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Ling Yue lied on the ground. Her muffled snort shook the entire house. She slammed her paws on the ground, gusting up dust. Her blood-red eyes twitched with agony. The cry of the fox was virtually enough to shatter all of the glass. Her belly was noticeably moving about. Her child couldn’t hold it anymore and was advancing toward a new world.
Sitting behind the window was Leah. Watching Ling Yue squirm in agony, the concerned Leah asked, “Miss Ling Yue seems to be in a lot of pain. Shall we go and help her?”
Evelyn shook her head. She took hold of Leah’s hand and answered in a soft tone, “At this moment, Ling Yue won’t allow anybody to approach her. We just need to stay here. Ling Yue is capable of giving birth herself. It would be best to have King Troy here now, but I do not know where he is at the moment. The two of them love each other so much. Why has he not returned? Ling Yue looks so tragic right now.”
Leah shook her head: “King Troy must have some very, very important business to attend to for him to not be back. I believe King Troy is rushing here now. We can take care of Miss Ling Yue even if he does not come. I believe in their love.”
Ling Yue weakly moaned. She shed tears and dug her claws deeply into the ground, creating deep valleys in the ground. The pain of giving birth left her in despair. She was still staring at the corner with her blood-red eyes. She was waiting for the white cloak to appear. The white cloak should’ve been next to her.
“News of me about to give birth should’ve reached the Imperial Palace by now, so why is he not here? Should a husband not be by his wife’s side when she’s giving birth? Why has he not appeared? I’m in so much pain, and I’m so scared; why has he not come? He must be with Lucia and Nier right now. He might still be enjoying life, while leaving me to bear with this pain. Physical pain is one thing, but the worst pain is from the heart. I’m already in so much agony, and yet I have to deal with the torment of jealousy and despair,” thought Ling Yue.
Ling Yue’s large tears coursed down her face. She genuinely wanted to cry out loud. She wanted to tearfully howl. Her mind raced erratically: “I’m going to bite that cheating man’s entire head off when I see him. A man who isn’t by his wife’s side when she’s giving birth has no right to be a husband! Moreover, he was by their sides when they gave birth, so why not mine? Does he not love me anymore?! Why… has he still not appeared?!”
Ling Yue felt vigorous movement in her belly again. Her child was no longer willing to stay inside her anymore. Her child was in a rush to come out and see this world. Ling Yue was reluctant to give birth. She said to her child, “What’s the point of a world without your father? Your father isn’t here. After you come to this world, only Mommy can lick you clean, and nobody will hold you, so why are you in such a rush?”
If it was possible, Ling Yue truthfully didn’t want to give birth to her child. She really wanted to be by Troy’s side. She wanted to be in his arms, where he caressed her, and give birth there. Feeling hopeless, she shut her eyes. She couldn’t bear it any longer. Normally, animals could delay their child’s birth for a short while, but she was no longer able to bear it.
The white silhouette finally appeared in a flustered fashion: “Sorry, sorry, Ling Yue. I’m late.”
I huffed and puffed. I honestly didn’t know Ling Yue was giving birth that day all of a sudden. I planned visit her before returning to the North, since I was more worried about what happened in the Imperial Palace.
“If you weren’t present when I gave birth, I swear I would kill you,” grumbled Ling Yue.
Ling Yue definitely wasn’t joking… With her size, she’d be able to eat me, wouldn’t she…? You’re right. Foxes are small carnivorous animals, but have you seen a small carnivorous animal bigger than a house? I wouldn’t put it pass her to crush me to pieces to feed her child…
Ling Yue’s body shuddered. She opened her eyes and reacted surprised. I looked at her blood-red eyes and took in a deep breath: “Sorry for being late, Ling Yue. Punish me later, though. I’m here with you now. Let’s see our child come to this world first, okay? I’m here with you. I’m here with you.”
Ling Yue didn’t seem to bother with what I said. Instead, she knocked me over with her paw then leaned over to grab me with her mouth. However, she didn’t grab me by the bottom-half of my body this time, but my upper body.
I daresay somebody watching us from the outside would think Ling Yue gnawed off the top of my body. I was actually inside her mouth, but I must say, her breath wasn’t pleasant at the time. The stench of blood and rotten flesh rushing into my nose almost knocked me out. I was suffocating inside. Her saliva smacked me all over my face, and she’d sometimes lick me.
