The others immediately followed her.

Elowen and Caelia shared one of the sofas while the other three settled into thickly padded chairs.

In an obvious attempt to avoid answering, Mirabelle immediately shoved food into her mouth.

The others ate far more elegantly while watching her with frightening intensity.

Well.

To be precise:

Elowen’s long lashes fluttered dramatically.

Caelia’s warm brown eyes never left Mirabelle’s face for even a second.

Stars seemed to dance inside Nymeria’s dark owl eyes.

And Lysandra’s sapphire gaze sparkled mischievously.

"So?" the fox female pressed impatiently, returning to her earlier question.

Unfortunately, Mirabelle had stuffed far too much food into her mouth at once.

Suddenly, her throat felt painfully dry.

She swallowed forcefully — and immediately began choking.

Coughing violently, she grabbed at the table while trying to breathe.

Nymeria calmly patted her back while Caelia silently held out a glass toward her.

Gratefully, Mirabelle accepted it.

Only to immediately narrow her eyes suspiciously at the liquid inside.

"That’s fruit juice," the deer female told her gently.

Instantly, Mirabelle downed the entire thing.

Finally, she could breathe again.

"You’re not actually planning to reject him, are you?" Lysandra suddenly looked genuinely concerned.

"If Lucien did something wrong, tell me what it was. I’ll personally make sure he gets retrained properly."

She dramatically rolled up her sleeves. "Give me one night and you won’t even recognize him tomorrow."

Mirabelle hurriedly shook her head.

"No, it’s not that," she admitted awkwardly.

The problem was...

Mirabelle had never really discussed topics like this with other women before.

She genuinely didn’t know how to properly explain what she was feeling.

"Everything with Lucien just happened really fast," she admitted carefully. "I feel like I need to know someone better before I..."

"I mean," Elowen interrupted with a shameless grin, "judging by the way you smell, I’d say you already got to know him pretty well."

Mirabelle’s entire face turned bright red.

Even her shoulders slowly gained a faint pink tint.

Mortified, she hid behind her food.

"Elowen," Nymeria sighed patiently, "noble females require more than simply handsome bed partners..."

Lysandra interrupted immediately:

"Handsome talented bed partners."

It felt incredibly strange hearing Lysandra casually vouch for her brother’s abilities in bed.

Nymeria closed her eyes briefly before giving in.

"...handsome talented bed partners," the owl female corrected dryly, "but also intelligent males with good character and strong cultivation."

"I’m quite certain my brother fulfills all those criteria," Lysandra declared proudly. "My mother and fathers made sure of it."

At the mention of the Duchess, Mirabelle nearly felt steam rising from her ears.

If only Lysandra knew the last position in which Mirabelle had seen the High Duchess...

"Why are you talking about this so casually?" Mirabelle finally blurted out.

Four females blinked at her.

"Talking about what?" Elowen asked while stealing fruit from Caelia’s plate.

"Sex," Mirabelle hissed quietly.

Lysandra looked genuinely confused.

"We’re females."

"That does not explain anything!"

Nymeria calmly folded her hands in her lap.

"For Beast females, discussing compatibility between potential mates is considered practical."

"Practical," Mirabelle repeated weakly.

"Yes," the owl female continued. "Strong cultivation, emotional compatibility, instincts, temperament, fertility, domestic behavior—"

"Domestic behavior?" Mirabelle echoed in horror.

Caelia tilted her head softly.

"You know... whether they’re caring, territorial, violent, reliable..."

Elowen snorted.

"Or whether they cry dramatically when ignored."

"Lucien absolutely did that once as a child," Lysandra said immediately.

"I WAS SIX," a deeply offended male voice suddenly shouted from somewhere outside the curtains.

Silence.

Then all four females burst into laughter while Mirabelle slowly reconsidered every life choice that had brought her here.

Mirabelle: "..."

So Silas and Lucien had been eavesdropping.

Fantastic.

It hadn’t even occurred to her that the balcony they had been standing on earlier was apparently close enough to the women’s buffet section for voices to carry.

’Please, dear Beast Goddess, let the earth open and swallow me whole,’ Mirabelle begged internally.

Unfortunately, absolutely nothing happened.

Which she noted with growing irritation.

Then suddenly, her thoughts snagged on something else entirely.

Wait a moment!

Had something she herself done actually brought her here?

For a brief moment, Mirabelle drifted into deep thought, carefully replaying the final events before her transmigration into this world.

But nothing stood out.

Meanwhile, the others were still giggling beside her.

Even quiet little Caelia was wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

After the laughter finally faded, the dear female looked at Mirabelle with soft curiosity:

"...Why don’t you know these things?"

The question sounded so gentle and genuinely confused that Mirabelle nearly choked on another piece of fruit.

Around the table, the others slowly quieted as well.

Even Nymeria now looked slightly puzzled.

Mirabelle suddenly became painfully aware of the fact that she apparently knew far less about her own society than expected.

Which, technically speaking...

was true.

"I..." She awkwardly poked at the food on her plate. "I guess I never really talked about those things with my mother."

The females stared at her.

Mirabelle immediately felt the need to defend herself.

"It was embarrassing!" she blurted out. "And I grew up really sheltered, okay?"

According to the inherited memories, that explanation was actually completely believable.

The former Mirabelle had spent most of her life heavily protected within Luchsenstein territory, surrounded by guards, etiquette lessons, tutors, and overprotective family members.

Compared to the other noble females, her social experiences had been...

limited.

Very limited.

Elowen blinked slowly.

"...You never had female talks?"

Mirabelle looked horrified.

"Not really. The last female gathering I attended was when I was fourteen. We were way too young back then to talk about things like this."

This wasnt entirely true, but she hoped no one would check the facts.

The bunny female dramatically placed a hand over her chest:

"That’s so tragic."

Lysandra looked equally horrified, though clearly for completely different reasons.

"Wait," the fox female interrupted suddenly. "Then who explained mating instincts to you?"

Mirabelle froze.

"...Books?"

Silence.

Then Elowen collapsed sideways across the sofa laughing so hard she nearly rolled onto the floor.

Nymeria pinched the bridge of her nose.

Even Caelia looked mildly distressed now.

"Mirabelle," the deer female said gently, "books are for cultivation theory and politics."

"Not practical mate survival," Nymeria added dryly.

Mirabelle suddenly felt deeply attacked by the entire table.

"That explains so much," Lysandra whispered.

"...In my defense," she muttered while aggressively stabbing another piece of meat, "I genuinely thought I was doing pretty okay until today." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Mirabelle declared while crossing her arms stubbornly over her chest.

She was absolutely not prepared to continue discussing her intimate life.

So naturally, the lynx female launched a counterattack instead.

"...Have any of you actually chosen someone yet?"