He was afraid.

Afraid that if Nina learned he once had a fiancée, she would despise him even more.

Watching his reaction, Ming and the others became increasingly certain of their suspicions.

"You did have a fiancée before, didn’t you?" Ming pressed again.

Idir bit his lip and lowered his voice. "...Yes."

Nina’s expression shifted slightly.

So he really had once been engaged.

The moment Idir noticed the change in her face, panic flickered through him.

"B-But that engagement was arranged by my father when I was very young," he hurriedly explained. "And it should’ve... should’ve already been broken off."

Nina blinked.

Why did this whole situation sound so familiar? It was like a broken cycle at this point.

Ming and the others’ eyes lit up.

Looks like there was hope yet for an endless supply of durian kneeling punishments.

"Really, Nina," Idir continued nervously, "I didn’t arrange it myself. I never even met that female."

He was genuinely terrified Nina would dislike him even more because of this.

He had already made mistakes—he couldn’t afford to make things worse.

"Was it a political marriage between clans?" Ming asked.

"...Yes," Idir admitted.

Ming fought hard to suppress the corners of his mouth from rising. "Were you the young master of the Serpent Clan? And was your engagement partner Princess Nina Song?"

Idir looked at him suspiciously.

How did he know that?

Then realization slowly dawned on him.

Ming was the City Lord of Spirit Cat City. And if he remembered correctly, that former fiancée of his had apparently had more than one arranged fiancé... one of them seemed to be from Spirit Cat City.

Which meant...

Mino was probably in the exact same situation as him.

Truthfully, Idir knew very little about Princess Nina Song.

He had only overheard scattered rumors here and there. The only thing he really knew was that she had multiple fiancés. Beyond that, he had never paid much attention.

His father hadn’t even told him about the engagement until very late, and afterward, Idir never bothered looking into it further.

Still, since Ming had asked, he answered honestly.

"Yes."

Nina’s eyes widened slightly.

No way. Idir was one of her former fiancés too?!

A complicated sense of embarrassment washed over her soul. How was she somehow connected to all these former fiancés?

Nearby, Ridan and the others stopped what they were doing entirely, staring with wide eyes.

Wait a second... Idir was also one of Lady Nina’s former fiancés?!

Seeing Nina’s expression shift again, Idir became even more flustered.

"B-But the engagement was already broken off!" he said quickly.

He looked at her carefully, almost fearfully. "Really. I never liked that female at all."

He had only ever liked one female in his life. And from now on, he would only ever like Nina.

Resting her chin in her hand, Nina looked at him thoughtfully.

The engagement had indeed been broken off. In fact, it had been broken off directly in front of her.

Ming and the others nearly burst from holding back laughter.

No, you liked her. You liked her desperately.

Ridan and the others snorted coldly.

Idir, you’re finished now.

Ming lifted a brow. "Hm. You certainly did break off the engagement."

Then he turned toward Nina and pointed directly at Idir.

"Nina, look—it was him!"

Taru and Aron pointed at him as well. "Nina, he’s one of them too!"

One of the bastards who broke off the engagement with you. He deserved several extra days kneeling on durians.

Idir leaned back slightly, utterly bewildered. "What are you all talking about?"

What did they mean by it was him?

One of what?

Ming looked down at him and scoffed. "Don’t tell me you didn’t even know your fiancée’s name."

Those other little brats deserved punishment too.

Idir shook his head slowly, though his eyelid twitched faintly.

For some reason, a terrible feeling suddenly began creeping over him.

Taru looked at him meaningfully. "Then do you know where Nina came from?"

Idir shook his head again. "N-No... I don’t."

That ominous feeling only intensified.

"Our Nina came from Spirit Stone City," Aron said slowly. "She was once the daughter of the City Lord there... which means..."

He looked at Idir smugly, the implication unmistakable.

Idir’s pupils trembled violently.

Nina was the City Lord’s daughter of Spirit Stone City...

Which meant... She was Princess Nina Song. The very princess he had once been engaged to.

