After Becoming Pregnant With The Empress Cat's Cub - Chapter 10

“Keep this ring for now. When I have the money, use this to trade me for a diamond one.”

Central District, Central Police Station.

After finishing the statements for the two street muggers, Si Qing handed the data entry task over to a colleague. She stepped out of the interrogation room and glanced at her phone, there was still no response.

Why hasn’t Her Royal Highness replied yet?

Si Qing had originally thought the sudden morning message about a robbery meant Ju Lin was in trouble, but it turned out to be for that human.

What is she doing with that human… why isn’t she answering?

The robbery case required the human to confirm the value of the items targeted. Even though it was an attempted robbery, the specific legal sentencing depended on the value of what they intended to steal. After all, intending to steal an ice cream is vastly different from intending to steal a gold bar.

Thinking of this, Si Qing felt puzzled. When she saw the human yesterday, she hadn’t noticed anything valuable on her. According to the muggers, they saw Lan Ye clutching her backpack protectively and assumed there were treasures inside. She wondered what the human had brought out today.

And where did the Princess take her?

Si Qing understood why Ju Lin left the scene in a hurry, a Princess appearing at a police station was hardly appropriate. But the human could have stayed. Why rush her away? Was she worried about the pregnancy being exposed?

That was indeed a staggering secret. Si Qing didn’t dare imagine how the King and Queen would react if they found out.

Si Qing scanned the lobby. Ever since Ju Lin mentioned that the Queen had transferred her to the Central District specifically because she knew Ju Lin was there, Si Qing suspected she was being watched. Looking at her colleagues in the hall, she couldn’t tell who might be a spy.

As she headed for the exit, a colleague asked where she was going. Si Qing waved a catnip stick, signaling she was going to slack off for a quick “hit.”

Behind the station was a small alley. After checking that the coast was clear, Si Qing pulled out her phone to contact the Princess while taking a deep sniff of the catnip. Between boxing with Ju Lin all night and coming straight to the station this morning, even a beastman like her was feeling the exhaustion.

The hit of catnip cleared her head. Just as she was about to dial, her vision suddenly went black and the catnip stick vanished from her hand!

“Demoted to this tiny station and you’re still playing truant to slack off!”

That voice… Si Qing suspected she had sniffed the catnip too hard. She was hearing her rival’s voice. She looked up to see a pretty young girl watching her with a mocking smile.

Seeing those signature braids, Si Qing’s face darkened. “What are you doing here?”

“Here to catch you red handed,” Mi Xiaoman said, waving the stolen catnip stick. “Didn’t expect to catch you the second I arrived.”

Si Qing’s eyelid twitched. Usually, when this person appeared, it meant the other one wasn’t far behind. She frantically looked around the alley and even up at the rooftops.

“Where’s your sister? She didn’t come, did she?”

Mi Xiaoman frowned. “What, not dreaming of a welcome for her?”

Si Qing shook her head vigorously. “Impossible. Who wouldn’t welcome the eldest Miss of the Mi family?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a clear, elegant female voice drifted from the mouth of the alley.

“Oh? Then why have you been hiding and ignoring my calls?”

I’m dead!

Si Qing looked toward the sound and saw a familiar figure. The newcomer wore a pale yellow puff skirt, short in the front to the knees and trailing long in the back and held a white lace parasol. The umbrella shielded neither sun nor rain, but it pierced right through one’s soul.

Si Qing’s heart rate spiked, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

With a flurry of footsteps, Mi Xiaoman ran toward her cousin, gathering up the trailing hem of the skirt. “Sister, be careful, the ground is dirty. Wait for me to lay the carpet.”

At her signal, two more people appeared at the alley entrance. With practiced, swift motions, they rolled out a red carpet over the pavement, stretching all the way to Si Qing’s feet.

Si Qing watched as the woman holding the parasol took elegant, rhythmic steps…tap, tap, tap, tap until she stood directly in front of her.

The moment she stopped, Si Qing threw her hands up in surrender. “I don’t know anything!”

Mi Can smiled gently. “I haven’t asked anything yet.”

Si Qing looked dead serious. “I really, truly don’t know anything!”

Mi Can didn’t respond. She simply glanced at Mi Xiaoman.

Mi Xiaoman huffed, her eyes screaming ‘you’re finished’ at Si Qing. She pulled a photo from her bag and shoved it under Si Qing’s nose.

Si Qing took one look and felt her heart sink. She recognized it instantly, the photo was taken at the underground boxing gym yesterday! The image showed her cheering for Ju Lin in the ring.

