Chapter 228: The cost of defective genes.
Even Linera pushed forward, to hear the shameful secret that was worth 10 million beast coins. It had to be something the Wit family really didn’t want out there because none of them protested. Obviously, they knew what Durand was hiding.
Sienna’s lips curved into a sly smile. She could have savored the moment, but she felt the need to tell someone about what she had learned. "Durand Wit was born without balls!"
Mija gasped, blinking rapidly.
"What?" Linera exploded.
"That’s it, that’s the shameful secret." Mija burst into laughter, slapping Sienna’s thighs. "No balls!"
Sienna’s smile widened. "I have come to the realization that things like lineage and heirs matter a lot in this world. To some, they are everything. A secret like that is shameful. It is ruinous. I just feel bad for Bea. I am sure she is still a virgin."
Linera gasped. "No way!"
"I don’t know," Sienna shrugged. "Maybe I am wrong and Durand Wit could still do it. But, what was the use? He does not have seeds to plant. The whole reason for having everyone believe she was mad was to keep this secret. If someday she discovered it and spilled, they would just pass it off as another of her stories."
"That poor girl," Linera said, sighing softly, "Years trapped inside an abusive marriage loaded with accusations of being a barren jinx. Dragged from hospital to hospital for fertility checks, and this whole time, her husband knew the truth. We let the Wit’s off easy, we should have shamed them. Bea deserves to know the truth, that it was not her fault."
"Aunt, justice comes in different forms," Sienna said thoughtfully. "Bea is facing criminal charges, she needs money for a good lawyer. She needs money to start over. Her family did not strike me as the kind with resources to help her. That is why I chose this kind of justice for her. Anyway, she knows that she is fertile, that is enough."
Mija squealed suddenly. "She is poor! Bea comes from a poor family. It was the only reason why Durand married her, because wealthy families require intense health checks from their approved doctors before marrying off their children. Especially families with legacies to pass on. They don’t want to marry beast men or women with defects that will be passed on to their future generations. One of Durand’s parents must have a defect, otherwise, how could they produce one sickly child without a proper tail and one without balls!"
Before Sienna could say who, Linera beat her to it. "It is the mother, Claire. She has money, the father seemed submissive to her completely."
"And her family owns part of a hospital," Sienna pitched in, "They could be researching their defective genes."
Linera whistled. "You would rather be born human than defective. If people know, your lineage dies out. No beast man or woman is marrying a defective partner."
Mija nodded, clearly agreeing. The hierarchy was beast men, humans and then defective beast men.
"Well...." Sienna said, "Unless you fall in love. Love makes people do crazy things."
"There should be a law against that." Mija declared.
"And don’t forget, beast men with defective genes can also marry each other." Sienna tapped Mija’s head.
Mija snorted. "There should be a law against that too. Two beast men with defective genes marrying each other is simply a curse on the child they bear. If they are lucky it comes out human, which is a cause for celebration. If they are unlucky, it comes out defective too, with double the dosage. I saw a kid like that once in our tribe, a snake with patched skin, half a tongue, blind.
She couldn’t even crawl without hissing in pain because her skin was sensitive. She grew to the age of fifteen, then someone took advantage of her. My mother didn’t know how to handle the case when it was brought to her.
The girl could not talk or transform. She could not point out who defiled her. Her parents also had no idea because they always left her locked at home when they went to work." She took a soft breath. "The father knelt outside my family’s estate for days, demanding for justice. My mother launched an intense investigation. All the men in the tribe were under suspicion.
Days later, with no answers, people turned on the parents, blaming them for going to work, knowing they had such a grown child at home. A helpless female at that! Some women started blaming the girl, that maybe she did something to bring it on herself."
"What happened in the end?" Linera cut in.
Mija groaned softly, "It was sad. The father gave his daughter poison, and then killed his wife and himself."
Sienna and Linera were rendered speechless. They had lived a tragic life and it ended even more tragically. What kind of pain had the father been in to make such a decision?
"Since then, I firmly believe that two defective beast men should not procreate." Mija concluded. "Bea Corvinus should count herself lucky in the end, that Durand had no balls. Or else, there is a possibility that she would have been forced to give birth to a child with defective genes and then be blamed for it."
Linera leaned back in her chair, suggesting calmly. "I say we spill the secret. Who knows if the rest of Claire’s sons don’t share the same defect? What if they have trapped more helpless women in sham marriages. It is not fair to them."
Sienna turned her head to look at her aunt. Her own eyes were foggy with thoughts on the matter. Thoughts that had crossed her mind before she demanded to speak to Durand in private. "Aunt, spilling their secret is not the solution. Investigating and handling it privately is better. If we are careless about how we handle it, we could do more harm than good. It is not anybody’s choice to be born with genetic defects. If they want to keep it secret, they should be allowed to do so."
Mija huffed. "Not at the cost of harming the innocent. If you don’t want people knowing that you don’t have balls, then don’t marry. Adopt a child if you want to raise one. Don’t ruin the future of a good woman. I am with Linera on this, people should know. Anyone marrying into that family should know what they are in for."
Sienna picked up her coffee cup. As the ship soared, she wondered how to deal with the issue. Did it even fall under her jurisdiction?
