The lights in the Judgement Court office were dim.
Night Abyss sat behind a blood-red desk, his long fingers gripping a quill as he signed his cold name on the fine.
The ink bled across the page, eating into the paper like venom.
Thunder rumbled faintly outside, and a flash of lightning illuminated the dark red, vertical pupils behind his glasses.
"Su An'an!"
He whispered the name of his Female Master, the corner of his mouth twisting into a cruel smile. "Did you think you could escape punishment just by winning over the mermaid and the White Tiger?"
His fingertips tapped lightly on the desk. Poison seeped from his crimson nails, corroding a scorched black mark into the wood grain.
"This fine is just the beginning."
He stared at the Royal Family's seal on the document, his voice as soft as a serpent's hiss. "I will make you wish you were dead!"
In the lamplight, Night Abyss's shadow on the snow-white wall transformed into a giant Poisonous Flood Dragon, baring its vicious fangs at its Prey!
「In the potion lab of the Mermaid Palace.」
Su An'an was dazed and groggy. Acting on instinct, she pulled out some medicinal ingredients and stuffed them all into the Extraction Instrument.
The moment her spiritual power linked to the instrument, her plump tentacles suddenly burst with green sparks.
The ingredients all shot up and started breakdancing before melting into a fiery magma that solidified into a clump.
Half an hour later, she came to her senses, smelling a hot, pungent, charcoal-like scent.
The workbench was piled high with bright red pills that looked like tiny, burning coals.
'What in the world did I just make?'
She stuffed a pill into an old detector in the corner.
"Berserk effect detected... Painless... Medicinal toxin... A Level!"
FIZZ! FIZZ!
The detector abruptly exploded, spraying red powder all over her face.
Su An'an licked some of the powder.
The taste was very unusual, like a vanilla-flavored chili pepper.
She tried one.
A warm current instantly rushed to the top of her head.
Her mind cleared, and she felt her whole body brimming with endless energy.
Even the rate at which her Spiritual Power Tentacles drained power had slowed considerably.
'This is good stuff.'
Su An'an estimated the pill's purity was around A Level. Its effects: clearing heat and detoxifying, refreshing the mind and senses, and providing an excitatory enhancement.
On the market, a Spiritual Power Potion refined by an F-Level female usually cost about one thousand gold coins.
Since hers was high-purity and had special effects, it could sell for at least two thousand gold.
'Good things, of course, should be saved for her own beasts!'
She had just barely managed to raise her favorability with the Big Cat and the mermaid.
These pills were perfect for winning them over.
If Night Abyss came after her, she would at least have some allies.
Su An'an packed the blood-red pills into a medical case.
Suddenly, a SPLASHING sound came from the pool behind her.
She turned her head and nearly got a nosebleed.
Lan Cangming had shifted back to his human form and was standing up in the pool.
Water droplets rolled down his cool, pale skin, over his abs, and disappeared into his sexy V-lines.
His powerful physique was brimming with strength, enough to get one's blood pumping.
Su An'an secretly gulped.
Honestly, Lan Cangming's face and body were top-tier. Even the top male models of the human world couldn't compare to one ten-thousandth of him.
He was the kind of man that made it hard for a girl to keep her legs together.
'Too bad he's too intense for a human to handle.'
Su An'an gave a demure cough.
When she saw Lan Cangming's gaze shift toward her, she pretended to be casual and took out a handful of red pills from the medical case.
"I've formulated some new pills. They're very effective for healing your injuries. Want to try them?"
"Hah! The last time you said you invented a new medicine, you made me shed my scales for three days. Are you trying to trick me again?"
Lan Cangming gave a sarcastic laugh and, with his back to her, fastened the last silver button on his military uniform.
"Su An'an, I don't know what trick you used to resolve my heat, but don't even think about using me to test your medicine again."
His eyes swept over her and saw that her fair skin was covered in reddish-purple bite marks. His expression darkened.
Then he left without a backward glance.
Su An'an angrily threw the pills back into the case.
'Heartless, stinky fish!'
'I risked my Spiritual Power Tentacles exploding to help treat him...'
'...and this is the attitude I get? It's just too much!'
'Big Cat is still the best. I'll just give this whole case of medicine to Big Cat!'
Just as Su An'an stepped over the threshold, carrying the medical case...
...she was pinned against a rose trellis, her nose filled with the sharp scent of Tequila.
"Big Cat!" Su An'an looked up in pleasant surprise, only to be met by a pair of furious Gilded Beast Eyes.
Ying Jiuyao's tiger tail was wrapped so tightly around her ankle it was turning blue. His gilded pupils constricted to pinpricks, and his nose pressed against the bite marks on her collarbone. "You're really something else! I can smell the mermaid's drool on you from three corridors away."
'This detestable female! With him, she was only willing to pat and hug. But with Lan Cangming, things were so passionate. She clearly didn't take him seriously at all!'
"Listen to my cover-up—no, my explanation—"
Su An'an waved her hands in a fluster and hurriedly explained:
"Lan Cangming's heat acted up again! I was afraid his genes would degrade, so I came to help relieve him."
"This again?"
Ying Jiuyao's hand squeezed her slender waist, his hot, Tequila-scented breath puffing against her earlobe.
"Last time, you said Lan Cangming's uniform button got stuck in the crack of your bed. The time before that, you said his fishtail was dehydrated and needed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation..."
Silvery-white beast claws shot from his fingertips and tore open her collar, revealing the suggestive bite marks. "And now you're saying his heat returned? Do you take me for an idiot?"
"If you don't believe me, ask Lei Ya! He said Lan Cangming was provoked at the Judgement Court, and that's why his heat suddenly flared up! To help relieve him, my Spiritual Power Tentacles nearly exploded..."
Su An'an's lips formed a pout. She was only halfway through her complaint when Ying Jiuyao's roar interrupted her.
"Do you like him that much?"
"You're even willing to let your Spiritual Power Tentacles explode for him!"
"It's not like that..." Su An'an felt like she couldn't explain herself even if she had mouths all over her body.
"You damn liar! I'll never believe you again!"
Ying Jiuyao smashed the rose trellis behind Su An'an with a single punch, then turned and left, heartbroken and furious.
"Big Cat!"
Su An'an reached for his sleeve but accidentally knocked over the medical case.
The hot, charcoal-like scent of the medicine wafted out from the cracks in the case.
"What's this?"
Ying Jiuyao's nose twitched as he looked at the case in confusion.
"These are pills I made especially for you. They can refresh your mind and soothe your Beast Core. Here, take them and try."
Just as Su An'an was about to open the case, the silvery-white tiger tail whipped down and struck the lid.
"No need! Save them to treat your stinky, ice-cold fish!"
With an angry roar, Ying Jiuyao vanished in an instant.
'How did it come to this?'
Su An'an wanted to cry but had no tears left. Just when she thought the situation was improving, she had lost the favor of two Beast Husbands in one go.
It was all Night Abyss's fault, that scheming, psychotic snake. Ever since she met him, nothing had gone right for her.
Su An'an hugged the medical case, frustrated. 'That stinky, ice-cold fish and that dumb Big Cat really don't know a good thing when they see it. They can't even appreciate such great pills.'
Just as she was wondering what to do with the pills, her Smart Brain Ring suddenly flashed with a blinding red light, accompanied by the Judgement Court's characteristically cold notification.
[Princess Su An'an has purchased Forbidden Medicine, violating Article 301 of the Empire's laws. All assets are hereby frozen, effective immediately, and a fine of nine billion gold coins has been issued.]
[If the fine is not paid in full within one month, your right of dominion over your five Beast Husbands will be revoked.]