Marry First, Love Later With The White Cat Princess - Chapter 24

At the same time, the five cats standing guard outside the guest room were already frantic with worry.

“Lord Lianyi’s and Lord Liu’s auras are both in there, but why is there no movement?” The cow-patterned cat was nearly in tears. “Could it be that Lord Lianyi… ate Lord Liu?!”

The other two cats drooped their ears, faces full of concern.

The chubby orange cat even wanted to barge in, but Xian Lihua stopped her. “Don’t imagine the worst! Lord Liu is a physician, and she has a blood bond with Lord Lianyi they’ll be fine!”

“But, Sister Lihua, you switched the seasoning yourself… how can you still say that?” the cow cat whimpered.

Xian Lihua herself didn’t know what had gone wrong. When she’d sneaked into the kitchen to check the ingredients for the banquet, she had indeed discovered that someone had tampered with the seasonings.

She’d hurried to replace the altered spices with a harmless aphrodisiac blocking powder for females, but the chef had returned too quickly. She only had time to swap out most of it leaving behind a small pinch of red powder that looked just like chili.

Dosage was everything when it came to poisons or medicines. That tiny bit shouldn’t have been harmful to any demon. But now, it seemed she’d miscalculated.

“I’ll stay here and guard the door. You lot go deal with those humans,” Xian Lihua ordered, patting the furred ears of the four anxious cats. “Don’t be afraid.”

After soaking in the cold bath for less than half an hour, Lianyi suddenly sneezed.

Her demon body was powerful, but her human body remained fragile.

Seeing that the crimson tint in Lianyi’s eyes had faded and her “blackening value” had finally dropped to zero, Liu Fenyun hurried to lift her out of the bath, wrapping her in her own outer robe.

“Send us back to the inn,” she instructed the system.

Lianyi merely blinked. When she opened her eyes again, her surroundings had already changed.

The guest room was well equipped Liu Fenyun changed into dry clothes, set up a cracked screen for privacy, found clean bathrobes and towels, then carefully wiped Lianyi dry from head to toe.

When her fingertips brushed against Lianyi’s burning skin, Liu Fenyun froze in shock.

Was the cat running a fever again?

Lianyi, wrapped in a robe, curled up in her arms, teeth chattering from cold.

“I want to go home…” she murmured. “It feels awful…”

“Where does it hurt, Your Highness?” Liu Fenyun asked, holding her tighter.

But Lianyi only gave soft mewling cries, rubbing against her chin with anxious, almost expectant eyes.

Baffled, Liu Fenyun finally asked her system, “What’s happening to Lianyi?”

“This is a sign of a cat entering heat,” the system replied matter-of-factly.

“What? But it’s not even spring yet! Wait demons have heat cycles too?!”

Liu Fenyun was stunned. The cat demon in her arms had stopped mewing softly and had begun to wail she hastily hugged her tighter, stroking her back to soothe her.

In modern cities, cat demons usually took suppressants, and ordinary cats were spayed when they came of age.

Liu Fenyun had never encountered such a situation, nor did she have any medicine on hand to help her. Was she supposed to… handle this herself?

Groaning inwardly, she opened the system interface. Seeing only Xian Lihua guarding outside, she asked her to come in.

Lihua, still a simple young female cat, climbed in through the window. Seeing her two mistresses embracing in such a compromising position, she almost jumped back out in shock.

After hearing the explanation, she steadied herself and said, “I’ll prepare a carriage right away and escort Lord Lianyi back to the Holy Maiden’s Hall.”

Liu Fenyun nodded, hugging the flushed cat even closer.

Before leaving, Liu Fenyun called after her, “By the way… has Her Highness ever had… this happen before?”

“No,” Lihua shook her head. “Her Highness is different from us. Her human body is truly human humans only have menstruation.”

Then she leapt back out the window to ready the carriage.

“I need an explanation,” Liu Fenyun said helplessly once Lihua left. “Can a cold bath really trigger heat?”

“No. It’s the drug’s effect,” the system answered.

Liu Fenyun sighed and used her blood bond to contact Lihua, telling her to grab a chunk of the leftover roast lamb from dinner preferably the heavily spiced part.

The Blood Wind Meat Rain Pill wasn’t supposed to have this kind of side effect, but maybe the heat or spice had altered its properties. She’d have to study it.

Lihua worked quickly. Within fifteen minutes, the carriage was ready behind the inn, and a bundle of fragrant lamb was tucked beneath the seat.

Lianyi had calmed down somewhat she no longer made strange sounds, though her body was still feverish.

To make travel easier, she shrank back into her normal white cat form and lay in Liu Fenyun’s arms.

Liu Fenyun changed into fresh clothes and carried her downstairs. The fluffy white tail kept swishing up to block her vision, and every time she pressed it down, it sprang up again from another angle.

From the tea table below, Luo San and Luo Jiu who had been keeping watch on the stairs stood up the moment they saw her, heading quietly for the third floor.

The fat orange cat and her companions were busy dragging away the unconscious men when they caught the faint scent of humans, and all froze in panic.

Luo Jiu wasn’t hostile to demons. Seeing the cats dazed and standing in a wrecked room, she couldn’t help but run over, scratching the orange cat’s ears and pinching the cow cat’s chubby cheeks.

“What are you all doing? Where are the Seventh Princess and Her Consort?”

Both sides were spies for their masters, so they were familiar with one another. The orange cat recognized them and told the whole story.

