My Mysterious Serpent Wife
My adopted brother made a name for himself during the potion competition by using a potion he had stolen from me.
No one expected the competition to be a ruse, but it turned out to be a scheme to find a husband for the serpent clan's youngest princess. She was born barren, cruel, and hideous.
That very night, the serpent clan delivered a marriage contract, demanding that the creator of the potion take the princess as his wife.
When my fiancée heard the news, she panicked and bonded with my adopted brother on the spot.
After sealing their bond, he lifted his shirt, proudly showing me the wolf mark carved into his back.
"Your fiancée's mine now, bro. What are you going to do? You'll turn twenty-five in three days. If no one marries you by then, you'll be randomly matched to one of those older, violent nomad beastwomen."
He was wrong. I still had one choice left.
I found my parents in the front hall, once again cleaning up the mess he had made.
"If he won't marry the serpent princess," I said, "then I will."