"Wait," Selene said just as Fenric's sword was about to strike the back of Zirion's neck.

What did Zirion mean by the chance he had begged so hard for? Then, he went to say there wasn't a chance anymore. What did he mean by that? Could it be that he had also gone back in time like her?

"Selene!"

Vanessa hurried into Selene's quarters, surrounded by her attendants. The rain had soaked the hem of her expensive cloak, but she paid it no mind.

"Don't hurt him!"

Vanessa, who was panting softly, spread her arms and stood before Zirion to shield him. It was obvious from her expression that she was very anxious.

Selene smiled sweetly and said, "Don't worry. I won't hurt him."

Then, she stepped closer and scrutinized Vanessa from head to toe.

"But Nessa, you'd better keep a closer eye on your fish. Don't let him out, or he'll splash dirty water everywhere again," Selene said teasingly.

Vanessa bit her lip, and her eyes teared up. She looked deeply embarrassed for a moment.

If Selene had been her past self, she would've pitied Vanessa at this sight. After all, she had once genuinely thought of her as a younger sister.

When the Wyndham family was at the peak of their glory, Alaric had met a wandering priest. That priest had prophesied that he would die at the hands of his daughter.

At that time, neither Selene nor Vanessa had been born yet. Alaric only had three sons, so he dismissed the prophecy as nonsense and forgot about it. But that same year, Hilda and Alaric's lover both gave birth to daughters.

Selene was clever and talented. Her teacher often praised her academic prowess. Her skill in riding and archery was also unmatched among her peers. At every archery competition, Vanessa would always turn to look at Selene with admiration after she missed her targets consecutively.

"You're so amazing, Selene. At this rate, you'll definitely be a top fighter who can kill and ride away with unparalleled swiftness," Vanessa had praised.

Back then, Selene felt proud upon hearing such compliments and sought to show off more before others.

Little did she know that Vanessa's words became a thorn in Alaric's heart. From then on, he began to indulge Selene in everything. He gave her the best of everything and showed her preferential treatment over her siblings. Even when she erred, she was never reprimanded.

Over time, Selene grew up to become a spoiled and wilful young woman who only wanted to have fun. Her notions of right and wrong were severely skewed, and she had little empathy for others.

Unsurprisingly, she became the most useless among the five children and was notorious for having a very poor character.

Even so, Vanessa never let her go. She was certain that Selene would be her greatest obstacle to becoming the head of the family, so she planted Zirion by her side.

Beautiful people could get away with lots of things, let alone someone with Zirion's otherworldly and stunning appearance. Though he always gave Selene the cold shoulder, she never minded.

Now that Selene thought back to the time when she had rescued Zirion from the beast pit, she remembered he had shown no gratitude. That so-called "fated encounter" had merely been a part of Vanessa's scheme that she had planned out long ago.

Vanessa had managed to outsmart her to become the ultimate victor in her past life. Selene had no complaints about that.

But now that she had a chance to live again, she would not hold back or show mercy.

…

One day, Alaric and Hilda summoned Selene over to talk to her.

"Selly, you've had that wolfman with you for some time now. Why haven't you formed a pact with him yet?" Hilda asked.

Upon subduing a beastman, a beast tamer could form a pact with said beastman. If the beastman willingly formed a pact with the beast tamer, the latter would gain some of the beastman's powers. Though they wouldn't be as powerful as the beastman, it would still set them apart from ordinary people.

In Selene's past life, she gained the ability to breathe underwater after entering into a pact with Zirion. But he later turned against her, or to be more accurate, he revealed his true intentions and tried to forcibly sever the pact.

Once formed, a pact could not be broken. To this day, Selene did not know where Zirion had found a spirit tool capable of breaking it.

She only remembered the agony of that moment. It was as if someone had been pulling out every bone in her body one by one. She had felt as though she was being skinned alive and then cut to pieces.

Selene couldn't bring herself to tell Hilda the truth. If she were being honest with herself, she was greatly traumatized by the thought of forming a pact again. That kind of pain was worse than death. It was worse than being torn apart by beasts.

Still, she needed another excuse to respond to her parents right now.

Giggling impishly, she said, "You're overthinking it, Mother. I have no interest in becoming a beast tamer. I just think the wolfman is handsome. He's so strong and well-built. I like having him for gawking purposes."

Hilda sighed helplessly and tapped her on the forehead. "Both you and Nessa are the same. She took in that merman as her guard without any thought of forming a pact. I swear, you two give me headaches with how you carry yourselves."

Selene smiled and threw herself into Hilda's arms with playful affection.

