After Becoming Pregnant With The Empress Cat's Cub - Chapter 7

After Ju Lin sent the address, she glanced sideways at Si Qing, whose face was a mask of shock, her eyes flickering with a trace of complicated emotion.

The intelligence of this guard of hers… forget protecting someone else, it would be a miracle if she could protect herself.

Si Qing breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Ju Lin simply wanted to go home, shower, and change clothes. She had been worried the Princess had been seduced by that human.

One couldn’t blame her for such anxiety.

The Princess was different from them. Generally, Beastmen with S-grade mental power or higher almost always had partners after reaching adulthood. Everyone got what they needed, mostly seeking pleasure.

The Princess held a noble status and possessed rare SS-grade mental power, those wishing to be her bedmate were as numerous as “carp crossing a river.” Yet, in all these years, not a single person had successfully enticed her.

Previously, Si Qing thought it was because the Princess had impossibly high standards for a partner. This belief only began to waver with the appearance of Lan Ye.

Before meeting Lan Ye, Si Qing had imagined all sorts of humans who could cause the Princess to break her precedent. She imagined someone with exquisite features, a perfect body, and a unique temperament, essentially a rare specimen among humanity.

After seeing her, Si Qing began to suspect that Ju Lin’s former celibacy was due to having… “special” tastes.

Thinking of that human’s fluffy head, large eyes, and the way her mouth never stopped moving while eating, she felt the girl looked like a little hamster.

Could it be that the feline nature in the Princess’s bloodline has been reawakened, and she’s fallen for this little hamster…?

Moreover, in Si Qing’s experience, when someone suppresses their desires to the extreme, they tend to fall hard once they finally let go.

Si Qing wanted to ask what Ju Lin’s actual feelings were toward this human, but she saw the Princess had already closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat. The moment Si Qing looked over, Ju Lin seemed to sense it, and a sharp “Shut up” instantly suppressed her curiosity.

Si Qing helplessly obeyed. It wasn’t until they arrived at the private residence and she saw Ju Lin open her eyes that she couldn’t hold it in any longer: “Your Highness, where did you agree to meet that human? Can I come along? Just in case there’s danger…”

If the other party just wanted to sleep with the Princess again, that would be fine, but she feared the human had backers and was hiding a massive conspiracy. If they took the opportunity to kidnap the Princess, it would be a disaster.

She had wanted to investigate the human yesterday, but the Princess insisted on doing it herself. Despite saying that, there had been no action yet, which was truly frustrating. If Si Qing had been allowed to investigate, everything would have been laid bare by now.

“No need.”

Unsurprisingly, Ju Lin rejected Si Qing’s suggestion.

In Ju Lin’s view, if there were true danger, Si Qing’s presence would be nothing more than an added burden. Besides, her intuition told her the human had no intention of taking her life. However, as for what exactly the human wanted, Ju Lin hadn’t figured out the play yet.

This human was… very special.

Rebuffed, Si Qing looked worried: “Your Highness, then you must keep your phone reachable. If anything happens, contact me immediately.”

Speaking of which, she remembered a message received while Ju Lin was boxing: “By the way, Highness, it seems the Queen Mother already knows you are in the Central District… I received news last night that people have been sent to find you.”

After saying this, Si Qing was surprised to see Ju Lin’s unbothered expression. “Highness, you already knew?”

Ju Lin looked at Si Qing, her eyes filled with a touch of pity. “Did it ever occur to you why your transfer was handled so directly and sent straight to the Central District?”

“Why?” Si Qing looked dazed.

But soon, a look of realization dawned on her. “Ah! The Queen Mother already knew you were here, so she transferred me here specifically?”

“Not entirely stupid.”

Si Qing: “Then she already knows your whereabouts?”

Ju Lin: “Soon.”

She hadn’t moved to investigate the human partly because of this concern. Very soon, those people would find her, and they would undoubtedly trace everything related to her.

Si Qing: “Then, Highness, are you going to leave this place?”

