I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!

Chapter 316: The Family You Have Now

"Are you alright?"

The moment Azul and Roxanna opened their eyes, Zeir stepped forward and asked the question.

He looked genuinely worried because over the past few hours, both of them had looked as though they were trapped in some terrible nightmare. They had shouted, cried out, and even thrashed around several times.

If Azul hadn’t specifically told him not to interfere unless he asked for help, Zeir would have woken them up long ago.

"Be quiet for a moment," Azul said. His voice came out colder than usual.

Zeir blinked in surprise because Azul rarely spoke like that, especially to him. Still, he didn’t take it personally. In the end, he simply nodded and stayed quiet.

When Calen started walking toward them, Zeir even stopped him and told him to give them some space until they were feeling better.

On the other side, Azul took several deep breaths, looking a little lost as he continued staring at the cave ceiling.

"Now I don’t know whether all of my siblings are dead or not," he said suddenly.

Zeir stood a short distance away and remained silent so that Azul wouldn’t feel that his presence was bothering him.

"We didn’t see Mera get killed," Roxanna pointed out.

"We didn’t," Azul agreed. "But in my memories, I believe he died. I... honestly don’t know which version is true anymore."

"You’ve already seen your real memories," Zeir said at last, causing both Azul and Roxanna to look at him. "So I don’t think it’s that difficult to figure out which memories are real and which ones are false."

"When someone’s memories are altered by magic, it’s normal to remember things incorrectly. The only way to separate the truth from the lies is to see the real memories for yourself."

He then pointed at the crown resting on Azul’s head. "Which is exactly what you just did."

Azul stared at him for a few seconds. Zeir actually expected him to be annoyed by the interruption. But instead, he said, "Thank you, Zeir."

The lizard beastman looked surprised, but before he could respond, Azul continued. "Thank you for keeping us safe while we were gone."

Zeir immediately nodded. "Of course." He answered without hesitation. "You’re my family. I won’t let anything bad happen to you."

Azul was taken aback when he heard the word ’family.’ Maybe it was because his feelings toward that word had become so complicated after everything he had remembered.

"Azul." Roxanna’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. She tightened her grip on his hand and looked at him seriously. "No matter what happened in the past, we will always be your family in this time."

Her voice softened. "You only need to remember that. That’s all."

For a moment, Azul said nothing. He simply looked at Roxanna, Zeir, Calen, who was still being held back by an increasingly annoyed Zeir.

Slowly, some of the tension in his chest began to ease. Maybe there were still many things he didn’t know.

Maybe there were still questions without answers, but at least he wasn’t alone.

"Alright!"

Azul suddenly slapped both of his cheeks and the sharp sound echoed through the cave.

It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but it was enough to shake away some of the dark thoughts that had been circling in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, he sat up straighter. "I think the best thing we can do right now is find my mother."

He turned toward Roxanna. "We know that she’s tied to the Aquilian Kingdom, but the fact that this place still hasn’t been destroyed means she’s still somewhere in the deep sea."

Roxanna nodded thoughtfully. "And the reason you’re so certain she’s protecting something is because you know she’s protecting the kingdom itself." She paused. "But doesn’t that also mean the Devourers know something about your mother?"

That was the only explanation that made sense. After all, if the Devourers had really taken over the kingdom, there was no reason for them to leave the Queen alive unless she was useful to them somehow.

"It does," Azul said grimly. He lowered his gaze for a moment before continuing. "They probably have someone who understands magic. Someone who knows exactly how important my mother is and they know she carries a huge amount of magical energy."

Roxanna was about to reply, but then she heard Calen’s voice from the other side of the cave.

"What’s a Devourer? Are they giant Krakens that eat tiny creatures like us?" Everyone turned to look at him.

Calen, meanwhile, looked completely confused. "And why is your mother tied to the kingdom?" he continued. "Is she literally chained to it or something?"

When nobody answered him, Calen became even more frustrated. "Come on!" he complained. "At least give me some clues!"

He pointed dramatically at the little girl in his arms. "Look! Your princess clearly likes me a lot, so I deserve some rewards!"

This time, he wasn’t exaggerating.

Azura really had been having fun with Calen the entire time. Despite being separated from her parents for hours, she hadn’t cried once.

Instead, she was happily sitting in Calen’s arms, occasionally grabbing his hair and trying to stuff random things into Calen’s mouth.

"Alright, alright, relax, for God’s sake," Azul said, rubbing his forehead.

Behind Calen, the Aquilian soldiers and Helga were all looking at Azul with obvious curiosity.

They had spent most of their lives in Aquilian, yet there were still many secrets that only members of the royal family knew and right now, it seemed that Azul was finally about to reveal one of them.

"Alright, let’s talk." Azul let out a deep breath before pushing himself away from the cave wall.

The corner where he and Roxanna had been resting felt far too cramped for a conversation like this, so he swam toward a more open part of the cave, giving everyone enough space to gather around him.

As soon as he stopped, several pairs of eyes immediately fixed on him. "But I’m only going to explain this once," Azul said. His gaze swept across the group. "So listen carefully."