The Villainess Will Live a Good Life

31. False Alarm?

Nana put away some of the light kon, and gave Elizabeth the last one. The woman tried to give it back, but Nana waved her off. Zen, Amil, and even Troy looked at Nana in disbelief. Zen and Amil had the audacity to check her temperature.

Talk about overreacting. Nana was allowed to give a gift to someone outside her family. It only meant something if she was giving it to a male.

"Thank you." Elizabeth blinked away some moisture in her eyes. She had not known Nana long, but she knew she was pretty stingy. The gift meant a lot even if it made her uncomfortable to receive yet another thing. "I'll work hard to repay you," she swore.

Nana's eyebrow twitched. It wasn't that big of a deal. Nana just thought Elizabeth needed a distraction and a glowing fantasy stone sounded good to Nana. It wasn't wasteful since Elizabeth had cruddy human eyes and couldn't see well during dusk and nighttime. They had candles, but light kon was more practical since it didn't give off heat or smell.

Kaito came back soon and they started preparing dinner. He learned of her gift giving and gave Nana a concerned look. Nana huffed at how ridiculous that was. She wasn't that bad of a wealth hoarder. She could spend sometimes. It wasn't like it was just for herself either.

Kaito and Elizabeth joined them for dinner as usual. Kaito had once brought up how their behaviors weren't usual or something or other. Back then, Nana had given him a look and used her hands to motion towards herself and then Elizabeth. She didn't have to voice the question since Kaito had got it. His deep sigh was telling enough.

Nana was an odd one, but Elizabeth was completely out of place. No one should be surprised that the two coming together would lead to abnormal practices. Elizabeth was definitely less stressed around Nana and Kaito wasn't going to ruin that.

While they ate dinner happily, Nana was hit by the irony. Elizabeth in the novel annoyed her a lot. Enough that Nana preferred the idea of avoiding her. But after hanging out around her, Nana felt like the novel's Elizabeth was put in a really poor position. It wasn't that she was unwilling to learn, Akito simply fueled her fear too much for her to experience the world with confidence or comfort.

This Elizabeth was actively trying to understand her situation, even if a part of her was still in denial over it. She was adapting. Not fast, but steadily. Nana could live with that.

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked awkwardly as she set her wooden fork down.

Oops, Nana was staring. "Not much." Nana hummed.

Nobody believed Nana. Especially her males. Some of which weren't so happy that the female was getting so much of Nana's attention on top of receiving a gift. One acknowledged his jealousy forthright. Another one had no sense of envy and simply went up to Nana's side. Jealous male number one pulled him back with his tail.

Amil watched the antics, but was busy cleaning up Tashi's barf and couldn't join. Why his cubs sometimes ate like their food would be stolen from them was beyond him. Zen understood that tensions were high and sat out the unspoken competition.

Seeing his opportunity, Troy relocated to directly behind Nana. His victory was confirmed by the whining bear and glaring snake. He proudly placed a newly filled plate in front of Nana.

Nana tried to give him a look that conveyed 'what,' but he placed this world's equivalent of a baked potato wedge in her mouth. She wasn't about to spit it out, so Nana chewed it. The small action lit a fire in the eyes of the males around her and Nana gulped the food down. They were going to stuff her to the gills again, weren't they? Troy ruffled her hair and Nana resigned herself. It wasn't the worst fate.