A woman following a man in a forest is immediately discovered and mocked for her lack of stealth. She emerges and desperately pleads for him to save a group of wounded beastman cubs, but he dismisses her as a powerless, banished outcast. Nearby, traffickers brag about their valuable catch of cubs from Beast City. Determined to rescue them, the woman sneaks into the traffickers' camp but is caught in the act. As a fight erupts, she recognizes one of the attackers as a prince from her past. He taunts her, revealing his city has declared her dead and he can kill her with impunity. In a final, desperate offer to save the cubs, she pledges to become his spirit-bonded partner, a proposal he rejects with deep-seated hostility.