After Becoming Pregnant With The Empress Cat's Cub - Chapter 34

Ju Rin’s ears twitched uncomfortably.

Beneath the trembling light in her amber eyes, her gaze subconsciously fell upon the human’s lips, which were curled into a faint smile.

Ju Rin thought back to that moment in the adjacent bedchamber when the human had kissed her… That single touch had made her heart leap with an abnormal rhythm.

In this moment, it felt like a reenactment.

Her heart wasn’t just beating with incredible force, it had lost its sense of direction, slamming wildly against her ribs.

Her gaze strayed downward, losing its focus at the slightly open collar, she could see a patch of snowy-white skin beneath the collarbone…

Ju Rin unexpectedly remembered the scene she had witnessed when she pulled back the human’s covers while she was napping…

Her heart raced even faster.

The hot breath the human had just exhaled seemed to seep into her body and spread rapidly. Ju Rin felt a wave of heat wash over her…

She reached out, her fingers pressing against the human’s cheek, pushing the human’s face away by the distance of a palm.

“Speak properly.”

Being this close, she could hardly even hear what the human was saying…

Ju Rin only realized now through firsthand experience, it wasn’t that the closer the distance, the clearer the sound. When the distance was close enough, the voice actually felt ethereal…

Or perhaps, the listener simply couldn’t concentrate.

There were too many distractions.

Lan Ye looked at the ears, turned a deep red beneath the strands of hair and her smile widened. “How am I not speaking properly?”

She reached out to pet the little orange kitten that Ju Rin had taken back into her arms. It was struggling, appearing as though it still wanted Lan Ye to hold it.

Lan Ye resisted the urge to take the kitten back and kept her eyes on Rin.

“Hmm? Are you jealous?” Lan Ye leaned in closer again, even scooching over on the sofa until she was practically pressed against Rin.

The sofa sank even deeper.

“Hmm? Do you only want me to touch you?”

Ju Rin was already sitting at the very edge of the sofa, pressed against the armrest. With the human approaching like this, she had nowhere left to retreat.

“No…”

Before she could finish, the human interrupted her, and a hand landed on her leg.

Lan Ye patted Rin’s leg, having no intention of letting her off the hook. “Since you don’t ‘only want me to touch you,’ then why did you lie and say I couldn’t touch other kittens?”

They were so close that the heat of Lan Ye’s words puffed directly against Ju Rin’s face. Ju Rin turned her head away to the other side.

“What lie?” Ju Rin stuck to her story. “Touching like that, without permission, is rude to begin with.”

Lan Ye looked at the little orange kitten in Rin’s arms, whose head was being held down by Rin’s hand. It looked a bit aggrieved, seemingly desperate to return to Lan Ye’s embrace.

Lan Ye laughed. “What ‘rude’? This little orange one took the initiative to let me pet it.”

“Still not allowed.” Ju Rin didn’t look at the human, keeping her eyes down on the struggling kitten in her arms.

Lan Ye: “Why?”

Ju Rin blinked. “Its guardian didn’t agree.”

Lan Ye burst out laughing. Watching Rin stubbornly insist on her story with such a serious face, she found it incredibly amusing.

The more she interacted with Rin, the more Lan Ye discovered that a person could have such a massive gap in personality. It was truly adorable.

Lan Ye forced herself to stop laughing and reached out to turn Rin’s face toward her. She nodded as if validating Rin’s reasoning, then winked.

“Then to touch you, do I need the guardian’s permission?”

The ambiguous words, laced with amusement, drifted directly into Rin’s ears once more.

Reacting a beat late to the implication behind the words, Ju Rin’s brow twitched.

What was this human saying? She had reached adulthood long ago…

Ju Rin watched the human silently. Meeting those “mischievous” eyes, her burning ears twitched again.

How could this human say such things so brazenly, things that made her feel uneasy just by listening…

Lan Ye smiled as she looked into the beastman’s amber eyes. Remembering the shock of seeing this person for the first time, she gently brushed the dark shadow at the corner of her eyes, which she had initially mistaken for full wrap eyeliner.

Most people couldn’t create such alluring lines with makeup. Rin was born with them.

She probably had no idea how much it made Lan Ye’s heart itch when she looked at her like that.

Right now, Lan Ye really wanted to pin her to the sofa and give her a deep kiss, to soften that stubborn mouth. But remembering her previous declaration, Lan Ye forced herself to endure.

It wasn’t that she was a person of immense integrity, she had that quality, but only in small amounts.

