Trapped in Beast World: My Husbands Are All Animals! Novel

---- Chapter 57 Our Little Female Is Amazing! Tobias chuckled. "No big deal. How about you make me a roast duck sometime? I haven't had one in forever." He scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed. "Sure, once I finish prepping the herbs I collected, T'll whip one up for you." "Ardenia..." Vesper called. "Yeah?" Ardenia looked back, a smile playing on her lips. "I'm heading up into the mountains. That tree you mentioned before-I'll carry it back." The camphor Ardenia had mentioned earlier was one of the key ingredients for the bug-repelling packs.

She paused, thinking for a moment when Vesper brought it up. "Not today. The sun's blazing, and you're still hurt. Just rest. Besides, I haven't set up the drying tools yet, so even if you carried it back, it wouldn't do any good." ---- Vesper nodded. Seeing the herbs stacked neatly at the entrance, he didn't push it. Instead, he turned and went into Ardenia's cave. Hmm... nobody's around, so I guess I'll just sleep in the little female's bed. Niall, on the other hand, had been whining a bit earlier, but after finishing his meal, he completely vanished.

Only Halden was left, silently doing the dishes over in the kitchen. Ardenia made a point of ignoring him and instead cheerfully went off to weave baskets with Calder and Tobias. Halden's eyes flicked toward the three of them, laughing and chatting. His expression darkened in this scary way. Once he finished washing the dishes, he seemed to make up his mind about something and just stormed into the little woods, disappearing for what felt like forever. ---- Ardenia had actually been keeping an eye on him the whole time.

She saw him in the woods, swinging his claws wildly, chopping branches into thick, short, roughly even pieces. He kept at it for what felt like ages. Then he started hauling the sticks around to the back of the cave, going back and forth dozens of times before finally stopping. Then came the clanging and banging. Ardenia felt curious. She peeked over and saw Halden holding a big rock, driving the sticks he'd prepared into the ground. So this is still for building a fence wall? Looks like Julia sneaking off with my clothes earlier really set Halden off. This guy's always been possessive.

Watching him grunt and huff to himself right now, he's actually kind of cute. Ardenia covered her mouth and tiptoed back, moving as quietly as a shadow. Halden''s hands froze for a moment, and just like that, his mood lightened considerably. ---- Once Tobias had finished organizing all the bamboo, Ardenia got to work weaving. She had already gone over with him exactly how long, thick, and thin each piece needed to be. Tobias was careful, too. He worried that if he just tossed everything together, Ardenia might hurt herself later. So he sorted them all out.

It made them easy to grab and kept her safe. She placed a dozen or so flat strips under her foot to hold them steady. Then her hands moved like fish in water, threading the other pieces through without missing a beat. She even wove in some patterns, and the bamboo seemed to obey her every move. Tobias and Calder just stood there, completely mesmerized. Our little female is amazing! She can do everything! Once Ardenia finished her first piece, Calder couldn't hold back any longer. He started copying her moves, trying to follow along.

---- Whenever Calder made a mistake, Ardenia would correct him. Tobias did the same, and the three of them sat at the cave entrance, spending the whole morning weaving a dozen or so baskets of different sizes. At first, Tobias and Calder's baskets looked a little rough, but by the end, they looked much better. Since they were beginners, Calder kept rubbing his hands raw from the tiny splinters sticking out of the bamboo strips. Ardenia didn't mind at all. She had done this before, so it barely bothered her.

But seeing how much Calder was struggling, and since Tobias had already gotten the hang of it, he didn't make Ardenia weave the rest. "I'll take care of the rest. You go rest for a bit," Tobias said, taking the bamboo strips right out of Ardenia's hands without giving her a chance to refuse. Seeing Tobias insist, Ardenia didn't push back any further. After all, that was exactly how husbands were supposed to be used. Under her guidance, Tobias went on to weave two ---- fruit baskets and a rustic basket for holding utensils. "Not bad.

I never realized you had such nimble hands, Tobias." "What about me, Ardenia?" Calder immediately held up his basket, his expression full of 'say something nice' energy. "Yours is great too, Calder. All of them are really good." Good kids are made with praise, and husbands are no different. Besides, Calder's baskets actually looked nice. He even added little decorative edges, totally showing he had outdone Ardenia. By the time the bamboo baskets were mainly done, Vesper had rested enough. He put on his beast-hide shirt and headed up the mountain alone.

The camphor trees were a bit far from the tribe, so it made sense to go early and get back in time for lunch. ---- With the baskets ready, Ardenia could finally dump out all the herbs they had collected, sort them carefully, and decide which ones should be sun-dried and which ones should be dried in the shade. The sun was high at noon. Calder went back to his fish pond, leaving Tobias to help. Ardenia had promised to make roast duck, but after waiting for awhile at the little slope below, they still hadn't seen a single wild duck.

In the end, Ardenia spotted a pair of wild chickens in the woods. Tobias was already halfway ready to give up. He knew chicken meat never turned out well. No matter how he roasted it, it was always dry and tough.