After Becoming Pregnant With The Empress Cat's Cub - Chapter 32

The words ‘Princess Highness’ acted like a mute button for the noisy kitchen.

For a moment, the only sounds remaining were the “puff-puff” of steam lifting pot lids and the “gurgle-gurgle” of boiling soup.

Everyone turned toward the kitchen entrance. Upon seeing that familiar, tall figure, various degrees of tension washed over their faces. They dropped what they were doing and bowed in unison.

“Greetings, Princess Highness.”

The synchronized voices were matched by synchronized movements. Everyone, except for Lan Ye, knelt halfway. Standing perfectly straight, she looked quite out of place.

Ju Rin’s gaze swept across the room without obstruction.

In her line of sight, the standing figure wore the standard chef’s uniform, complete with a hat and mask. Her face was covered so thoroughly that only her eyes were visible. Even so, it was enough for Ju Rin to recognize her.

To this day, Ju Rin had never seen anyone else whose eyes held as much radiance as this human’s.

Their eyes met, and Lan Ye raised a hand with a casual wave: “Hi~”

As the staff rose from their bows, they heard that improper “Hi” and turned their heads. They saw the person who had just waved take off the chef’s hat, revealing a head of fluffy short hair.

Lan Ye removed her mask, revealing a radiant smile.

“What a coincidence, the person involved is here. Let’s welcome her.”

Lan Ye looked at Rin and beckoned her over, signaling for her to come closer.

“We were just talking about you. Did you and that Miss Mi Can… have a kiss in front of the swing set in the small garden behind your palace?”

Lan Ye even added a specific detail: “Mouth to mouth, for seven or eight minutes?”

Ju Rin’s eyes darkened the moment Lan Ye spoke. By the time she heard the final detail, her expression was one of stern solemnity.

Le Fu, who had started the gossip, felt her heart leap into her throat when she saw the Princess’s terrible expression. She wanted to explain but didn’t dare speak up, everyone knew the Princess’s temperament, she despised talkative people. And even if she could speak, she didn’t know what to say.

She had indeed seen it… but it was the Princess’s privacy. If she hadn’t heard these people saying the Princess didn’t like Miss Mi Can, she wouldn’t have failed to keep the secret.

Le Fu knew she was in trouble. She kept her head low, hoping the Princess hadn’t heard the previous conversation and wouldn’t notice her. Simultaneously, she peeked at the speaker, realizing belatedly that this was likely the Princess’s human lover.

I ran straight into her hands… Le Fu’s face fell, wondering how the other woman planned to deal with her.

Others in the kitchen also felt the Princess’s displeasure and realized the speaker had a close relationship with her. Only this human seemed completely unaware of the Princess’s foul mood, maintaining a bright smile.

Lan Ye… so that is the human’s name? Everyone silently noted it down.

Ju Rin looked at the human beckoning her into the kitchen. She didn’t move. Instead, she looked at Lan Ye and said in a deep voice, “Come here.”

She didn’t know how this human had transformed into this outfit after she left, but Ju Rin had seemingly grown accustomed to her frequent surprises.

Hearing the Princess’s words, Lola was the first to step aside. Following her lead, the kitchen staff backed away one by one, clearing a path.

Lan Ye looked at the “road” that had been artificially created for her. With everyone out of the way, there was nothing between her and Rin.

Lan Ye blinked but didn’t budge. “You come here. You come and tell everyone what the truth of that night really was.”

The “everyone” mentioned felt their hearts skip a beat. What is this human saying… Why would the Princess have to give us an explanation?

Moreover, what was this human doing? Playing hard to get? The Princess told her to come over, and she didn’t move, she even demanded the Princess come to her.

How arrogant…

Was she losing her mind due to jealousy?

Initially, before they knew who she was, everyone treated her questioning of Le Fu as a normal dispute. But knowing she was the human the Princess brought back… everyone naturally assumed she was jealous. That’s why she stood up to claim the other person was lying after hearing about the Princess’s intimacy with Miss Mi Can.

Lola also assumed Lan Ye was jealous. She glanced at the human who seemed oblivious to the Princess’s anger. This won’t do… To be the Princess’s lover, generosity is the first requirement.

Le Fu also felt the human was being too brazen. She thought the Princess would surely be angry, reject the request, and perhaps even storm off, leaving the matter to Manager Lola. Lola was soft-hearted, if she begged, she might escape punishment.

Just as she was thinking of how to plead, she heard footsteps.

