After Becoming Pregnant With The Empress Cat's Cub - Chapter 27

The world seemed to have hit the pause button.

The vast hall fell into a sudden, heavy silence as every gaze converged on the imposing figure standing at the palace doors. The person under scrutiny, however, had eyes for only one target.

Upon seeing the human safe and sound in the center of the hall, the fierce light in Ju Rin’s sharp eyes instantly ebbed away, like a sword returning to its sheath, still formidable, but stripped of its soul-crushing lethality.

Qiao Zi and the nearby guards felt the psychic agony alleviate immediately, though the lingering pressure remained, pinning them to the floor. Qiao Zi stared at the Princess’s back from her prone position. She was stronger than ever before!

Looking into the hall, Qiao Zi noted that aside from the King on the throne, the human was the only one standing unharmed. Everyone else was sprawled out, even the King, who clutched her chest with a pained expression.

The Princess’s mental assault had specifically bypassed the human. Qiao Zi marveled at the Princess’s supreme control, shielding someone within the blast radius of a psychic attack risked severe backlash if handled with even a hint of negligence.

Ju Rin’s mind was fine, but her heart was in chaos. From the moment she discovered the human was missing at the dress shop, her pulse had lost its steady rhythm. Seeing her now, Ju Rin noticed the human’s hair had grown, no longer a buzzed crop, but a soft, fuzzy layer. She looked a bit rounder, her eyes bright as ever, but filled with a swirling mix of surprise, panic, lingering fear, and… grievance?

Ju Rin stepped forward, her gaze sweeping over the white gown the human wore. She remembered how the human had threatened to pick a hideous dress to spite her for being absent from the fittings. Yet, the human looked elegant, a word Ju Rin never thought she’d associate with her.

As the distance closed, the three weeks of separation vanished. Blue Field (Lan Ye) looked up, her heart pounding. Seeing Rin felt like a safety net had suddenly appeared. She touched her abdomen, feeling that familiar warmth. Rin’s mental energy protecting her.

But the light in Blue Field’s eyes dimmed. She remembered the deal she just struck with the King.

“Are you alright?” Ju Rin asked softly, draping her own jacket over the human’s bare shoulders.

Blue Field felt a surge of unexpected emotion. No one had ever shown up so right on time to ask if she was okay. She looked at Rin and felt a twinge of regret. If not for their status, they could have followed a “marriage first, love later” script. Now, the plot had to change.

Two hundred million versus Rin… Blue Field realized she was the one losing out in this deal.

“I have a problem,” Blue Field finally said.

Ju Rin’s face turned icy. Her gaze swept the room, making Minnie and the others tremble under the psychic weight. “What is it? Where does it hurt?”

“My heart,” Blue Field replied, clutching her chest. “It feels uncomfortable. It hurts.”

Ju Rin’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

“You lied to me!” Blue Field snapped, her eyes flashing with feigned anger. “You’re a Princess. Why did you tell me you were a bounty hunter?”

Ju Rin was surprised by the reaction. “I am a bounty hunter. The Princess title was something I planned to discard, so I didn’t think it necessary to…”

“If apologies worked, why would we need Si Qing?” Blue Field blurted out, then corrected her slip of the tongue. “I mean, if apologies worked, why would we need the police?!”

She turned to Minnie, who was glaring at her. “Look at her face! She probably thinks I hit the jackpot finding out my spouse is a hidden Princess. A Princess pretending to be a commoner is a ‘pleasant surprise,’ but if a commoner pretended to be a Princess, you’d call it a crime. Deception is deception. It hurts.”

Ju Rin tried to explain, “I’m sorry, I…”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Blue Field interrupted. “The person I married was Rin, the orphan bounty hunter. Not Princess Ju Rin. Since your identity was fake, our marriage doesn’t really exist. I’ve already promised them I won’t tell anyone we were married. So, that’s it. I’m leaving.”

Blue Field picked up her bag and started to walk out. She paused to give Minnie a “don’t forget the money” hand gesture, then continued past Rin. Her heart ached. She liked Rin, she really did. But she was a “fragile human” who only had one life. Taking the money and running was the only logical choice in this royal drama.

“Goodbye,” she whispered. As she brushed past, she wondered: If we meet again, will I be considered an ‘ex-wife’?

Before she could take another step, her wrist was seized in a grip like iron.

“What did you do to her?” Ju Rin demanded, looking at the throne.

Minnie, finally able to speak, shrieked, “Your Highness, don’t let her fool you! Right before you arrived, she was haggling with the King for money!”

Ju Rin looked at Blue Field.

“Raising a kid is expensive,” Blue Field admitted shamelessly. “I asked for a little extra. I’m sure you don’t mind.”

“A little extra?!” Minnie fumed. “This greedy human demanded 230 million!”

Ju Rin stared at the human, her amber eyes turning dark and unreadable. She waited for an explanation.

Blue Field just looked up at her and asked the one question that silenced the entire hall:

“Is that… a lot?”

If they said yes, it implied the Princess wasn’t worth that much. If they said no, it contradicted their claims of her greed. Everyone turned to Ju Rin, waiting to see if she found the price of her own “divorce” high or low.