Watching her beast husbands and children nearly come to blows over a spot in her lap, Nina could only laugh helplessly.

What was there to fight over?

The beast husbands stubbornly clung to her, refusing to move no matter what. The children tugged and pulled with all their strength, yet still couldn’t drag them away.

In the end, they could only turn to Nina for help.

With wide, watery eyes full of grievance, the little ones looked at her pitifully.

"Mother, hurry and chase the bad fathers away!"

Those awful old men already stole their toys—now they were stealing Mother too.

Nina could never bear to see the children upset. She looked at the males and sighed. "You should get down first."

The children immediately glared triumphantly at the beast husbands.

Hear that? Mother told you to move.

The males reluctantly climbed down.

No matter what, they had to listen to Nina.

They glared back at the children in return.

Hmph. You little brats are already this big and still clinging to Nina’s lap all day.

The beast husbands exchanged meaningful looks, then slowly turned toward the children.

Something dangerous was clearly brewing in their minds.

A chill instantly ran down the children’s backs.

Why did it suddenly feel like the bad fathers were plotting something?

From that moment on, the children refused to leave Nina’s arms at all, openly staking their claim right in front of the males.

The beast husbands clicked their tongues and dispersed to occupy themselves elsewhere.

***

It wasn’t until evening, when it was finally time to wash up, that the children unwillingly climbed out of Nina’s lap and allowed their respective fathers to carry them away for baths.

Meanwhile, Odian—who had spent the entire day working—quietly whisked Nina away again.

The beast husbands carried the children to the temporary bathing area they had set up nearby.

Before long, miserable cries began echoing through the bathhouse one after another.

"Ahhh! Stupid father, the water’s too hot!"

"Bad father, the brush is too hard—it hurts!"

"Bad father, gentler! You’re going to scrub all my fur off!"

The beast husbands grinned wickedly and showed absolutely no mercy, scrubbing the children thoroughly with ruthless enthusiasm.

Weren’t you all acting pretty bold during the day?

Mimi covered her little face in sympathy. "My brothers are so pitiful..."

Then she turned to Lex and Dian.

Lex immediately gentled his touch. "Mimi, is this pressure okay?"

Dian carefully tested the water temperature. "Mimi, is this warm enough?"

Mimi nodded happily, splashing the water with delight.

Normally, she didn’t need much cleaning anyway; usually, wiping her face was enough. Occasionally, she liked having her back cleaned, and whenever a proper bath was needed, Nina always handled it herself.

Lex and Dian wiped the sweat from their brows in relief.

Mimi was a little female cub—how could they possibly dare treat her roughly?

While screams echoed endlessly from one bathhouse, the atmosphere in Nina’s private bath was... considerably more intimate.

Odian coaxed and sweet-talked Nina all the way there.

Now he had her pressed gently against the edge of the bathing tub, kissing her deeply as ripples spread endlessly through the water beneath them...

***

After washing and drying the children, the beast husbands carried them back to the cave to sleep.

The children, however, had been bottling up their grievances the entire time, fully prepared to complain to Nina the moment she returned.

They waited and waited.

Only after a long while did Odian finally carry Nina back inside.

Her eyes shimmered softly, and a rosy flush still lingered across her cheeks.

The beast husbands took one look and immediately understood what had happened.

Their expressions darkened with irritation.

That damned phoenix snuck ahead again.

The moment the children saw Nina return, tears instantly welled up in their eyes.

Pointing accusing fingers at the beast husbands, they cried out, "Mother, the fathers bullied us!"

Nina patted Odian lightly, and he lowered her onto the soft furs.

She gathered the children into her arms. "What happened to my little ones?"

The children glared furiously at the beast husbands.

"They didn’t wash us properly!"

Nina immediately guessed the truth and sighed helplessly. "Mm, Mother understands. Should Mother punish them for you?"

Honestly, the beast husbands were far too childish.