Si Qing knew she couldn’t admit it. Her brain whirred at high speed as she let out a forced, awkward laugh.

“You guys think they look alike too, right? I thought the same when I saw her yesterday, but that’s not the Princess.” To make it more believable, she added, “How could Her Royal Highness ever be in an underground ring?”

Mi Can watched Si Qing with a smile. She didn’t argue. Instead, she began to fiddle with the wrist of the hand holding the parasol.

Si Qing’s eyes followed the movement and landed on a cat’s eye stone bracelet, the exact same model Ju Lin wore. When she saw the woman start to unfasten the bracelet, Si Qing’s heart leaped into her throat.

“The eldest Miss is truly brilliant! Such keen eyes! Yes, that is the Princess!”

Before Mi Can could ask another word, Si Qing blurted out Ju Lin’s phone number and address in one breath. Seeing the woman stop unfastening the bracelet, her racing heart finally settled back into her chest.

Mi Can gave Si Qing a satisfied smile and turned to Mi Xiaoman. “Let’s go.”

Mi Xiaoman nodded, holding the dress hem as she followed. She glanced back at Si Qing and scoffed, “Coward.”

Si Qing could only manage a bitter smile. Was she being a coward?!

When the King and Queen had used threats and bribes, she hadn’t betrayed the Princess because she knew they wouldn’t use “extraordinary measures” without evidence. But the woman walking away on the red carpet never played by the rules. She would actually strike, lethally. She was a Super S-class beastman. Si Qing was no match for her.

Only the Princess had ever been able to hold her own against her.

When the Princess left the palace, this woman had gone into seclusion to research weapons, supposedly for a year or more. Why was she out so soon?! Had she finished her development? Thinking of that movement with the bracelet, Si Qing had no desire to witness the power of any “improved” weaponry.

I’m sorry, Princess… they would have found you sooner or later anyway.

Si Qing ran back into the station and ducked into an empty interrogation room. She had to warn Ju Lin immediately.

Xi Rong Ji, Private Dining Room.

Lan Ye stared at Ju Lin in pure shock. “We’re married just like that?”

She could hardly believe it.

“Isn’t this too fast? I thought getting married required going to the registry, doing physical exams, taking oaths… I remember there were so many steps.”

She had looked it up online.

Ju Lin looked at her in silence, not quite understanding why the human was so surprised.

The procedures she described were from the past. In recent years, as marriage rates plummeted, the process was officially streamlined starting last year. Now, it only requires citizens to log into the official website, fill out an application, enter both parties’ identification information, and perform a photo verification.

After listening to this, Lan Ye’s eyes widened: “Huh?”

Her research data was outdated! This new process felt way too casual.

“And just like that, we’re married?”

Lan Ye’s ID card was still in Ju Lin’s hand. Seeing that she didn’t seem to believe it, Ju Lin tapped the card against her phone again and showed Lan Ye the information that popped up.

[Lan Ye, Human Citizen, 21 years old, Married]

The information had been updated with alarming efficiency. Ju Lin looked at the age listed, at least the human hadn’t lied about that.

Looking at the word “Married,” Lan Ye’s large eyes were filled with shock. The efficiency!

She asked Ju Lin to bring up that “casually simple” marriage certificate again, trying to digest the fact that she was now mysteriously a married woman.

“Why didn’t you tell me that was for a wedding photo just now!”

Lan Ye stared at the photo on the certificate. If she had known their faces would be stitched together for a wedding portrait, she would have at least fixed herself up. In the photo, her hair which had only been growing for a month, looked like a fuzzy kiwi fruit.

“Can we retake it?” She could buy a wig or put on some makeup.

Ju Lin raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. She hadn’t seen this human show any actual reverence for this “contract marriage” the girl had even negotiated a clause to dissolve it in six months if either side didn’t want to continue. Yet now, she was obsessing over the ID photo.

Lan Ye became more dissatisfied the more she looked: “Look at you, look at your expression. It’s like you’re about to get a divorce.”

Ju Lin took a glance and didn’t think there was anything wrong with her face. “It can’t be retaken.” It was already stamped. Besides, this wasn’t a Royal Marriage Certificate that would be displayed in a gallery for the public to see, requiring a perfect image.

Hearing that a retake was impossible, Lan Ye felt a bit regretful. It was a legal document, after all.

“Honestly, you were in too much of a hurry.”

Lan Ye turned to Ju Lin, wondering if this beastman was so rushed to register because she was worried Lan Ye would change her mind and marry someone else.

Does she like me?

