I Am the Only Fertile Woman in the Game

Hearing the shout, the man turned around.

Isabella saw those light-colored eyes she longed for day and night. They were usually as bright as amber, but now they were as cold as ice arrows.

"Have your wounds healed?" she asked timidly, taking the initiative to start a conversation and about to grasp his arm, but she saw Ruka sidestep her, leaving one of her hands awkwardly frozen in mid-air.

Isabella was startled, although Ruka had always been indifferent towards her, he had never been so distant and cold.

"I'm fine. I've already requested the Sun to advance the ceremony," he said.

Just as her heart had sunk, it soared high again. Isabella pretended, "You're really in a hurry, what does it matter if it's a bit later...."

"Your Highness, stop doing anything unnecessary," Ruka interrupted her, his expression cold and his gaze sharp. "Otherwise, I will spare no expense…"

...

Meanwhile, in the Soter Republic, at the Ancient Human Research Center.

Zong Fang was holding Qiao Suisui on the sofa, appearing to be reading a report, but his attention was entirely on the young girl in his arms.

Today, he had received an invitation, a thin, standalone electronic screen like a sheet of paper, scrolling through photos of Ruka and Isabella together from their childhood up to each year, including the location and time of the ceremony. Since becoming close to her, he had many speculations about her relationship with Ruka, and now was a good opportunity to test her attitude.

Qiao Suisui held the invitation, looking at it intently.

Her feelings were complex, though she knew this day would eventually come, she hadn't expected it so soon. Especially since she was still carrying his child in her womb, yet he was about to "marry" someone else. At that thought, she subconsciously reached out to touch her rounded belly.

Zong Fang saw her action and embraced her from behind, his large hand caressing her pregnant belly.

"What's wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable?" he asked.

She shook her head, yawned, and said with feigned indifference, "I'm thinking about what wedding gift to send."

Zong Fang pulled the invitation from her hands and tossed it aside, kissing her ear while asking, "Don't you mind?"

"Mind what?"

Zong Fang stopped his affectionate gesture, evaluating her silently with suspicion.

"He has a child with you, yet now he is about to become another female's mate, you really don't mind at all?"

She looked down silently, her face showing no reaction, but her mind was racing.

Seeing her bow her head in silence, the man thought she was upset, and his expression immediately darkened. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up.

"The Sikoses Family can't beat me; how about I help you by bringing him here?" Zong Fang removed his glasses, his narrow phoenix eyes smiling mockingly, clearly in a good temper, "You'll be giving birth soon, you must want to see him, right?"

Qiao Suisui's heart raced with alarm. The gentler this man smiled, the angrier he was.

She kept her eyes downcast, her expression blank, the corners of her eyes tinged with a trace of sadness, and she said coldly, "Okay. Bring him here now."

Zong Fang tightened his grip on her neck, his face showing slight anger. "Is that how much you want him by your side?"

Qiao Suisui didn't resist, not even glancing at him, just silently shedding tears. Seeing her reaction, Zong Fang frowned slightly and involuntarily lightened his grasp.

"Why are you crying? Am I not bringing him here? Aren't you satisfied?" he said.

Yet, he saw that Qiao Suisui was crying even more fiercely, tears flowing like broken pearls, her lips quivering and her nose turning bright red, making one simultaneously want to tease and to melt with tenderness.

"When I was auctioned and drugged with an aphrodisiac, I woke up in his secondary palace... If you hadn't brought me back... I wouldn't even have known I was pregnant..." Qiao Suisui sobbed, as if she could no longer continue.

"Did he force you?" Zong Fang asked with furrowed brows.

She did not answer but silently shed tears.

Not a single word was false because Zong Fang was suspicious and keen. Lying in front of him, no matter how realistically performed, would easily be debunked. Thus, Qiao Suisui only spoke the truth, albeit selectively revealing part and concealing another.

A skilled liar's weapon is sincerity.

Zong Fang held her, letting her head rest on his shoulder, gently stroking her hair with his hand. By then, his voice had slowed down, no longer deliberate, and free of anger.

"I didn't know this, you should have told me. Qiaoqiao, it's my fault."

She lightly pounded his chest, tears lingering in her eyes, seemingly annoyed, yet also reproachful. "I've told you before, this child is mine alone, it has nothing to do with anyone else."

Zong Fang tenderly hugged her and soothed her, not mentioning Ruka anymore. Qiao Suisui buried her head in his shoulder, her previously tear-reddened eyes now calm.

The discarded invitation on the ground continued to display photos, and Qiao Suisui caught a glimpse of one, her eyes suddenly sparking.

The photo showed a romantically arranged venue, seemingly for a ceremony. What caught Suisui's eye was the phrase spelled out with flowers in one corner of the photo -- GG.

The day she went to the Royal Hospital, after Leberli kept asking what "hit points" were, she had briefly explained to him a few gaming slang terms. The original meaning of GG was the losing side admitting defeat, which later became a taunt widely used in public chats. Since slang wasn't recorded in the Ancient Human language system, Zong Fang hadn't noticed that it was a secret code, known in this world only to her and Leberli.

Qiao Suisui realized that Leberli was hinting at her in this covert manner.

She lowered her eyes to mask her thoughts; after a while, she straightened up from his embrace, looked at him with her tear-reddened eyes, and asked, "Do you despise the cub in my belly?"

Zong Fang stroked her hair, unusually silent.

"You really do despise it... then you might as well send me back to Sikoses."

"In your dreams."

Zong Fang enveloped her, his large hands firmly gripping her waist.

"No male will raise another male's child. Lions, being pack Beastmen, are especially so. Once he finds out there is another type's male scent on his cubs, at best he would exile them; at worst, he would bite them to death."

She was quite surprised and asked, "Even now, when birthed cubs are so scarce and precious, would they do that?"

"The Sikoses Family follows heredity, passing from one generation to the next, they will never allow any uncertainty in blood relations. I am a Snake Beastman, fond of solitude, without so many rules. I can raise his child for you, but that means forever losing their chance to return to the family, which for lions is the cruelest thing."

Suisui was somewhat surprised; she hadn't expected the usually cold and domineering Zong Fang to think so far ahead for the cubs.

Zong Fang kissed her forehead and the corners of her eyes, whispering softly, "Qiaoqiao, you don't need to worry about such things. Just focus on giving birth. I will handle everything."

"How will you handle it?"

"If you want to raise them, we will raise them. I can certainly support a few cubs. As for whether they will return to the tribe when they grow up, we'll let them decide."

Well, that's a bit of fatherly love, but not much.

Qiao Suisui said, "What if I don't want to keep them by my side?"

Zong Fang's handsome phoenix eyes twinkled, actually pleased by her thoughts.

"Then I will pack them up and send them back to Auslan."

He buried his head in her neck, inhaling that familiar scent, which settled his heart and filled his chest.

"Qiaoqiao, wait until you're carrying mine, and we'll raise it together."