Chapter 32: The Most Envied Female

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Behind the Beast God Temple, the hidden wine cave.

Galian Walto was decanting the fruit wine from a large stone urn into gourds and bamboo tubes, one by one.

Ashley looked at this fellow Rat Clan member who had undergone the coming of age ritual with her, now residing in the Female Cave, and with each encounter, she seemed more haggard and gaunt than the last. Compassion welled up in Ashley, "Galian, we're short-staffed over at Cub Paradise. I'll arrange for you to go there."

"No need," Galian replied as she packed the filled fruit wine into a wicker basket, "I still want to become pregnant, but no male will marry me. With my low fertility strength and unattractive appearance, the Female Cave is the only place where I can hope to conceive. Didn't Sally's mother, a lower-ranking female from the Female Cave, manage to conceive? If she could, so can I."

"Every body is different," Ashley said.