Ju Lin didn’t answer. She hadn’t decided yet, all plans would wait until after she met the human.

Ju Lin unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the glove compartment, and carefully took out the paper kept inside. It was the extra ultrasound photo she had requested the hospital to print yesterday. Sunlight streamed through the car window, illuminating the clear image of the “little cat head.”

Si Qing wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but she felt the irritable aura around the Princess stabilize, her expression softening significantly.

Her Highness… Si Qing suddenly remembered the words spoken the night before leaving the palace: “If I have a child, I will never let them live like me. They only need to be healthy and happy.”

“You can go now,” Ju Lin’s voice interrupted Si Qing’s thoughts.

Si Qing watched her get out of the car and enter the house before driving away. The sun had fully risen. As Si Qing drove into the light, she prayed that the human was merely calculating, but not malicious.

If what she wanted wasn’t excessive, the Princess would likely satisfy her.

Meanwhile, the human Si Qing had labeled as “calculating” was currently emerging from the bathroom, enveloped in steam.

Lan Ye felt her hair, which had become frizzy after blow-drying. She flopped onto the bed she had previously tousled into a mess, grabbed her watch from the nightstand, and unlocked it to check her messages.

The other party had sent the time and address. It looked like a restaurant, and the meeting was set for mealtime.

Looking at the name in her contacts. Lin, the restlessness she had managed to wash away with hot water came rushing back.

Lan Ye fell backward, lying on the bed. She grabbed a pillow and rolled around in a fit of frustration. This was killing her. Thinking about the dream she had before waking up this morning… now that she had seen Lin, the person in the dream finally had a face.

And with a face, the dream became much more vivid and stimulating.

Lan Ye gripped her watch, burying her burning face in the pillow. She didn’t want to eat, she wanted to go straight to bed with her!

When she saw her later, maybe she could mention this request. She didn’t know if the other woman would agree.

Lan Ye was honest about her desires. If she wanted to “eat” something, she had to have it, otherwise, she would obsess over it day and night. Unfortunately, this required two willing participants, and she wasn’t sure of Lin’s stance.

Previously, Lan Ye wanted to find the person from that night to develop a “friends with benefits” relationship. But after finding her, the other woman suddenly proposed marriage, which scared Lan Ye so much she didn’t dare bring it up for fear of being tied down.

Now she knew: in this world, if you were going to have a kitten, you had to get married. The proposal was logical. Thus, Lan Ye’s idea of a “sustainable bedroom relationship” was resurrected.

Especially since she kept having that dream.

She felt sexually frustrated. She suspected that if she didn’t get satisfied, these wet dreams would continue indefinitely. It felt like there were side effects, she was even a bit irritable when she woke up this morning, partly because the watch vibration interrupted the dream, but mostly because she was annoyed that it was only a dream.

She wanted to do it again for real!

She definitely had to talk about this today. Since they were meeting anyway, Lan Ye planned to discuss the marriage. It was ironic how quickly she had changed her tune, rejecting the proposal yesterday, only to be the one “proposing” today.

Lan Ye thought that if the other party agreed, they would be getting married. In such a relationship, bringing up physical needs was perfectly natural. Between the body and the soul, at least one had to be satisfied.

Lan Ye got up, put on her watch, grabbed her packed bag, and headed downstairs.

In the dining room, a wide variety of breakfast dishes covered the table. Knowing Yao Li had woken up early to cook, Lan Ye ate until she was stuffed.

Yao Li and Lan Shan were genuinely happy to hear Lan Ye was going out to meet a friend. They assumed she was recovering some memories, and Lan Ye didn’t bother explaining. She declined Yao Li’s offer to drive her, insisting she could go alone. Since she was early, she planned to stop by the mall first.

Before seeing Lin, Lan Ye had a few things to buy.

After finishing breakfast, Lan Ye put on a hat and was about to head out when Yao Li suddenly called out to her.

“Xiao Ye, I almost forgot to ask. How did you feel about that ‘Hajimi’ from last night?”

Hearing that name, Lan Ye could hardly stifle a laugh. “She was great. Very cute.”

