Chapter 14: The shadow of Empire (part 4)

*Glug — glug — glug.*

The last bit of soup vanished down her throat.

Longjiu, fearing that the suddenly talkative Lü Erlu would catch her for another lecture, hurriedly raised her dragon tail in a gesture of surrender.

“Father, I’ll take it into serious consideration. I’m actually a bit tired today, so I’m going back to my room to rest.”

“Mhm, goodnight.”

Lü Erlu’s voice was soft as he leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Longjiu’s forehead.

Longjiu froze instantly, the tips of her ears turning slightly red.

“Jiujiu, Ziya and Baining are not as mature as you. They might not listen, but you must…”

*Mwah.*

Before the lecture could finish, Longjiu suddenly pressed a return kiss onto Lü Erlu’s cheek.

Immediately after, she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a crushing embrace.

“Wh… What’s wrong, Longjiu? You’re hugging me—hugging me too tight. I… I can’t breathe…”

Caught off guard by his foster daughter’s sudden intimacy, Lü Erlu was completely bewildered.

He tried to pat her back in a flustered manner, but he was pinned so tightly he couldn’t move.

He couldn’t see that as he was held in her arms, Longjiu’s beautiful vertical pupils were quietly bleeding into a terrifying bright yellow.

Within them surged a predatory aggression that even she hadn’t noticed.

‘I want… I want… right now…’

Faint murmurs were muffled against Lü Erlu’s shoulder.

“Long… I—I really can’t breathe…”

Lü Erlu’s voice, carrying a hint of a sob, finally caused Longjiu’s chaotic mind to clear for a moment.

She abruptly retracted those dangerous dragon pupils and let go of him as if she had been electrocuted.

Longjiu stared blankly at her own hands, her eyes filled with disbelief.

*Whew — hah…*

Having been squeezed by a Dragon Race girl’s superhuman strength for so long, even the former Magic Conductor Lü Erlu had to lean against the table to catch his breath.

If it had been an ordinary human, they likely would have fainted.

“Fa—Father! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

Longjiu hurriedly bowed her head in apology.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Lü Erlu caught his breath, rubbed her head, and joked with a smile, “It’s only natural for a daughter to hug her father. It’s just that our Longjiu has grown up, and since the strength of the Dragon Race is so great, you just lost control for a moment.”

“Next time you want a hug, just tell me in advance. I definitely won’t refuse you.”

“Maybe the pressure has been too much lately? Back when I was busy with work, I always wanted to find something to hug too…”

His gentle words struck Longjiu’s heart like little hammers.

The more she listened, the heavier the guilt in her heart became.

‘Alas, Father, please don’t say any more! The more you speak, the more I feel I’ve gone too far!’

Longjiu stole a glance at the still-smiling Lü Erlu.

That pair of vertical pupils uncontrollably flashed with a hint of yellow light again, but she forced it down.

“Tomorrow morning… I want to eat a whole roasted lamb! Father, I’m going back to my room now!”

Longjiu knew she was in the wrong and wanted to change, but she was too embarrassed to stay any longer.

Seeing Lü Erlu nod, she turned and hurried up the stairs with a series of heavy thumps.

However, before returning to her room, she had something else to do.

Longjiu had originally intended to knock on Ziya’s door, but as she reached the corner of the hallway, she heard the sound of chatter coming from Baining’s room next door.

She changed her direction and knocked on Baining’s door instead.

*Knock knock — knock knock — knock —*

A series of urgent knocks rang out.

“Who is it?! Old man? I already told you I’m not getting marr—oh, it’s Sister Longjiu.”

Baining poked her head out.

Looking up at Longjiu, who was one head taller than her, her tone immediately softened.

“Mhm. Sister Baining, I have something I want to talk to you about. It’s regarding Father.”

“Oh, okay. Come on in. Ziya is here too.”

“Good.”

Longjiu stepped into the room and blinked.

The room was the same as always.

The curtains were drawn tight, allowing not a single ray of sunlight to penetrate.

The walls were hung with several blood-red decorations, and a few round bat plushies were tossed onto the bed.

Ziya was nestled in the middle of the bed.

Seeing Longjiu enter, she immediately waved with a smile.

“Sister Longjiu, you’re here! Is it because Father suddenly brought up the marriage thing?”

As soon as Ziya spoke, she guessed Longjiu’s intention.

“Mhm, yes,” Longjiu nodded, her brow furrowing slightly.

“Just now at the dinner table, Father suddenly spoke to me about this. I feel… something isn’t right.”

“Right, right! That’s what I said!”

Ziya jumped up from the bed, gesturing excitedly.

“Father was able to raise the three of us Monster Girls from different races properly. How could he suddenly become so feudal and pressure us to get married?”

“So Sister Baining and I both think that Father must have some sort of secret trouble, and he’s saying this on purpose!”

“Mhm, I think so too.” Longjiu’s frown deepened. “But… what could it be? What could make Father, who loves us so much, willing to entrust us to others?”

She leaned against the wall, thinking seriously.

“Don’t rack your brain, Sister Longjiu. It’s definitely because of that incident where the Hero died!”

Baining suddenly said.

“My intelligence officers came to report today.”

“!!!”

Ziya was stunned.

“Huh? Sister Baining, the Hero is dead? How come I haven’t heard any news at all?”

Ziya’s eyes widened, her face full of disbelief.

“It just happened not long ago. I expect your news sources are too isolated.”

Baining curled her lip with a look of certainty.

“I received the news early this morning. The Lord Hero was assassinated and died in the small forest outside the city!”

“!!!”

This time it was Longjiu’s turn to be stunned.

“But…”

Ziya’s voice trembled slightly.

“According to the stories Father used to tell us, isn’t the Hero an almost invincible existence? How could he be assassinated? I’ve been constantly worried that the Hero would come knocking on our door one day…”

“I also find it very strange,” Ziya rested her chin on her hand, looking perplexed.

“Just who would have the courage to assassinate the Lord Hero, who is favored by Destiny…”

The room suddenly fell silent, leaving only the sound of the three of them breathing.

“Um… Sister Baining,” Ziya asked curiously.

“I still don’t quite understand. What does the Hero’s assassination have to do with Father urging us to get married?”

“You don’t know that?”

Baining rolled her eyes with an expression that said ‘how can you be so stupid.’

“Wasn’t Father a member of the Hero Party before? I’m guessing that since the humans saw the Hero is dead, they’ve forcibly appointed Father to be the new Hero!”

“Huh?!”

Ziya’s voice suddenly rose.

“Father is going to be the Hero? Then… doesn’t that mean we might have to oppose Father in the future?”

“It sounds ridiculous, but that’s probably the truth.”

Baining spread her hands, her tone helpless.

“The humans actually want Father to lead troops to attack our Monster Race. It’s simply hilarious!”

“This… this is too dramatic…”

Ziya listened, dumbfounded.

The room fell into silence once again.

“By the way, Sister Longjiu, why did you suddenly stop talking?”

Baining broke the silence first, poking Longjiu’s arm.

“Yeah, yeah, Sister Longjiu, hurry up and discuss this with us!”

Ziya also leaned over, looking at her expectantly.

Longjiu took a deep breath, looked up at the two girls in front of her, and her lips moved slightly.

“Mhm… well, I have something I want to tell you.”

“What is it?”

The two little ones asked in unison, tilting their heads up to look curiously at the mature girl before them.

Longjiu’s throat bobbed.

“The Hero… was killed by me.”

“Wha—at—at—at—at—at—at—at—!!!”

A second later, two earsplitting screams erupted in the room, nearly blowing the roof off.