After Becoming Pregnant With The Empress Cat's Cub - Chapter 24

Location: Central Building Roof, District 7

Mi Can kicked open the security door leading to the roof. After a few steps, she saw Rin sitting on the corner guardrail. The wind was howling, making her trench coat flutter violently and her golden-pink hair fly wildly in the air. Mi Can paused, a flicker of suspicion in her eyes, why had this person suddenly stopped running?

Bang! The security door was kicked open again behind her. Mi Can didn’t look back, she kept her eyes on Rin, who was looking down at a glowing phone screen, seemingly indifferent to the commotion.

Mi Xiaoman rushed out behind her sister but skidded to a halt. “Sis, what happened? Why aren’t we chasing her?” Then she saw the Princess. “Eh? Why did Her Highness stop? Did she change her mind?”

Despite the repeated sounds of doors slamming, the person on the railing didn’t look up. Mi Xiaoman signaled the guards behind her to stop and walked up to Mi Can. “Sis, why is the Princess sitting there? Is she waiting for us?”

Mi Can didn’t know either. When she arrived, Rin was already there. It felt like she was waiting, yet she hadn’t spared them a single glance. Mi Can took a deep breath and walked forward. When she was about four or five paces away, Rin finally lifted her head. Her gaze was a clear command. Stop.

Mi Can stopped. This was close enough for a conversation. It seemed Rin really was waiting for her.

Rin retracted her gaze and looked back at her phone. The video had finished playing, frozen on a frame of Lan Ye’s face, filled with longing and excitement. If one looked closely, one could see a pair of fluffy beast ears reflected in Lan Ye’s sparkling eyes.

Rin lowered her head and quickly typed a message.

Mi Can and Mi Xiaoman exchanged looks of confusion. Who was the Princess messaging? Her expression was stern and cold. Mi Can wanted to peek, but Rin immediately turned off the screen.

“Rin, you’ve finally stopped running,” Mi Can said, sighing. From yesterday afternoon until this morning, they had caught up to her several times only for her to escape. They had even traded blows briefly, but they hadn’t been able to talk properly. “Don’t misunderstand, Rin. We just want to bring you back to the palace.”

“The King and Queen miss you. And the Queen… she’s been ill since you left. Her condition is very poor… she really wants to see you.”

The Queen’s “critical illness” was a prepared excuse. Mi Can tried to look as solemn as possible to sell the lie. Rin looked at her once and immediately knew it was fake. Whenever Mi Can lied, she had a habit of becoming overly “serious.” She was terrible at deception.

Rin suddenly thought of that human. That one was a master liar. She could say the most ridiculous, unbelievable things with a perfectly natural face. If those words weren’t so impossible, Rin might have actually believed her…

Thinking of the human, Rin’s eyes darkened. That person said she would never touch another beastman’s ears. She said she’d only touch hers. Even their agreement stated there would be no cheating after marriage. Clearly, the human couldn’t do it. The moment she saw a pair of ears, she looked like she wanted to pounce.

What a liar.

Her amber eyes grew murky. Just as Rin was considering how to punish this lying human when she got back, her phone vibrated. It was a reply from Si Qing. Rin typed three words back and looked at the people in front of her.

“Tell His Majesty: I am not going back.”

With that, Rin stood up on the smooth railing. Before Mi Xiaoman could scream about the danger, Rin leaped backward into the void!

Mi Can lunged forward, but only managed to graze the edge of Rin’s coat. “Rin!”

The scream faded into the wind. Mi Can ignored the pain of hitting the railing and watched as Rin landed safely on the roof of an adjacent building.

“Scared the life out of me!” Mi Xiaoman gasped. She thought the Princess had given up on life. Even for a beastman with superior physical stats, jumping from a skyscraper was insane. Fortunately, there was a lower building behind this one.

Then, she saw another figure leap. “Sis!”

As Mi Can successfully jumped across, Mi Xiaoman tried to follow, but the guards grabbed her. “Miss Xiaoman, it’s too high!”

Mi Xiaoman realized the problem. “Sis, wait for me!”

The two “Super S-ranks” could jump as they pleased, but she was only a B-rank. Jumping would mean broken legs. She turned to the S-rank guards: “Can you jump?”

The captain answered honestly: “No.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Take the stairs!”

At the Jewelry Store

On the other side, Si Qing had sent the message “Didn’t touch them.” She soon received the Princess’s reply. It was only three words:

【Watch her well】

No punctuation. No discernable emotion. Si Qing pondered. Was “Watch” a command to keep an eye on her for a later punishment, or a command to guard the “wall” so no other beastmen could swoop in?

Either way, Si Qing had a new realization about the relationship between the Princess and Lan Ye. It wasn’t just “keeping a danger close to control it” as Rin claimed. The Princess seemed to care far more than she let on.