The Princess moved…

She stepped into the kitchen…

Everyone: !

Once Ju Rin realized the human wouldn’t walk toward her, she darkened her gaze and strode over. Before the other woman could speak, she stopped her.

“Follow me. I will give you an explanation.”

Ju Rin lowered her voice. Some things were not meant to be said here. She was also worried this human would say something else that would leave her speechless.

When Ju Rin arrived, she had just happened to hear Lan Ye praising herself as a “smart person.” At first, she didn’t know what the “truth” Lan Ye claimed to have seen through was, but a brief listen clarified the subject.

Her and Mi Can…

A kiss? Definitely not. A hug? Once.

As for the human’s “wiping away eye crust” theory… she really wanted to wipe the human’s brain. She didn’t know what was inside that head to come up with such bizarre ideas, let alone boast about having “intelligence beyond normal people.” Beyond normal, certainly but definitely not in terms of IQ.

She didn’t want to hear any more inappropriate words in front of this crowd. This was also the first time Ju Rin had stepped into this kitchen. Previously, her upbringing and etiquette dictated that this was not a place she should be.

Lan Ye didn’t want to leave. She reached out and grabbed Rin’s hand. “If we just leave like this, the misunderstanding will remain.”

Her gaze became serious as she looked at Rin. “You people are always like this, thinking explanations are unnecessary and that ‘purity clears itself.’ But if you let people misunderstand, you never know how the story will spread.”

Ju Rin thought to herself: What does it matter if they misunderstand? Why bother with irrelevant people and irrelevant misunderstandings?

As if reading her mind, Lan Ye continued, “Are you thinking it doesn’t matter, and you don’t care how it’s spread?”

Ju Rin’s aura softened slightly. She didn’t quite understand why this human, who usually didn’t take anything seriously, was suddenly so concerned about what was clearly just gossip.

“Then have you thought about how I felt when I heard you were passionately kissing another woman for seven or eight minutes?”

Ju Rin frowned. “Passionately kissing… for seven or eight minutes?”

Lan Ye nodded.

Ju Rin’s expression became stern. “No such thing happened.”

Lan Ye knew that, of course, but that was because she was smart. What if she weren’t so smart? Wouldn’t she have misunderstood and felt sad?

“See, I told you, it’s impossible.” She turned to the person who had spread the rumor.

Le Fu felt the gaze on her and reflexively looked up, meeting Lan Ye’s sparkling eyes. “I… I’m sorry. Maybe… maybe I saw it wrong.”

Ju Rin stared at her with dark eyes, and a single look made Le Fu tremble.

Slap! Lan Ye patted Rin’s arm. “What are you looking at? You’re at fault too. You hugged someone in the middle of the night, it’s hard for people not to misunderstand!”

Everyone was stunned by Lan Ye’s sudden action. They even doubted their own eyes, it looked like the human had just hit the Princess…

Seeing Rin looking at her, Lan Ye planned to end the matter. “Alright, misunderstanding resolved. That’s the end of it.”

Having successfully resolved a misunderstanding with her wisdom, her greatness required no words. Lan Ye rubbed her stomach, the Great One’s stomach was still empty. “I’m hungry,” she said to Rin.

Ju Rin frowned slightly and turned to Lola.

Lola reported that the afternoon tea was ready. She had originally planned to invite Lan Ye to eat, but when she didn’t find her in the palace, she asked the guards and followed her to the kitchen. Ju Rin had done the same, returning to the palace shortly after Lola left and following the same trail to the kitchen.

Hearing that food was ready, Lan Ye pulled Rin toward the exit. “Let’s go then, I’m starving.”

She could tell that ever since Rin appeared, the kitchen staff had become tense and uncomfortable. It was only then that she gained a real sense of Rin’s status as a Princess. She didn’t quite like it, she had solved the issue with her “wisdom,” but now it felt tainted by Rin’s power and authority.

Boring.

As expected, she still liked Rin more than “Princess Rin.”

At least it was only for a week. They would stay in the palace for a week, celebrate the King’s birthday, and then leave.

Watching the backs of the Princess and the human disappear, the kitchen staff looked at each other. They just… left?

Le Fu was also astonished. This human popped up and said so much just to prove her words were wrong? The Princess didn’t kiss Miss Mi Can that night? The Princess just left without punishing her? The human just led the Princess away? And the matter was “over,” just like the human said?

The Princess Highness… listens to that human?

