Chapter 137: The Mean Husbands

As the night grew darker, they partied even more merrily. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and Maeve was no exception.

In fact, she might have enjoyed herself a little too much.

By the time they finally decided to return to their hut, Maeve had already drunk far more wine than she could handle.

Axan had no choice but to carry her because she could barely stand straight on her own. Meanwhile, Ikarus firmly refused to let her have another drop of wine.

"Why are you so mean?!" Maeve whined, stretching out her arm as she desperately tried to reach for another cup.

Unfortunately for her, Axan was already carrying her away from the party.

Even worse, Ikarus deliberately walked beside Axan, completely blocking Maeve’s view of the wine she was being forced to leave behind.

"You’ll get sick if you drink too much," Ikarus reminded her. "Besides, why are you drinking so much in the first place?"

Maeve tilted her head back to look at him, leaning so far that she nearly slipped out of Axan’s arms.

Axan immediately tightened his hold around her, but Maeve didn’t seem worried about falling at all. Instead, she stared at Ikarus before turning her head to look at Axan.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously because neither of them looked much different from usual.

"Why aren’t you drunk?" Maeve asked.

Her stamina was already as strong as the people of the Azuryn Tribe, and she could even heal her own injuries. So why was she the only one who ended up drunk?

[Just because you have the same stamina as them doesn’t mean your body has the same resistance, Host!] Pinky quickly chimed in.

Before Maeve could ask another question, Axan spoke first. "We might just be used to drinking bad things," he said calmly. "Compared to that, the wine is probably nothing."

Even with only a little bit of clear thought left in her drunken head, Maeve still tried her best to think about his words.

She finally remembered that before she came to this world, the Azuryn Tribe had basically relied on rainwater for drinking.

When there was no rain, they simply drank whatever water they could find on the ground.

And by whatever, she really meant whatever, even dirty puddles.

Maeve fell silent. She suddenly remembered all the things the Azuryn people had probably swallowed over the years without getting sick.

Moments later, she looked at Ikarus. After that, she looked at Axan. "So your stomachs are just stronger than mine?"

Axan thought about it for a moment. "Maybe."

Maeve immediately looked offended. "That’s unfair."

Ikarus let out a soft laugh. "How is that unfair?"

"Because I want to drink more!"

"No." Ikarus answered so quickly that Maeve immediately frowned at him.

"You really are mean," she protested with a pout.

"Yes," Ikarus replied without the slightest hesitation. "You can call me mean tomorrow too."

Maeve opened her mouth, but she couldn’t think of a good argument against that.

So instead, she buried her face against Axan’s chest and mumbled, "I like Axan more."

Axan lowered his eyes toward her, meanwhile Ikarus simply smiled. "Axan is the one carrying you away from the wine."

Maeve immediately lifted her head. She stared at Axan in betrayal and said, "Put me down."

"No."

Maeve gasped. "You’re both mean!" she complained. "I like Cerus more!"

Axan raised one eyebrow. "He wouldn’t dare let you make yourself sick either."

Maeve immediately fell silent. She thought about Cerus for a few seconds before puffing out her cheeks. "Then I don’t like any of you."

Ikarus laughed. "Is that so?"

"Yes."

"But you’re still letting Axan carry you."

Maeve looked down and seemed to realize for the first time that both of her arms were wrapped around Axan’s neck.

She quickly loosened them. "I’m not holding him anymore."

Axan didn’t even react. His arms remained firmly around her body as he continued walking toward their hut.

Maeve stared at him. "Put me down."

"No."

"I can walk."

"No," Axan replied again.

"You don’t know that."

"You almost fell while I was carrying you."

"That was different!"

"How?" Axan asked without using any spesific tone and it made her even more angry.

"I hate you!" She ended up saying that, but her husbands didn’t think about it too much.

Maeve continued complaining all the way back to the hut. First, she complained about Ikarus taking away her wine. Then she complained about Axan refusing to put her down. After that, she somehow started complaining that the path back to the hut was too long, even though she wasn’t the one walking.