Of course, Vanessa had no intention of forming a pact with Zirion. She was more concerned about how to slip Zirion into Selene's household.

Upon hearing her words, Alaric turned away and huffed. "How ridiculous."

However, his expression eased considerably because this was exactly what he wanted.

As soon as Selene stepped out of her parents' quarters, she spotted Fenric waiting in the garden. When a few attendants passed by him, they sneered at him and gossiped among themselves without bothering to keep their voices down.

"Isn't that Ms. Selene's boy toy?"

"Hmph. What an eyesore."

But Fenric did not even turn to look at them. He simply studied the different flowers in the garden like he didn't notice that they were talking about him.

Selene was just about to approach when she saw Vanessa entering the garden with Zirion by her side. They walked straight toward Fenric. This meant they were clearly there for him.

Selene stopped in her tracks and hid in the shadows.

"So, you're the beastman my sister fancies?" Vanessa approached Fenric from behind.

Fenric turned to look at her in confusion and gave a curt reply. "Yeah."

"How rude. Didn't Selene teach you to bow when greeting me?" Vanessa fumed.

"How does one bow?" Fenric asked in his usual deadpan expression.

Vanessa felt that she was going nowhere given Fenric's cluelessness, so she had no choice but to drop the matter. Instead, she asked, "I hear Selene lets you dine at her table."

Fenric thought for a moment and nodded.

"So, she really does like you," Vanessa said.

She then looked him over and chuckled. "But it's a pity that Selene's affections never last long. Why don't you… serve me instead?"

There was a reason why Vanessa dared to speak so brazenly.

In Selene's past life, Vanessa's methods were never particularly tactful or ingenious. She relied on the power of one man after another. She somehow bewitched each of them, and they willingly became her loyal pawns.

Strangely enough, every man she used had seemed utterly devoted to her, as though they were under a spell. Even Zirion hadn't escaped her charm.

Selene instinctively glanced at Zirion, who stood silently by Vanessa's side. His head hung low, and he seemed lifeless, like he was a puppet on strings. This seemed kind of odd to Selene.

Vanessa was openly throwing suggestive glances at Fenric right before Zirion. However, he showed not even the faintest trace of sadness.

"No… I don't want to. You smell strange," Fenric replied, wincing and stepping back with an expression of unmistakable disgust.

He had grown up in the mountains and had never been trained in social etiquette before coming to Selene's side. So, it never crossed his mind to spare Vanessa some dignity when he spoke his mind.

That was likely the first time a man had ever rejected Vanessa. Her face flushed a crimson shade with humiliation. "You… What insolence!"

She snapped, and she raised her hand to slap Fenric. But her palm stopped just an inch from his face.

Selene had caught her wrist. "What do you think you're doing?"

Then, she flung Vanessa's hand aside with such force that she staggered backward several steps.

"What right do you think you have to discipline my beastman?" Selene questioned.

A hostile glint flashed across Vanessa's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came. "Selene…"

Zirion did not step forward to help her. He stood firmly behind with his burning gaze fixed on Selene.

"I… Uh… I think such an unruly beastman won't be able to serve you well," Vanessa said with a forced smile. She hurriedly pushed Zirion forward and added, "But Zirion is different. He's orderly in doing things. Why don't I give him to you instead?"

Vanessa sounded overly eager when she offered Zirion. Selene knew why. It was because she had disrupted Vanessa's most critical move in her scheme, and that was placing Zirion at her side.

In her past life, Vanessa knew everything Selene did because of Zirion.

So this time, Selene sensed that if she didn't act as she normally would or take Zirion in, she would be able to break free from Vanessa's manipulation.

Still, the show had to go on. Selene feigned surprise and asked, "But isn't he your personal guard now? Can you really bear to give him up, Nessa?"

"Why not? You're the one I care about the most," Vanessa replied.

Selene found her response so ironic and funny that she nearly burst into laughter. She composed herself and said, "Well, I admit that I do tend to choose my men based on looks."

Vanessa was visibly relieved as she followed up her pitch with a smile, "Zirion's looks are first-class for sure. If you like—"

"I don't like him," Selene cut her off.

Her smile remained, but her tone was icy. "I don't like others touching what's mine. And I despise using what others have used before. I find it filthy."

The moment those words fell, Zirion's lips turned visibly pale. He staggered a little, as though he barely had the strength to remain standing.

"I find it filthy."

Those were the words Zirion had once said to Selene. In Selene's past life, rumors about Selene keeping lovers in her bedchamber even at a young age had spread far and wide. It was scandalous and shameful.

Though they were lies, Zirion had believed them. And so, when he was by her side, his eyes carried not only disdain but also deep disgust.

