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 from fear—but from a sudden, searing rush of rage and the icy grip of recognition. Her breath hitched.
Golden fur shimmered at his ears, and behind him, six radiant fox tails unfurled like strokes of divine artistry—too beautiful, too dangerous. They swayed with an elegance that spoke of ancient power and cunning seduction.
Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as she stared, spellbound. The mischief once dancing in his eyes had vanished, replaced by something razor-sharp and smoldering.
Filled with predatory heat.
His gaze locked onto hers like a flame devouring dry paper, pulling her into the gravity of his presence.
She nearly leaned forward.
"Ah!" The gasp tore from her lips as reality hit her like a slap. 'Asha Hale, have you lost your mind?!'
She recoiled, yanking her hand back—only now realizing it had been reaching for his face, bewitched by the magnetic pull of him. Flustered, she bit down hard on her lip, desperate to break the trance, to shake herself free of his illusion.
This wasn't just any man.
Creus was a six-tailed fox enigma.
A gumiho!
A creature of myth and seduction, known for stealing hearts... and souls.
And worst of all—she had almost let herself fall for his tricks.
"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.
"Oh, you mean that? Don't worry, princess. It surely won't take long before we become one. When that happens, this husband will let you enjoy the taste of heaven through my hot body," he widely grinned.
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. He could vaguely sense a trace of a powerful yet unfamiliar Enigma behind that incomplete beast mark.
At least far more powerful than him and the other Archon candidates put together that is. But how could it happen while involving the spirit beast maiden under a close watch—and his fucking female no less?!
'Just which crazy bastard is power tripping me? Fuck it! Could it be my brothers who are competing against me with resources and were jealous for having only a normal hybrids as brides?'
Creus clenched his sharp jaws and suddenly leaked out a thick bloodlust.
He'd rather kill than to gave out what's duly his. Especially so when it comes to the mate that Creus has set his eyes on.
No matter what, to him, whether she becomes cripple, half-dead or half-witted, she was his and there will be no take backs. Not now, not in the future!
"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 dunce?" 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? All her life her clan treated her as a prisoner, devoid of freedom!
After selling her to these beasts like a loose woman, she was akin to breeding sow waiting to be devoured!
Why is he trying to twist facts in front of her face? Protect? It was clearly them whom she needed protection from!
He didn't know what she felt all this time while growing up bound inside the suffocating walls of her room. How scary and agonizing it was to be all alone.
And besides...
"What do you mean by feral beastmen?"
Aren't all beasts feral just the same? What kind of nonsense is he trying to feed her now?
She had no knowledge of what a feral beast is but for this man to be this agitated and glaring… Asha could see that there was nothing good about it.
After all, it wasn't called a beastman for nothing. Is that creature really worse than a normal beastman?
Asha heart became more unsettled.
Seeing her foolish face getting increasingly nervous and fearful, Creus cluck his tongue in annoyance and exhaled exasperatedly.
"Ferals are vile beastmen. The same as the criminals in your world who targets females the most to do the unthinkable. 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?"
"You were supposed to be guarded! Preserved until your natal beast matures and ready to fulfill your duties to carry an Enigma's cub in your womb—aish, fuck! Why am I the one telling you this?" He groaned sharply.
Asha flinched and her frail heart sunk a little while being yelled at but she didn't try to butt in or stop the man from talking. She held her tears back while nibbling her then swollen lips and endured the man's fierceness.
"Did your fucking ancestors not tell you anything before sending you all the way to Genos? It's a common knowledge yet you don't seem to know anything other than looking frail, white and beautiful. So useless!"
"No one bothered to educate me about you all aside from the servants talking about your race so how would I—"
Surprised, Asha blinked and immediately felt her cheeks burn like she was hyperventilating.
Did he just called her white and beautiful? No way.
Is this man chiding or complimenting her?
Though he was certainly looking very pissed off, Asha's face unconsciously flushed with a crimson shade when he said it with a straight face. It was the first some told her she was beautiful. That, well, in a brutally honest way tho.
She was quite unsure how to feel about it.
Meanwhile, unaware of the young woman's thoughts, Creus continued to gush in revilement.
"Those damn mortals who knows nothing but money in their useless heads! They're so needlessly smart when taking profits but so pathetic when it comes to educating their descendants!"
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 blade-like questioning gaze.
"Listen here, when was the last time you saw your beast?"
Asha lowered her head, and voiced hesitantly, "Umh... Last month?"
"Last month?!"
Creus echoed and his jaws tightened in displeasure. "And yet you don't even sound certain? What the hell?"
A flash of annoyance crossed his eyes. Suddenly, he didn't feel optimistic in mating with a foolish woman but Creus was someone who stays firm in his beliefs of pursuing one woman in his lifetime.
In any case, he might've known this would be the case with her natal beast but he still had to confirm.
How troublesome indeed!
The man muttered a curse under his breath.
"So you let your natal beast wander around all by itself. How stupid. I'm guessing it wasn't the first time you let her off."
It wasn't even a question.
Asha shrunk little by little in her place. Creus 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 girl! Just where on earth are you? You have so much explaining to do when you return!'
Oh gods, why is that little snake not coming back anyway? Could it be that this man is really saying the truth? Is it really dying somewhere out there?!