As soon as Selene uttered those words, Zirion's face turned deathly pale.

Just then, raucous cheers came from the beast pit next to them. Selene looked over curiously. At the center of the arena crouched a tall, strong beast that had yet to be tamed. Its body was coiled and ready to strike.

Facing it was a dirt-stained and battered young man wielding a longsword. His body was covered in wounds, but his eyes shone brightly with an unyielding spirit.

Selene fixed her gaze on him and asked Rex, "Who is that?"

Rex replied, "He's a wolfman I caught in the mountains a few days ago. Some people are betting on him losing, but he's tough. He's been fighting that beast for two days, and he still hasn't fallen."

As Selene stared at the wolfman's unyielding eyes, she couldn't help but think of her own dreadful end in her past life. She, too, had been thrown into a beast pit like this. However, she hadn't possessed a body as strong as his. Unlike him, she couldn't fight a beast and hold her ground.

She felt sorry for the wolfman and began walking toward him. But she had barely taken a few steps before she suddenly felt a tug at her sleeve.

It was Zirion.

He looked very confused, as if he himself had not expected that he would do something like that.

"Ms. Wyndham…" Zirion whispered, his grip subconsciously tightening.

Selene frowned and glared at him. An intense feeling of disgust arose in her heart.

"Let go! How dare you touch me?" she scolded him.

Rex hurried to appease Selene because he couldn't risk offending an heiress of the Wyndham family. He immediately kicked Zirion hard in the shoulder.

"How dare you? Guys, beat him up!" Rex commanded.

At his order, a guard strode forward with a spiked whip. His arm rose and fell swiftly, inflicting a fierce lash against Zirion's body. Each strike was more forceful than the last. After a few lashes, the wounds on Zirion's body, which had barely begun to heal, split open again. Blood gushed from them freely.

Still, he did not make a sound as he stubbornly locked his gaze on Selene's face.

Selene looked back at him. After a short pause, she let out a cold laugh and brushed the dust from her sleeve. She sneered, "So filthy."

At those words, Zirion's body swayed. Unlike his befuddled look earlier, the corners of his eyes reddened, and there was a pleading look in them.

"M-Ms. Wyndham…" Zirion stammered, looking pitiful and wretched.

But Selene no longer cared to watch his performance. While Rex's guards whipped Zirion mercilessly, she continued making her way toward the young wolfman. Upon climbing onto the high platform, she noticed a pile of weapons set by the stands. She picked up a bow, drew it, and shot an arrow straight into the arena.

The beast shrieked as the arrow pierced its eye. Then, it collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Everyone turned their gaze to Selene, including the wolfman, who was half kneeling and pressing his longsword to the ground for support.

Selene descended from the platform in steady steps and stopped before him. She looked him over and asked, "What's your name?"

"Fen… Fenric." His voice was hoarse, as though he had not spoken for a long time.

Selene nodded and turned to speak to Rex. "I want him."

With that, she pulled a pouch from her robes and tossed it into his hands.

As a fawning smile appeared on Rex's face, Selene led Fenric past Zirion. And there, at Zirion's side, stood Vanessa.

Vanessa called out, her tone anxious, "Selene! How… How could you take a liking to him?"

Her eyes lingered on Fenric with disbelief.

Selene studied Vanessa's youthful face. She looked innocent and charming, like she was incapable of something as dastardly as scheming against another person. Yet, it was this exact young lady who had managed to anticipate every one of Selene's actions and planted Zirion right beside her to bring her down completely.

"Nessa, you seem to know exactly what I like," Selene remarked in a pointed tone, glancing at Zirion's stunning face.

Then, she added, "Unfortunately, I now prefer someone stronger and more robust. You can keep that one for yourself."

At that, Vanessa's face turned ashen.

In Selene's quarters at Wyndham Estate, she leaned against a reclining chair. She propped her head with one arm against the armrest, resting with her eyes closed.

She had not bought Zirion, which effectively disrupted Vanessa's first move in her plotting. Of course, Vanessa wouldn't let it go so easily. She would surely have another countermeasure prepared.

Selene wondered what she should do next.

"Ms. Wyndham, we're done washing him up," a maid reported, interrupting her thoughts.

She nodded and said, "Let him in."

In just a moment, Fenric walked into her bedchamber alone. Selene glanced at him once and looked away awkwardly.

She had bought the wolfman out of pure sympathy. Seeing that he was covered in blood and filth, she had ordered the maids to bathe him. She hadn't expected them to misunderstand her intentions and send him in wearing only an undergarment.

When Fenric saw that Selene wasn't looking at him, he moved closer on his own. His scarred yet strong body leaned forward and loomed over her, causing her to feel flustered.

With one hand pushing against his robust chest, she glared at him and scolded, "How dare you…"

But Fenric's eyes were innocent and bright with no lustful intentions.

"They told me to serve you well, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do… Can you teach me?" he asked candidly.

His even tone made Selene's sharp reaction seem somewhat strange.

"I didn't buy you for that… I want you to be my personal guard," Selene replied.

Fenric responded with a confused look, "A personal guard? What does a guard do?"

"He's a wolfman I caught in the mountains a few days ago." Selene recalled Rex's words.

Perhaps Fenric had lived in the mountains for so long that he was clueless about the ways of the human world in terms of morals and social norms.

So, Selene explained, "A guard means… you'll always stay by my side and kill anyone who tries to hurt me. Do you know how to kill?"

Fenric's eyes lit up immediately, as if he had finally come across something that he could understand.

"I can!" he exclaimed with a grin, revealing his sharp wolfish fangs.

At the sight of that smile, Selene felt a little relaxed. She sighed in relief and lowered her gaze, only to freeze as she caught sight of the scar on Fenric's waist that made her pupils contract.

