Pregnant with the Empress’s Alpha Heir - Chapter 12

In a daze, Yu Zhitao was awakened by someone.

Opening her eyes, she saw a miniature, adorable version of Ah Jiu gazing at her with beautiful big eyes: “Wake up, it’s already daylight.”

Yu Zhitao froze for a moment.

Propping herself up, she looked around and found herself in an opulent palace-style room.

“Xiao Wu?” she tentatively called out the name.

The tiny Ah Jiu smiled, revealing a pair of dimples, and nodded at her.

Slowly, Yu Zhitao came to her senses.

“Did I… dream again? And this dream actually has a sequel?” She patted her forehead.

In this bizarre dream, her consciousness was remarkably clear, and she could distinctly feel the touch of her hand against her forehead.

If not for the absurdity of the surroundings, she might have suspected this was some elaborate prank.

Alas, in reality, she would never encounter such an adorable little Ah Jiu. The cold, aloof Ah Jiu would never wear the kind of smile that made one want to whisk her away.

As these thoughts crossed her mind, Xiao Wu took her hand.

Xiao Wu’s hand was soft, and the sensation of their fingers intertwining felt incredibly real.

“Let’s go see Mother,” Xiao Wu said.

Yu Zhitao had no objections and followed her.

In her last lucid dream, she had promised to help the mother and daughter rid themselves of the “demon” outside, but before she could act, she had woken up. Now with this second chance, she was eager to fulfill her promise to Xiao Wu and her mother.

Though helping dream figures achieve their wishes did sound rather absurd.

Returning to Xiao Wu’s mother’s room, everything remained unchanged.

Yu Zhitao instinctively glanced toward the window at the back of the room.

She still remembered the ending of her last dream, the hordes of monsters attacking the palace. And at that time, she had clearly seen the young girl they called the “demon” firing arrows at those beasts.

So when Xiao Wu’s mother gently explained the incantation and the use of the dagger before them, Yu Zhitao’s mind wandered.

The beautiful woman waited patiently for her to refocus before asking, “What’s on your mind?”

Yu Zhitao hesitated, then inquired, “Madam, you’ve lived here for a long time, haven’t you?

“Do you know the origins of that ‘demon’ outside?”

The woman was taken aback, clearly not expecting this question.

After a pause, she sighed. “She was born from a mistake.”

“A mistake?” Yu Zhitao didn’t understand.

Seeing the woman seemed reluctant to elaborate, she asked the question that weighed most heavily on her: “That night, I saw her helping the palace fend off those attacking monsters.

“Could there be some misunderstanding here?”

As she spoke, she recalled her first encounter with the demon girl.

Back then, though the demon girl had shown hostility toward her, what she had said was,

“Outsider, leave this place.”

Putting all the pieces together, Yu Zhitao had a suspicion.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that the demon girl wasn’t the palace’s enemy, but rather its protector.

“What misunderstanding could there be?” The woman clenched her fists, veins bulging on her wrists. “The demon kills those monsters, doesn’t that prove she’s nothing but a bloodthirsty, murderous creature herself?”

“The siege beasts may never disappear, but they can’t cause any real damage to the palace! It’s the demon we should fear, as long as she exists, both Xiao Wu’s life and mine are constantly under threat, and the castle’s resources will slowly be plundered!”

Hearing this, Xiao Wu rushed over and squeezed into the beautiful woman’s embrace.

“Mother, don’t be afraid,” she said, lifting her delicate little face. “If the demon comes, I’ll protect you.”

The woman hugged Xiao Wu tightly, tears streaming down her face. “Silly child, how could you ever stand against that monster?”

The adorable little girl’s forced bravery showed glimpses of the resilient Ah Jiu she would become. The sight tugged sharply at Yu Zhitao’s heart.

“Madam, Xiao Wu, please don’t cry,” she quickly reassured them.

With that, she stood up with heroic determination. “Leave this to me. I won’t let you live in fear any longer!”

The dagger on the table gleamed coldly, thirsting for blood.

Yu Zhitao picked it up gently, testing its weight.

Xiao Wu shrank back at the sight of the dagger, her eyes red. “Sister, maybe we should just ignore the demon,” she whispered.

Leaving her mother’s arms, she approached Yu Zhitao. “It’s okay if Mother and I endure some hardship. I just want the three of us to stay together in the palace.”

Yu Zhitao patted her head. “Don’t worry, Xiao Wu.

“I know how to destroy that demon. I’ll make your and Madam’s wish come true!”

To her, this was just a dream, but to Xiao Wu and her mother, it was their entire world. She had to resolve this before waking.

Xiao Wu wiped her tears and suddenly reached up to hug Yu Zhitao’s neck, planting a kiss on her cheek.

“Sister, you must come back safely to play with me.”

The kiss nearly stopped Yu Zhitao’s heart. She nodded with a dazed smile. “Yes, don’t worry! Your sister will definitely return to you!”

Action followed resolve. After bidding farewell to the lady, Yu Zhitao followed Xiao Wu’s directions out of the palace and back to the garden where she’d first arrived.

Bathed in the warm sunlight outside, Yu Zhitao exhaled in relief.

Stretching her limbs, she mused, “It’s because of that demon that Xiao Wu and her mother are forced to hide in that gloomy palace.

“Once I eliminate her, I’ll bring Xiao Wu out here. We’ll bask in the sun on the lawn and have tea parties!”

With this bright future in mind, Yu Zhitao tightened her grip on the dagger and began carefully searching the area.

