"Oh? Isn't this my dear elder sister, Princess Nina?" Lina sneered, her gaze dripping with malice as she sized Nina up. "So—how was your little adventure in Sin Beast City yesterday? Judging by all those marks on you, I'd say things got pretty intense!"
Her scheme had technically worked, but she wasn't fully satisfied. Nina hadn't died. Lina couldn't understand why the savage beasts of Sin Beast City had allowed her to return unharmed.
Still, Nina's reputation was now thoroughly ruined. As long as Lina told the prospective marriage allies what had happened in Sin Beast City, none of them would ever accept Nina. Today's political marriage was as good as dead. Thinking that, Lina felt much better.
If she couldn't have it, Nina wouldn't get it either.
Their mother, Leah, sat nearby with an ugly expression on her face. Beside her stood a four- or five-year-old male cub—their younger brother, Mido.
Nina's father, Drago, sat in the seat of honor, his face dark. "Did you really go to Sin Beast City yesterday?"
"I can explain," Nina said calmly. "But I want to explain it in the public square."
Drago frowned, then stood up. "Fine. Let's go."
Lina grew uneasy and tried to stop them, but Nina had already walked out ahead. Left with no choice, Lina followed.
No one else had seen what happened anyway. It should be fine.
They arrived at the plaza outside the lord's residence, where a large crowd of beastfolk had already gathered.
"Speak," Drago said.
Nina swept her gaze across the crowd and said loudly, "Yesterday, Lina drugged me and had me taken toward Sin Beast City. But I never entered the city—I escaped."
The beastfolk exchanged looks, most of them clearly unwilling to believe her.
"Nina, don't slander me!" Lina shouted angrily. "You went there on your own. I didn't even see you yesterday!"
"That's right," Leah added immediately, her voice protective. "Don't falsely accuse Lina. She's kind and gentle—she'd never do something like that."
Leah had always favored Lina, who was a year younger than Nina, because she preferred Lina's father. After Nina's appearance began to worsen, Leah grew to resent her, feeling that Nina embarrassed her. From then on, her favoritism became blatant.
Nina hadn't always been ugly. She had only begun to change gradually after the age of seven.
Though both girls were her own flesh and blood, Nina had barely tasted a shred of maternal affection. No matter how hard she tried to please her mother, Leah never gave her even the smallest kindness.
"Ugly freak! Don't you dare say bad things about my sister!" Mido shouted, hurling a stone at Nina.
A chill crept into Nina's heart. She said nothing, only turned to look at Drago.
But Drago walked over to Leah and Lina, positioning himself protectively in front of them. "Lina wouldn't do something like this," he said. "Are you sure you haven't misunderstood?"
Lina lifted her brows triumphantly.
A wave of sorrow rose in Nina's chest—she wasn't sure whether it belonged to this body or to herself. Perhaps inheriting the memories also meant inheriting the emotions bound to them, leaving her unable to remain indifferent.
She hadn't expected that even her own biological father would refuse to believe her, choosing instead to trust another man's daughter.
All her life, she had longed for familial love. Yet no matter where she went, it seemed to remain an unattainable luxury.
Nina said in a low, wounded voice, "So, Father… you don't believe me? What if I told you it was Lina herself who forced the drug down my throat?"
"Nina, I know you're jealous of Lina," Drago replied, his voice carrying both a sigh and restrained anger. "But you shouldn't slander her like this."
"Heh." Nina let out a self-mocking laugh. "What if I can prove it?"
"And how do you plan to prove that?" her father asked.
"Yesterday, I sprinkled violet vine pollen on her—and on the two males who kidnapped me," Nina said evenly. "The fragrance lingers for a full day, and this flower exists only with me. Since she claims she didn't see me yesterday, there shouldn't be any scent on her. But if she—and the two males standing behind her—carry the fragrance, then it proves they drugged me and abducted me."
As she spoke, Nina took out the violet vine pollen she had prepared in advance and let Drago smell it.
Lina immediately panicked. She sniffed herself carefully and discovered that there truly was a faint trace of fragrance clinging to her. She froze in place, unable to think of any way to argue back.
The two males behind her felt their hearts sink and grew visibly alarmed as well.
They were unmarried males and had never known that this scent was unique to Nina's pollen. They had assumed it was nothing more than the sachet fragrance females commonly used.
Male beastfolk had keen senses of smell—especially high-ranking ones like Drago. Naturally, he detected the violet vine scent on Lina and the two males behind her, and fell into silence.
"So it was you who drugged Nina and took her to Sin Beast City?" Drago asked coldly, turning to the males behind Lina.
The two males found no way to deny it. In the end, they could only admit, "Yes. But we acted on our own initiative. It had nothing to do with Lina."
They were still trying to protect her, but anyone with eyes could see that Lina was deeply implicated.
"You harmed a female," Drago said icily. "According to the city's laws, your crystal cores will be removed, your limbs broken, and you will be thrown into Sin Beast City. Guards—take them away to receive their punishment."
"City Lord, spare us!" the two males cried out in terror.
Having their crystal cores removed meant they would be crippled. With their limbs broken as well, being cast into Sin Beast City was a death sentence.
Lina was struggling to protect herself and dared not plead on their behalf.
None of the beastfolk in the city spoke up for them either. At this moment, the way they looked at Nina had grown complicated.
"Drag them away," Drago ordered mercilessly.
The two males tried to flee but were quickly captured and hauled off.
Lina was terrified. She didn't know how Drago would punish her—after all, Nina was his biological daughter.
She retreated a few steps, hiding behind Leah. Tugging at her sleeve, she silently begged for help.
Leah squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"As for Lina—"
Before Drago could finish, Lina, fearing she would also be sent to Sin Beast City, cut him off anxiously.
"Father, think this through carefully! I'm a female with high fertility. I might even become a Sacred Female in the future. Nina, on the other hand, is an ugly, useless female with no fertility at all. Are you really going to give up a future Sacred Female for the sake of a worthless cripple?"