"The Exalted One, I shall take my leave."
Nerida bowed to him, but before she left, she turned back to add, "Oh, and don't disturb Madam. She's pregnant and very tired, so she needs to rest well."
Javier Sinclair's face was cold.
He waved his hand.
"Go on. Go."
'Whose subordinate is she, anyway? Already siding with an outsider.'
After Nerida left, Javier Sinclair was the only one left standing in the courtyard.
He placed a hand on his hip.
'Who's the heartless bastard?'
But how could he have no memory of what he'd supposedly done?
Javier Sinclair didn't go inside. Instead, he walked to the window and glanced into the room.
Through the window, he could see Celeste Grant sleeping on her side on a soft couch inside.
His gaze lingered on her face for a moment. Her skin looked fair, and her face, compared to the past few days, finally had a hint of color.
Her hair was splayed out on the couch, one hand resting lightly on her belly.
'He had to admit, this woman was… rather attractive. Quite beautiful, even.'
His gaze shifted to her large belly. 'Such a fragile woman, carrying his child.'
Javier Sinclair stood silently before the window for a while.
He was just about to leave.
Just then, Celeste Grant, on the soft couch, rolled toward the edge, about to fall to the floor. His figure vanished from outside the window and reappeared inside the room in the next instant.
He was already crouched beside her, his hand supporting her body.
He looked at the figure so close to him.
Javier Sinclair frowned slightly.
His gaze fell to his own hand.
'What am I doing?' He calmly placed her back on the couch before pulling his hand away.
Javier Sinclair's gaze shifted to her large belly, and then he saw it move.
'His heart stirred. This was his son.' He reached out, gently placing his fingers on her large belly, and felt the child move inside. It was kicking.
'Quite strong.'
'It seems those Spiritual Medicines were effective after all.'
"It moved."
He pulled his hand back and let out a chuckle.
"When you come out, I'll knock a couple of skulls together for you to play with."
His gaze shifted to Celeste Grant's face.
'This woman… how could she and I…? She's too weak to have done anything to me, which means I must have forced her. If so, then this really is my fault.'
In the later stages of her pregnancy, Celeste Grant was a light sleeper; the slightest noise could wake her.
She was dozing lightly.
She kept feeling a sinister presence nearby, as if someone was there.
She opened her eyes and saw the room was quiet. No one was there.
She frowned slightly.
'Why do I feel like someone was just here? I think I even heard something about skulls…'
"I must have been dreaming."
'It's possible.'
'The day I found the child's father, he said something about skulls. Now I'm even hearing it in my sleep.'
「Outside the room.」
Javier Sinclair's figure appeared.
'Why am I running? It's just a woman.'
He fell silent for a moment, and then his figure vanished from the spot…
After settling down in Breezewind Town, Celeste Grant didn't stay idle. She would often go out for a stroll when she had nothing to do.
By now, she had familiarized herself with every nook and cranny of the small town. She even knew that the Warren Family's dog from the east end was having an affair with the Lawson Family's mutt from the west end.
This was a small town with a population of over ten thousand.
Celeste Grant noticed quite a few Cultivators coming and going from the town. This was because it was close to a mountain range, and Cultivators often went there to hunt Demonic Beasts.
Breezewind Town was a mortal territory under the protection of an Immortal Sect. Most of its inhabitants were ordinary people who did not practice Cultivation.
This wasn't to say that ordinary people definitely lacked a Spirit Root and couldn't practice Cultivation. That wasn't the case. Some families had children who were found to possess a decent Spirit Root and were then accepted into an Immortal Sect, but such cases were rare.
Even among the few children born in mortal families who did have a Spirit Root, most possessed only a low-grade spiritual root. With such limited aptitude, reaching even the Foundation Establishment stage in a lifetime of Cultivation was difficult. Therefore, for a child to be found with a decent Spirit Root and accepted into an Immortal Sect was considered a great honor for the entire family.
It was like a poor family in modern times producing a top scholar—the same principle.
She walked down the street, one hand supporting her back.
Her belly was big now, and even moving around was a strain. But she was due soon, and it was said that walking more would help with the delivery.
'Giving birth is dangerous no matter where you are.'
The small town was bustling. As far as the eye could see, businesses had their doors open. There were shops for clothes and food, places buying and selling Elixir Pills, talisman paper, and Spiritual Medicine. There were even Cultivators selling talisman paper and Magic Artifacts on the roadside.
'It was a scene of peace and tranquility.'
'But this peace would be shattered the moment the female lead arrived.'
Celeste Grant knew that this place would soon become a sea of flames.
In the Cultivation novel she knew so well, wherever the female lead appeared, a bloody battle for resources was sure to follow. And the "opportunities" that belonged to her were like weapons of mass destruction, leading to the deaths of countless people.
The book's plot was basically always the same: the female lead would appear with one of the male leads, they'd be instantly attracted to each other, and then they'd get into a fight. Or the male lead would save the female lead, or find her, and in any case, they'd meet, fall in love, and then find all sorts of places to make babies.
After all, the female lead had to give birth to over thirty children for her various lovers, so she was quite busy.
Besides that, it was all about fighting with Cultivators from various Immortal Sects and The Demonic Sects to seize treasures. In the end, the male and female leads would act out some clichéd, inescapable drama of chase and flight, directly or indirectly causing the deaths of countless people.
Or perhaps, with just a single word from the female lead, her men would kill this person and that person for her, threatening to annihilate entire clans and slaughter whole families at the drop of a hat.
Anyway, the female lead and her men would fall in love and reap all the benefits, while everyone else died tragically. And in the end, the female lead would stand on her moral high ground and declare, "I will definitely avenge you all."
'Avenge them?'
'She should kill herself first, that menace.'
She shook her head slightly.
Thinking of this, she spoke up.
"Nerida, do you have a lot of people?"
Nerida nodded. "We do, Madam. The Bloodfiend Den has over 700,000 Core Disciples and countless ordinary disciples. I myself command over 300,000 people. What is it you wish to do, Madam? Who do you want killed? I guarantee they'll die a thorough death."
'So many people!'
'The Bloodfiend Den really is the number one sect among The Demonic Sects. Their growth is incredible. Over 700,000 Core Disciples alone.'
This Left Protector wore a tight-fitting purple outfit, her hair held up by a single hairpin. Tall and slender, she was a beautiful and formidable woman.
Celeste Grant felt immense pressure hearing her refer to herself as "I" in such a self-deprecating manner. Here was a big boss who commanded 300,000 fighters calling herself a servant.
She had tried to correct her a few times over the past few days, but to no avail. The other woman still called her "Madam."
'Forget it.'
'She can call me whatever she wants.'
Her gaze swept over the people before her. They had their own joys and sorrows, their own families.
She had lived in this world for seven years. Celeste Grant couldn't just see these people as two-dimensional characters from a book; they were living, breathing human beings.
She guessed that perhaps this world had been constructed from a novel by some powerful entity, and the people here had since become a world unto themselves.
'After all, if even she could transmigrate, what was impossible?'
Thinking of this, Celeste Grant spoke:
"Nerida, there is indeed something I need your help with."
"What is it, Madam? Please, just give the order."
Celeste Grant didn't explain further.
'The more you say, the more you might misspeak.'
So she said, "I want your people to round up everyone living in Breezewind Town and herd them to a spot ten li away to be watched over. Not a single person, adult or child, is to be missed. Don't let anyone come back.
Also, confiscate all the food and valuables in the town and just pile them up in an empty space outside of town. That's all for now. Don't hurt anyone. If they don't cooperate, just give them a beating."
'A beating is better than losing their lives.'