Yao Li looked at the smile on Lan Ye’s face and exchanged a glance with Lan Shan. They both breathed a sigh of relief. Xiao Ye seemed very satisfied with Hajimi, she even smiled just thinking about her.

“Then, in the future, can I invite her over for dinner often?”

“Of course you can.”

This was Lan Shan and Yao Li’s home. They could do as they pleased. Lan Ye was just a guest and didn’t really need to be consulted.

Yao Li was relieved by the answer. Now, she just had to wait for a reply from “Hajimi.” She’d follow up later, if it didn’t work out, she’d move on to the next candidate.

A month’s time wasn’t exactly long, and they needed to settle on a mother for Xiao Ye’s child as soon as possible.

Lan Ye had no idea that Lan Shan and Yao Li were aggressively hunting for a mother for her baby. She took two buses to reach the district’s largest shopping mall, as recommended by Lan Shan.

She had researched online yesterday: the cost of living and wages in this world weren’t much different from her original world. The only thing that had changed was the currency, it was now called “Miao Coins.”

Before she left this morning, Yao Li heard she was heading to the mall and transferred 2,000 Miao Coins to her, telling her to buy whatever she liked.

Lan Ye sighed. Once the situation with the kitten was resolved, she needed to find a job quickly to pay them back for the money and the medical expenses.

The tricky part was her profession. Before crossing over, Lan Ye was a pet groomer. While she worked with “pets,” it was mostly dogs that needed haircuts; she only occasionally took orders to bathe cats or clean rabbits.

Her internet search yesterday revealed a grim reality: in this world, dogs were almost extinct.

In the year 2030 AD, a terrifying virus broke out globally. Species went nearly extinct in a short time, and civilization was momentarily interrupted. It was then that cats evolved. They adapted to the harsh environment and, through a long evolutionary process, became the Beastmen of today.

Over a thousand years ago, the Beastmen leader. Miao Li Hua the First, White-Sleeved Tabby, Extraordinary Feline Power, the Strong (shortened to Miao Li-Qiang) ended the chaotic world order. He established a new society where Beastmen and humans coexisted harmoniously: the Kingdom of Cat-Miao.

The Kingdom had stood for a millennium, now in its seventh generation of royalty. As for why the current year was “Miao Era 2025,” it was because King Miao Li-Qiang designated the year the first cat evolved into a Beastman as Year One of the Miao Era.

Lan Ye sighed again. If not for this mysterious transmigration, she might have died in that Great Extinction five years from now. Though she escaped it, she couldn’t feel happy knowing her friends, clients, and all the dogs she had bathed would likely perish.

Her heavy mood only lightened once she stepped into the bustling mall.

The massive center was teeming with people, shoulder to shoulder, a cacophony of voices filling the air. Why is it so crowded?

As she walked in, she looked around and soon saw a public announcement looping on the giant screen in the atrium. It turned out the current King’s birthday was at the end of the month. To celebrate, the mall was holding a massive promotion. Hearing it was the biggest sale of the year cheered Lan Ye up, catching a bargain was good, considering how poor she was.

Just as she was about to look for the lingerie department, the birthday greetings faded, replaced by a photograph. It was the King. Looking at the person on the screen, Lan Ye felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if she had seen them somewhere before.

However, by the time the photo switched, she still couldn’t recall where she would have ever met the King of this world. Probably just looks like some celebrity from back home, she thought.

She quickly brushed it off and found the brand store for Lin’s underwear. She showed the clerk the pair she had brought along, and the staff quickly identified it as the store’s latest style.

The clerk led Lan Ye to the rack and enthusiastically asked how many pairs she wanted.

Lan Ye thought that since she was compensating the woman, she should be generous and get two. She flipped over the price tag. After seeing a “5” followed by three zeros, the “two pairs” at the tip of her tongue turned into: “I’ll keep looking.”

The clerk immediately understood, gave a dismissive grunt, flashed a fake smile, and told her to take her time before pivoting to help other customers.