Selene remembered everything like it was yesterday. Once, on his birthday, she had personally carved him a wooden rose. She had intended to call him over and give it to him as part of a custom-made sword knot.

In the end, Zirion never showed up. He even had someone return the gift.

"H-He said… He said he doesn't deserve such a precious gift given his lowly status," the attendant had stammered.

But the maid who had gone with him fumed with anger and ranted, "I clearly heard that ingrate say that this wooden rose was filthy!"

The gift itself was not filthy. It was the maker whom he thought was filthy.

At that time, Selene forced herself to think of the scar on Zirion's waist and tried her best not to take his rejection to heart. After that, she still gave him gifts. But she never gave him anything she had made herself again.

There came a series of booming metallic clangs.

The sudden tolling of the city bell snapped Selene back to her senses. It was the signal announcing the start of the annual riding and archery competition held by the city.

In her past life, Selene had shone brilliantly in this competition. Because of that, she drew Alaric's suspicion and fear.

"Since you dislike Zirion, then I won't force the matter," Vanessa said understandingly with a smile.

Compared to earlier, she seemed to be in a far better mood. "After all, today is your big day."

With that, she left with Zirion in tow.

"Is it your birthday today?" Fenric asked.

Having misunderstood Vanessa's words, he picked several flowers in the garden. He seemed to know which ones bloomed most beautifully because he moved swiftly. Barely a second later, he handed them to Selene with a sincere expression.

Selene smiled and accepted the bouquet but shook her head. She said, "Thank you. But today is not my birthday. One hour from now, the riding and archery competition will be held on the plains outside the city. All beast tamers must participate."

Fenric recalled how Selene had shot an arrow through the beast's eye back in the beast pit.

"You'll surely emerge as the champion. I'll go get you the finest horse," he said confidently.

"No, not the finest one." Selene winked at him mischievously. "Just get me the prettiest one."

…

After changing into her riding clothes, Selene arrived at the competition grounds just in time to see Fenric leading a horse toward her. He looked troubled, as though he wanted to say something but kept holding back.

"You want to say that pretty horses are usually weak, don't you? That's fine. That's exactly what I want," Selene said. She opened her palm to reveal a sword knot that was adorned with a wooden rose. "Here. Put this on your sword."

Fenric accepted it and replied with delight, "Is this a gift?"

"You could say that. I carved it myself, so it doesn't look very nice."

"I… I like it very much!" Fenric grinned widely from ear to ear. He immediately tied it to his sword hilt and seemed to cherish it very much.

"I have another task for you," Selene said. Then, she lowered her voice and instructed, "Make sure this gift is seen as much as possible."

With a perplexed expression on his face, Fenric nodded gingerly. Before he could ask, cheers rose from the distance, cutting off their conversation.

"Nessa's archery has improved so much. She even hit the bullseye once!"

"At this rate, she'll soon be able to join us on hunts in the mountains."

Vanessa waved her hand shyly, blushing from the compliments. She responded humbly, "You flatter me, dear brothers. I only hit the target on my tenth arrow. Compared to how Selene did in the past, I'm nothing. Back then, she struck a rabbit's eye about 330 yards away with one shot! She's always been my role model."

Their voices traveled just enough to reach the ears of Alaric, who was seated at the viewing platform.

"Since you say so, then allow me to show off my skills once more."

Selene mounted her horse and held up a strip of white cloth as she rode before the crowd. Only when all eyes were fixed upon her did she tie the cloth across her eyes.

"Blind shooting? Oh, it'll be a feast for the eyes!" Vanessa's voice trembled with excitement that she could barely contain.

As soon as the signal went off, Selene charged forward blindfolded. She raised her bow and shot an arrow… It was a miss. She quickly shot another. Again, it was another miss.

Laughter erupted from the stands all around.

Upon hearing that, Selene tore off her blindfold in disbelief. She clenched her teeth in frustration as she wheeled her horse around. In her fury, she flung the piece of white cloth to the ground.

She locked her eyes on the target intently. Then, she spurred her horse forward and drew her bow. This time, she hit the outermost ring. It was followed by another shot, which was a miss yet again.

"Damn it!" Selene hurled her bow to the ground. "Bring me another bow!"

The audience sniggered harder, some even bent over as they cried tears of laughter.

"How embarrassing! What a feast for the eyes, indeed!"

"What a complete and utter disgrace Selene has become!"

Among the crowd, only Vanessa's face was pale. She turned around and stammered nervously, "N-No, this isn't Selene's usual standard. She must be tired. Please give her another chance…"

Her words were cut short when an arrow suddenly whistled past and grazed her cheek.