Hoan froze for a moment, thinking he must have misheard.
"What did you say?"
"I said—" Lily swept her gaze across the surrounding onlookers, then raised her voice even louder, "I only gave you all those things because I intended for you to form a bond with me. Since you're so certain that will never happen, then naturally, everything I gave you should be returned."
Hoan's temper flared instantly.
"Lily, you were the one who insisted on giving me those things in the first place. If they were gifts, how can you just take them back?"
What a joke. She had given him so many hides—and quite a few beast cores. There was no way he would hand them over so easily.
Besides, he could already feel himself on the verge of a breakthrough. With the added support of those beast cores, the process would be much smoother—he might even leap straight to four-star.
He had been stuck at two-star for far too long.
"And yet you refused to bond with me, while still accepting everything I gave you…" Lily widened her eyes in feigned shock. "Don't tell me—you were stringing me along from the very beginning, just to squeeze benefits out of me?"
"After all, everyone knows how much my father dotes on me. With his strength, obtaining a few beast cores is nothing."
"And besides, you never once rejected the idea of bonding with me back then. That's why I kept bringing you things. If you had made it clear from the start that it would never happen, do you think I would've been foolish enough to hand over everything I had?"
As she spoke, Lily deliberately put on a wounded expression.
Dallan's gaze softened at once. Before he even realized it, he had pulled her into his arms.
"I didn't expect you to be so shameless—taking advantage of a female like this," he said coldly.
With his five-star strength, he didn't even need to act—just standing there and staring at Hoan was enough to make the latter's legs weaken under the pressure.
Lily hadn't expected Dallan to suddenly pull her close. Looking up at him—at the way he shielded her—her heart skipped a beat.
Were beastmen always this… earnest?
Just last night, he had still been wary of her. And now, after everything, he was already treating her with such care?
Around them, the gathered beastmen began pointing and whispering.
They had never thought highly of Hoan to begin with, but now—seeing that he had even deceived a female like this—it only deepened their contempt.
True, Lily herself didn't have a good reputation.
But what Hoan had done was still disgraceful.
If the City Lord had been in the city today, Hoan would likely have already been thrown out.
As the accusations grew louder, panic began to creep into Hoan's chest.
He had only just managed to join Ten Thousand Beasts City. With the cold season approaching, if he were cast out now, there was no way he would survive.
"…Then what do you want?" he asked reluctantly.
"Simple. Return everything I've ever given you."
Under so many watchful eyes, Hoan had no room to deny it. Besides, at only two-star, he stood no chance against her beast husbands.
Still… what was going on with Lily?
Just yesterday, she had come eagerly delivering him a jar of salt. And today, she had completely changed her attitude.
Could this be… playing hard to get?
If that was the case, then he would return everything for now. Later, with a bit of coaxing, maybe it would all end up back in his hands anyway.
"Fine. I'll return everything you gave me," Hoan said, turning and heading back inside his stone dwelling.
When he came back out, carrying a towering stack of hides, Lily felt her anger surge.
How foolish had the original host been?
So many high-quality hides—and instead of using them for herself or her husbands, she had given them all to this bastard.
Even the surrounding beastmen widened their eyes in shock.
Among the pile… there was even a rare deer hide.
Deer beasts were notoriously difficult to hunt—something only someone like the City Lord would go out of their way to obtain for his daughter.
"And the beast cores?"
Lily extended her hand toward him.
Hoan tightened his grip around the cores in his hand.
He knew very well—at his current strength, he couldn't hunt mutated beasts to obtain more. Without these, breaking through would become far more difficult.
"Lily, can you just… consider those beast cores a loan to me?"
Left with no other choice, Hoan swallowed his pride. If it meant breaking through, he could endure this humiliation—for now.
"No." To his shock, Lily refused without a second thought.
So she really wasn't leaving him any room at all.
Fine. If she wanted to be this heartless, then when she came crawling back in regret one day, he wouldn't forgive her so easily.
"Hand it over!"
Gian had been watching long enough. At first, he thought Lily was just putting on a show for them—but now it was clear she truly wanted nothing to do with Hoan anymore.
In that case, there was nothing holding him back.
He stepped forward and snatched the hide pouch straight out of Hoan's hand.
"Female Master, check if the amount is right."
He opened the pouch and held it out. Lily counted carefully—and quickly noticed one was missing.
"There's one orange-grade beast core missing."
She extended her hand toward Hoan again.
Beast cores were graded by color—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, with purple being the highest and most energy-rich. Only beastmen of seven-star strength or above dared absorb purple cores, while red ones were the weakest—any beastman could use them.
Hoan's face flushed dark red.
She wasn't wrong—there was one orange core missing.
But he had already absorbed it. How could he possibly return it now?
"Looks like you've already used it," Lily said, reading his expression easily.
She thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Fine. I won't make things difficult for you."
Truth be told, orange-grade cores wouldn't do much for her current beast husbands anyway. Better to exchange it for something more practical.
"Let's settle it this way—ten mid-grade hides in exchange for that orange core. Deal?"
Hoan's ability might be mediocre, but gathering ten decent hides was still within his reach.
"…Fine."
He nodded stiffly.
"Now, can you leave?"
By now, he loathed Lily completely. If not for her, he wouldn't have been humiliated like this in front of so many people. How was he supposed to live in Ten Thousand Beasts City after this?
"I'm not finished yet."
Lily began counting on her fingers.
"If I remember correctly, I've given you ten bleating sheep, two lowing cattle, and over fifty portions of beast meat of various sizes."
The surrounding beastmen stared in shock.
They hadn't expected Lily—of all people—to have been so generous to Hoan.
Why couldn't they meet a female like that?
"Oh, and salt," Lily added. "If I'm not mistaken, I gave you three jars."
She shot Dallan a look. He immediately understood and went inside to retrieve them.
"This one was given yesterday—I'll take it back now. As for the other two, you can return them along with the meat before the cold season arrives."
With that, Lily didn't wait for Hoan's reaction. She turned and left with her beast husbands, completely unbothered.
Perhaps it was the relief of finally settling things, but her steps felt lighter than ever.
Gian, simple-minded as he was, and Dallan, who had only recently been brought into her life, both found themselves oddly pleased seeing her reclaim so much from Hoan.
Trailing behind them, however, Alast remained silent.
His green, slit pupils stayed fixed on Lily's back.
Ever since last night… it was as if she had become an entirely different person.
What exactly had happened to her?