novelbest Chapter 291: Watching over other males
Chapter 291: Watching over other males
"Help your fathers keep an eye on those other males," Aviel said solemnly. "Don’t let them get close to your mother."
Yinny looked puzzled. Why do we need to watch them?
"Because they’ll try to steal your mother away," Mino explained gravely.
Didi blinked at the beast husbands. Like you all did?
The males instantly fell awkwardly silent.
Odian coughed lightly. "Look, your mother already has so many fathers now that there’s barely enough of her to go around. If even more males join us, do you think there’ll still be any time left for you?"
"We’re doing this for your sake too," Mino added earnestly. "The fewer males competing for your mother, the better for everyone. Right?"
The children frowned thoughtfully.
...The bad fathers actually seemed to have a point.
Yinny looked up at the males. Let us discuss it first.
The children immediately gathered into a tiny huddle of their own.
Yinny: I think Papa Odian’s words make sense.
Didi nodded deeply in agreement. Ever since these bad fathers showed up, Mother sleeps with us way less than before.
He missed the days when they could sleep beside Nina every night.
Linny grumbled: Exactly. Now when we wake up in the morning, Mother’s always gone because these bad fathers stole her away.
Momo added quietly: I want to sleep in Mother’s arms.
Mimi puffed her cheeks. I don’t like the fathers’ smelly rooms. I want soft, sweet-smelling Mother.
Shushu huffed angrily: And they even transform into cubs to steal Mother’s lap and our toys. They steal from us at night and during the day too.
Sunny nodded firmly. Exactly. Totally shameless.
Linny immediately pointed at Aviel. My old man is the most shameless of all.
Aviel’s eye twitched dangerously. "Little brat, is your backside itching for another beating?"
The beast husbands all sighed, facepalming.
Weren’t they supposed to be discussing how to guard against the other males? How had this somehow turned into a full-scale attack on them instead?
Yinny concluded seriously: Having these fathers already causes enough trouble. We definitely shouldn’t add any new ones.
The other children nodded vigorously.
Big Brother is right.
Linny muttered darkly: Honestly, it’d be even better without these fathers too.
The children immediately agreed again.
Exactly. Bad fathers are the worst.
Unfortunately, they also knew these males were already Nina’s beast husbands and couldn’t be chased away anymore.
So they reluctantly gave up on that dream.
The beast husbands: "These little brats are really pretending we don’t exist, huh?"
Didi tilted his head thoughtfully. Then should we generously help them after all?
The children exchanged glances before nodding.
Fine. We can help.
Turning back toward the beast husbands, they announced:
Alright. We’ll help you watch the other males.
The beast husbands immediately smiled in satisfaction.
"You especially need to keep an eye on Uncle Yanai, Uncle Idir, Uncle Setan, and Lex, understand?" Sal instructed seriously. "And don’t let them act overly attentive toward your mother."
Although the beast husbands allowed Lex to get close to Mimi, that didn’t mean they actually wanted him joining their ranks.
They still cared very much about what Lex had done to Nina before.
The children nodded solemnly.
Those scumbag fathers definitely needed extra monitoring.
Didi raised another question.
What about the other uncles? Like Uncle Viann or Uncle Ridan?
"Keep an eye on them too, while you’re at it," Odian said calmly.
Better safe than sorry. What if one day those idiots suddenly grew bold enough to try something?
The children agreed readily.
As a reward, the beast husbands handed them a pile of delicious snacks.
***
After talking with Setan, Nina returned to the stone house.
Kith and Finch exchanged looks with Odian and the others. Odian gave a small nod, and faint smiles immediately appeared on Kith and Finch’s faces.
The moment the children saw Nina return, they lit up with excitement.
Mother, sleep with us tonight, okay?
Nina stroked their heads fondly, her voice warm with indulgence. "Alright. Mother will sleep with you tonight."
The beast husbands didn’t fight over it this time.
Hmph. We’ll let these little brats have one night.
That evening, Finch and Dian stayed behind with Nina while the other beast husbands returned to their own rooms.
Nina fell asleep peacefully with the children curled against her, drifting through the night without a single dream.
***
The next morning, after packing up, the group continued their journey.
Along the way, Yanai constantly searched for chances to get close to Nina, yet every attempt was blocked.
Either by the beast husbands... Or by the children.
One day, he brought over a freshly made dessert for Nina. Before he could even set it down, the children swarmed over and devoured it completely.
After finishing, they even had the audacity to criticize him a few times.
Another day, Nina was taking a nap. Taking advantage of the beast husbands’ distraction, Yanai transformed into a tiny snow wolf and secretly slipped inside, hoping to curl up beside her.
But Shushu and Sunny immediately leapt out, baring their little fangs at him.
You’re not allowed near our mother.
Then the two cubs charged at him and bit him repeatedly until they successfully chased him back outside.
Afraid of waking Nina, Yanai had no choice but to retreat.
...
And incidents like these happened endlessly.
Yanai grew increasingly frustrated.
Since when had the children joined forces with those jealous beast husbands?
In the end, he could only retreat to his resting area to think up new strategies.
***
Meanwhile, Setan had gone strangely quiet these past few days.
He was now throwing himself wholeheartedly into learning every possible "beast husband skill."
Staring at the crooked, uneven stitching in his hands, he let out a heavy sigh.
His sewing was absolutely terrible.
How was he supposed to qualify as Nina’s beast husband at this level?
Growing up, he had barely learned any of these domestic skills at all.
After all, he had been raised from childhood as the future lord of a city. With his status, even after marrying a female, things like sewing and cooking would normally be left to servants.
And if their female wanted more clothes or jewelry, they could simply purchase them outside. Countless beastfolk specialized in selling such things.
Back then, Setan had never thought much of it.
But after meeting the female he truly loved, he finally understood... Something bought and something made with your own hands were completely different.
Taking a deep breath, Setan picked up the animal hide and continued practicing.
Nina’s beast husbands all held status comparable to his own. If they could learn these skills so well for her sake, then he could too.
He refused to lose to the other males.
Nearby, the lion clan males secretly winced while looking at the clothing he had sewn.
Their City Lord’s craftsmanship was honestly atrocious.
Even they couldn’t bear to look at it.
Sigh...
Looks like their City Lord still had a very long road ahead if he wanted to win Lady Nina’s heart.
From the devastated expression Setan had worn when he returned that night, they already knew he must have been rejected by Nina.
After exchanging helpless sighs, several lion males finally walked over to help guide him.
Might as well help their pitiful City Lord a little.
***
Meanwhile, after repeatedly hitting dead ends for several days straight, Yanai secretly gathered Aron and the wolf clan males for a private meeting.
"Father," Yanai asked seriously, "you all probably know how to make certain... special things that please females, right?"
"What kind of things?" Aron asked.
"The kind used during mating," Yanai said bluntly. "The more capable of attracting a female, the better."
Aron frowned immediately. "Nina hasn’t even accepted you as a beast husband yet. What do you need those for?"
Thinking about how thoroughly his useless son had been blocked these past few days, even he felt frustrated.
At this rate, when would he ever hear Nina call him "Father"? When would he hear Shushu call him "Grandfather"?
Still, on another level, he could understand Odian and the others.
After all, what male wouldn’t want fewer beast husbands sharing their female?
Even so, he still hoped his useless son could pull himself together and become Nina’s beast husband sooner rather than later.
"Obviously to climb into her bed," Yanai declared firmly. "Hmph. I’m definitely getting onto Nina’s bed."
Once he made it into Nina’s bed, becoming one of her beast husbands wouldn’t be far off.
As long as Nina acknowledged him, it wouldn’t matter how much those jealous males tried to interfere.