She looked up. Lan Ye had entered a jewelry store. Si Qing followed. Because of the Princess’s orders, she wasn’t just a sidekick anymore, she was a bodyguard.

Inside, Lan Ye was talking to a clerk. “Miss, are you looking for a necklace or a bracelet?”

Lan Ye pointed to her hand. “I want a ring.”

“What kind? Gemstones? Pure gold?”

Lan Ye shook her head. She was going to be extravagant today. “Diamonds. I want a diamond ring.”

The clerk’s smile stiffened. Seeing Lan Ye’s “ready to spend big” attitude, she thought she had a VIP. To her, a diamond ring was a tiny, insignificant sale, hardly worth her time. Diamonds in this world were usually given away as freebies.

“Certainly. Please wait while I get a colleague who… ‘understands’ diamonds better.” She called over an intern. “Take care of this distinguished guest.”

She emphasized “distinguished” with a heavy layer of sarcasm. Si Qing caught it immediately. It was because the human wanted to buy something so cheap. She looked at Lan Ye, why a diamond ring?

Lan Ye, however, beamed with a brilliant smile, seemingly oblivious to the insult.

Is she for real? Si Qing thought. The clerk was annoyed, her jab had landed like a feather on a stone. Not only was the human not offended, but she also nodded proudly as if she really were a “distinguished guest.”

The intern was happy, though. Big commissions never went to her, so she welcomed the small sales. “Miss, this way please.”

Lan Ye followed, secretly planning, if it wasn’t too expensive, she’d get a big one. After all, she was “distinguished.”

They stopped at a corner display. Lan Ye was surprised to see how large the diamonds were. “Are these all the diamond rings?”

“Yes, all our stock is here.”

Lan Ye marveled at the “high class” of the shop. She pointed to the smallest one, which looked to be at least one carat. “Let me try this one.”

She held her hand up to the light. It was beautiful. She showed it to Si Qing. “Does it look good?”

Si Qing wanted to say it was just a cheap rock, but Lan Ye added, “My hand.”

Si Qing’s lip twitched. “No.”

“You don’t know how to appreciate it,” Lan Ye said. “This is a hand that holds onto wealth. See? No gaps between the fingers. Rin was right to give all her money to me.”

Si Qing froze. “Rin gave you all her money? You’ve been spending her money this whole time?”

Lan Ye looked at her like she was slow. “Of course. I’m her wife. If the money isn’t for me to spend, should it be for you?”

Si Qing was speechless. She remembered the Princess asking about human customs, and her telling Rin that “Love is where the money is.” Rin actually did it…

“But I’m not stingy,” Lan Ye continued. “This ring is for Rin.”

Si Qing’s jaw practically dropped. The Princess gave her everything, and this human was buying her a piece of trash stone? Si Qing’s birthday gifts to the Princess were always six figures or higher.

Lan Ye looked at the price tag. It had four zeros. Ten thousand? That’s quite cheap, she thought.

“100,” the clerk said. She didn’t even need to look. These were being given away as gifts today.

Lan Ye looked closer at the tag. 100.00.

“100? 100 Meow coins?” Lan Ye asked, stunned.

“Yes. It was 100, but it’s the King’s birth month, so everything is 12% off. It’s only 88 Meow-coins.”

Lan Ye: !!!

Not ten thousand. Not even a hundred. Eighty-eight! “Is it real diamond?”

“Rest assured, our shop only sells authentic goods. We pay ten thousand times the price if it’s fake.”

Lan Ye’s eyes lit up. This was a steal!

“And this one?” Lan Ye pointed to the massive “pigeon egg” diamond in the center.

“That one? Original price 1,000. After the discount, 888.”

“I’ll take it!” Lan Ye declared. To her, it felt like the entire world’s prices had dropped a million times, and she was a billionaire with a thousand bucks in her pocket. “I’ll take this one too!” She pointed to the first ring and slipped it onto her own finger.

Leaving the shop, Lan Ye walked with a new swagger, constantly shaking her hand to make the diamond catch the light.

“Are you sure?” Si Qing asked. “You’re giving Rin a diamond ring as a wedding ring?”

“Sure! It’s huge and shiny. Beautiful!”

“Don’t you think it’s too cheap?”

Lan Ye turned to her. “Haven’t you heard that ‘it’s the thought that counts’?”

Si Qing frowned. “I’ve only heard that cheap gifts mean cheap feelings. You’re being a total miser! Rin won’t like such a cheap thing.”

Lan Ye blinked, sensing an opportunity. “Want to bet?”

“On what?”

“If Rin likes it, you pay for everything else I buy today.”

“Deal. But I get to be the one to ask her if she likes it.”

“Fine by me,” Lan Ye smirked.