Volume 2, Chapter 56 – Poor Meow Meow

Unable to accept the facts, Benjamin soon left the Duke Family cemetery in a dejected manner. However, because almost everyone’s attention was focused on the pink-haired girl, they didn’t notice that something was wrong with Benjamin. Even Afnora was the same; after confirming that the pink-haired girl was indeed her granddaughter, Afnora’s heart was filled with relief. Although she still couldn’t figure out Lei Jie’s strange behavior earlier, those things were no longer very important at this moment.

Now, for the Duke Family, the priority was to hold a celebration party as soon as possible to welcome Xia’er’s return. Thus, the Marchioness immediately summoned Odit and the other servants to begin the intensive preparations. In Afnora’s view, since this child was of the Duke Family bloodline, she could not be mistreated. A formal welcoming banquet was essential. At the same time, it was intended to sweep away the unease and fear in the child’s heart; after all, the scene of Lei Jie pouncing earlier had still carried an immense sense of pressure.

Afnora also believed that a major celebration was needed to soothe Xia’er’s heart while increasing her intimacy with everyone in the Marquis Mansion. Regardless of anything else, Afnora did not want Xia’er to remain as wary of everyone in the Marquis’s house as she had been before.

…

Just like that, time quickly reached the evening. Under Afnora’s careful preparation, a grand welcoming party was immediately held within the Marquis Mansion.

Well, to say it was grand was not entirely accurate. Considering her granddaughter’s shy nature, Afnora ultimately gave up on holding a fully formal party. She did not invite any of the celebrities or nobles within Windward City; even if they wanted to come, Afnora unceremoniously rejected them one by one. She was unwilling to let those hypocritical fellows scare her adorable granddaughter.

As a result, the party participants consisted of the people within the Marquis Mansion, a few members of the Duke Family, and several members of the Ashurmos Church, including Mengxi. Of course, the scale of the party was not large. Afnora had given up on inviting many acquaintances or even friends, making everything revolve around Xia’er’s feelings. Additionally, because nearly half of the people in the Marquis Mansion were still out searching for Yuan’er’s whereabouts, the number of participants in the mansion was not very high.

Nevertheless, the banquet hall was quite lively. To celebrate the young lady’s return, the people of the Marquis Mansion prepared a dazzling array of delicacies and various entertainment programs. One by one, they greeted the young lady and presented her with gifts…

The party proceeded in an orderly fashion. After receiving the greetings from the old servants of the mansion, Miss Yumo already felt a sense of mental exhaustion.

‘Acting all the time… It’s really exhausting!!’ Yumo couldn’t help but complain internally.

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Taking advantage of the time when the next program was being prepared, Miss Yumo, wearing a blue princess dress, trotted to the outside of the hall to get some fresh air. Having lived as a shut-in in the Deepwinter Forest for over five hundred years, she was still not used to the feeling of being locked in by a crowd’s gaze, even if those gazes were mostly filled with intense goodwill.

Escaping that scrutiny and arriving inside the moonlit garden, Miss Yumo let out a long sigh of relief. At the same time, Yumo looked up at the sky with a complicated mood.

Sigh.

‘What should I do now?’

Originally, she wanted to use this Guardian Beast to prove that she was not the Marquis’s granddaughter. Afterward, she could rightfully leave Windward City and go to the Ashurmos Church with Mengxi. As for her status as a slave, having the Blackrose Family help out should make it easy to resolve. Regarding meeting the Chosen Son, she didn’t need to use this identity of a fiancée either. Mengxi was the Chosen Maiden; by staying by her side, she would encounter Xue Tian’ao sooner or later. There was absolutely no need for her to be anxious.

However, the reality was completely different from what she had imagined?! Under normal circumstances, as long as that Guardian Beast rejected her, it would prove she wasn’t the real Xia’er! But who knew that this damn cat would actually hug her leg directly and rub against her so affectionately?!

Damn it! Now, after seeing the Guardian Beast’s reaction, the Marquis and his wife were completely convinced of her identity as Xia’er. No matter how she tried to explain, it would likely be to no avail. Unless she directly released her Shadow Essence, but if she did that, her cover in front of Mengxi would also be blown… It had taken a lot of effort for this pink-haired girl identity to gain enough of Mengxi’s favor. Changing to a new cover would be a huge hassle!!

Thinking of this, Miss Yumo sighed conflictedly. Then, the girl frowned and looked with a face full of disdain at the black cat hugging her ankle, the culprit who had ruined her plan. Yumo said coldly and irritably, “Hey, have you hugged enough? Do you want to be stewed into cat meat hotpot?”

Hearing this, the black cat, which was the great Guardian Beast of the Duke Family, Lord Lei Jie, suddenly trembled all over! Sensing the impatience in Yumo’s tone and knowing that continued leg-hugging would not appease the Abyssal Demon Lord, Lei Jie decisively let go with its claws! Then, it sat down obediently in front of Yumo!

“No, no more hugging, Lady Yumo!”

