readease Chapter 295: Female guests
Chapter 295: Female guests
Since they were helping Nina gather sea crystals, Yanai and the others naturally took part as well. However, they worked on a rotating schedule, so not everyone was responsible for going out every day.
The next morning, the beast husbands left early to search for sea crystals. Yanai was among those heading out that day.
Rosen had arrived even earlier. She sat waiting in the grand hall for Nina to wake up and come out. Her own residence was very close to Nina’s palace.
Originally, she had wanted to live right next door, but unfortunately there hadn’t been enough space to build Nina’s new palace there. In the end, she had chosen the closest available location.
She specifically instructed the males not to wake Nina.
After all, Nina had traveled such a long way and must have been exhausted. Rosen wanted her to sleep as long as she pleased.
And Rosen had not come alone. Several noble sea-clan females accompanied her, all aristocratic women from Sea Blue City.
They had heard that Rosen’s future daughter-in-law had arrived—along with their little princess—and had insisted on coming to see them.
At dawn, they had practically blocked Rosen’s doorway, leaving her no choice but to bring them along.
"Rosen, is that female still not awake yet?" one blue-haired female complained impatiently after waiting for some time. "Should we ask one of the males to call her?"
Rosen shot her a warning glance.
"Shania, if you don’t want to wait, you can leave. Nina has traveled a long distance and worked hard all the way here. What’s wrong with letting her sleep a little longer?"
Shania pouted slightly. "That’s not what I meant. Waiting is fine."
She was simply getting restless and wanted to see this female Rosen kept talking about as soon as possible.
Yina gently patted Shania in comfort before turning apologetically toward Rosen.
"Lady Rosen, please don’t mind my cousin. She just isn’t very patient."
Yina and Shania belonged to the same family clan, though they were not biological sisters.
Rosen did not bother arguing further.
"Fine. But when Nina comes out, you’d better not speak to her like that. Otherwise, I won’t let you off easily."
Among the sea-clan females, Rosen’s status was exceptionally high.
Shania immediately lowered her voice. "...Understood."
The other females remained silent.
After all, they had already come uninvited to visit someone else’s home. None of them dared criticize the host.
***
After some time, Nina finally woke up. By the time she finished breakfast, Ridan came to inform her that Rosen and several sea-clan females had arrived to visit.
Nina immediately brought the children out with her. The moment she spotted Rosen, she smiled warmly.
"Mother, why didn’t you wake me earlier when you arrived?"
Rosen rose to her feet with a smile. "I wanted to let you sleep a little longer."
The other females hurriedly stood as well. The moment they saw Nina clearly, amazement filled their eyes.
She really was just as beautiful as Rosen had described.
No... Even more beautiful than the mermaid females of their own sea clan. Several of the females stared at Nina without blinking, as though they simply couldn’t look away.
Shania’s eyes sparkled brightly.
Nina is so beautiful.
Thank goodness Nina hadn’t heard her complaining earlier.
As merfolk, they possessed an almost instinctive love for beautiful things.
The females immediately shot Rosen envious looks, causing her to lift her chin proudly.
Nina looked toward them curiously. "Mother, who are they?"
Rosen sounded slightly helpless as she explained, "They’re noble females from the sea clans. I have no idea where they heard you’d arrived, but they insisted on meeting you, so I had no choice but to bring them along."
Honestly, she was rather puzzled herself.
How had news spread so quickly? Had she been a little too high-profile yesterday?
Nina smiled politely. "Hello."
The females immediately greeted her enthusiastically.
"Hello, Nina!"
"My name is Shania."
"I’m Hoan."
"I’m Yina."
...
One after another, they introduced themselves with shy smiles. Nina lowered her head toward the children.
"Babies, say hello to these beautiful ladies."
The little ones obediently greeted them. "Hello, Aunties."
The females instantly melted at the sight of the children. They were simply too adorable.
