Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan-Chapter 93: Sugar Daddy Snake

The departure party gathered at the edge of the swamp, where the dark, murky water lapped against the shore like cold coffee.

Ren stood shivering in the morning mist. She looked... interesting. After the soap fiasco, her eyes were still red and puffy, making her look like she had either spent the night weeping over a tragic romance novel or had developed a serious allergy to mornings.

Her fashion choices weren’t helping. Since her puffer coat was still a soggy mess, she had scavenged some scraps of cured animal skin from the palace vault. The result was a patchwork bikini-skirt combo that left very little to the imagination.

’I look like Xena: Warrior Princess if she got dressed in the dark and lost half her wardrobe,’ Ren thought, rubbing her bare arms vigorously. ’God, it’s cold. Why is the swamp always a refrigerator? The forest better be a sauna.’

Beside her, Syris looked infuriatingly put-together. He was dry, his long black hair gleaming, and he wore a fresh, tailored black snakeskin robe that shimmered in the dim light. He looked regal, handsome, and clean. The only sign of his stress was the tightness around his amethyst eyes and the faint shadow of fatigue on his pale face.

Ren glanced at Kael. The Tiger King was standing quietly by a cypress tree, his massive arms crossed over his chest. He was wearing a fresh loincloth, and his red eyes were fixed on the water.

’System, check status,’ Ren commanded mentally.

[Subject: Kael] [Health: 21% (Declining)]

Ren bit her lip. ’It dropped another percent. The soup wasn’t a miracle cure. It was just a pause button.’

She felt a surge of urgency. They had to move. Now.

"Viper!" Syris barked. "Load the cargo."

Viper, the loyal right-hand snake, grunted and hoisted a massive, heavy wooden trunk onto his shoulder. He marched down and slammed it into the center of the flat-bottomed wooden boat with a heavy thud. The boat groaned under the weight.

Ren eyed the box. It was huge.

"Syris," Ren asked, her teeth chattering slightly. "What is in that thing? Are we smuggling a body? Did you pack the entire kitchen?"

Syris smoothed his robe, looking pleased with himself. "Supplies, Little Chef. Meat. Waterskins. My best silk robes, because I refuse to sleep on dirt."

He paused, a smirk touching his lips.

"And," he added, "Treasures. Gold. Rare gems. Pearl dust. Payment for the Fox."

Ren’s puffy red eyes widened. Her jaw practically hit the mud.

’Treasures?’

Pure, unadulterated ecstasy flooded her system. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’Oh, thank God! He’s rich! I don’t have to pay!’

She had been sweating bullets about her -3,110 XP debt. She knew that no matter how many "Catch 50 Moths" quests she did on the boat ride, she wouldn’t have enough points to buy even a single packet of salt to bribe Vex. She was destitute. She was bankrupt.

But Syris? Syris was loaded.

’He’s my sugar daddy,’ Ren realized with glee. ’My beautiful, scaly, rich sugar daddy.’

Overwhelmed with relief and appreciation, Ren took a step toward him. She wanted to grab his handsome face and plant a massive, smacking kiss right on his lips. She wanted to hug him until his scales squeaked.

"Syris, you are amazing," she breathed, leaning in.

Then, she felt it.

A gaze. Heavy. Hot. Piercing.

It felt like a laser pointer was burning a hole in the side of her head.

Ren froze mid-pucker.

She slowly turned her head.

Kael was watching her. He hadn’t moved a muscle. He was still standing by the tree, looking calm. But his glowing red eyes were locked onto her and Syris with an intensity that could melt steel beams. His nostrils flared slightly.

’Right,’ Ren thought, effectively doused with cold water. ’Husband Number One is watching. And Husband Number One is currently a feral murder-machine who sees me as his property.’

Kissing another man in front of a tiger who was barely holding onto his sanity seemed like a fantastic way to turn their boat ride into a bloodbath. She didn’t need a thrashing, jealous tiger tipping them into crocodile-infested waters.

Ren pivoted smoothly, turning the kiss into a platonic pat on Syris’ chest.

"I mean it," Ren said, pitching her voice low and sultry, giving Syris a significant look. "Thank you. Really. When this is all over... I will reward you properly."

She let her gaze drop to his lips, then back up to his eyes, adding a little wink.

Syris froze. His pupils diluted instantly. A flush crept up his pale neck. He understood the hint perfectly.

"I... I look forward to it," Syris stammered, clearing his throat and looking away to hide his sudden grin.

"Mistress! Safe travels!" The Albino snake called out from the shore, waving a snakeskin handkerchief she had found somewhere.

"Bye, girls! Don’t burn the kitchen down!" Ren called back.

"Into the boat," Viper grumbled.

They piled in. Viper took the stern, grabbing the long pole to push them off. Syris sat in the middle on the trunk, looking regal. Ren sat near the bow.

She carefully guided Kael to sit down. The boat dipped precariously under his weight before stabilizing. Kael sat on the floorboards, his long legs folded. He looked at the water, then at Ren.

Without a word, he lay down, resting his heavy, white-haired head directly in Ren’s lap. He closed his red eyes and let out a soft huff of air, settling in.

Ren froze for a second, then relaxed, her hand instinctively drifting down to stroke his hair.

As her fingers moved through the thick white strands, she frowned slightly.

’He is so quiet,’ Ren thought, studying his relaxed face. ’Too quiet. Yesterday, trying to get him into the bath was like wrestling a gorilla. But ever since the soup...’

She wasn’t complaining—a calm tiger was better than a chaos tiger—but it felt strange.

’The soup didn’t do anything to cure him,’ Ren reasoned. ’But it must have appeased the beast inside. But how long will it last?’

She looked out at the grey fog rolling over the water. A shiver that had nothing to do with the cold ran down her spine.

’This feels like the calm before the storm,’ she thought grimly, tightening her grip on his hair slightly.

Viper shoved the pole into the mud.

Squelch.

The boat drifted away from the shore, gliding silently into the thick, grey mist of the swamp waters.