stirred.
Seeing her foolish face getting increasingly nervous and fearful, Creus cluck his tongue in annoyance and exhaled exasperatedly.
"You! Why do you think no one touched you even after knowing you were betrothed? You think we're celibate monks? That we've been waiting patiently out of courtesy?"
Asha flinched tearfully and her frail heart sunk while being yelled at but she didn't try to butt in or stop the man from talking. She held her tears while nibbling her then swollen lips.
"You were supposed to be guarded! Preserved until your natal beast matures and ready to fulfill your duties to carry an archon's cubs—ah, fuck why am I the one telling you this? Did your fucking ancestors not tell you anything before sending you all the way to Genos? Those damn mortals who knows nothing but money in their useless heads!"
Creus felt a rush of anger with the urge to break someone's neck.He took a deep breath and stared at the woman with a questioning gaze.
"Listen here, when was the last time you saw your beast?"
Asha lowered her head, "Last... month."
Creus' fine jaw tightened. He might've known this would be the case but he still had to confirm. The man muttered a curse under his breath before dropping the bomb on her,.
"So you let your natal beast wander around. I'm guessing it wasn't the first time you let her off."
Asha shrunk in her place. He was spot on.
It was because she felt sorry for herself and felt guiltier for her companion beast for being lock away so she started letting her sneak out on its own and leave freely but who would have thought it would go out just to flirt and get smashed instead of getting some fresh air?
'Little Green! You troublesome snake! You have so much explaining to do when you return!'
Although she wanted to locate it right then and there to give it an earful, and punish it for probably causing something irreversible just like the man claimed, the problem was, she couldn't.
The two of them haven't completed assimilating with one and another. There's just no way she could verify things unless the green snake returns to her side so they could connect their consciousness.
"How can you be so careless? You're not even aware what was happening with your other half! It bonded with a beast too early—and now your natal spirit is missing and probably in a dire state, seeing how it couldn't return on your side in time! Do you want to die so bad?!"
Overwhelmed by his terrifying aura, Asha unconsciously staggered back.
"I-I didn't… I really didn't know—hic!"
No one told her about anything at all!
"I made a mistake but why do you keep on shouting at me? If you're my future husband, why are you being so mean to me?"
Instead of shouting so cruelly he could just remind her the things she wasn't aware of calmly.
Asha felt so aggrieved. And just why would she die? This is just so unfair!
Creus stalked toward her, eyes glowing with fury which made her whimper like a cornered kitten.
"Tsk! You don't know? What do you even know besides crying? Stop crying, darn it!" The man roughly bellowed but his hands were surprisingly tender while wiping her tears off. He tried his best to appear energetic and playful after practicing so hard before seeing her but his wild temper was just naturally coming out.
'Shit, why is she crying so hard? Shall I kiss and undress her like the old fox thought me to shut her mouth?' Creus was skeptical and frowned. This was quite different from the scenario the wise sage in his tribe describe.
Besides, they weren't fighting, how would he naturally create a slapping noise to fill the air all so suddenly? In addition, hitting a frail woman is just going to far even if he had a bad temper.
Creus shook his head that felt broken for some reason. He looked at her again and questioned.
"Then tell me," he snarled, recalling the main issue that made him all mad and uneasy. "Which bastard did it? Who touched you? Who marked you?"
Asha swallowed hard and said with an equally perturbed gaze as it was pleading ti be recognized.
"I don't know! How many times do I have to tell you, I really don't know!" her mind reeling.
Because the truth was—she really didn't know!
She hadn't been able to go out freely much less alone. How could she be intimate with someone else without getting caught?
Above all, what bugged her more was, "W-Will I really die?"
Her eyes trembled.
Without knowing, she instinctively clutched the man's clothes and weakly murmured with a hopeful gaze that was abruptly shattered by his cold, mocking words.
"What do you think?"
Creus rolled his eyes but immediately regretted it when the woman suddenly burst in tears.
"Hic... Hic... WAAHH!"
"I don't wanna die! I... I... hic! I'm only nineteen and haven't tasted the sea. I can't die without taking a bite of the big squid that shoots out sweet black wine and the rainbow lobster that transforms the consumer's hair color instantly!"
She was crying nonstop but Creus also had the urge to cry from hearing all her surd reason pf staying alive.
Seemingly lost all reasons, Asha gripped his hand tightly and cried unfairly without thinking about shame.
The woman held him tight despite his hands desperately unclasping her cold fingers wrapped on his now disheveled robe.
"H-Hey let go first! I'm going anywhere okay?" He tried to coax but the woman's crying face just stared at him without a hint of letting go.
"C-Creus, you said you're my future hus— no, that's not it. No matter what, you're my husband now, so then I am your wife! You can't let me die. If I die, don't you need to accompany me to the afterlife?"
"Ah—HUH?!"
"I'm telling you, I never slept with someone else, my conscience is clean and I know I didn't cheat. So, I'm telling you, you're now my husband! You can't let your wife die! Or else you will have to die with me as my first husband!"
It was rare but Creus was left dumbstruck.
Is this even a threat or rather... a very very clumsy proposal?