In her own dreamscape, when Yu Zhitao focused on finding the demon girl, she soon discovered a dilapidated greenhouse.

It must have been beautiful once, worthy of the palace it served.

But now, ravaged by the demon, more than half of it had collapsed.

The rare flowers of yesteryear were gone, replaced by scattered wood shavings and unidentifiable metal fragments.

Holding her breath, Yu Zhitao crept toward faint sounds coming from deep within the greenhouse.

Behind a pile of debris, she found a strange room.

To its left stood a simple single bed beside a roughly assembled wooden clothes rack. The opposite side was crammed with what looked like weapons.

The entire space was shockingly crude, not even comparable to a palace bathroom.

Yu Zhitao was still lost in shock when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her back.

By the time she regained her senses, she realized the demon girl had already pinned her down.

From the very beginning, the demon girl had noticed her presence. She had deliberately lured her here, setting up a thorough ambush.

“What are you doing here?” The demon girl’s voice behind her was chillingly cold.

Yet, for some reason, Yu Zhitao found it oddly familiar.

But there was no time to dwell on distractions. Shaking off her thoughts, she quickly recited the incantation given to her by Xiao Wu’s mother, squeezing her eyes shut.

The spell was uttered in full. When Yu Zhitao opened her eyes again, the demon was still on top of her but with a slight struggle, she managed to flip the demon onto the ground.

The spell really worked!

Yu Zhitao scrambled to her feet, and in an instant, the tables had turned.

Now standing tall, she gripped her dagger, looking down at the demon sprawled on the ground, her face a picture of shock.

But her moment of triumph lasted barely three seconds. The next moment, Yu Zhitao’s legs gave way, and she collapsed beside the demon.

Fortunately, she hadn’t forgotten her mission. Trembling, she raised her hand, holding the dagger above the demon’s chest.

She had thought eliminating a demon would be an honorable task she could carry out without hesitation.

But reality proved otherwise. Even knowing this was just a dream, asking a law-abiding citizen to plunge a dagger into a girl’s chest was no easier than asking her to take her own life.

Her hand lifted, then lowered, then lifted again, wavering, unable to act.

Deep down, she knew she couldn’t do it. Partly because the demon looked no different from an ordinary human girl, and partly.

Because she still had doubts.

So, after lowering the dagger for the third time, Yu Zhitao gave up.

She set the dagger aside and asked the demon girl, “Hey… are you really a demon?”

The demon turned her face away in disgust, refusing to look at her.

She wore high-tech goggles that obscured most of her face, but even just the smooth line of her jaw and tightly pressed lips were enough to reveal her striking beauty.

Yu Zhitao couldn’t shake the feeling that the lower half of that face was eerily familiar.

She pressed on, “Why do you want to hurt the lady in the palace and Xiao Wu?”

Finally, the demon reacted.

She turned her head, studying Yu Zhitao through the thick lenses.

After a long pause, she spoke. “They sent you to kill me?”

The immobilizing spell only lasted ten seconds and had already worn off. But the demon remained docile on the ground, and Yu Zhitao chose to overlook that fact.

Hearing the accusation, she even felt a pang of guilt.

Hiding the dagger behind her back, she cleared her throat. “W-Well, if you’ve done bad things, you can’t blame others for fighting back!”

The demon girl fell silent for a long time.

Yu Zhitao sensed something was off and scooted back slightly, helping the girl up.

The two of them now sat facing each other in the abandoned greenhouse. No flowers or butterflies surrounded them, only weeds and broken logs.

Yet the sunlight, impartial to good and evil, spilled softly over their shoulders, warm enough to make one want to lie down for a nap.

The demon gazed pensively at the dagger before suddenly saying, “Since you were willing to help them kill me maybe you’d also be willing to hear a request from me.”

Yu Zhitao, still lost in the scent of the surrounding greenery, blinked. “Huh?”

The girl stood up and walked over to a pile of weapons, rummaging through them.

Soon, she pulled out a palm-sized sphere: “Head west and return the power device to the control panel.”

Yu Zhitao scratched her head in confusion: “Wh-why?”

Misunderstanding her reaction, the girl made a promise: “As repayment, I’ll let you kill me.”

“Huh?” Yu Zhitao grew even more bewildered.

Clutching her head, she lamented: “Good heavens, even dreams should follow basic logic! What kind of nonsense is this?!”

The demon girl waited for her response. When Yu Zhitao looked up, she met the cold gaze behind those visors.

Deciding to follow her instincts for now, Yu Zhitao asked: “You’re really good with a bow, aren’t you? I saw how you took down those flying monsters one arrow, one kill. Incredibly precise.”

The sudden topic shift nearly lost the demon girl, but she nodded honestly, answering with some pride: “Of course.”

Yu Zhitao pressed on: “Then why didn’t any of your arrows hit me when we first met? Surely I can’t dodge better than those monsters?”

The demon girl had no reply.

She turned away, pretending to admire the scenery.

Yu Zhitao didn’t need an answer to solve her puzzle, the truth was clear now.

From the very beginning, this demon had never intended to kill her.

She’d simply wanted to drive away this unexpected intruder.

“I understand,” Yu Zhitao murmured, lowering her head.

The demon girl looked at her, puzzled.

Then Yu Zhitao reached out and removed the visor.

After a dizzying moment, her vision cleared.

Her suspicions confirmed, she cradled the girl’s face and cried out excitedly: “Ah Jiu! It really is you?!”