Chapter 76: Ch 76. Snake Valley World

Selena stirred slightly in her sleep and opened her eyes when she sensed someone watching her. After blinking a few times, she finally realized the man was Stoner.

This made her sit up, gazing at Stoner, who was already smiling gently.

"Wolf King, what are you doing here?" she asked in surprise, and Stoner kept smiling.

"I’ve been waiting for you to wake up so we can discuss what you did to my second uncle," Stoner said, causing Selena to yawn softly. "I’ve never been able to defeat him because he’s aided by my father and also possesses some dark magic abilities that make him hard to beat. How did you manage to knock him unconscious so easily that you could just throw him in jail, Queen?"

Selena yawned again; she still felt sleepy, but with Stoner there, she couldn’t possibly sleep. Besides, who in their right mind would sleep while being watched by this guy? Why does Stoner have so much free time?

"I just gave him a drug that’s also a poison. He’s in a state where he can’t use any magic within his body, and if he resists, he’ll only hurt himself." Selena shifted lazily.

"Now I’m leaving him in your hands—do with him as you please, even if you want to use him as a hostage. I just slept for a few minutes; I need to rest. Go take care of that man," Selena dismissed him, making Stoner smile softly.

He took Selena’s hand and kissed it with great respect. "Thank you, Selena. You’re truly so kind—you’ve repaid my past wrongs with endless kindness like this. First, you cured my curse, and now you’re helping me find a way to locate my mother. I intend to give you all my wealth in return," Stoner said softly and earnestly.

Selena’s eyes widened and she shook her head quickly; she even pulled her hand away from him with a horrified look.

"Don’t be ridiculous—how could you even think of such a thing? You’re a king; if you have nothing, how will you lead and control your clan?" Selena said, thinking Stoner was being unreasonable.

"I can still be king even if I give you all my wealth. I have nothing more valuable than all of that, which is why I want to give it to you; I hope you won’t refuse it," said Stoner, and Selena shook her head again.

"Don’t bother. I don’t want to manage such a troublesome fortune. Just give me a few boxes of gold bars—that’s enough because I can use them easily. I don’t want to run a business, so there’s no need to give me all your wealth," Selena refused again, with her characteristic stubborn shake of the head.

Stoner smiled, pleased that Selena was a woman who was quite simple and not greedy. She even turned down an offer of wealth hundreds of times greater than those gold bars, claiming she didn’t want the hassle—even though, as the Boss, she really didn’t need to go to all that trouble.

However, Stoner knew forcing Selena wasn’t a good idea. This woman could get really angry and come to hate him, so it would be best to just give her a gift she actually wanted.

"All right, I’ll go. After this, we’ll meet in the conference room with some of the other kings. There’s something about that kidnapping that the commander of the Eagle military forces—who helped you yesterday—wants to discuss. Since we’re also curious about what happened and who he is, we’ll join you too," said Stoner, causing Selena to nod in understanding.

Stoner smiled, then leaned down, intending to kiss Selena. However, she deliberately turned her face away, covering her lips with her hand, causing Stoner to chuckle softly.

"All right, I knew you’d say no. In that case, I’ll go ahead and leave. Go back to sleep—it’s

not even close to noon yet. I’ve already asked the servants to prepare some energy-boosting food—fresh meat and rare game that will be turned into a delicious meal," he replied, causing Selena to raise an eyebrow.

"Why not bring it here?"

"The Wolf servants are preparing it; once it’s ready, they’ll bring it here right away."

Selena nodded. "In that case, go ahead," she replied, then smiled. "Make the most of this opportunity; I’m going back to sleep..."

Stoner nodded, smiling. He turned away and walked off. Selena stretched again, then lay back comfortably and closed her eyes once more. Her ambitions were already different from those of the five men, so she simply let them handle everything.

***

"Your Majesty, the commander of the military forces—the man who saved us yesterday—has arrived. Please get ready; he’s already waiting for you," said Vee as she entered to attend to whatever Selena needed from her.