The reason she was holding back was that she felt she couldn’t keep being the only one taking the initiative.

Otherwise, if she moved forward and Rin retreated, when would it ever end?

Rin had to make a major breakthrough, overcoming that obviously excessive reservedness and shyness.

Starting today, Rin had to be the one to kiss her first, to beg for it, before she would give in.

However, while kissing was off the table, touching was still allowed.

“I don’t need your guardian’s permission, right?” Lan Ye followed up on her previous words. “I can touch you directly, can’t I?”

As Lan Ye spoke, she reached out to tuck the hair by Rin’s ear back, then blew a soft breath against the ear that was so red it looked ready to bleed.

“Turn into your beast ears. I want to touch you right now~”

That breath blown into her ear seemed to blow directly into her heart. Her heart surged, and the light in Ju Rin’s eyes trembled violently.

Her ear itched as if it were about to disappear.

Ju Rin quickly shoved the little orange kitten into Lan Ye’s arms and stood up abruptly. In her movement, the hair tucked behind her ear fell forward, concealing the ears that were starting to become translucent.

Ju Rin looked down at the human from above, her gaze slightly panicked.

“I… I have things to do.”

“Running away again?”

Lan Ye stood up as well, blocking Rin’s path and cutting off her words.

Rin frowned. What “running”? “I have business.”

“Fine.” Lan Ye glanced at her, stepped aside with the cat in her arms, and cleared the way. “Go be busy then.”

When she stepped aside, Ju Rin froze. She looked at the human in surprise, stunned that this person wasn’t trying to make her stay at all…

Hadn’t this human just looked like she desperately wanted to touch her ears?

Meeting Rin’s surprised gaze, Lan Ye gave a slight smile. “Oh, by the way, if you see the guards when you go out, help me ask where Little Landmine is and have her come here for a moment.”

Ju Rin subconsciously asked, “For what?”

After stroking the kitten in her arms, Lan Ye reached out and grabbed at the empty air. “My hands are itchy. Just petting a kitten isn’t enough. I want to pet a beastman’s exposed ears.”

Ju Rin’s brow twitched, then pulled into a tight frown.

Lan Ye smiled innocently. “I did say before that I would only touch yours in the future.”

She paused, wiped the smile off her face, and instantly put on a mournful expression. “But you won’t let me touch them. I have no choice. How am I supposed to soothe this empty, lonely, ‘itchy-handed’ heart of mine.”

Lan Ye paused again, her eyes flashing with accusation as if Rin were the one forcing her hand. She let out a sigh.

“I’ll just have to find someone else.”

Ju Rin’s heart skipped a beat. Her gaze toward the human was filled with suspicion, she couldn’t tell if the human was joking or being serious.

She was actually telling her, right to her face, that she was going to find another beastman to perform such intimate, boundary-crossing acts with!

This human! Simply outrageous!

The light in her amber eyes darkened instantly, and the lingering traces of the romantic atmosphere vanished.

The kitten in Lan Ye’s arms seemed to sense danger and burrowed deeper into the crook of her arm.

Lan Ye raised an eyebrow. Seeing the displeasure on Rin’s face, she nodded inwardly. Good, be angry.

Be a little angrier.

Lan Ye stroked the cat, her casual attitude making it seem like she didn’t care about Ju Rin’s mood at all. Ignoring the anger, she urged, “Hurry up and go. You can’t delay important business. And don’t forget to pass the message to Little Landmine for me.”

Speaking of which, Lan Ye seemed to remember something. “Actually, never mind. You don’t need to pass the message.”

Ju Rin’s gaze was dark as she watched the human. Her tense expression relaxed slightly. At least this human knows to stop at the edge of the cliff.

Lan Ye walked to the other side of the sofa with the cat and sat down. She picked up her phone, which was still charging, and waved it at Rin with a smile.

“Look at me, I forgot. My phone has power now. I’ll just call Little Landmine directly, no need for you to find her.”

With that, Lan Ye unlocked the phone and began scrolling for Little Landmine’s number.

But she had only just swiped the screen when, suddenly, her vision went dark and her hand went empty.

The phone was gone.

Lan Ye looked at her empty hand, the charging cable had fallen onto her lap…

What just happened? She looked up and saw her phone in a pair of slender hands.

Another flash-step!

So fast!

Lan Ye blinked. She hadn’t been able to react at all before the phone was snatched away with great force!