Lan Ye sighed inwardly. It was only natural, her “damn charm” was powerful. Just look at Hajime, they had one meal together and he was already rushing to her door today to propose.

She tried to run a hand through her hair in a “femme fatale” gesture, but unfortunately, she only felt a handful of fuzz. She had forgotten her hair hadn’t grown back yet.

Even without hair, I’m still this charming, Lan Ye thought with a click of her tongue. Nice.

“By the way, what about your family? Don’t you need to ask for their opinion?”

Ju Lin looked at the human. Now that they were already registered, she finally thought to ask this? She answered with a question: “What about you?”

“I don’t need to.” Lan Ye was an orphan, though she would need to tell her Aunt and Auntie Li later.

“I don’t need to either,” Ju Lin said flatly.

Lan Ye was surprised: “You’re an orphan too?”

Ju Lin: “…”

Just as Lan Ye was about to offer some sympathy, her watch chimed with an incoming message. She unlocked it to read the text:

[Ms. Lan Ye, Happy Wedding! The Central District Marriage Registry offers a free marriage lecture for newlywed couples. It covers marriage laws, strategies for a happy marriage, and physiology classes on maintaining sexual harmony. If you wish to attend, reply ‘Y’ to book a time. If not, reply ‘NY’.]

Seeing the words “physiology class,” Lan Ye replied ‘Y’ without hesitation. A response came back quickly, and Lan Ye picked the earliest available slot: Tomorrow at 2:00 PM.

Ju Lin was about to explain that her parents were very much alive, but Lan Ye’s message interrupted her, and her own phone buzzed at the same time.

Ju Lin checked her messages. There were several unread ones. She checked Si Qing’s messages first before looking at the one from the “Marriage Registry.” Just as she was about to type ‘NY,’ a new notification popped up:

[Ms. Lin, Happy Wedding! Your spouse has successfully booked a marriage lecture. Click the link below for the specific time. To maintain marital harmony, please cooperate with your partner and attend on time.]

Ju Lin frowned and looked up at Lan Ye. Having confirmed the time, Lan Ye happened to look up at Ju Lin as well. Lan Ye grinned, her eyes curving into crescents.

“I just booked a free class. Are you busy tomorrow afternoon? If not, let’s go listen. If you are, see if you can push it back.”

Ju Lin: “…”

It felt like she had lost her power of choice. Just as she was about to say she had business tomorrow that couldn’t be moved, she saw the human in front of her drop her smile and turn serious.

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing the human cover her stomach with her hand, Ju Lin’s heart skipped a beat. Is there something wrong with the kitten? But she had been using her spiritual power to protect the girl’s belly since they met, she hadn’t felt any abnormality.

Lan Ye looked at Ju Lin and blinked. “I’m hungry.”

As if to prove her point, her stomach let out a loud growl.

Ju Lin: “…”

Rarely was she this speechless. Since meeting this human, Ju Lin frequently found herself at a loss for words.

Five minutes later, once the food arrived and she began eating, Lan Ye’s serious expression finally relaxed. She was the type of person who couldn’t handle hunger, it easily led to low blood sugar.

After suppressing the hunger pangs, Lan Ye grabbed a can of juice that had been delivered to the table. She pulled the tab and handed one to Ju Lin.

“Happy wedding.”

Despite feeling the marriage was hasty, Lan Ye accepted it now that it was official. She gestured for Ju Lin to take the drink and clink cans with her. They were in the same boat now, after all, she hoped they could get along well.

Ju Lin looked at the girl who was beaming with joy again. After a moment of hesitation, she took the drink and lightly clinked it against the other.

“Happy wedding.”

What a strange human.

Since they were married, Lan Ye needed to ask about the next steps. The contract stated the other party would provide the residence. Just as she was about to ask when it would be convenient for her to move in, Ju Lin’s phone rang.

Ju Lin saw it was Si Qing. She answered, and Si Qing’s urgent voice came through.

“Your Highness, it’s bad! The eldest Miss of the Mi family has found us, and her troublesome sidekick is here too!” Si Qing quickly explained how they had cornered her and how, under threat, she had given up the address.

Ju Lin listened, her expression unchanged. “Understood.” With Lan Ye there, it wasn’t convenient to say much.

As Ju Lin hung up and put her phone down, her hand was suddenly grabbed. Something was slipped onto her ring finger.

Lan Ye looked at the soda tab she had just slid onto Ju Lin’s finger, her eyes sparkling with mischief. She took the chance to give Ju Lin’s hand a little squeeze and spoke with a laugh:

“Keep this ring for now. When I have the money, use this to trade me for a diamond one.”