"Good, I’m also curious about what happened. Why did that black shadow want to trap me? Maybe it thought I was dead," said Selena, and Vee didn’t know what to say. "I’ve already showered and freshened up, so let’s just go there now."

Selena stood up calmly; she didn’t really want to go, but this was a matter of her pride. That black shadow had almost kidnapped her—Selena was lucky the Eagle military forces had arrived in a flash.

"I haven’t prepared any gifts for them yet. I’d better figure out what to give them, since I don’t have much to offer them all," said Selena as she walked.

"Your Majesty, helping one another has been a long-standing custom here. Just because you and the kings have always received gifts from them doesn’t mean others do the same. Besides, it’s their duty to protect the people of Eldoria from enemy attacks—especially since you’re the Queen. Meanwhile, that black shadow is a serious problem because it comes from the world next door," said Vee, silencing Selena.

"You’re right—the Kings gave me gifts because they wanted to persuade me to stay. Damn it, I was fooled by that." Selena snorted, making Vee wince.

"But you could say it’s all worth it—even if you don’t get any emotional fulfillment, you still gain wealth. That way, if we go on an adventure later, you won’t be short on resources," Vee said, making Selena smile.

"You’re right. For now, let me gather as much wealth as I can so that later, when we travel around the world of Eldoria, we’ll already have plenty of riches," said Selena, making Vee smile. "There really are benefits to marrying five incredibly wealthy Kings—at least I get to be rich too."

Vee chuckled softly as she watched Selena speak. She opened the conference room door and escorted Selena inside.

Selena saw her husbands had already risen to greet her, pulling out a chair and making sure she was all right. Their actions made Selena feel as fragile as glass; it seemed that because of what had happened to her yesterday, they were all deeply worried.

Only after making sure Selena was comfortably seated did her husbands sit down, and Selena was finally able to look at a man she didn’t recognize. His attire, however, clearly indicated that he was handsome, well-built, powerful, and very strong.

Oh no, Selena mustn’t let her heart wander toward another man! All the men in Eldoria looked incredibly handsome, so Selena couldn’t let her mind wander as it pleased.

"So, what’s your report, Eagle Squad Leader?" Selena asked, breaking the silence, causing the five men—her first husbands—to look at him with serious expressions.

"Allow me to introduce myself first: I am Janson Hawksen, Your Majesty." The man introduced himself first, causing Selena to nod easily. "That day, after I saved you and continued chasing that figure, he briefly disappeared in the eastern region. We split up to search for him; we’ve been looking for several days now but haven’t been able to find him."

Selena furrowed her brow. "Not a single trace?"

"That’s right," Janson replied, glancing at the kings surrounding him. "But then, after we combed through all the areas and requested assistance from the elite search unit stationed at the Eagle Residence, we uncovered some additional information after they’d been searching for half a day."

"That man is one of the King’s special bodyguards from the neighboring world; he came here intentionally to monitor you, and the prevailing theory is that he arrived right after you awoke with the Healer of Extinction ability. He had planned everything, so as soon as he found you alone with your bodyguard near the forest—which is quite far from the palace—he carried out the kidnapping," he explained at length.

"Which parallel world exactly are you referring to? Name it," Stevan said impatiently.

"The World of Crawling Beasts—because we found a jet-black snake skin at the place where he’d been staying and shedding his skin these past few days," Janson replied, leaving them all speechless. "The Valley of Snakes—he’s a bodyguard of the Snake King; that’s the most likely scenario we’ve considered. Since their king was defeated in battle against our forces a few months ago, perhaps the Snake King is still ill, which is why he sent his guard to kidnap you so he can be healed."

"Ugh, what on earth is all this?! He was defeated on the battlefield against our army, and now he intends to kidnap Selena to cure him? Has he lost his mind?!" John retorted indignantly.

"That is the most likely scenario, Your Majesty the Phoenix King. We will continue to gather information and determine his motives. So until then, please, Your Majesty, do not go anywhere, as the situation remains quite dangerous."