At that moment, Saning's voice suddenly came from behind her. "Greetings, Master Miliano."
Fannie froze on the spot and asked without thinking, "Who?"
When Saning saw that Fannie was standing a little too close to Miliano, she calmly stepped forward, gently pulled her back a little, and whispered, "That is Master Miliano, not the leader."
So embarrassing!
No one had told her that the two leopards shared the same face.
Fannie felt so awkward that she could dig out a whole house with her toes.
Just a moment ago she was glad that Miliano wasn't in the tribe, and the next moment he suddenly appeared. Wasn't this joy turning into sorrow?
Seeing Miliano's cold aura that seemed to say "don't mess with me," Fannie had a bad feeling. Living in the same cave with such a cold big leopard would not be easy!
Miliano not only had no expression on his face, even his voice carried no emotion. His gaze locked tightly on the female before him as he slowly asked, "You are the stray beast Alessio brought back from outside?"
Fannie argued, "I am not a stray beast."
Miliano looked at her thin body and gave a mocking laugh. His icy eyes were full of disdain as he said coldly, "Alessio is simple and kind. You are not the first stray he has brought back. You'd better be honest. What did you do to Alessio that made him choose you as his mate?"
Fannie raised her voice, "I'll say it again, I am not a stray beast!"
As a powerful eighth-rank leopard beastman, Miliano had an extraordinary sense of smell.
Even when facing enemies who could perfectly take human form, he could still tell their beast type by scent.
But right now, the sense of smell he had always been so proud of was failing him on this female beastman!
"What kind of beast are you really?"
Miliano stepped closer and closer to Fannie, his icy blue eyes shining with dangerous light. "Why are you near Alessio? What is your purpose? Speak!"
The killing intent in Miliano's eyes terrified Fannie. She felt like in the next moment he might turn into a huge leopard and tear her apart.
She couldn't help but step back several steps. Forcing courage into her voice, she said, "If you want to know something, just ask Alessio. He will naturally tell you."
Miliano saw all her fear and panic clearly. After stepping into the cave, he stopped and stared at her, his tone even harsher. "Right now, I am asking you!"
Fannie prayed silently that Alessio would come back soon.
If he didn't return quickly, she might never be seen again.
"What kind of beast are you?"
"Two-legged beast."
"What beast?"
"Two-legged beast!" Fannie repeated.
Miliano had never heard of such a beast. "Your horns? Show me!"
Fannie was stunned, then hesitantly stretched out one foot.
Miliano frowned slightly without showing it. "I said your horns, not your foot!"
Fannie stared at him blankly. "But… this is my foot!"
She thought it was strange. Why did he suddenly want to see her foot?
Miliano's face grew darker, his voice carrying anger. "Are you mocking me?"
Fannie wanted to explain, but before she could speak, Saning quickly pulled her aside.
Saning leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Master Miliano wants to see the horns on your head, not your foot."
Fannie was still confused. "Horns… on my head?"
"Yes."
Saning nodded gently.
Fannie turned her head to Miliano and asked again, "You want to see the horns on my head?"
Miliano asked back, "What else?"
At that moment, Fannie finally understood.
So Miliano had misheard "two-legged beast" as "two-horned beast," which was why he kept asking to see her horns.
She quickly explained, "You misunderstood me. I said two-legged beast, not two-horned beast!"
When Fannie said "leg," she stretched out one leg. When she said "horn," she touched her own head.
If she hadn't explained, it would have been fine.
But after doing this, the dangerous look in Miliano's eyes became even stronger.
He stared at Fannie and said one word at a time, "Now I can be sure, you are mocking me!"
Seeing this, Fannie quickly hid behind Saning, only showing her round little head, but still spoke stubbornly, "There are skies beyond skies, and beasts beyond beasts."
"Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It only shows you are ignorant and haven't seen the world. Why do you insist I'm lying?"
"I really am a true two-legged beast, a two-legged beast with beautiful legs!"
Over the years, Miliano had traveled far and wide and seen many things.
But he had never heard of a beast race called "two-legged beast."
To avoid wrongly accusing Fannie, Miliano demanded she show her beast form in front of him to prove what she said was true.
"You are not my mate. Why should I beast-transform just because you told me to?"
"Because Alessio is my younger brother!"
"If you don't like me, just say it. Why make things hard for me? Do you think I want to live under the same roof with you? Saning, let's go!"
Fannie actually wanted to give Miliano a big transformation, but the problem was—she couldn't!
It was better to stay far away from him.
Survival came first.
After running safely out of the cave, Fannie took a deep breath, feeling the air around her become fresh again.
The tense and suffocating atmosphere inside the cave had made it hard for her to breathe. Now at last she could relax. She turned to Saning and sighed. "You were right. He came back and immediately picked on me. He really isn't easy to get along with!"
Saning felt upset too. Her words were full of confusion. "Master Miliano wasn't like this before…"
Fannie waved her hand, cutting her off.
Miliano had targeted her the moment he came back. Clearly, he didn't accept her as the leader's mate. Maybe he was even planning to whisper in Alessio's ear to drive her out of the tribe.
"Alright, stop defending him."
"I already know what kind of beast he is."
"From now on, I'll try to avoid him as much as possible. If I can't fight him, I can at least stay away from him, can't I?"
Fannie shook her head hard and strode forward, as if she wanted to throw away all her worries about Miliano.
Batuya was the youngest daughter of Elder Bagu, and she was known as the most beautiful female leopard in the tribe. She was also the one most likely to become Alessio's mate—at least in Batuya's eyes.
Batuya had happily been waiting for Alessio's mating season to come, but unexpectedly, a stray beast took her place halfway through. The anger made her skip several meals.
