Mi Yin cradled her downcast face, his red pupils shimmering with a strange light. "Actually, from the first moment I saw you, I sensed that your aura had changed significantly. It wasn't the same as hers..."
An Jin's eyes shot up in shock, and she almost dropped the pork leg she was holding. "You... you've known all along?"
'Then why has he been so good to me?'
'Or do Wandering Beasts only care about the mate mark? Does he just unconditionally love whichever female has his mate mark, regardless of the soul inside the body?'
'That's so indiscriminate.'
An Jin couldn't resist lightly stomping on his tail. Wincing in pain, the snake tail loosened its grip, uncoiling from around her.
"...Yes." Mi Yin paused for a moment before replying, "But that's not the whole story."
He looked up at her, his expression serious. "Jin'er, perhaps you're right. For many males, as long as a female bears their mate mark, they'll treat her well, driven by the instinct to mate and reproduce..."
