Chapter 1543: Reborn as a toad

[The Bennet Mansion]

Charles and Allison stood in front of Zoren and their "daughter." Charles’s brows were knitted, his eyes full of disbelief as he stared at his beloved princess, now dressed, looking, and acting like a prince.

"Penny..." Allison laughed faintly, hesitation clear in her eyes. "You two really walked around with you dressed like that?"

"Hmm?" Penny blinked, seemingly clueless. "What, Mom? What’s wrong with me...?"

Trailing off, Penny gasped and quickly turned to Zoren. He tilted his head slightly, blinking in confusion.

"Renren!" Penny exclaimed. "Why didn’t you tell me I was still—still... in this?!"

"I don’t see anything wrong with it," Zoren said with a slight frown, darting his confused gaze between his in-laws and his wife. "Is there anything wrong with it? It’s still Penny."

To him, Penny was the same. Well, aside from her hair and the fake trimmed beard on her jaw and chin—she was still his wife. Though her chest looked a little flat, thanks to the wrap she used.

"I don’t know if I should laugh or what," Charles muttered, shaking his head before motioning with his hand. "Let’s go in. Everyone—except you, Penny."

"Dad! I’m still your daughter!"

"I know, princess. But wash your face first. I already have three sons, and now my daughters are bringing home two more. I don’t want to have dinner with another son tonight."

Penny scowled while Allison and Zoren chuckled.

"Just wash your face," Allison said with a smile, then walked over to Zoren. Placing a gentle hand on his arm and back, she guided him inside. "Let’s go, Zoren. Your wife will join us soon. Finn and Nina are already here. Atlas too."

As Allison and Zoren headed to the dining room, Charles lingered.

He shook his head, assessing Penny from head to toe. Somehow, she looked like Atlas in height, just a bit shorter, dressed like Hugo, and looked eerily like Slater. It was as if his three sons had been merged into one person.

A horrifying sight, he thought, shivering.

"Penny, please—give me a break."

With that, Charles walked away to follow his wife, still wearing a look of disbelief, as if trying to unsee what he’d just witnessed.

Penny, meanwhile, sulked. "Sometimes, he’s very cruel to me," she mumbled. "It’s not like I changed that much."

Dragging her feet upstairs, she paused in front of the huge mirror. Staring at her reflection, her face twisted slightly.

"I’m..." she trailed off, nodding in agreement with herself. "...handsome."

---

Meanwhile, in the Bennet dining room...

As soon as Zoren and Allison walked in, Finn looked up, eyes locking with Zoren’s instantly.

"How long will this go on?" Finn mumbled with a sigh, making Nina chuckle quietly.

He turned to her with a pointed look.

"I’m not even that close to him," Nina said, "but I think you know him well enough to already know the answer."

Forever—that was the answer.

Finn sighed again, forcing a smile as he turned all his attention to her. "Well, my goal is to make you the happiest woman, love you until our last breath... and even in our next life."

"What if in your next life, Nina is a toad?" Atlas, who had been quiet in his own little bubble, suddenly spoke up.

Both Finn and Nina turned to him, blinking.

Atlas raised his brows, eyes glittering with curiosity. "Would you still love her?"

Nina: "..."

Finn: "..."

"Atlas..." Allison called gently, though with a warning edge to her tone. "Don’t pick on Finn."

"If Penny is a toad in her next life, I’ll still marry her," Zoren said seriously as he sat down.

Finn’s face twitched. He turned to Zoren, who just shrugged nonchalantly.

Finn clenched his jaw, struggling to imagine such a scenario. He loved Nina, but... as a toad? What kind of twisted love story was that?

He gathered his thoughts, ready to give a romantic answer—before Nina beat him to it.

"If I’m a toad in my next life," she said calmly, "I’d rather he marry someone else. A human. I’d honestly be scared if Finn even considered marrying a toad."

Finn exhaled, relieved, while Nina shot him a secret wink.

"If Nina’s reborn as a toad, she must’ve been a very terrible person in this life," Allison added, glancing at Nina with a teasing smile. "Atlas, that’s enough. And Zoren, Finn—if my daughters ever become toads, for heaven’s sake, move on."

"Why are we talking about toads?" Charles asked as he entered, catching the tail end of the conversation.

Allison just shook her head and shrugged, not bothering to explain. But Atlas was more than happy to fill him in.

"What?" Charles wrinkled his nose and gave both Zoren and Finn judgmental looks. "Ahem!"

He scooted over to Allison, watching her receive a pot from Butler Jen.

"Allison, if I’m an ant in my next life... will you still love me?" he asked, eyes shining with expectation. He would love her even if she were reborn as dust, wind... even a cow.

But Allison replied swiftly and coldly, "No."

"Ack—" Charles clutched his chest, jaw dropping. "Allison, honey, why?!"

"I’m serving dinner, Charles. Please."

She gave him a quick glare and shook her head.

Charles scowled and glanced over to see Atlas nodding solemnly. "Hey! What are you nodding about?"

"Nothing, Dad," Atlas replied. "I’m just wondering... if you were an ant, what kind would you be? Red? Black?"

Charles: "..."

Zoren: "Red one."

Finn: "..."

He leaned toward Nina and whispered, "I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this."

Nina chuckled and whispered back, "No one ever does. We just learn to live with it."

Meanwhile, Butler Jen quietly chuckled and shook his head. He didn’t join the absurd conversation, but one thing was clear to him: every man in this room—well, aside from the single ones—was completely smitten with the women in their lives.

Curious, Butler Jen sneaked a glance at Atlas.

I wonder... what will Sir Atlas be like once he meets the woman who captures his heart?