When she saw Fannie walking outside, Batuya couldn't hold back. She blocked her path, her eyes full of disdain and provocation, not treating the leader's mate as anyone important at all.
"With your body, you can't bear the strength of the leader. If you're smart, you'll leave on your own. Otherwise, you will pay a heavy price!"
Batuya was tall and strong. As a fourth-rank female leopard, her power could not be ignored.
The leopard print on her forehead was the mark of her identity.
From height to build, in every way, she was perfect in the eyes of beastmen, truly the best of the best.
Because of this, Batuya's heart was filled with pride and arrogance.
She was already so outstanding and beautiful, yet the leader did not choose her. Instead, he chose a weak stray as his mate.
This was a heavy blow to Batuya. How was she worse than that stray?
On her way here, Fannie had passed several female leopard beastmen.
Although they were not friendly toward her, at most they only gave her cold or mocking looks. None of them dared to speak such harsh words in front of her, let alone try to drive her away directly.
But now, the female leopard in a beast skirt standing before her dared to act so boldly. Clearly, she had strong backing and confidence behind her.
Fannie stayed in the tribe for one purpose—to have children, not to compete with females.
So when Batuya tried to drive her away, Fannie only smiled calmly, not taking it to heart.
After all, Alessio was the leader of this tribe, and in her belly she carried the most important "trump card."
With Alessio's protection, no one had the right to drive her out.
Saning frowned slightly. Meeting Batuya's hostile gaze, she spoke calmly with a hint of displeasure: "Miss Batuya, even if you are Elder Bagu's daughter, you cannot speak to the leader's mate like this!"
Fannie thought to herself: No wonder she doesn't respect me. She's the daughter of the tribe elder. That does give her confidence.
In Batuya's eyes, Saning was nothing but a lowly, pitiful worm.
If the tribe hadn't taken her in, she would have long ago ended up in some beast's stomach.
And now she dared to argue with her? Did she really think she could act without restraint just because she had a backer?
Batuya's face showed disdain as she mocked, "You are just a stray abandoned by your own tribe. Our tribe took you in, so you should be grateful! You know my father is an elder, yet you dare speak to me like this. Believe it or not, I can drive you out right now!"
Saning trembled as if struck by lightning. Her weakness had been hit. She bit her lip tightly and could not say a single word in reply.
Fannie, however, was a just two-legged beast. Saning had spoken up for her and offended Batuya, so of course Fannie could not sit by. She spat out two words: "Don't believe!"
Even if Batuya disliked Fannie, she could not deny that she was Alessio's mate.
If they were outside the tribe with no witnesses, Batuya would definitely teach Fannie what it meant to be a stray!
But here inside the tribe, Batuya knew clearly that if she acted against Fannie out of anger, the leader would punish her.
She could only force down her anger, glaring hard at Fannie, and shouted angrily: "You are also a stray! Both of you are strays! Both of you are pitiful worms that no tribe wants!"
Fannie did not get angry. Instead, she smiled.
Batuya widened her eyes at her, furious. "You pitiful worm, what are you smiling at?"
Fannie quickly put away her smile and spoke seriously: "I am Alessio's mate, the leader's wife of this tribe. You dare talk to me like this, aren't you afraid I'll complain to Alessio and let him punish you?"
Batuya sneered coldly: "My father is the tribe elder. The leader respects him very much. He won't be fooled by you!"
Fannie said, "Your father earns respect because of his actions. But if his daughter, you Miss Batuya, dares to insult the leader's wife and even wants to drive her out of the tribe, do you think Elder Bagu would take your side, or mine?"
Batuya answered proudly: "I am my father's most beloved daughter. He will always stand by me!"
Fannie asked: "Even if it means driving out the leader's wife?"
Of course Batuya would not tell this stray, who had stolen the leader she loved, that her father had advised her to give up after Alessio chose his mate. Instead, she shouted angrily: "You stray of unknown origin! With such a weak body, you can't possibly give the leader children. You don't deserve to be our leader's wife!"
Who said she couldn't give Alessio children?
Fannie placed her hand on her belly. She wasn't sure if it would be two legs or four, but there was indeed a new life inside.
Just as she was about to play this trump card, the system suddenly gave her a new mission: "Turn enemy into friend! Target—Batuya!"
Fannie almost fainted.
This broken system really knew when to throw a task at her!
Why not wait until she was already fighting Batuya before giving her this mission?
Batuya hated her, treated her like a thorn in her eye, and only wanted to drive her out.
How could she possibly win her over?
Fannie calmed herself and quickly thought about how to deal with this situation.
It was obvious Batuya only targeted her because she liked Alessio. If she wanted to turn enemies into friends, maybe the only way was to hand Alessio over to Batuya…
Suddenly, an idea flashed through Fannie's mind.
She immediately put on a sincere and friendly expression, blinked her big eyes full of innocence, and said softly, "Sister Batuya, you misunderstood me. I know you like the leader. I am willing to share the leader with you!"
Batuya couldn't believe her ears. Shocked, she asked: "What did you just say?"
Fannie blinked again, looking straight into Batuya's surprised eyes, and repeated clearly: "Sister Batuya, I am willing to share the leader with you!"
Batuya froze for a moment, completely confused. "You are willing to share the leader with me?"
Fannie nodded firmly. "I am willing!"
Batuya finally understood.
This stray must be scared, afraid of being driven out of the tribe, so she was lowering her head and trying to please her.
"You're just afraid, aren't you?" Batuya's face showed a trace of pride, almost forgetting herself. But her attitude was much better than before. "Since you've bowed your head, it shows you already know my strength. As long as you listen to everything I say from now on, I can be generous and let you stay in the tribe for now."