Idir turned toward Nina, his voice trembling faintly.

"Nina... y-you’re Princess Nina Song?"

The same Princess Nina whose engagement with him had once been broken off?

Nina nodded lightly. "I used to be."

Now, she was only Nina. She no longer had anything to do with Spirit Stone City or the Song family.

Idir’s heart jolted violently, disbelief filling his eyes. "R-Really?"

"Really," Nina confirmed.

His breathing faltered. A chill spread slowly down his spine.

Nina was actually his former fiancée. Then... what had he just said?

He had said he never liked her at all. He had even been secretly relieved that the engagement had been broken off.

A suffocating guilt rose in his chest.

"Now you understand your mistake, don’t you?" Ming snorted coldly. "The person whose engagement got broken off was Nina."

"I..." Idir became visibly flustered. "Nina, it wasn’t like that. I wasn’t the one who broke off the engagement—it was those damned serpents. By then, I had already been cast out of the clan. They went and dissolved the marriage agreement on their own."

Nina had suffered since childhood... And yet he had still ended up breaking off the engagement with her.

Even though it hadn’t been his own decision, Idir still felt crushingly guilty.

The moment he realized those cursed Serpent Clan beasts had severed his engagement with Nina, fury exploded violently inside him.

Dark mist began to seep into his eyes.

Those bastards had actually dared to break his engagement with Nina. He should go back and kill every last one of them. He should have been by Nina’s side long ago. He should have already become her beast husband.

Nina could have suffered less.

It was all because of those damned serpent beasts. He would kill them.

The more he thought about it, the more violent the rage inside him became.

The surrounding temperature dropped sharply. A terrifying hostility erupted from his body. Veins bulged faintly at the corners of his eyes, and traces of blackness slowly surfaced beneath his skin.

Ming and the others jumped in alarm, instinctively retreating several steps.

Their hearts pounded wildly.

No way... Had they pushed too far? Did they accidentally trigger his curse again?

Nina’s expression changed immediately.

She hurried over and cupped Idir’s face in both hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Idir, calm down. I’m not blaming you." She stared at him anxiously.

Dear god, please don’t let him spiral again.

Idir looked straight at her. Slowly, the dark mist in his eyes began to fade, clarity gradually returning. He gripped the hands pressed against his face, his eyes faintly reddened.

"Nina... you really don’t blame me?"

Nina shook her head so quickly it was almost frantic. "No, no, no—I don’t blame you at all. Not even a little."

She was genuinely afraid that if she answered too slowly, he would lose control again.

Idir rubbed gently against her palm, guilt overflowing in his gaze.

"Nina, I’m sorry. Even if I wasn’t the one who personally ended the engagement... you still suffered because of it."

He had heard bits and pieces about Nina’s life after becoming pregnant—how she had survived alone in Sin Beast City.

A lone female trying to survive in the wilderness... How difficult must those days have been?

A savage glint flashed through Idir’s eyes again.

It was all those damned serpent beasts’ fault.

The moment Nina noticed the shift in his expression, she quickly soothed him again.

"It’s alright. Really, I don’t blame you. Honestly, I didn’t suffer that much."

Aside from a few accidents and injuries, most of her days had actually been manageable. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

And none of it truly had much to do with Idir. He hadn’t broken off the engagement himself, so there was no reason for her to blame him.

"Even so, I should still apologize to you," Idir insisted softly.

Nina sighed helplessly. "Fine, I accept your apology, alright?"

Idir nodded, relieved. "Mm. Then... then I should kneel on more durians."

He deserved a few extra days as punishment.

Nina burst into helpless laughter. "Do whatever you want."

This was honestly the first time she had met someone so enthusiastic about punishing himself.

Still... As long as he didn’t randomly lose control again, he could kneel on however many durians he pleased.

Honestly, his curse really was frighteningly unstable.

After a moment of hesitation, Idir carefully asked, "Then... our engagement... does it still count?"

Nina’s beautiful eyes widened slightly.

"...Huh?"