Lan Ye gripped the price tag, her hands trembling!

Five thousand!

Is it made of gold?! What kind of expensive backside requires 5,000 coins underwear?!

If Lan Ye emptied her entire bank account, she’d only have enough for half a leg!

Terrifying. Simply terrifying. Under the clerk’s judgmental gaze, Lan Ye slunk out of the store. If she had worn the wrong underwear back then and Lin had called the police, would she have been sentenced to prison?

Scary stuff.

Lan Ye felt like the old underwear in her hand was starting to glow like gold… This wouldn’t do; she absolutely had to return this to the owner.

She carefully tucked the underwear back into her backpack and swung the bag around to her chest, hugging it protectively. The mall was packed, what if there were thieves? While a thief wouldn’t intentionally steal a pair of used underwear, they might just grab the bag without checking the contents.

Lan Ye spent the rest of her shopping trip on high alert. Unable to afford the luxury brand, she bought two cheaper pairs as compensation. She also bought an outfit for Xiao Xiao, the kitten was in a boarding school on a “two days on, one day off” schedule and would be coming home today.

Protecting her bag, she exited the mall and squeezed onto the bus. After two transfers, she finally arrived at the address Lin had given her.

At that same moment, in front of the restaurant “Xin Rong Ji,” Ju Lin happened to be stepping out of a taxi.

A strange intuition made her turn her head as she stepped onto the restaurant stairs. This glance caught a familiar figure stepping off a bus at a nearby stop.

She was wearing that same black bucket hat from yesterday, with a black backpack hugged tightly to her chest. In the middle of the crowd, she wasn’t even looking at where she was walking; her eyes were glued to the bag in her arms.

She’s carrying something valuable. That was Ju Lin’s first thought, the same thought anyone would have seeing Lan Ye acting so paranoid.

Ju Lin frowned, her instincts sensing trouble.

The roar of an engine erupted. Ju Lin followed the sound to see a motorcycle darting out from a nearby intersection, heading straight for the bus stop.

Lan Ye, having spotted Ju Lin, was excitedly waving her hand. Just as she was about to shout a greeting, her body lurched.

Feeling the bag being yanked from her grasp, Lan Ye reacted instinctively and gripped the straps tight. Oh no, a bag snatcher!

Before she could even scream, she was dragged forward several steps by the force of the motorcycle!

This is bad. Lan Ye realized if she didn’t let go, the momentum would slam her into the pavement. But if she let go, the bag was gone!

No, I can’t lose the bag!

Lan Ye pulled with all her might, but the thief’s strength far exceeded hers. Watching the straps slip from her fingers as her body pitched forward toward the ground, Lan Ye instinctively closed her eyes, pulling her arms back to protect her stomach.

In that split second, she remembered: she was pregnant. During the struggle, she hadn’t thought of it at all.

This is trouble. Terror filled her behind her closed lids. Would the kitten be okay if she fell? She hugged her belly tight, waiting for the impact and the pain.

But before the pain came, a wave of heat hit her. Her tilted body felt as though it flew for a brief moment before her feet hit the ground again.

Lan Ye snapped her eyes open and found herself staring into a pair of amber eyes.

Before she could process what had happened, the warm embrace vanished. A gust of wind blew past. Lan Ye blinked, then stared ahead in shock. The woman who had just been holding her had caught up to the distant motorcycle in the blink of an eye and floored both riders with a single punch!

A loud crash echoed as the motorcycle hit the ground, spinning and kicking up sparks.

Against that flashing backdrop, Lan Ye saw a hand with bleeding knuckles pick her backpack up from the ground.

Police sirens wailed in the distance. Amidst the stirring sound, she saw the woman who had retrieved her bag walking toward her step by step. Despite her steady pace, the distance between them closed rapidly.

In an instant, Lin was standing in front of her.

A hidden fire burned in those amber depths.

“What is so important that it’s worth taking such a risk?!”

Her lowered voice sounded more intimidating than the sirens.

Lan Ye blurted out instinctively:

“Your underwear.”