The next day, I picked out a gift for Chloe in return for the crystal flute.

Chloe was a black snake with striking green eyes, so I chose a snake necklace with emerald eyes for her.

I could not help but smile wryly to myself. After all, the Douglas family was rich and powerful. What more could I ask for?

I had just paid my bill and was about to leave when a loud, shocked voice caught my attention.

"James, you're such a liar! You say you don't want to be Rowena's beast slave, but you're secretly spending a fortune on her birthday present. I could never be that sneaky," the voice said.

Hank hugged Rowena close and flashed a winner's grin.

That was when it hit me: today was Rowena's birthday.

They actually thought I bought the gift to win Rowena over.

Rowena glanced at the necklace I was holding with a look of disgust.

"You're not as tough as I thought. You'd do anything to avoid being given to a nomad beastwoman, even groveling to me. This necklace is so ugly! I don't like it. Go get me a silver wolf necklace instead!"

I frowned and cut her off, "This is for my fiancée, not you."

Rowena let out a laugh as if she had just heard the funniest joke. "Quit being so stubborn. You're twenty-five. Who would marry an old beastman like you? I wouldn't even let you be a beast slave if you kept your act."

Hank glanced over at the shop that branded beast slaves.

"Rowena, they can give James a beast slave mark over there. I can't stand to see him scared. Let's just do it today."

Rowena snuggled into Hank's arms. "Hank, you're such a sweetheart."

She looked at me as if she were doing me a huge favor. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go!"

As if I should have been grateful for the 'honor'.

A large basin of charcoal fire sat in the middle of the shop, surrounded by branding irons stamped with shameful words.

A beastman was being branded. His screams filled the air, even though he was one of the strongest around.

Rowena shivered but nodded to Hank, who signaled the guards to drag me into the shop.

In that instant, I felt like Rowena, who used to love and protect me when I was little, who never let anyone pick on me, was just a mirage.

Hank's grip was like a vice, nothing like his usual weak self.

His face was mean. "I'll choose a nice beast slave mark for you."

He looked around the room and stopped at a branding iron stamped with 'slave'.

Holding the iron, Hank let out a small laugh and moved closer to me. "This one seems just right for you."

I tried hard to get away from the bodyguard, but before I could reach Hank, he pretended I had pushed him and stumbled backward.

The iron dropped, sparking a tiny flame on his hand, but it left no mark.

Hank clutched his hand, his eyes watering a little.

"James, I was only trying to save you from the fate of those wandering beastwomen! How could you try to burn me?"

Before I could say anything, Rowena burst in.

She knocked me into the charcoal, and my hand landed on a hot coal. The pain was like an overwhelming wave crashing over me, knocking all the air out of my lungs.

I had just pulled my hand out of the coals when a sharp slap hit my face.

Slap!

Rowena glared at me, her face full of hate.

"James, you're so mean. And to think he still said nice things about you to me. How could you treat your own brother like that? Tell Hank you're sorry!"

I looked at my messed-up, bleeding hand and started to laugh.

Rowena's heart squeezed tight, and her face went all panicky. "Why are you laughing?"

I was laughing at how dumb I was, letting myself get hurt to earn the silly, shallow 'love' of my parents and Rowena.

Every time Hank acted sad, they always believed him, despite being my parents' real son and Rowena's childhood friend, whom she had promised herself to.

Hank had set me up time and time again. Everyone thought I was the mean kid who picked on my little brother and stole his ideas.

I balled my hands into fists so tight that my nails dug into my skin, and I looked up at Rowena with fierce eyes.

"I did nothing wrong, and I won't apologize."

Rowena's eyes narrowed, hurt by my defiance.

"Rowena..." Hank suddenly yelped. "Ow! My hand really hurts."

Rowena did not waste a second. She turned and started rubbing Hank's hand.

Worried Hank might get cold, she dashed to the car and grabbed a fox fur coat, wrapping him up snug and warm.

My chest tightened when I saw that coat.

It was made from my eight lost tails.

Hank had once risked his life just to make me look bad.

As a Spirit Fox, each tail was one of my lives. Rowena had forced me to cut off eight to save Hank.

However, that was still not enough humiliation. When Hank won a prize with the potion I made, he complained of the cold, and Rowena made him that fox fur coat to celebrate.

Hank caught me staring and smugly stroked the fur, gazing at Rowena with love.

Any kindness left in Rowena's eyes turned to disgust for me, and she said in an icy voice, "If you won't apologize to Hank, forget about being part of the Carter family. Let's see how long you can keep this up!"

I could not help but smirk. She was in for a letdown.

In two days, I was supposed to marry the serpent clan's princess to save her precious Hank from the same fate.

Right then, a car spun out of control and headed straight for us.

The wolf clan was known for being strong and fast, and Rowena quickly shifted into her beast form, pulling Hank to a safe spot.

She was running so fast that she bumped into me, the one closest to the car. My leg hurt like I had twisted it.

I thought the car was going to hit me, so I shut my eyes, feeling hopeless.

However, in that scary moment, someone warm grabbed me.

A girl in a cute animal mask pulled me to safety, even quicker than Rowena could have.

When I opened my eyes, I saw dark green eyes that made me think of the emerald on my necklace.

The girl in the animal mask put me on a bench and vanished before I could say anything.

I reached into my pocket and found a tin of burn ointment that was not there before.

I saw Rowena comforting Hank down the street and could not help but sneer.

I pulled out the bonding ring I was going to give back to her and tossed it into the sewer without a second thought.

Two days later, I put on a fancy suit from the serpent clan and stared at all the expensive gifts they had sent for the wedding, feeling kind of lost.

My parents came up to me, nervous. They asked if I could just say Hank made a mistake with the potion, rather than saying he stole it, to preserve his dignity.

That was when I knew I was done hoping they would ever understand.

I had even gotten my own wedding gifts ready, always making excuses for them in my head.

I thought they just forgot.

They did not think to get me a wedding gift, but they sure remembered to stick up for their favorite son.

"No way! If I don't stand my ground, the serpent clan won't either," I said firmly.

"You..."

Then, from downstairs, I heard a bunch of noise.

I went down and saw Rowena sitting in the room's main chair, acting all spoiled, holding a branding iron.

"James, you've got thirty minutes until the system pairs you with a nomad beastwoman. If you can apologize to Hank 1800 times in the next half hour, I'll grudgingly give you the beast slave mark."

She paused when she saw my suit, then her brow furrowed.

"What are you doing in that getup? Are you trying to outshine Hank as a beast slave?"

I gave her a cool look. "Rowena, I'm about to bond with someone else. You're not on the guest list."

"Don't be so defiant. Two minutes have passed, and now you owe 3600 apologies if you want to be my beast slave. You'd better not waste this chance.

"If you won't say sorry, I'm not against getting someone to make you bow and apologize!"

With a snap of her fingers, assistants appeared, ready to grab my clothes and force my head down.

"No... Rowena, I told you! Today's my bonding day..."

Amid the struggle, a soft chuckle came from behind, and an elegant beastwoman gracefully approached.

"Let's see who dares to make my husband apologize!"