Anna watched the smiles on Kai's face, a strange mixture of fear and pity and guilt stirring in her heart.
"Why…" she started, her voice choked up. He tilted his head, curiously, like he was studying an interesting object. Anna swallowed the lump in her throat. "Why did you—"
"Your highness!" A loud shout rang out through the air.
"You! Step away from her immediately!"
"Back down!"
Anna winced, startled at the loud shouts.
Thunderous footsteps rushed up to her. Three guards appeared, two of them with mighty chains that looked best suited to a ships anchor than to a person. Her stomach dropped as she realized who those chains were for.
They bowed deeply. "Accept our apologies! He broke free on our watch!"
Anna opened her mouth to reply but no words would come out. The guard moved fast. They grabbed Kai and wound the chains around him. The clinking of the metal echoed in Anna's head like a forbidden melody.
She watched, helplessly, as the guards dragged Kai away from her.
He didn't argue. Didn't fight. His teeth fell to the ground, and he looked more bummed at that than the chains wrapping around his body.
"Cutie~ you're just gonna watch them take me away?" He laughed, his voice hollow. "Dang~You're so heartless~"
Anna stared at him, her jaw slack and eyes wide in horror.
He was dressed only in a pair of tattered shorts, leaving his upper half bare. His fair skin was littered in scars, some of them fresher than others. He was awfully skinny too, to the point of malnourishment, his ribs jutting out harshly and his arms thin. There were gills on his neck, and pale blue fins on his arms.
And wrapped around his neck was a collar similar to the one on Cael, Thalia's beast husband.
Anna felt sick again, like she was about to throw up.
The guards dragged Kai out. Anna heard his sweet, sing-song voice calling her "cutie, cutie" till he was out of sight.
Only then did the servant who'd brought the news emerge from the bushes, trembling from head to toe and white as snow.
"He's gone. Thank the gods." The man whispered, his voice shaky.
Anna turned to him. "Why did you run?"
The man's face was pale, whiter than snow. "That man…he's a monster! Your highness, forgive me but I don't know why you're still married to him! My apologies! I spoke out of turn! Don't kill me!" He bowed and ran away.
Anna sat in the gazebo, but the sun no longer felt warm, the flowers lost their hues, and she no longer cared about drying her soaked notes.
Like a robot, she got up and walked to where Kai's teeth had fallen, picking them up one by one.
She counted fifteen.
Tears bit her eyes.
Who plucks out fifteen of their teeth and just hands it over like a present?
Princess Orchid, what the fuck did you do to these men?!
Anna carefully wrapped the teeth in her handkerchief and slipped it into her pocket before she raced in the direction of the guards.
She turned down a bend when sounds of commotion reached her sharp ears. She planned to ignore it, but one name froze her in her tracks.
General!
Immediately, she gathered her gown in her hands and ran in the direction of the shouts.
She stumbled upon quite the scene.
In the grand lobby of the palace were some soldiers. Anna easily spotted her husband, Leon among them. But something was wrong.
Deep growls filled the air, and the soldiers appeared to be restraining Leon.
"General! Please come back to us!" They shouted, horror and worry etched on their faces. Some of them had deep claw cuts on their arms and faces.
Anna rushed forward. "What's going on?!" But when her eyes fell on Leon, she understood.
He's glitching again, just like yesterday at the barracks.
She was able to put two and two together, arriving at the conclusion that Leon had a Nanite Corruption flare up.
Leon looked feral. His mane bristled, the softness gone and replaced by sharp spikes. His fangs had elongated, and fur sprouted over his face and hands. One could see that he was transforming into his beast form.
"Let me get to him," she said to the soldiers, her voice trembling with fear. "If he transforms we're all dead!"
Everyone knew that. But it didn't help the looks they threw at Anna. Deep in their hearts, they all hated her. If it weren't to her, their beloved General couldn't be in this state.
Alas, Anna couldn't read minds, she had no idea the soldiers wished for Leon to kill her in his feral state. Instead of voicing their thoughts, they all moved back.
Anna, unassuming, thinking they were just worried about him, whispered her thanks and moved closer to Leon.
"Leon," she whispered to the writhing beastman. His regalia was torn up and dirty, his body underneath was expanding and tearing more of his clothes.
Anna swallowed the fear blooming in her heart as she went down on her knees beside him.
"Leon," she called again, firmer.
He snapped his gaze to her.
She gasped, stumbling back and landing on her butt. His eyes were pools of malevolence. In his human form, he had been able to conceal some of his hatred for her. But now she felt and saw the full rush of it.
"You." He growled, swiping a clawed hand at her face. Anna jerked her head back, narrowly missing half her face ripped off by his sharp claws. Some of her hair caught in the way, and he sliced the strands clean.
Fuck! I'm dead if he touches me!
Panic surged through her veins.
"Get out." Leon growled.
"I can help you, Leon," Anna whispered, her eyes burning. "Please just…let me help,"
He laughed. It was a hollow sound that struck fear into the hearts of everyone, even the servants that were peeking out of the corners a safe distance away.
Leon sat up, he was twice as huge now. Two lion ears sprouted from his head, and his eyes began to change shape, becoming sharper and more beast like. A thick tail ripped out from behind him, slamming into the ground with such force it cracked the marble.
Anna sucked in a sharp, terrified breath.
"Help?" His voice thundered through the air. "I don't need your help. Be gone."
Anna's mind raced for what to do next. It was then her eyes noticed his neck. There was no collar around him.
What? If there's no collar, then it makes sense how he's able to attack me! Why didn't Princess Orchid put a collar on Leon?
She had no time to ponder on plot points. Instead, she focused on her spores. All her thoughts converged on "healing" and her spores turned a soft yellow color. They bloomed into the air, carrying a light, refreshing scent. Some of the soldiers who had mild traces of Corruption sighed blissfully as her spores healed them.
Seeing that it was working, she focused it on Leon.
But the moment she did that, he struck.
He moved fast. One moment he was seated on the floor glaring at her, the next he pushed her into the ground, his claws digging into her shoulders.
"Argh!" Anna screamed as pain shot through her entire body. His claws sliced through her flesh like it was nothing. She felt them in her shoulder bones. "Leon! Leon! Please stop! It hurts!" She screamed, but her voice wasn't getting to him.
"I warned you," he growled in a voice that was more beast than human.
"You're hurting me!" Anna sobbed, tears streaming down her face. Blood pooled around her, the smell of it sweet and sticky, making her feel sick. "You're hurting me…"
[host! Your life is in danger! Use your spores to knock him out! Host!] the system yelled in Anna's head.
Anna wanted to laugh. Barely two days in this place and she's been near death twice.
I can't move…system, I can't move.
[You have to try! You're bleeding to death! Beastblooms don't have fast healing like other beastmen! You'll die! Host please save yourself!]
Anna couldn't produce any spores. The more she bled out, the more darkness filled her vision.
The soldiers and servants watched. Horrified and frozen in place, yet unable, refusing to move forward. No one dared step forward for fear of losing their head. And also because they didn't care that she was bleeding.
Deep down, they were all happy.
Finally, that wicked princess is dead! Praise to the gods! They all thought.
Some of the soldiers who had just been healed by her spores felt guilt. But it didn't last long. Better her than our General, they thought.
Leon roared before transforming into a massive, ten foot tall lion, his claws still buried inside her shoulders. The pain made Anna unable to keep her eyes open.
The last thing she saw before passing out was a flash of blue slam into Leon and rip him away from her. Jagged teeth. A playful laugh. Her blood turning cold. The marble floors are hard and even colder against her back.
I just wanted to help… was what she thought before she blacked out.