By the time they finally reached the hut, Maeve was still mumbling in Axan’s arms. "I could’ve had one more cup."

"No," Ikarus replied.

"Half a cup?"

"No."

"One sip?"

"No."

Maeve narrowed her eyes at him. "You don’t know how to negotiate."

"I’m not negotiating," Ikarus said.

"That’s even worse!"

Axan carried her inside and carefully put her down. The moment her feet touched the floor, Maeve tried to stand, she immediately swayed.

Axan caught her around the waist before she could fall. "See? You can’t even stand straight now."

Maeve let out a small huff, clearly unhappy with his words, but her hand remained tightly wrapped around Axan’s arm for support.

Meanwhile, Ikarus brought over some clean water and a soft cloth. "Take off your clothes," he said.

Maeve gasped and she immediately turned toward him, staring at him with wide eyes. "Pervert! Are you trying to take advantage of me?!"

She quickly crossed both arms over her chest, acting like some poor damsel in distress who had just been dragged away by two suspicious strangers after partying too hard.

Ikarus could only sigh. "I just want to clean you up before you go to bed," he patiently explained. "I’m not going to do anything strange to you."

Maeve stared at him for a few seconds, then her expression became even more shocked. "Why not?!"

Ikarus, on the other hand, was utterly confused because he suddenly couldn’t tell whether she was angry because she thought he wanted to do something to her, or was she angry because he didn’t?

He looked toward Axan as if silently asking for help. Axan, however, seemed completely unwilling to get involved in that problem.

"It’s been a long day. You need to rest," Axan finally said. He gently helped Maeve remove her dirty clothes. "Be good so you can sleep sooner."

Maeve pouted, still looking a little unhappy, but surprisingly, she didn’t protest much after that.

She quietly let Ikarus wipe away the dirt and sweat from her body with the clean cloth. Whenever he asked her to lift an arm or turn slightly, she obediently followed his instructions, although she continued mumbling complaints under her breath.

Once she was clean, they helped her change into fresh clothes. Axan then guided her onto the bed and wrapped the blanket around her until only her head was sticking out.

Maeve blinked at him from inside her little blanket cocoon, meanwhile Axan seemed satisfied with his work.

He lay down beside her, and Maeve immediately moved closer to him without hesitation, as if she hadn’t spent the entire walk back complaining about how mean he was.

A moment later, Ikarus lied behind her. Maeve felt a warm body pressed against her back. Ikarus wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling both her and the blanket closer to his chest.

Maeve blinked sleepily and realized that she was now trapped between Axan and Ikarus.

But strangely, she seemed very happy about it.

She turned her head slightly and tried to look at Ikarus behind her. "Are you still mean?"

"Yes," Ikarus answered.

Maeve frowned. Then she turned toward Axan. "What about you?"

"I’m also mean."

Maeve stared at him in disbelief. "You’re admitting it?"

Axan calmly closed his eyes. "Go to sleep, Maeve."

Maeve wanted to complain again, but a yawn escaped her mouth instead.

Her eyelids were already becoming too heavy to keep open. "Tomorrow..." she mumbled.

Ikarus gently rested his face against the back of her head. "What about tomorrow?"

"I’m going to complain more."

"Alright," he replied calmly.

"A lot more."

Axan hummed. "I’ll listen."

Apparently satisfied with their answers, Maeve finally closed her eyes.

It didn’t take long before the hut became completely quiet. With Axan in front of her and Ikarus holding her from behind, Maeve slept so comfortably that she didn’t wake up even once during the night.

In fact, none of them did.

They had planned to wake up early. Instead, by the time Maeve finally opened her eyes again, sunlight was already pouring into the hut.

She yawned and squirmed before finally trying to get up, only to realize that she was still trapped between them.

The blanket, combined with the warmth of their bodies, made Maeve feel hot.

"Ikarus. Axan. It’s time to wake up!" Maeve said loudly, trying to wake them up. "I think it’s time for us to go back home today!"