New World with Four Husbands

"You seem busy." Jacques hums, eyeing Coco as she drops the tough crocodile on the table.

Coco paused, blinking.

"You've been running around lately and we rarely see you around the village anymore. It's like we turned into secret lovers because we kept hoping to bump into you." Renaldo says, crossing his arms and agreeing with his wife's statement.

Jacques turned to her husband, her eyebrows furrowed. "I thought we won't say that to her? You said that it makes us sound like we're desperate."

Renaldo blinked, a look of embarrassment slowly washing over his face as he realized what his words entailed, and he quickly looked away from Coco. "Forget what I said, Coco. That's not what I meant."

"Aww! They're so cute!" Lala squealed, her wings flapping wildly behind her, "They missed you, Coco! Why don't you spend time with them after talking with your husbands?"

Coco smiled softly to answer the garden fairy's question, agreeing with her suggestion.

"I still have to talk to Mrs. Tani about my departure to the main city and with my husbands, too, but after that, I'm free. How does dinner at the inn sound for you two?" Coco asked, turning around to face them.

"Don't worry." Coco quickly added to her previous statement, "It will be my treat."

Jacques and Renaldo stared at her, astonished at the fact that she will go along with their pathetic musings, even though it was known to her friends that she's busy enough as is.

"You don't have to pay for us." Jacques stammered out, stumbling towards Coco, and grasped her hands, "Actually, it would be better if you can just come over to our house."

"Yeah, so you don't have to pay for anything." Renaldo stated, his eyebrows raising.

"Rey has been lonely, too. I'm sure that he would be happy to see you come over." Jacques backed her husband's statement with her own, squeezing Coco's hands.

"Well, okay, if you don't mind me coming over, then I'll be there for dinner." Coco said, squeezing Jacques' hand in a reassuring manner, "And I miss Rey, too. It's been a while since I last saw him."

"Sounds good!" Jacques beamed at her, smiling brightly.

"Mhmm, it does." Coco hums and slowly lets go of Jacques' hand, "I have to go. I need to give the basket to Mrs. Tani and talk to Zaque and others."

"Okay." Jacques said and walked her to the door, "Just walk to our house, okay? We will be waiting."

Coco just nodded before she exited the shop.

"They really missed you, huh?" The garden fairy commented, perching herself on top of Coco's head.

Lala was right.

Jacques and Renaldo missed hanging out with Coco, but they can't say anything because they know that she's preparing to leave the village.

They do see her walking in and out of the Red Horse Inn and sees her walking through the street to the direction of the village hall, but they never stopped her in fear of bothering her and hindering her busy schedule.

They love Coco, very much so, which is why they did not want to do anything that will disrupt her, but be supportive in the side lines, cheering for her to tackle every obstacle in her way.

While they were giving Coco the sharp, trustworthy butcher knife yesterday afternoon, they could not help, but be proud and happy for her growth— she wasn't like that when she first approached Renaldo.

She was like a clueless and innocent lady when she first knocked on the butcher shop's door a month ago, but now? Now, she's taking her first step.

Renaldo's heart clenched, feeling like he was about to lose Coco, but he knows that she was merely busy because she wants to get a hunter license— the very license that will give her rights to sell the monster meats to the city's market.

He remembered Coco telling him that she wanted to become a hunter because that was all she could do, hunt monsters in the forest.

She expressed how she saw herself at that moment and thinking about it now, he should have deflected that thought because she could do more than hunt monsters, especially when the main source of the village's fresh fruits came from Mrs. Tani.

Mrs. Tani herself has Coco as one of her producers— Coco Hughes, the one and only in Yogusho Village that is located deep in Jire Forest.

Renaldo sighed, shaking his head as he walked over to the table. "I'm guessing that we will cook the last kilo of flying pig's ribs that I put aside yesterday? Since Coco loves pork?"

"That's right." Jacques said, smiling beautifully towards her husband, "I could tell that she will be leaving the village soon so I want to cook something that will make her full, something that will make her think of us when she arrives at the main city."

"Whatever you say, my wife." Renaldo hummed, grabbing his favorite butchering knife by the hooks.

"Oh, and.. We're going to tell her about Jonathan tonight, okay? She has to know before she leaves." Jacques was quick to let her husband know what she was planning for dinner, a twinkle of delight in her eyes.

"That sounds good." Renaldo agreed, nodding his head.

Whatever his wife says, he will follow it, because happy wife, happy life, right?

"Focus on butchering the tough crocodile, okay? I'll go and clean the counter so we can finish early today!" Jacques chirped, walking over to the sink, a skip in every step as she hummed softly to herself.

"Yes, ma'am." Renaldo answered, turning away from his wife and gripping the crocodile's head as tight as he could.

He brought the knife down, putting all the power he could put on the strike, but it wasn't enough to cut off the head of the monster, only leaving a shallow cut.

"I should have asked Coco for help on skinning this thing." Renaldo grumbled, struggling to cut the head off.