And the moment their eyes landed on Mimi, every single pair of eyes lit up completely.
"Wow... are these our little princesses and princes?" the females gasped in amazement. "They’re unbelievably beautiful!"
Yina looked at the children, then at Nina, disbelief written all over her face.
"Nina... are all of these your children?"
From how affectionate the little ones were with Nina, it was obvious they belonged to her.
Nina nodded with a smile. "Mm, they’re all mine."
The females’ mouths fell slightly open in shock.
That was incredible. Even Rosen, who was famous among the sea clans for having exceptionally strong fertility, had never had this many children.
"Can we... play with them for a little while?" Hoan asked carefully.
She sounded almost nervous, afraid Nina might refuse. She truly adored these adorable, beautiful children already.
"Of course," Nina replied warmly.
She placed the little ones onto a nearby low table, and immediately the females gathered around them, happily coaxing and playing with them.
Rosen scooped Sunny into her arms and happily cuddled him.
Momo, however, was still shy around strangers and stayed curled against Nina’s shoulder instead.
Shania chatted enthusiastically with Nina. "Nina, what is your family name? Or can I just use your first name?"
"Of course you can," Nina smiled.
Shania’s gaze landed on the gemstone necklace around Nina’s neck, and her eyes lit up.
"Nina, where did you buy that necklace? It’s gorgeous. Those gemstones must be incredibly expensive, right?"
With one glance, she could tell the quality of the gems surpassed even the finest jewels she owned herself.
"My beast husband made it for me," Nina answered honestly. "I’m not really sure how expensive it is."
She genuinely didn’t know.
Aviel had plenty of gemstones like these, so she had assumed they weren’t especially rare.
Shania sighed in admiration. "Your beast husband treats you so well. Not only did he find gemstones this beautiful, he even handcrafted the necklace himself."
Most jewelry her own beast husband gave her had simply been purchased. He rarely made things personally, and his craftsmanship was terrible.
Nina smiled softly. "Mm. He really is very good to me."
In truth, they had all made countless accessories for her over time.
Rosen secretly puffed up with pride beside them. Nina owned far more extravagant jewelry than this.
She had personally seen that dragon male crafting mountains of jewelry for her. Dian had done the same. And given the status of Nina’s beast husbands, there was no way she lacked precious treasures.
The females chatted happily with Nina for a long time in the main hall.
By noon, out of courtesy, Nina invited them to stay for lunch.
After eating, the females became even more reluctant to leave. The food in Nina’s home was simply too delicious.
How could anything taste this good?
As a result, they shamelessly lingered the entire afternoon, secretly hoping to stay long enough to earn another meal by dinner.
***
That evening, Lani and Lex returned carrying an enormous haul of fresh seafood for Nina.
The females looked at Nina pitifully, clearly unwilling to leave.
"Nina... can I stay for dinner too?" Shania asked sheepishly. She truly couldn’t resist anymore.
Nina’s meals were unbelievably delicious. She had no idea how they were prepared, but they tasted far better than anything she had ever eaten.
"We want to stay too," the other females quickly chimed in.
Shania immediately pulled out a beautiful pearl bracelet. "This is my gift for you."
Originally, before meeting Nina, she had planned to bring something simple. But after seeing her in person, she had immediately chosen her favorite—and most beautiful—bracelet instead.
Because she genuinely liked Nina.
She was honestly starting to envy Rosen a little.
The other females hurriedly took out gifts of their own as well.
Nina laughed helplessly.
"If you want to stay for dinner, of course you can. But there’s really no need for gifts."
The sea-clan females all had pleasant personalities. Sharing another meal with them was hardly a problem.
But the females stubbornly pressed their gifts into Nina’s hands anyway.
"Nina, please accept them," Hoan said earnestly. "Otherwise, we’ll feel embarrassed."
The others nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Left with no choice, Nina accepted the gifts.
Afterward, she guided the males as they prepared an extravagant seafood feast together.