Upon hearing that Liu Fenyun was already on her way back to the Holy Maiden’s Hall, Luo San and Luo Jiu exchanged relieved looks.

“Then we’ll help you clean up here” Luo Jiu said cheerfully, crouching down to drag off one of the unconscious apothecaries.

When they’d gone to the outer city earlier, Liu Fenyun and Lianyi had walked, there’d been no need for motion sickness pills.

Now, in their haste to return, Liu Fenyun forgot until Lianyi nearly vomited inside the carriage. Startled, she ordered the driver to stop, stepped out holding the cat, and let her breathe.

Lianyi’s stomach was weak. She couldn’t stop until she’d emptied it completely. Liu Fenyun fetched a bowl of warm water from a roadside tea stall and held it out for her to rinse her mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

Back in the carriage, Lianyi suddenly apologized, her cat ears drooping.

“If I hadn’t been greedy, tonight wouldn’t have turned out such a mess.”

Liu Fenyun really did want to scold her but seeing that earnest, remorseful face, she could only click her tongue and feel the irresistible urge to cuddle her.

And, in fact, she did just that except, before she could even nuzzle her, Lianyi leapt away.

“I’m tainted. Don’t touch me…”

Liu Fenyun thought for a moment. “After a hot bath, can I touch you then?”

The medicine had mostly been purged from Lianyi’s system, and she was fully lucid now. But some of it had already taken effect, leaving her flushed and restless, wanting nothing more than to curl into Liu Fenyun’s arms and have her stroke her fur again and again.

“Alright.” Her voice was hoarse, but she agreed.

She endured the discomfort all the way back. When the carriage finally rolled into the Holy Maiden’s Hall, they returned to the bedchamber together and sank into a petal filled bath. Only then did Lianyi finally surrender her restraint.

The cat suddenly pounced into her arms, startling Liu Fenyun so badly she hit the edge of the bath with her back, hissing from pain.

Lianyi wrapped her arms around her, resting her head on Liu Fenyun’s shoulder, pressing their bodies tightly together, kissing from her earlobe down her neck, inch by inch lower.

“Didn’t A’Yun just say she wanted to touch me?” Lianyi teased with a breathy laugh. “Go on then — don’t make me wait.”

Steeling herself, Liu Fenyun remembered the promise she’d made earlier and laid her palm on Lianyi’s back, tracing slowly down her spine.

Lianyi’s eyes half-closed in pleasure. As her lips brushed Liu Fenyun’s heart, she whispered, “A’Yun… call me.”

“Your Highness?”

“Not that one.”

“…Yiyi,” Liu Fenyun corrected softly.

Lianyi smiled with delight, then mischievously took the little red tip between her lips and began to savor it.

The electric jolt made Liu Fenyun’s back arch, her gaze drifting to the ceiling as she let Lianyi have her way.

“A’Yun, do you remember our wedding night?” Lianyi suddenly asked.

“Yes… I remember.”

“At that time, you did something that made me very happy.” Lianyi’s lips brushed her ear as she whispered, “Can you… please me again?”

Liu Fenyun had mentally prepared herself on the carriage ride. But hearing Lianyi say it aloud still made her blush. She nodded shyly. “Mm.”

Sooner or later, it had to happen. No need to panic.

Detecting her emotional fluctuation, the system popped up a “tutorial panel” very seriously.

Lianyi’s eyes lit up. She caught Liu Fenyun’s wrist and placed her hand at the base of her tail.

“How about I let you rub my tail all night?” she teased, face flushed. “Or do you want to rub somewhere else instead?”

Feeling the soft fur against her palm, Liu Fenyun couldn’t help but laugh. “I want both.”

But her voice wavered with nerves.

That night, the bed curtains were drawn and candlelight danced.

Liu Fenyun thought she wouldn’t escape having to “take action,” but before she could even get into the mood, Lianyi had already fallen sound asleep, hugging her arm.

The system, still waiting to offer assistance: “…”

Liu Fenyun, however, felt utterly relieved. She blew out the candles and covered the sleeping Lianyi with a robe.

“Host, you’re avoiding and procrastinating,” the system remarked. “You should undergo a psychological evaluation.”

“No need. I know myself best,” Liu Fenyun replied. “Everything should happen naturally. It’s not time yet I won’t take her.”

When you love someone, you must take full responsibility for them. And Liu Fenyun, having already received the official Consort’s seal, knew that in others’ eyes, she and Lianyi were rightfully married.

But she didn’t believe she was ready for that responsibility. Having devoted two lifetimes to medicine, she was good at acting and repressing emotions but clumsy at relationships.

Being a wife or lover was far harder than any social interaction. She could hide her true self for a while, but not forever.

Even if Lianyi didn’t care, she couldn’t convince herself.

Suddenly, in her sleep, Lianyi murmured “A’Yun.” Liu Fenyun instinctively looked down the cat was smiling in her dreams.

Gazing at her for a moment, Liu Fenyun reached out and gently stroked her cat ears twice.

Lianyi twitched, opened her deep blue eyes just a slit, and drowsily looked up at her.

On impulse, Liu Fenyun softly went, “Meow”

Lianyi echoed back, “Meow”

Since she was a cat demon, her voice was soft and sweet Liu Fenyun’s heart melted instantly. If Lianyi meowed a few more times, no number of medical kits could save her.

Pulling Lianyi close for a kiss, Liu Fenyun closed her eyes, smiling in bliss.