She looked at the person who had taken her phone. Rin’s face was even colder and darker than before. The kitten in Lan Ye’s arms had burrowed its entire head into the gap between her arm and her body.

Lan Ye looked at the clearly infuriated woman, still acting as though she didn’t understand.

“What’s wrong? Why take my phone? Didn’t you have things to do? You’re leaving?”

Lan Ye urged her, “Then hurry up and go.”

Ju Rin gripped the phone, looking down at the human on the sofa.

The human acted completely indifferent to whether she was angry or not, even adding fuel to the fire. It was clearly intentional.

Ju Rin wasn’t sure if she was simply trying to annoy her or if she truly intended to go find that “Number Two.”

In a short span of time, various ways to handle the situation flashed through her mind. Perhaps she should sternly warn the human not to challenge her bottom line. But that thought was instantly dismissed, based on her understanding of this human, she was certain such a warning would not scare her in the least.

Perhaps she could just crush the phone in her hand to stop her from contacting Number Two. That thought was also dismissed. Unless she could lock the human up, otherwise this human, who had both legs and a mouth, could find Number Two even without a phone.

She had managed to find her way to the kitchen alone, she could naturally find her way to the guard’s quarters as well. She could even go to Number Two’s bedroom.

A scene flashed in her mind, the human pinching that beastman’s ears. She even heard a voice, the human telling that beastman she wanted to take her home.

She was a repeat offender, she had said such things as a child.

Ju Rin looked at her. Other than locking her up, there seemed to be no other way. But… she looked at the human’s stomach. She couldn’t. The human was pregnant. Setting aside the “Pregnant Woman Protection Act” that was detailed enough to fill its own law book, if the human herself were to be frightened because of this, then she…

No!

Ju Rin’s gaze darkened further. She seemed… to have no way to deal with this human at all…

Lan Ye looked at the person standing before her. Rin’s expression was troubled, as if she were trapped in an unsolvable puzzle. Lan Ye didn’t know what she was thinking and didn’t open her mouth to interrupt.

She just stroked the kitten and watched her, neither urging nor rushing her.

Her plan for cultivating feelings needed to move past the first stage. In that stage, she had been the only one being proactive, while this tsundere little princess kept rejecting her. Lan Ye had said it before, she had self-esteem too. Not much, but she had some.

It was time to enter the second stage, making this little princess beg for it.

Thinking about how she had wanted a little touch earlier and was rejected, Lan Ye huffed internally. If this tsundere princess really ended up leaving, she would immediately find Little Landmine and ask where the palace gate was.

She’d give her a lesson on what “pursuing a wife” meant. Although it wouldn’t reach “crematorium” levels of drama, she had to make her suffer a little.

As she mused, the person in her vision moved.

Lan Ye watched as Rin walked over to her, then lowered her body to sit beside her.

However… she sat with her back turned…

What did this mean? Lan Ye looked at the back in front of her, completely baffled. What play was this?

Giving her the cold shoulder? Ending their friendship?

Surely not. Was she really that childish?

For the first time, Lan Ye was genuinely confused by Rin’s behavior…

She looked at her, about to ask what was wrong, when suddenly, at the top of the head in front of her, zip, two ears popped out.

Golden, fluffy, and looking incredibly soft.

Lan Ye’s eyes lit up instantly!

“Pet them.”

The two words, mixed with a sigh, were full of helplessness.

Ju Rin stared straight ahead, her gaze burning. If Lan Ye were to move to the front to take a look, she would discover how scorching those amber eyes were at this moment.

Not just her eyes, her whole face, even her whole body. Ju Rin felt an extraordinary heat.

The moment she realized what she was doing, her gaze grew even hotter. She gripped the phone in her hand tightly. After making this decision, she was already regretting it…

What was she doing…? She had actually succumbed to this human’s “threat” and just exposed her beast ears like this?

At that thought, Ju Rin’s eyes flickered. She had been foolish…

What was she doing… how had she fallen for the human’s rhetoric? This was the palace, she was the princess, how could she not have a way to handle this human…

She didn’t even need to lay a hand on the human. If she couldn’t control her, could she not control others?

She looked at the phone in her hand… She couldn’t lock up the human, but could she really not stop Number Two from entering and leaving her bedchamber at will?

And the guards outside, if she gave the order, who would dare pass a message for the human?

Everyone in her palace knew the human belonged to her, who would dare expose their beast ears for the human to touch…

She had been stupid… how could she think she was helpless against the human…