I Became the Villainess, But My Beast Husbands Can Hear My Mind?!-Chapter 78: A Leader Who’s Afraid to Lead

To be honest, the birth rate in the Vixeria Tribe had always been very low. While other tribes could welcome at least fifty children every year, the Vixeria Tribe only had around forty children in total, and that number had been gathered over many years.

Some beastkins from other tribes even mocked them for it, calling the Vixeria Tribe "the land of the infertile."

But Roxanna actually believed the low birth rate wasn’t because the beastwomen were infertile. Instead, she thought they were simply under too much stress all the time, and their bodies ended up suffering from hormonal problems that made it hard to have children.

"He loved his wife so much, so..." Azul took a deep breath before continuing. "When he found what was left of her body in the forest, he slowly began to lose his mind."

Even worse, Commander Marlow probably never even got the chance to grieve. After Loba and his wife died, the Vixeria Tribe became weak and unstable, and that was when the evil Roxanna stepped in and took over as leader.

[That bitch! She even locked Commander Marlow inside the black hut, even though she knew what he had gone through!] Roxanna thought bitterly. [She really had no heart at all!]

No wonder Commander Marlow had looked at her with so much hatred the moment she opened the door to the black hut.

"If he keeps serving as Commander, he’ll just be trapped in his nightmares," Roxanna finally said. "I think he really needs to rest. So... what do you think I should do?"

Roxanna looked at her husbands one by one, patiently waiting for their answers. She looked lost, because she had never made such an important choice by herself before.

[People have always been the ones telling me what to do. So why am I suddenly the one who has to act like a leader now?!] she groaned in frustration. [The only thing I’m going to do is disappoint them!]

And now that she was sure she wasn’t the evil Roxanna, she actually felt even more afraid because everyone would expect her to be a better leader than her cruel "twin."

So her mind had been filled with countless negative questions.

[What if people get angry because I can’t fulfill my role as a leader properly?]

[Can’t I just give this position to someone else?] Roxanna thought. [There are so many beastkins here who seem more capable than me. What if one of them leads instead? Even my husbands are better than I am!]

Just as Roxanna’s thoughts were spiraling out of control, Zeir reached for her hand and held it tightly. "It’s your choice," he said softly. "We’ll follow you."

Roxanna swallowed hard, because Zeir’s words only made her even more nervous.

"I–I’ve never been a leader before!" Roxanna finally admitted out loud. "What if I make the wrong decision?"

Calen opened his mouth to speak, but Zeir gently stepped in first. "Every leader goes through their first time, and every one of them has made mistakes before. But my wife, that’s how people learn to do things better."

"You can’t expect yourself to be perfect when you have never done all of these things before." His gaze softened as he looked at her. "Don’t be so hard on yourself. If you do make a mistake, we’ll help you fix it."

Roxanna stopped breathing for a second when she heard that.

He... wanted to help her fix her problems?

This was the first time in her life anyone had ever said something like that to her. In the past, people only ever got angry whenever she did something wrong.

Her caretakers, her ex-husband, even her boss, everyone always expected her to do everything right all the time, even when she had never done it before.

Her caretakers once even called her stupid because her shoelaces looked messy. Yet none of them ever showed her how to tie them.

They only mocked her again and again, until one day Roxanna finally figured it out herself by secretly watching other people do it.

So now, in theory... if she still didn’t know how to tie her shoelaces, her husband would actually help her learn instead of mocking her?

"Zeir is right. We’ll always help you," Calen said firmly. "And if you don’t know what to do, we’ll look for the answer together." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Azul nodded. "We won’t let you carry the responsibility alone. If something bad happens, then we’ll face it together."

Roxanna’s chest tightened, and for a moment she thought she might cry. They were so kind to her, something she had never once received in her past life.

This was the first time anyone encouraged her even if she made mistakes. She sniffed a little and said, "But... I promise I won’t ever ask my people to throw you into Mushy Lake."

Azul burst into laughter. "Let’s hope not. But if you ever change your mind, Calen said he’s willing to go."

"I never said that!"

Before they started arguing again, Zeir asked gently, "Alright, Roxanna. What’s your first order as our real leader?"

Since everyone now knew she was different from the old Roxanna, it felt right to treat today as her first true day as leader.

"I want to release Commander Marlow from his position," Roxanna said. "And I’ll give him lighter work instead, like growing vegetables."

"Vegetables?" Calen frowned. "We don’t eat those green things. I like meat."

Roxanna smiled. "But you did eat the vegetables I cooked last time."

"That’s only because your cooking is delicious! I’m not eating grass like a cow!" Calen protested.

"Of course I’d never make you eat grass," Roxanna replied patiently. "Vegetables are different from grass."

Calen still didn’t look convinced. In his mind, anything green was food for cows and goats. He was a dog, so he should eat meat!

Before he could argue again, Azul asked calmly, "Then, who do you think should replace Commander Marlow?"

That was the kind of question Roxanna actually wanted to avoid.