Villainess is being pampered by her beast husbands
Chapter 35 --35

Chapter 35: Chapter-35

She tilted her head, holding the sparrow a bit higher, one brow twitching.

"Why the hell do you feel heavier?"

She narrowed her eyes.

Yeah. No doubt. He did feel heavier in her hand than before. Slightly. Just slightly. But enough for her instincts to notice. And not just heavier—his body looked... plumper?

Her eyes scanned him. The wings, though still scruffy, looked stronger. The feathers less patchy. Even his chirps came with a louder echo than before.

"...Are you growing?" she muttered suspiciously.

It didn’t make sense. He’d barely eaten. Maybe one or two berries she reluctantly tossed his way out of boredom. No meat. No proper food.

So how in the hell was he alive, loud, and fat?

Was he eating in his sleep?

Or...

Her eyes narrowed.

Was he leeching off her?

The pitiful bird looked up at Kaya’s calculating gaze and shivered. Just a little. Just enough.

In his small, fluttery head, a storm of dangerous thoughts spun like a tornado.

Was this it?

Was she really about to throw him into a lion’s mouth?

Or worse... was she thinking of cooking him another way?

His tiny beak twitched.

Maybe roasted with some wild herbs?

Or boiled slowly while she watched with those dead-serious eyes of hers?

He gulped—or whatever counted as a gulp for a bird like him—and shrank further into her palm.

’Damn it,’ he thought. ’Why did I even open my mouth?’

He could’ve stayed with the vultures. Vultures. Yeah, sure, they were violent. They’d probably have smacked him around, maybe plucked a few feathers out for fun. But that was it.

Straightforward pain.

This woman though... she was in a league of her own.

She tortured his body with rough handling, yes, but worse—so much worse—she tortured his mind.

Every second near her was like playing a never-ending game of "Will she roast me or not?" and frankly, he was losing it.

Truly, in all his short, miserable, feathery life... he had never met a female this terrifying.

.

.

.

Being with Cutie had its perks. Ever since Kaya started traveling with him, finding safe places to sleep wasn’t a problem anymore. The little guy somehow always knew where to find dry caves, hidden shelters, and even fruit trees overflowing with food. Because of him, she hadn’t needed to roast that annoying sparrow or the snake yet.

But still, she wasn’t some kind of hoarder snake to keep them tucked in her pocket all the time. So whenever she stopped to rest, she’d place both the snake and the sparrow on the ground and trap them under a basket, weighing it down with a rock.

"Stay there," she’d mutter, more out of habit than threat. "Don’t make me turn you into soup."

Strangely, the snake never even tried to escape. Not once. It just lay there quietly, eyes half-lidded, like it was waiting for something. It was too calm. Suspiciously calm.

And then there was the weirdest part—every time she picked them up again, they felt heavier. Not by much, maybe ten grams more, but definitely noticeable. She squinted at them one day, frowning.

"Did you eat something? I didn’t feed you anything."

What was even stranger was their size. They were growing. Not over weeks or months—minutes. The sparrow, for example, was now the size of a fat hen. She blinked at it in disbelief, then glanced down at the snake.

"You too?" she muttered, narrowing her eyes. "You were barely a noodle before, now you’re halfway to becoming a belt."

The snake blinked slowly, unbothered. Kaya scratched her head.

"What kind of cursed zoo did I pick you two from?" she mumbled, genuinely baffled now.

There had to be something going on, but for now, she was out of ideas. All she knew was, whatever these creatures were, they weren’t normal. And she wasn’t sure yet if that was a good thing—or a disaster waiting to happen.

One night, as Kaya lay asleep inside the cave, a strange sensation washed over her. A shadow loomed above her—unmoving but heavy. It felt like something, or someone, was staring directly at her, cold and unblinking. Her entire body froze.

The air grew thick with murderous intent—so dense, so suffocating, that she couldn’t even open her eyes. She tried to move, to twitch a finger or shift her leg, but nothing responded. It was as if she had been paralyzed, trapped inside her own body while invisible eyes watched her.

All night long, she lay like that, helpless beneath that ominous presence. And then, finally, as the faint golden light of dawn crept into the cave, the pressure lifted. She gasped softly, her limbs suddenly hers again. When she opened her eyes, there was nothing—no shadow, no figure—just silence.

Except... the basket. The stone that had held it in place had rolled to the side, and the lid was askew.

Her gaze dropped to the snake, now coiled neatly outside the basket, still and harmless. Her brows furrowed. When the hell did he get out? She didn’t remember freeing him. She couldn’t even tell if what had happened last night was a dream or terrifying reality.

Wiping her face and exhaling sharply, she mumbled to herself, "What the hell was that...?"

Shaking the feeling off, she stepped outside the cave. Morning sunlight kissed the forest edge, and there he was—Cutie, arms full of thick branches, dragging firewood with that ever-serious face of his.

As soon as he saw her, his brows relaxed slightly. "Ah, you’re up," he said casually, but after taking a few steps toward her, he paused.

His nose twitched.

That scent again. But this time—it was stronger.

He turned his head slowly and looked at the snake lying peacefully near the entrance of the cave. His warm gaze turned icy cold.

Cutie narrowed his eyes at the snake, and then shifted his gaze to the sky, as if calculating something. His voice dropped when he asked, "Are you alright?"

Kaya rubbed her neck, the phantom feeling of that gaze still fresh on her skin. "Yeah," she muttered, forcing a smile. "Just... a little tired."