Chapter 309: Cubs Hatching in Succession
Hearing this, Thorne glanced at her sharply and frowned. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"
Evangeline chuckled and tilted her head, a gentle smile on her pale face. "What’s the matter? Afraid I’ll run away?"
But Thorne couldn’t bring himself to smile. He stopped looking at the eggs, his expression tense as his dark green eyes locked onto Evangeline’s face.
"The Beastman Continent is only so big. Where could I possibly go? And isn’t it the father’s responsibility to raise the young? What, do you expect me to go out hunting to provide for them?" Evangeline asked, looking at him with suspicion.
Thorne’s eyes went wide, and he quickly shook his head. "Of course not! Eva, I’ll be a good hunter. I’ll provide for you and the babies."
With that, he reached out and gently pulled Evangeline into his arms. ’A female, and cubs... This life is more than enough.’
Evangeline rested her cheek on Thorne’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
That evening, the other males returned.
The Everwake looked at the elated Thorne and rolled his eyes repeatedly, clearly unable to stand the sight of him. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he poked one of the plump, round eggs with a slender fingertip and scoffed, "Four cubs. I guess Eva won’t be able to give you many tasks from now on."
Thorne’s brow twitched. He strode forward, grabbed The Everwake, and pulled him away. "This has nothing to do with you," he said coldly.
Just then, Bunny, who was lying beside the snake eggs, cried out in alarm, their pretty little face filled with anxiety. "The egg! The egg has a crack! Mother, Mother! Are my little brothers and sisters coming out? What do we do?"
Genesis saw the cracked eggshell too. He blinked, and tears immediately welled in his eyes. He looked nervously at The Everwake. "Father, was it you? Did you just break the egg when you poked it?"
At these words, The Everwake’s mouth twitched. Seeing Evangeline look his way, he immediately frowned and retorted, "How is that possible? Beastman eggs aren’t that fragile. They’re about to hatch!"
It was Thorne’s first time being a father, but he was still clear on the process of snake hatching.
’It really is time for them to hatch.’
Evangeline was curious. Genesis had also hatched from an egg, but it had taken a long time. She hadn’t expected that snakes could hatch on the same day.
The first to emerge was a small black snake. It raised its triangular head slightly, flicking its tongue to taste the air. It quickly slithered toward Evangeline. The little creature, no thicker than a finger, deftly coiled around her wrist.
Evangeline chuckled and gently tapped its tiny head. Looking at Thorne, she asked curiously, "Is it a male or a female?"
"A male." Thorne glanced at it only for a moment before looking back at the other eggs, which were beginning to hatch one after another.
The eggshells cracked open one by one. Black snakes emerged from the black eggs. The last egg, a red one, also hatched a black snake. This disappointed Thorne slightly; he had hoped that, like Eva, it would produce a little Red Fox.
Although cubs born to a female and a male usually took after the father, there were exceptions.
As soon as the little ones hatched, they all swarmed toward Evangeline.
The Everwake raised an eyebrow. He looked at the hatchling from the red egg, then glanced at Thorne and said with a sour tone, "You sure are lucky. You even managed to have The little maiden. Not fair! Eva, I want one too!"
Genesis blinked and tilted his head. "But Father, Father Loras and Father Drake don’t have any cubs yet."
Though young, he had already learned the meaning of the word "fairness" from his mother.
In his eyes, since they were all his mother’s partners, it was only right that each of them should have their own cubs.
"Heh, Genesis has a point." Thorne shot The Everwake a sideways glance and grinned, reaching out to ruffle Genesis’s hair.
The Everwake’s mouth twitched violently again.
Danton saw Evangeline entwined with the baby snakes and chuckled. He stepped forward, gently removed the hatchlings from her, and placed them back in their nest.
Evangeline tapped one of the little snake’s heads and asked, "When will they be able to shapeshift?"
Thorne sat on the edge of the bed and held out his palm. The four little snakes obediently slithered onto it. "In a few days, probably," he said. "After they have their first meal, they can try to shapeshift. Don’t worry, I’m here."
Evangeline nodded slightly. Seeing the effect of Thorne’s paternal bloodline suppression on the little ones, she couldn’t help but feel a little impressed.
Cold-blooded beastmen like the Snake Clan had always raised their young to be independent. They didn’t dote on their cubs like other beastman races. From the moment of their birth, the little snakes naturally held a sense of reverence for their father.
As Thorne’s usually cold gaze fell upon the little snakes, it softened with a newfound warmth.
Regardless, these were the cubs his beloved female had given him. Of course he would cherish them.
Drake stepped forward, his calm, red-gold eyes fixed on Evangeline. His voice, though sharp, held an undercurrent of gentleness.
"Eva, over the past month, the city-state’s reputation has spread far and wide. It has attracted many wandering beastmen who have come seeking refuge, hoping to become our citizens. We’ve put the matter on hold until now. What is your opinion? Should we accept them?"
It was one thing when he didn’t know what "City-State of the Paragon Troupe" meant. But ever since Thorne and The Everwake had pestered Evangeline until she finally explained the name’s meaning, Drake seemed to find it a bit embarrassing and avoided using the full title.
Hearing that this was official business, everyone turned to look at Evangeline.
They had been in the Beastman City-state for over a month now and had gradually begun to see it as their own territory. The question of whether to accept vagrant beastmen was a serious one. Back in Norfell, the tribe would never have taken in outsiders like them.
After all, vagrant beastmen were known to be cold-blooded and reckless, a world apart from those who lived in tribes.
"Of course we should!" Evangeline replied without hesitation.
She got out of bed, walked over to the table, and with a wave of her hand, a stack of small cards appeared on its surface.
"What are these?" Danton picked one up, his voice filled with surprise. "Is this a photograph?"
Evangeline smiled and nodded. "They’re photographs of each of you. We can use these to record the information of every citizen in the city-state. Whether they’re commoners, nobles, or the vagrant beastmen who come to join us, everyone can have their own proof of identity. This will also help them feel a greater sense of belonging to our city-state."
Simply put, she was issuing "ID cards" to the beastmen of the City-State of the Paragon Troupe.
The Everwake was slightly taken aback. As the former leader of The Swarm, he immediately understood the advantages. "With these, it’ll be perfectly clear who is who and where they belong. No one will be able to impersonate a citizen of our city-state!"
The Swarm was famous for its rapid reproduction, and its population was a disorderly mess. Much of the time, he had only recognized those immediately around him.
Evangeline nodded slightly. "If we’re going to manage this city, we might as well be diligent about it from the start."
She had been here for some time now and had come to understand the local situation.
The population management of the Beastman City-state was almost nonexistent. Aside from the beastmen in the Commander’s Fortress who were responsible for guard duty, the other citizens came from all sorts of backgrounds and lived scattered throughout the area. Even the Commander, Aiden Atwood, had no idea how many people were actually in the city-state under his jurisdiction. For a city-state that aspired to be powerful, this ambiguity was a tremendous disadvantage.
