When Ophelia came to the Wishing Pool once more, what met her eyes was still that glaring, agonizing scene.
She truly believed she had been reborn!
At the edge of the Wishing Pool, four-year-old Amy held a small red flower, her eyes tightly closed. "Wishing Pool, I wish for my favorite Aunt Michelle to be my mother."
Behind Amy, the male and the little female exchanged smiles, their faces filled with helpless indulgence.
"Amy, your father is already bonded with your mother. Even though I like you best too, I'm terribly sorry, I cannot be your mother."
Little Amy was entirely unfazed, a naive and innocent smile on her face. "Then you can just have Father and Ophelia break their bond, and then Aunt Michelle can bond with Father instead!"
The exact same words from her past life rang in her ears once more, wrapping Ophelia in a piercing, freezing chill.
This was the little female she had endured ten grueling months of pregnancy to bring into the world, the daughter she had cared for day and night for four whole years. Yet here she was at the Wishing Pool, wishing for another little female to be her mother, holding nothing but utter contempt for the mother who bore her.
A numb, crushing agony tore through Ophelia's chest as tears slipped down her face.
Out of the corner of her eye, Michelle noticed the edge of the red beast-hide garment hidden behind the tree trunk.
She bent down to stroke Amy's head, letting out a bitter laugh. "Auntie has poor fertility, so your Grandfather Chieftain would never agree to let me bond with Loki."
"Hmph! If Ophelia weren't a female of the Dragon Clan with strong fertility, Father wouldn't have bonded with her in the first place. Father loves Aunt Michelle the most, and I want to be Auntie's little female. You can just pretend I was born using her belly, but in reality, I'm the child of you and Father." Amy declared triumphantly.
Hearing such a novel theory from his little female, Loki couldn't help laughing aloud. "You little imp."
"And besides, my name is Amy because Father Loki loves you, Aunt Michelle. I am the living proof of your love."
The pain in her heart was like the slash of a knife, as if she were reliving the agonizing chest-ripping torment of her past life.
In her previous life, Loki had been deeply in love with Michelle yet went against his own heart to bond with Ophelia, all to secure the backing of the Golden Dragon Clan behind her.
Once she bore him a little female and helped him ascend to the position of chieftain of the Snow Wolf Tribe, he forcibly severed their bond and imprisoned her, solely to harvest her heart's blood to preserve his white-moonlight's youth and beauty.
After enduring eighteen blood-lettings, she finally found release in death. Yet even then, while she still clung to a shred of life, Loki had ripped out her heart to brew porridge for Michelle.
And when Michelle complained of the fishy taste and refused to drink it, her own daughter Amy had coaxed her softly from the side, saying, "Mother, as long as you eat Ophelia's heart, you will become the most beautiful little female in the entire Xingluo Continent."
The agonizing memories of her past life flooded over Ophelia like a breached dam, overwhelming her mind until she could bear it no longer. The world spun before her eyes, and she slipped into unconsciousness.
Just as her body was about to hit the ground, a pair of gentle, strong hands caught her.
[Ding! Congratulations on your rebirth. Because your past life was filled with such unbearable suffering, the System Supreme Deity has decided to grant you a second chance at life, along with a reward of a Farm Space.]
Farm Space: 100 square meters (initial size, upgradeable with points). Crops can be planted and livestock raised.
Points: 200 (earned by collecting prey, beast skins, and water spirits).
Farm Shop: Contains high-yield grains, melons, various vegetable seeds, chicks, ducklings, goslings, piglets, calves, lambs, and various fish fry.
Wheat seeds: 20 points, Level 1, maturation time: 36 hours, covers 10 square meters, yields 20 catties of wheat.
Paddy rice seeds: 20 points, Level 1, maturation time: 36 hours, covers 10 square meters, yields 20 catties of rice.
Millet, wormwood, and other crops follow the same rules.
Apple tree saplings: 30 points, Level 1, maturation time: 88 hours, covers 10 square meters, yields 100 apples.
Peach tree saplings: 30 points, Level 1, maturation time: 88 hours, covers 10 square meters, yields 100 peaches.
Other fruit trees follow the same rules.
···
[Ding! The system is now unlocking your sealed memories.]
Roaring traffic and dazzling neon lights. Her lost memories flooded back into Ophelia's mind.
She, Ophelia, an overseas student in Australia, had been wholly devoted to agriculture, holding dual Ph.D.s in Agronomy and Animal Science from an agricultural university.
In her previous life, while researching rice cultivation in saline-alkaline soil, she had accidentally strayed into a swamp, only to be transmigrated in utero into the Xingluo Beast World Continent to become the most cherished princess of the Golden Dragon Clan.
In that past life in the beast world, her modern memories had been sealed away; this time, the rebirth system had compensated her by unlocking those long-sealed modern memories.
"Princess, are you alright?" A male's steady voice carried deep concern.
"Ta—Taylor?" Ophelia rubbed her head and sat up. "What happened to me?"
"You collapsed outside. I'm sorry for carrying you back without your permission." Taylor spoke with extreme caution, his face tense with worry.
Seeing Taylor's cautious and careful demeanor, Ophelia felt a sudden sting in her nose.
In her past life, because Loki claimed that having a single male lingering around was inappropriate since they were already bonded, he had forced her to drive Taylor away.
Despite that, Taylor had still watched over her silently from the shadows, later being the first to discover her imprisonment, and ultimately losing his life—beheaded by Loki—in a desperate attempt to save her.
"Taylor, I'm so sorry." I'm sorry I wasn't worth saving.
Ophelia's eyes welled with tears, and the hatred in her heart toward Loki and Michelle grew even more venomous.
This time, she would make Loki and Michelle pay in blood, turning every single one of their ambitions into nothingness and every desire into smoke.
Taylor's lips moved, and the hand hanging at his side lifted slightly, only to drop back down as he sensed someone approaching.
"Ophelia, the Chieftain Selection is in three days. Have you prepared the three-year-old tiger?" Loki frowned slightly as he saw the male standing inside the room.
"What is he doing here? What were you two up to?"
Loki commanded, "Get out of here."
Taylor lowered his eyes and turned to leave, but Ophelia reached out and grabbed him. "He is a male of my Golden Dragon Clan; he has no right to order you around."
Taylor froze, his voice low and hoarse. "Yes."
Loki's expression darkened. "Ophelia, what kind of tantrum are you throwing? Just because I accompanied Michelle to the Wishing Pool today, you're turning around and using this male to provoke me?"
"Don't forget, I am your bondmate."
"Even the Beast God never stipulated that a little female can only be bonded to a single male. What are you barking about? Taylor is the guardian assigned to me by my father—wherever I go, he goes."
"A princess's guardian is essentially a future beast-husband. You know that, don't you?" Ophelia stood up, looking at Loki with a revulsion she had never shown before.
Loki said, "Ophelia, don't forget we share a Sole Mate Contract. You can only have me as your partner, or you will suffer the punishment of the Beast God."
In the Xingluo Beast World, males outnumbered females, and monogamous households were practically nonexistent.
Even her father, the Chieftain of the Golden Dragon Clan, shared her mother with four other males. In her past life, she truly had been foolish to the core, discarding an entire forest for the worthless weed standing right in front of her.
Such a fool—she deserved to die in her past life.
To put it in modern terms: pity a man, and ruin your life.
"Even if we formed a Sole Mate Contract, it's not like it can't be dissolved. Didn't your precious little female want Michelle to be her mother? I'm granting her wish."
"Loki, I want to break our bond!"
As the words fell, both males felt a jolt of shock in their hearts.