Free Web NovelChapter 32: Episode 032: Will Teach You Manners
Caius blinked.
"Could you convince Knox to come here with some of his elders?" Rue asked smoothly. She dropped her hands and stepped back, smoothing down the front of her pink dress. "I have something to propose to them. It will help us leave here earlier."
Caius frowned deeply. His protective instincts flared instantly. "We could leave here anytime you want. I will tear through their gates right now."
"Too bad I don’t want that," Rue chuckling, flashing him a pained smile.
Caius groaned. His face looked incredibly gaunt. The exhaustion of fighting, traveling, and dealing with massive jungle cats was finally catching up to his sharp features. He ran a heavy hand through his dark hair, looking at her like she was the most confusing puzzle in the entire Beastworld. But he didn’t argue. He turned around and walked out the door.
Exactly two minutes later, Caius walked back in.
Knox followed right behind him. The Black Panther King stepped into the bedroom, his face completely unreadable.
Four older male panther elders trailed closely behind their King. They were incredibly massive, their skins dark but with riddled with scars under their fur coat. They looked like seasoned killers who had survived decades of brutal territory wars.
The elders immediately looked at her with scorn.
They did not bow. They did not offer a polite greeting. They simply stepped into the middle of the room, squared their broad shoulders, and unleashed their Panther Fear Aura.
In hopes that she would cower in fear.
The air in the bedroom instantly turned incredibly heavy. It felt like all the oxygen was suddenly sucked out of the space. The invisible aura carried the sharp, metallic scent of fresh blood and dark jungle nights. It was a biological weapon. It was specifically designed to paralyze prey beasts, forcing their hearts to stop beating from sheer terror.
Rue sat down on the edge of the stone bed. She narrowed her pink eyes at them in absolute disinterest.
She was not bothered one bit. freeweɓnøvel.com
It wasn’t because she didn’t feel the fear. Her bunny body definitely felt it. Her small heart kicked against her ribs, and her hands turned cold. But her human mind completely overrode the biology. She was annoyed. She didn’t ask to be here. She didn’t pack her bags and book a vacation to the Nightwhisper Jungle.
Why are they trying to scare me? Rue thought clinically. This is entirely their fault.
Rue cleared her throat. The small, highly polite sound cut right through the heavy, terrifying predator aura.
"There is no reason for you to intimidate me," Rue spat out. Her voice was perfectly flat and completely devoid of panic.
The four elders blinked, completely thrown off by the calm response.
"Your King was the one who took me against my own will into your territory," Rue continued, pointing a small finger at Knox. "He should have thought about the consequences. If he didn’t do it, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now."
The elders froze. Their arrogant scowls slipped off their faces. A tiny, frail prey female had just scolded the highest council of the Nightwhisper Jungle like they were misbehaving toddlers.
They looked at themselves. They quickly shifted their black eyes away, completely refusing to look directly at Knox.
Knox stood silently near the bed. He crossed his thick, heavily muscled arms over his broad chest. He looked at the elders with incredibly cold, deadly golden eyes. The silent threat was crystal clear. The elders swallowed hard. They didn’t dare to look at their King. They remembered very clearly that Knox had effortlessly snapped a female elder’s neck just yesterday for speaking out of line. It was something they never thought he would actually dare to do.
They quickly behaved. The suffocating, heavy fear aura vanished entirely from the room.
Now that they were calm and actually willing to listen, Rue took a slow breath.
She felt incredibly reluctant. Her stomach tied itself into a tight knot. She was scared it wouldn’t work. She was scared it would only cause massive political problems. Back on Earth, she had absolutely no interest in politics. She hated public speaking. She just wanted to live a quiet life and sleep. But now, in this brutal Beastworld, she had absolutely zero choice. If she didn’t fix this, the system would penalize her again, and Knox would continue to be a massive problem.
She had a child to protect now. She had to step up.
"You have a major problem," Rue began, folding her hands neatly in her lap. She pointed the facts out completely calmly. "You hide in this jungle. You refuse to interact with the outside world. Because of that, your economy is completely dead."
The elders bristled at the insult, but a sharp, warning glare from Knox kept their mouths firmly shut.
"You have incredible resources," Rue continued. She gestured toward the beautiful, highly detailed ironwood crib sitting in the corner. "You have rare wood. You have rare furs. You have things the rest of the Beastworld wants to buy. But you cannot trade if you kill everyone who looks at you. You need to expose yourselves to the open world to thrive. You need to attend the Full Moon Festival at the Convergence."
Caius walked across the room. The Left General of the Swamps stood directly behind the left side of Rue’s chair.
Knox moved silently. The Black Panther King stepped up and stood directly behind the right side of Rue’s chair.
The two apex predators crossed their arms at the exact same time. They looked exactly like two highly lethal, ridiculously overprotective bodyguards. The visual impact was terrifying. The elders stared at the bizarre sight of a snake and a panther actively guarding a rabbit.
One of the older elders, a male with a torn left ear, finally stepped forward. He could not hold his tongue any longer. He sneered, baring his long, yellow fangs.
"And how exactly do we do that?" the elder demanded bitterly. "How exactly do we walk into the Convergence without the prey running for their lives? We are apex hunters. When they run, their fear triggers our biology. It causes us to hunt them. It is a natural reaction. We cannot simply walk through a crowded market." freёwebnovel.com
The stone room fell completely silent. The elder had raised the exact biological problem that kept the Panthers isolated for centuries.
The system flared a bright, silent blue in the corner of Rue’s vision, waiting for her answer.
Rue looked at the angry, scarred old panther. She didn’t blink. She didn’t back down.
"I am going to teach you manners."
