The Villainess Will Live a Good Life

24. Secret Spilled

Days passed since Nana confronted the female in the market. She did not visit again and waited for the dust to settle first. Instead, Zen went to gather information.

His report essentially said that Ada was experiencing something akin to being blacklisted. No one would do business with her or her males. No fox would associate with her unless it was to harass her. Her fox mate was no longer her mate due to societal pressure. And she was essentially lectured by a royal and effectively threatened. It was only a matter of time before Ada left the city or stirred up another incident that would force her out.

Nana felt like staying out of trouble, so her only public appearance for the next month was at the lake. Her bikini style swimsuit caught a lot of attention from both males and females. The latter would even come up to her to ask about it. Nana preferred to be left in peace, but she didn't mind sharing what material it was made from. The design, however, she kept to herself.

Her top was not especially fancy compared to some earth swimsuits. It was a tube top design, but had straps to help hold it in place. Her bottoms were a two piece set including an underwear cut piece and a upper-thigh length skirt over the top of it. Since it was skin and not fabric, it did not dye and remained a medium grey in color.

Nana usually came to the lake with Karan and Dakotah. Both males liked the water so they always accompanied her. Her cubs were allowed to play in the shallows if supervised. Dakotah would mostly babysit and Karan would swim with her. Sometimes, he would shift and let her ride on his back as he went. Nana loved that.

Karan was elated that Nana liked swimming with him. She actually came to him to ask and he was more than happy to comply. He hoped that she would keep enjoying his company.

Nana lounged on Karan's back while looking up at the bright sky. Despite there being no sign of rain clouds, Nana felt like it would rain soon. Looking across the water, Nana could see the wide berth the rest of the beasts gave them.

It's not like they were all prejudice or fearful towards snakes. A lot of the females were, but most males were weary of Karan's strength more than his clan. Nana liked not being bothered by any of them and committed to her relaxation.

When the weather did start changing, they got ready to leave. Karan took a minute to go check their fishing baskets while the rest of them stayed where they were. Her cubs licked the water off her ankles and calves tickling her like crazy. She danced around them and they took it as an invitation to play. Dakotah tried to join, but Nana did her best to avoid him. There was no possible way that his licks were as innocent as her cubs'.

Nana's cries attracted attention that she didn't want. In her moment of distraction, she got bear hugged by her bear male. "Okay, I lose." Nana forfeited easily. Dakotah stuck his tongue out, but didn't get further before Nana intercepted it with her hand. "No," she said firmly.

"Aww," Dakotah whined in a muffled voice. "The cubs get to..."

"They do." Nana thought about how to make him happy. "But you get to carry me home."

Dakotah immediately perked up and positioned her in his arms more comfortably. Karan came back to find them waiting for him. A part of him was warm since no one had ever waited for him in the past. The other part was somewhat irritated to see Nana in the bear male's arms.

"Karan, you coming?" Nana asked.

His negative thoughts dispersed immediately. "Yes." He knew that he was joining a family which meant there were things he had to accept. He was lucky enough that he found a female who wanted him around and even luckier that she continued to give attention to him. He slithered up to their sides as the growing cubs pounced on his tail.