In the beast world, aside from the rare few who awakened special abilities, females generally possessed no extraordinary powers.
Thus, for females like them, the most important ability was fertility. The higher a female's fertility value, the more likely she was to attract powerful, high-ranked males—and the higher her status would be. Among them all, Sacred Females stood at the very top.
"Drago, you can't harm Lina," Leah said urgently. "Those two males already admitted it—this has nothing to do with her."
She spread her arms wide, shielding Lina like a hen protecting her chick.
Drago naturally understood Lina's value. Keeping her would undoubtedly benefit Spirit Stone City. Lina was good-looking and had a high fertility value. In the future, she could attract powerful males to stay in the city and give birth to offspring with superior talent.
Though Lina was not his biological daughter, she was the child of his younger brother and that brother's mate—effectively family all the same. He had always doted on her. From the beginning, he had never truly intended to punish her, even though he knew very well that she was the mastermind behind the incident.
Drago glanced at Nina, pity and a trace of guilt flickering in his eyes. "Lina knew nothing about this. She bears no fault."
Then he turned to Lina, his voice softening. "But those males were your guardian beasts. You should apologize to Nina."
Guardian beasts were essentially prospective beast-husbands.
Hearing this, Nina felt utterly disappointed.
A family like this was worse than having none at all.
Lina reluctantly muttered, without the slightest sincerity, "I'm sorry."
"I don't accept it," Nina said coldly.
"You—" Lina flared up in anger. "I don't care whether you accept it or not."
"Nina, don't push your luck," Leah snapped angrily.
"Nina, be sensible," Drago said impatiently. "Lina has already apologized. What more do you want?"
Drago had once been quite fond of Nina. But after Nina's appearance deteriorated, his affection gradually faded—especially after the city's shaman determined that she had no fertility. Later, when Leah gave birth to Mido for him, he abandoned Nina completely and devoted himself to raising Mido instead.
The original Nina had tried everything to win back his affection, but Drago remained indifferent.
"Sensible?" Nina shot back. "Your own child was nearly killed, and you brush it off like it's nothing—and now you're telling me to be sensible? Is that how a father behaves?"
She then turned to Leah. "And you—both of us are your daughters. Why are you so blatantly biased?"
Nina felt a deep sorrow for the girl whose body she now occupied.
Is this your family? At least I once had a headmaster who truly cared for me. You, on the other hand, had no one at all.
The other beastfolk began to feel some sympathy for Nina as well, but even so, not a single one stepped forward to speak on her behalf.
"Nina, you—"
Drago was about to reprimand her when a beastfolk hurried over to report, "City Lord, the beastfolk from the eight major cities have arrived for the marriage alliance."
Drago felt a surge of delight. He swallowed the rebuke that was about to leave his lips and said to the reporting beastfolk, "Escort them to the City Lord's residence."
"Yes."
Drago waited at the entrance of the City Lord's residence to receive them. Most of the beastfolk in the plaza didn't disperse, staying behind to watch the spectacle.
Soon, the guards arrived with several teams of beastfolk, all carrying large wooden chests.
Drago assumed these were their betrothal gifts. Seeing such an extravagant display, his spirits lifted even higher.
"Greetings, City Lord of Spirit Stone City. We are beastfolk sent from Blazing Flame City."
"White Tiger City."
"..."
"Spirit Cat City."
One by one, the beastfolk from the eight great cities introduced themselves.
Nina quietly observed the representatives from each city.
In the beast world, aside from a few shorter races, most males were tall, broad-shouldered, and powerfully built. Setting facial features aside, their physiques were impressive across the board. As for looks—it varied—but most were decent, and there were quite a few handsome ones.
The males from the eight great cities all looked fairly good. None were breathtaking, but a few stood out pleasantly. Nina couldn't help wondering which of them were meant to be her so-called husbands. Hopefully, it would be the better-looking ones.
Drago felt a trace of pride. The marriage alliance candidates he had chosen back then were all males of outstanding strength and talent. Most were already young lords, future heirs to their cities—some had even become city lords themselves.
Once they became the beast-husbands of his daughters, even if they didn't remain in Spirit Stone City, they would still serve as powerful allies. With their help, he could elevate Spirit Stone City into the foremost city of the beast world.
Back then, he truly had made a brilliant decision.
Eighteen years ago, demon beasts, mutated beasts, and roaming beast hordes had risen together, besieging the major cities. The eight great cities suffered devastating losses, while Spirit Stone City—due to its location—was spared the worst of it.
Spirit Stone City possessed seven immensely powerful spirit stones capable of helping fend off enemy beasts and carry cities through crisis. Because of this, the other cities had come seeking aid, hoping to borrow the spirit stones.
Spirit Cat City possessed its own divine artifact, so they mainly requested manpower and supplies.
Drago understood the truth of shared survival—when lips are gone, teeth feel the cold. Naturally, he was willing to help. But he had no intention of lending aid for nothing. Spirit Stone City lacked nothing, so he proposed marriage alliances instead.
He wasn't worried that the other cities would borrow the stones and refuse to return them. Only those of the divine deer clan's direct bloodline could activate the spirit stones' power. Without the divine deer clan, the stones were nothing more than inert rocks.
Because of this, the divine deer clan had ruled Spirit Stone City for generations. Unfortunately, their bloodline was difficult to pass on. Now, only his branch remained.
After everyone finished introducing themselves, Drago stepped forward and asked, "May I ask—which of you are the marriage alliance candidates?"
He felt a flicker of confusion. He distinctly remembered having met three of the candidates years ago. Yet today, he didn't seem to recognize them at all. Had he remembered their appearances incorrectly—or did males truly change that much as they grew?