I didn’t understand why she had to hold me in her mouth… She was just giving birth… No… I wasn’t arguing that giving birth to a child was a simple matter, but was there some sort of purpose to holding me in her mouth…?  Wouldn’t it be better for me to caress her fur from the outside? We might be able to speak, even. What was the point of putting me in her mouth…? Did it reassure her or something?’
Ling Yue suddenly spat me out. I shot straight to the ground as if I was a bullet fired out of gun. My face had saliva dripping of it. I was still spinning when I hit the ground, but I discovered that Ling Yue was powerlessly lying on the ground. At the same time, there was a faint scent of blood in the air in addition to mud. I turned around to find that the ground had been dug up by Ling Yue’s claws.
Ling Yue curled up on the ground. I stood up and rushed over, completely ignoring her saliva still dripping off my face. I grabbed onto her fur at her leg and climbed up. I found a small fox, who still hadn’t grown fur, curled up there. In fact, her eyes weren’t yet open. Ling Yue carefully licked the liquids on the small fox’s body as a means of cleaning her.
I didn’t think her child would be born as a fox. The so-called tiny fox was actually already the size of a human being. She was only small relative to her mother. She curled up and moaned without moving. Ling Yue then turned to me and threw me off her leg with great displeasure. She gnashed her teeth as though she was threatening me, telling me to hold the child…
“I’d hold her without you even threatening me, woman… She’s my child… I’ll hold her without you threatening me… In saying that… this child… is a little too large, no…?” I thought.
I sat down to the side. I picked up the small fox who couldn’t even open her eyes. The small foxed seemed to sense my warmth, and thus, did all she could to bury herself in my arms. She also made soft moans, but I wasn’t sure if that was her crying or not. I hugged her, but I was a little bit nervous about caressing her. Her fur had yet to grow; hence, I was worried about damaging her skin.
Ling Yue leaned over and wrapped herself around us. She used her body heat to warm the two of us up. It was the first time her eyes looked so gentle. I wasn’t sure how my face looked; nevertheless, my bliss continued to overwhelm my heart when I looked at the small fox gently holding onto me. I carefully lifted her paws and gave them a kiss. I looked at my child, my daughter, without averting my eyes.
All of my children were girls… That was fine, though. Girls wouldn’t fight each other for power and whatnot. My daughter wanted to hug me, consequently reaching out with her paws in an attempt do so. She grabbed me with her tiny claws.
Her Mom didn’t slap me into the ground just once in a very frustrated manner. Nevertheless, her Mom virtually transformed the landscape here. I suddenly wondered if Ling Yue swallowed me into her mouth to prevent me from seeing her wildly dig into the ground.
“Sob! Sob! Sob!!”
My daughter suddenly began to call out. Ling Yue hesitated for a moment before picking up the child in my arms with her mouth and placing her next to herself. Our child buried herself under her mother as if she was trained to do so. Consoled, Ling Yue continued licking her, and then looked at me with her eyes narrowed.
I noticed a strong sense of distrust and displeasure in Ling Yue’s eyes. I had to admit I was, in fact, late. It wasn’t my fault, though, because I never received the news… Luckily, I made it in time; otherwise, I might’ve seen a murderous urge and not just a grumpy gaze.
I looked straight at Ling Yue and sincerely apologised, “Sorry, Ling Yue. I was late… But fortunately, our child is safe and sound. I love you, Ling Yue. Honest.”
Ling Yue turned away to snort. I think she was embarrassed. I then noticed Leah and Evelyn approach us from behind. I looked at Ling Yue. She lowered her head to show that she didn’t care.  She shouldn’t be so aggressive now that she’s given birth, I presumed. I called out to the two of them and the maid behind. Everybody was joyous about the birth of the new child. I stood behind the crowd and watched the crowd cheerfully laughing.
I was initially very happy, as well; that said, I also knew I couldn’t stay by my child’s side and accompany her through life. I was marching to my death.
Ling Yue suddenly turned her head to look at me from the crowd. I noticed a somewhat strange gaze in her blood-red eyes. I lingered for a moment. I pondered, “I didn’t tell her about my condition. Could she have realised something? How… did she notice?”