How old were they already, still competing with children like this?

The children nodded vigorously.

"Yes! Mother, punish them properly!"

"Alright, time for sleep."

Nina settled the children down onto the soft furs, then looked toward the beast husbands. "Tonight, you’re the ones telling bedtime stories."

The males sat beside the children and began recounting stories one after another...

***

The night passed quietly.

The next day, once Odian finished the final touches on the teleportation array, everyone stepped inside and crossed a vast distance in an instant.

After arriving, Odian surveyed the surrounding landscape before turning to Lex. "Lex, do you recognize this place? How much farther until we reach Sea Blue City?"

Lex looked around carefully before nodding. "I do. We’re not too far now. At our current pace, probably another ten days or so."

Since they weren’t rushing their journey and took plenty of time to rest, their speed was relatively relaxed.

Nina didn’t want everyone exhausting themselves, so the group traveled leisurely. Besides, Odian’s teleportation arrays had already saved them a tremendous amount of time.

"Nina, let’s travel for another few days," Odian said. "Once I’ve recovered a bit more, I can set up another array, and we’ll be able to reach Sea Blue City directly."

"Alright," Nina agreed.

***

After another three or four days of travel, they happened upon a tribe.

The beast husbands worried that Nina had been sleeping in caves too often lately and feared she hadn’t been resting comfortably enough. So they suggested borrowing lodging in the tribe for a night so she could sleep properly.

Nina had no objections.

The group paid the tribe in exchange for temporary accommodations.

The moment they arrived, the males immediately got busy.

Some built cooking stoves, some cleaned the area, and others went hunting.

Meanwhile, Nina stayed in the courtyard with the children, playing with them while Idir continued kneeling on the durians he still hadn’t finished serving his punishment on.

Watching as Idir neared the end of his durian punishment, Ming and the others finally grew restless.

There was a question they had wanted to ask for a very long time.

Ming walked over and crouched beside Idir. "Idir, let me ask you something."

Taru and the others immediately perked up nearby, listening eagerly.

Idir glanced at him, confused. "What do you want to ask?"

"You’re from Serpent City, right?" Ming asked.

Idir nodded.

"And your status there was pretty high, wasn’t it?" Ming continued.

Idir nodded again. "It used to be."

He had once been the young heir of Serpent City... until the curse changed everything.

Ming’s brows lifted slightly.

There’s definitely something here.

He leaned in closer. "Then... were you ever engaged before? Did you have a fiancée?"

Idir looked at him in confusion. Why was he asking that all of a sudden?

Off to the side, Nina also froze slightly. Why was Father asking about this?

She looked toward Idir. Did he really have a fiancée? Was that why he had spoken that way before?

At the thought, an indescribable feeling stirred inside her chest.

Had the engagement been broken off?

If it hadn’t... then wouldn’t she...

Nina unconsciously fixed her gaze on Idir, waiting for his answer.

The male secretly glanced at her, suddenly uncertain whether he should respond.

He had once been engaged. There really had been a fiancée—a match arranged long ago by his father.

But before he had ever even met that female, he had already been expelled from the family because of the curse.

He vaguely remembered hearing that the family intended to break off the engagement afterward, though he never learned what eventually happened.

Truthfully, he didn’t know what feelings he held toward the fiancée he had never met.

But considering his circumstances at the time, ending the engagement had probably been for the best.

And now... Now he had Nina. He no longer wanted any entanglements with other females.

Knowing the selfish nature of those people in his clan, the engagement was most likely already dissolved.

After all, he had once heard rumors that the female’s reputation wasn’t particularly good. Once he was gone, how could those profit-driven beasts possibly continue honoring the marriage agreement?

And what male would willingly take his place?

Though the engagement had originally been arranged for him, technically, if the new young heir wished to fulfill it instead, that would also have been acceptable.

But now, with Nina watching him, Idir found himself hesitating.

His head lowered slightly, unable to force the words out.