The Villainess Will Live a Good Life

17. The Festivities Continue

Nana woke up early again the next day. She grumbled that the injustice was necessary and would not be often repeated. They wore the same clothes as yesterday, but they all did their hair differently.

Zen left well before them while Amil prepared some breakfast. Nana was curious about Zen's outing, but wasn't about to question him over it. She trusted Zen and there was nothing wrong with him doing his own thing. In fact, Nana encouraged that. Her mates should loosen up and enjoy themselves more.

They waited for Zen to come back before heading out. Amil loaded up another basket in the meanwhile. Nana was ready to cover her losses from the day prior by selling more. Technically, she didn't lose money yesterday. With what they sold at the market before she went shopping, Nana almost broke even. She expected to buy snacks today, but not much merchandise. She may pick up a few things here and there if they were cheap enough or if Amil and Zen showed interest in something.

Zen came back looking somewhat frustrated. He didn't tell much to Nana. The most she got out of him was warnings to be careful of Akito and Karan.

Nana scratched her head and put on her thinking cap. She knew from the novel that Akito ropes Karan into helping him with sketchy business. Karan finds out he was used pretty quickly and vows to end the purple fox if he ever sees him again. Obviously, they were prior to that point in the timeline.

Nana knew that Karan harbored some violent tendencies, but he wasn't reckless about throwing his weight around. Then again, the Karan in the novel was more jaded than the one she interacted with today. The coming year must have been hard on him.

Since she couldn't bet on him being exactly the same as he was in the novel, Nana took Zen's advice. She wouldn't assume anything, but she was going to give Karan a chance.

After visiting Akito, Zen did not receive any answers from his brother. He was, however, able to confirm that his brother was acting suspicious. Zen had assumed he was preparing for the offering, but this year's was the standard one. The offering of fertility would not happen for another year. His feelings soured somewhat at the thought, but he shook it off. That was not an ordeal Zen would willingly involve himself in.

Zen's best guess was his brother using the opportunity to strengthen his foreign ties. According to the hushed whispers of his family, a royal from the City of Dunes was visiting.

Zen sighed and put it towards the back of his mind. He was not so deluded that he believed he could read his older brother that well. Akito's emotions were nearly all faked making it very difficult for anyone to get a read on him. Zen was especially grateful that he did not suffer from the same affliction.

Instead of focusing on what he did not know, Zen came back to the present. Now was a time of enjoyment for most beasts and he wasn't going to bring himself down anymore with those kinds of thoughts. If he had to worry about something now, it'd be the snake male that seemed interested in Nana.

They ran into said male before they entered the Middle. Most beasts gave him a wide berth. If Nana had to guess, it had something to do with his long, black and gold patterned tail. He still wore the same white robe, but it wasn't secured giving Nana a nice peek at some chest muscles.

Looking away in embarrassment, Nana greeted the male, "Good morning, Karan."

"Good morning, Nana," he said cooly.

Amil was the next to say anything. "Why partially shift? You are scaring most beasts," Amil said with slight annoyance.

"That is the point," Karan informed with his tone turning colder.

"It is pretty effective," whistled Nana as she purposefully interrupted the less than friendly exchange. She didn't bother putting on her polite persona. It was too early and she didn't feel like it. Karan wouldn't mind it, and if he did... then he could leave. Nana liked him from the story, but she wasn't Elizabeth. If he didn't like her personality, Nana wasn't going to be something she wasn't. "Are we going together?" Nana asked.