Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 385

“Lady Leones, resupply and reinforcement units from the 5th Legion stationed in the north have arrived.”

Mirna Draco watched as supply wagons rolled into the fortress. The logistics crisis that had plagued them for days was finally over, and only now could she breathe easy.

With this much, even if the fortress were to be isolated, it could hold out for five years.

It had been a week since they seized control of Gargarta Fortress.

Apart from the siege and the initial surprise attack aimed at capturing the fortress, the frequency of monster raids had drastically decreased—manageable enough now.

They had safely secured the strategically vital Gargarta, just past the barrier, and even completed fortification efforts. From here, they could now easily deploy troops in all directions across the northern front.

“Hoo...”

Even so, sighs kept slipping from Mirna von Draco’s lips. Standing beside her, Lady Elga of House Leones scowled visibly.

“What’s with the constant sighing? It’s bad luck, you know?”

“You know why, don’t you? And you too...”

Mirna trailed off mid-sentence. She didn’t feel like arguing over something trivial right now.

Lady Elga of Leones was probably just pretending to be fine. In truth, she was just as anxious. It was only for the sake of the child in her womb that she was keeping her thoughts calm and composed.

Mirna spoke as evenly as she could.

“Today makes four days.”

“I know.”

“I really don’t understand what’s going on.”

Elga replied more irritably than usual.

“I said I know. But what else can we do? We just have to wait. At least they’re eating regularly, so I don’t think they’re physically unwell.”

Elga remembered how the food trays left at the door kept disappearing.

It had now been four days since Teo Gospel and his cousin, Queen Ayra, had gone completely silent inside the queen’s quarters.

People had begun murmuring—wondering aloud, whispering suspicions and worries. Elga’s mind was in turmoil. She had no idea what the two were doing inside, but a sense of unease gnawed at her.

Hard to explain, but... something definitely wasn’t right. The world wasn’t made of fairy tales like the ones her mother used to whisper by her bedside.

Mirna asked,

“Still, shouldn’t we make sure they aren’t physically ill? For female mages especially, during... that kind of intimacy...”

Mirna didn’t finish the sentence, but Elga understood what she was getting at. Sexual intercourse involving female mages came with certain risks.

Perhaps that was also why the half-fairy hadn’t shown his face in days. Then again, who could say for certain?

Just then—

There was noise from the fortress gate. Lowering her gaze to look below the walls, Mirna spotted a unit of soldiers assembling before Gargarta.

They wore uniforms emblazoned with a cross.

“Those bastards... they’re paladins from the Church, aren’t they?”

Elga’s brows furrowed, and Mirna added grimly,

“Looks like they’re inquisitors, directly under the Holy See. Known for using extreme methods. What in the world are they doing here...?”

“They’re definitely not here to offer support.”

As Elga narrowed her eyes, someone lightly touched down beside her, using the fortress’s columns like footholds.

It was the elf professor, Stella.

In her hand was a small scroll.

“They said to hand this over to the queen.”

The three women unrolled the scroll together. It was long and filled with formal wording, but only the final line mattered:

“The Queen of Angmar is hereby commanded to cease unlawful occupation and answer the summons of the Holy See immediately.”

***

I slowly opened my eyes, roused by the faint murmuring and commotion outside.

Next to me lay a woman, her face nestled into my side as she slept, and beyond her sprawled the spiderweb-shaped wards strung all around the room.

Careful not to wake her, I began to sit up.

“......”

Gently, gently.

There.

After propping a pillow under Ayra’s head, I cautiously slid out of the bed. But the trouble wasn’t over yet.

I had to avoid brushing against or disturbing any of the spiderweb-shaped wards around the room. Still, after two days of this, I’d grown used to it.

At last, I reached the door.

I carefully opened it—just enough to slip out a plate, maybe a person at most.

Creeeak—

Peering down, I saw a small dish sitting just outside the crack of the door. It looked like the bread and eggs had long gone cold.

Guess today’s lunch is egg toast.

Just as I reached for it and began to slowly draw it inside—

“━━─!!!”

A loud shriek rang out behind me.

Turning my head, [N O V E L I G H T] I saw Ayra staring at me with her hair bristling wildly.

She rushed forward and yanked me back with force. The plate in my hand toppled to the floor, spilling food everywhere.

Clatter!

“Teo! I told you not to go anywhere!”

“......”

Ayra lifted me up and placed me back on the bed. Then she pulled the blanket over us and hugged me tightly—like a little girl clinging to a big doll her parents had given her.

And maybe that’s exactly what I was to her.

“You’re not allowed to go anywhere. You can’t. And I told you not to eat food from outside.”

“But... I’m hungry. Both of us haven’t eaten for two days now...”

My gaze shifted toward the trash bin in the corner of the queen’s room. It was overflowing with untouched food, rotting away. What a waste.

Ayra said,

“They definitely poisoned it to kill us. There’s no one out there we can trust. Everyone’s trying to kill me. Solomon’s assassins, all of them. I know it.”

“......”

Grrrrumble. My stomach let out a loud growl.

As I said—over two days without food. There was nothing I could do. My throat was dry too.

Hunger and thirst.

I couldn’t even remember what it felt like to be full. My body was too weak to move. Though the exhaustion wasn’t just from hunger.

Rustle.

Ayra’s hand crept under the blanket toward my lower half. As her thin fingers began to tease me, I had no choice but to respond... in a very physical way.

“Teo... you’re the only one I can trust.”

Ayra climbed atop me and began to move her hips on her own.

It was hard to believe that just recently she had been a virgin. Her movements were sultry and sensual.

The sway of her body, the cascade of her hair.

I had no choice but to hold her tightly to stop her sudden outbursts. The only time she calmed down was when I was holding her. _{ƒreewebɳovel.com}