In her past life, part of the reason why she cherished Zirion so much, besides his looks, was because he had a scar at that very same spot.

Selene had long been searching for the boy who once saved her life. When she was young, she followed her father, Alaric, into the mountains in search of beasts. However, she had accidentally strayed from the group due to her own playfulness.

That night, she encountered a wild boar while seeking shelter in a cave, and it charged at her angrily.

Just as she thought she was done for, a boy rushed over and shielded her. He was not much taller than she was, yet he grappled with the beast fearlessly. In the end, the boy stabbed the wild boar's eye with a dagger, but one of its tusks left a gaping wound in his waist.

He collapsed on the ground and was on the brink of death. Selene cried as she pressed her hands over his bleeding wound. She promised she would save him.

It was all too much for a little girl to handle. As the adrenaline wore off, Selene was so tired and sleepy after the great fright that she accidentally fell asleep.

By the time Alaric's men found her, the boy was gone. All that remained was the dried blood on her hands that was ghastly to look at.

"Ugh…" Fenric's muffled groan of pain snapped Selene out of her reverie.

Only then did she realize that her hand was clamped tightly over his scar.

Startled, she let go. Her thoughts were in absolute chaos. Did this mean that in her past life, she had been mistaken from the beginning? Was Fenric the boy who saved her back then?

"Fenric, this scar on your waist…" She had barely begun speaking when a faint voice reached their ears from outside the door.

"Ms. Wyndham…"

The rain almost drowned out that weak voice.

Selene got up and hesitated for a moment before opening the door.

Out in the yard, Zirion was kneeling before her. The downpour had long since drenched his clothes. His wounds from the whipping had yet to heal. So, the ground was wet with blood and rain.

When Zirion saw Selene emerge from inside, his eyes brightened for an instant before dimming in the next moment.

"Ms. Wyndham!" he cried out in a trembling voice that sounded almost like a plea. Only his face remained clean and unmarred, a stark contrast to the rest of his body.

He asked woefully, "Why don't you want me, Ms. Wyndham?"

The scene was eerily familiar.

As the most well-known beast-taming family in the city, the Wyndhams had made countless enemies over the years.

In Selene's past life, when she and Vanessa attended a festival, they were ambushed by bandits. Zirion was Selene's familiar, yet he went to protect Vanessa.

With no one shielding her, the bandits wounded Selene grievously. Out of anger, Selene's mom, Hilda Bailey, locked Zirion in a water prison for three days and nights. Then, she made him kneel outside Selene's bedchamber to beg for her forgiveness.

It had also been a rainy night like this one.

Although Selene wasn't pleased with Zirion, she still felt sorry for him when he was in such a pitiful state. She allowed him to rise after a short while.

"Why don't you want me, Ms. Wyndham?" Zirion asked.

As Selene looked at Zirion, she suddenly found her past self ridiculous. Zirion had done his part as her familiar most of the time, yet she had always gotten a faint inkling that something was off from his actions and behavior.

Selene had believed that he was the one who had saved her back then, so she had tolerated him again and again. She had never expected that her feelings born from that debt of gratitude would ultimately lead to her own demise.

She gave a cold laugh and folded her arms. "Who are you?"

"I… I am Zirion. At the beast pit, you picked…"

His Adam's apple bobbed, as though he could not bear to say the words. After a while, he said almost inaudibly, "I'm the beastman you originally picked."

"Still trying to cling to me, huh?" Selene thought, making her way down the stairs until she stood right before him.

"Then tell me, Zirion."

She looked down at him, standing one step away from him as he kneeled right outside where the eaves didn't shield him from the rain.

"Why would I want you?" Selene asked with a smile, but her tone was icy and cutting.

At her words, Zirion lowered his gaze and slowly undid his sash. At once, the thin and drenched white shirt slipped from his body.

Selene knew what he was doing. He wanted her to see the scar on his waist and go soft on him. So, she thought she would let him have his way. As her eyes lingered on the scar, her smile faded.

She faintly heard Zirion let out a breath of air, as if in relief.

"This scar of yours…" Selene whispered, tracing it from his abdomen to his waist with her finger. Though his scar was in the exact same spot as Fenric's, Selene realized it was newer the moment she touched it. It was not an old wound at all. It was just as she thought… Zirion was as shameless as ever!

"Zirion, this scar of yours is truly ugly."

At once, Zirion's body stiffened. His eyes widened with disbelief.

"Fenric!" Selene called out.

At once, Fenric emerged from her bedchamber. "H-Here!"

Now dressed in a guard's uniform, he strode quickly to Selene's side at her order.

Upon seeing Fenric, Zirion's eyes dimmed completely. His lips moved weakly, and he asked almost inaudibly, "Why… Why did he come out of your…"

Selene ignored his murmurs. Instead, she smiled at Fenric and said, "What did I just teach you? What must a personal guard do?"

"I must always stay by your side and kill anyone who tries to harm you…" Fenric's voice trailed off when he noticed the kneeling Zirion. At the next moment, he asked, "Should I kill him?"

Selene's gaze became steely. "This is your first lesson. He entered my quarters without my permission. Tell me, should he be killed?"

Fenric thought for a moment before nodding and saying, "He should."

Selene stepped back. "Then do it."

Without hesitation, Fenric drew his sword.

"Ms. Wyndham!" Zirion's voice broke in near despair. His forehead hit the ground hard as he prostrated himself and begged, "No, Ms. Wyndham… I begged so hard… for this chance. There… is no chance anymore…"

His voice grew weaker and weaker until his body collapsed to the ground as he fell unconscious. The downpour continued to pelt down on his frail form mercilessly.