Lan Ye didn’t know her sudden appearance and departure had caused such a shock. She followed Lola to a lounge prepared with afternoon tea and was shocked herself.

In the luxuriously decorated room, a massive coffee table was covered in various food containers of all sizes and heights. It was a lot of food, but it wasn’t messy, as a whole, it looked like a piece of art.

She turned to Rin. “Is this how you used to eat?”

Ju Rin shook her head. Her usual dining standard was higher than this. The human’s current status was, at most, that of a guest, so she couldn’t be given the Princess’s full standard.

Seeing Rin deny it, Lan Ye breathed a sigh of relief. Eating like this would be too wasteful. The two of them together couldn’t finish half of it.

Lan Ye invited Lola to join them, but Lola politely declined, saying she had other matters to attend to. Seeing that the Princess had no further orders, she withdrew.

Only Lan Ye and Ju Rin remained in the lounge.

Ju Rin sat on a single seater sofa to the side, looking at the human whose eyes were practically glowing. Back in the kitchen, when the human removed the chef’s uniform to reveal her original dress, Ju Rin had been momentarily surprised.

The green gown suited her perfectly. The normally sober green was worn with a sense of freshness. While being led away, Ju Rin had watched the hem of the skirt sway, feeling as if a small stone had been tossed into a still pond, creating ripples. Even this quiet palace seemed to become a bit more vivid.

She watched the human, who didn’t sit in a chair but instead crouched in front of the coffee table, her skirt pooling on the floor. Lan Ye estimated how much she and Rin could actually eat and set aside half of the snacks. She planned to give them to Little Landmine later to share.

Sitting back on the sofa, Lan Ye noticed Rin watching her and smiled. “I hope you don’t mind me sharing the snacks we can’t finish with Little Landmine.”

Little Landmine… Ju Rin took a moment to remember who that was, the guard who had entered her palace, the beastman to whom the human had given “Love ID Card No. 2″…

Should she mind?

Lan Ye was truly hungry. After speaking, she picked up a rose shaped pastry and popped it into her mouth. A mouthful of bean paste and the scent of roses, it was delicious. After finishing it in a few bites, she picked up a tulip shaped one. The “bouquet” of snacks was filled with various flower shaped treats, all with floral-scented fillings.

Both beautiful and tasty. Lan Ye narrowed her eyes in satisfaction.

Watching the human, Ju Rin discovered one of her merits, the way she ate made others feel hungry. Ju Rin, who hadn’t intended to eat, picked up a nearby pastry and took a bite. Whether it was because Lan Ye’s expression was so satisfying or because she felt a sense of novelty after being away from the palace for so long, that one bite wasn’t bad. It tasted better than she remembered.

Having slightly filled her stomach to ease the hunger, Lan Ye started talking. “When exactly did you arrive at the kitchen?”

Because her mouth was full, Lan Ye’s voice was a bit muffled.

Ju Rin frowned slightly, debating whether to remind her of the palace rule. “Silence while eating.” Her intuition told her that even if she said it, this human wouldn’t follow it. Lan Ye was only quiet for long periods when she was asleep.

Thinking back to the first sentence she heard upon arrival, a flicker of a smile crossed Ju Rin’s eyes. “Right when you were saying that your appearance is ordinary, but your wisdom far exceeds that of a normal person.”

The first half was self-aware. Ju Rin looked at the human’s face… though actually, it wasn’t “ordinary.” At least those eyes were very distinctive. So distinctive that even if the rest of her face was covered, Ju Rin would recognize her.

Seeing the pride in the human’s eyes, Ju Rin thought of the second half, “wisdom far exceeding normal people.” This person was certainly confident…

Lan Ye was glad Rin hadn’t missed such an important statement. “Aren’t I smart? I saw through the lie immediately~”

Ju Rin met her sparkling eyes, her hand resting on her knee tapping slightly. Recalling what lie she had seen through, Ju Rin felt a bit curious. In the kitchen, the human seemed very certain that the rumor was false.

Did she know her that well? Why was she so sure? “How did you see through it?”

Lan Ye winked at her as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “I kiss you once and you run away in embarrassment. To say you passionately kissed someone for seven or eight minutes. ” Lan Ye laughed. “You might as well say you were wiping away their eye crust.” The probability was about the same.

Ju Rin: “…”

“I didn’t.” Ju Rin wanted to explain. What “kiss once and run away”… she didn’t run away, she had business… but she was interrupted by Lan Ye.

Lan Ye gave her an “I believe you” look. “I know you didn’t.”