After Giving Birth, All My Beast Ex-Husbands Suddenly Want Me Back-Chapter 20: Beastmen gathered outside

Mino noticed that Nina’s expression had changed, and she wasn’t saying anything. He immediately panicked, thinking she must be disgusted that he had a marriage engagement yet ran away from it. "Nina, I didn’t run away because I’m irresponsible. I... I’m a responsible male, someone who can be counted on. Please believe me," he said, his voice anxious.

"I ran away because I can’t stand that female," he added firmly.

A look of disgust crossed his face. "She’s a terrible female. Ugly isn’t even the worst part—she’s cruel, cunning, and ruthless. She torments males constantly, doesn’t spare even the cubs, and the number of wicked things she’s done is countless."

Nina listened, feeling a mix of grievance and irritation. She pursed her lips. "Have you actually seen her? And yet you speak of her like that." She turned her face toward the corner.

"I haven’t seen her myself," Mino admitted, "but all the other beastfolk say the same. If only a few claimed it, that might be questionable, but if everyone says it, doesn’t that make it true?"

Mino didn’t understand why Nina looked upset—he had just stated a fact.

Nina let a wry smile curl on her lips. Yes, everyone thinks that. But the original me never did anything wrong.

She looked at Mino, emotions tangled inside her.

Could she tell him her true identity?

Would he believe that she had done nothing bad?

If he didn’t, would he reject her like the other beastfolk, despising her?

"Mino," she said softly, "sometimes what everyone says isn’t necessarily true. Maybe someone is deliberately smearing her."

She couldn’t say that those rumors had all been spread by Lina.

"But if she really didn’t do anything, why would the other beastfolk say those things? Why smear her like that?" Mino asked, genuinely puzzled. He didn’t understand why Nina would defend someone so clearly wicked.

"And recently I heard from a friend that she’s been associating with the evil beasts of the Sin Beast City. I’d already heard she was flirtatious and reckless, giving males drugs and abandoning responsibility afterward. Seems all of it is true."

Seeing Mino’s unwavering conviction, Nina immediately abandoned the idea of revealing her identity.

She couldn’t take that risk. What would he do if he found out who she really was?

Would he despise her? Even expose her to the tribe?

She didn’t want to be expelled again. She wanted to safely give birth to her cub first, and then worry about the rest later, once the cub was older.

Nina lowered her gaze and gently rested her hands on her increasingly obvious belly.

Moreover, she couldn’t even explain who the cub’s father was.

If they were to find out about what had happened in Sin Beast City, they might even harm the cub. She couldn’t allow that to happen—nothing was more important than her baby.

The flutter of feelings born by the river quietly faded away. Nina was no longer conflicted as she glanced at that exquisitely handsome face.

Maybe they were better suited to be friends.

She couldn’t reveal her true identity, and she didn’t want to deceive him into becoming her mate.

Poor little cat—he had no idea that, just like this, he had missed the mate position he had long dreamed of.

Nina withdrew the foot that Mino was still holding. "That’s enough. You don’t need to rub it anymore."

The softness in his palm vanished, leaving Mino with a faint sense of loss. "Mm. Then I’ll go cook. Do you want fish? Any particular way you’d like it prepared?"

"Anything is fine," Nina replied, her tone a little distant.

"Alright."

Mino could tell that Nina’s mood wasn’t very good. The words he had wanted to use to confess his feelings stuck in his throat. He wondered if he had upset her somehow—or if she was bothered by the fact that he had run away from his engagement.

He glanced at Nina once more, then went out to prepare the meal.

Distracted, Mino first placed the still-living fish from his back basket into stone vats to keep them alive. Knowing that Nina often craved fish, he had even made two extra stone vats just to raise them.

He then took out fish from his storage space and scraped off the scales again and again with force, venting the restlessness and unease in his heart. From time to time, his gaze would flick toward the stone house.

With nothing else to do, Nina sank into the system space to see if there was anything she needed to buy.

"Little Bun, do you have any kind of parenting encyclopedia? Something that teaches first-time mothers how to raise their cubs?"

[Host, I only have parenting books from other worlds, not from this one.]

Little Bun pulled up several book interfaces.

[The magnetic energy field of this world is extremely strong. Hardly any systems have ever come here. I once asked the main system—only two senior birth systems had been here before, but neither stayed long before being forced out.]

"Then... are you going to be okay?"

Nina felt a flicker of worry. After spending so many years with Little Bun, she had grown attached to it. She didn’t want anything to happen to it, and she didn’t want it to leave her either.

In this beast world, aside from the cub who had yet to be born, Little Bun was the only family Nina had left.

[At the beginning, there was a bit of rejection, so I needed to go into hibernation to adapt. But now I’m integrating more and more smoothly—there’s hardly any repulsion anymore. It might be because your compatibility with this world is very high, Host! I may still need to hibernate occasionally in the future, but you don’t need to worry.]

Little Bun spun around on the spot, showing that it was doing just fine.

Hearing this, Nina finally felt a little relieved. "As long as you’re okay. If anything happens, tell me—I’ll do my best to help you."

[Mm! If you have time, Host, you can buy more things. That helps Little Bun level up, and then I’ll be even more powerful!]

Little Bun danced about like an excited child.

Nina laughed softly. "Got it. Once I start raising a cub, I won’t be afraid of not spending enough—only of not having enough system coins."

She had heard long ago that raising children was expensive.

[Don’t worry! We don’t know much about the materials in this world yet, and there isn’t much data. The main system is extremely interested in this place. It said that many things here can be collected—beast hides, beast bones, plants, anything is fine. If you work harder, Host, you’ll definitely make a fortune. Then we won’t have to worry about lacking system coins anymore.]

[Some rare plants and beast hides can sell for very high prices too! Try to go out and look around more. I’ll give you a scanner later—then you’ll be able to identify which items can be exchanged and what prices they’re worth.]

"Alright. But if there’s a scanner, why didn’t you give it to me earlier?"

[It wasn’t ready before! The main system just gave it to me.]

"Fair enough. I’ll go out more when I have time and work hard to make money—becoming a rich woman."

Nina’s mood improved considerably. With so many things that could be exchanged, she no longer had to worry about running out of system coins.

[Host, although there aren’t any specialized books here, you can start by reading similar ones. I’ll filter out some that are more suitable—pick what you like from them. I’ll also contact the two senior systems who have been here before and ask for advice, then organize some useful information for you.]

"Mm. Thank you, Little Bun. I’ll definitely work hard so you can level up."

Nina truly was grateful to Little Bun.

Little Bun recommended several books to her. Nina chose one, bought it, and began reading it directly in the system space.

She was completely absorbed when Little Bun suddenly popped out to remind her:

[Host, there are a lot of beastmen gathered outside your house door.]