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To survive, Lei Jie was prepared to go all out. In the eyes of this big cat, although shifting the target of its attack in time had saved it from the fate of being slapped to death by Lady Yumo on the spot, it had captured the displeasure in Yumo’s eyes without reservation. Clearly, its thought of attacking Lady Yumo had still been seen through!

Well, the other party was the Abyssal Demon Lord after all; how could its little tricks escape her eyes?! Although Lady Yumo wasn’t settling the score now, it didn’t rule out the possibility of a later reckoning! Even if she didn’t act personally, if she told those other little ancestors about what it did today, it would likely not escape being turned into a cat meat kebab! Thus, for its life, Lei Jie decisively discarded its dignity and began to act cute to beg for mercy, doing so for a long time.

However, for some reason, its “act cute” attack seemed to have the opposite effect. Why was Lady Yumo’s gaze becoming more and more disdainful?! For a moment, Lei Jie felt like it wanted to cry but had no tears.

Fortunately, perhaps hard work pays off, and Lei Jie’s constant acting cute had some effect. Upon learning that the black cat in front of her was the former young clan leader of the Thunder Beast Clan in the Deepwinter Forest, Yumo could only sigh and press her hand to her forehead in resignation. After all, she hadn’t expected the Guardian Beast to recognize her. Considering that Lei Jie was also a powerful eighth tier Guardian Beast and should be a decent combat asset, Yumo gave up on the idea of holding a grudge.

“Forget it, I won’t retaliate against you. You’d better hurry back to your nest.”

Hearing that Yumo no longer intended to pursue the matter, the murderous aura in her tone having dissipated, Lei Jie was instantly overjoyed!

“Meow meow meow!! Meow meow!!” (‘Lady Yumo, thank you so much!!’)

The excited Lei Jie suddenly leaped up and pounced directly onto Miss Yumo’s chest! Judging by the proficiency of its movements, this cat had likely pounced onto girls’ chests many times before…

Looking at the black cat pounced on her chest and feeling the joy of surviving a disaster radiating from it, Yumo shook her head with a complex mood.

‘Honestly, is there a need to be so afraid of me? When I was in the Deepwinter Forest, I was very friendly to powerful magical beast clans like yours! I even frequently sent members of the Blackrose Family to bring gifts to you all…’ Miss Yumo complained quietly in her heart.

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However, Yumo didn’t really care about the black cat’s behavior. After all, in her eyes, wasn’t this just a cat?

Yet, just because Yumo didn’t care didn’t mean others didn’t. The next moment, a cold and familiar female voice came from behind Yumo. “Oh? Where did this stinky cat come from? So lecherous?”

Accompanied by the crisp voice of a young girl, a slender hand slowly reached out from behind Yumo and grabbed Lei Jie by the scruff of its neck, lifting the somewhat dazed black cat directly into the air.

“Hmm?” Hearing the voice, Yumo hurried to turn around. At the moment she turned her head, a look of surprise appeared in her azure eyes. Of course, Yumo had sensed Mengxi’s arrival; her shock was mainly due to Mengxi’s attire.

To attend the private evening banquet, Mengxi had changed into a white off-the-shoulder gown prepared by the Marchioness. The simple wide lace straps outlined Mengxi’s collarbones quite charmingly, accompanied by a minimalist neckline that revealed a large area of snowy skin. With every step, her slender feet, clad in white garter stockings, flickered in and out of sight beneath the white skirt, making her look like a fresh bridesmaid. Her beautiful silver-white hair was adorned with an exquisite sapphire hairpin, and her long hair was gathered behind her, completely exposing the silver-haired girl’s long, slender neck.

Such exquisite clothing, paired with the light makeup on Mengxi’s face, made the already stunning girl shine even more brilliantly. Miss Yumo couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.

‘Ummm, it seems attending the banquet isn’t all bad~’

Looking at the eye-catching silver-haired girl, Yumo couldn’t help but reveal a satisfied smile. She had to admit that this Mengxi, brimming with lady-like temperament, was truly too perfect.

However, perhaps the only flaw was Mengxi’s current gaze. In the silver-haired girl’s beautiful light purple eyes, the usual gentleness had vanished, replaced by a gloomy black aura. Upon seeing a certain something on the cat’s lower body, the black aura in Mengxi’s eyes grew even denser.

“Oh, it’s actually a male? Speaking of which, Little Mo, does this pet of yours need my help with a neutering procedure?”

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‘Neutering?! You want to emasculate me?! ‘

Before Yumo could say anything, Lei Jie, upon hearing this, immediately revealed a fierce look and glared savagely at the silver-haired girl!

‘Damn it! It’s one thing for Lady Yumo to handle me, but who do you think you are?! A mere middle-sixth tier girl dares to be so rude to this meow?! You’re looking for death!’

At this moment, to protect its dignity as a Guardian Beast, dangerous cold glints slowly seeped from Lei Jie’s eyes, and thunderous power began to gather on its sharp claws! As an eighth tier existence, if it attacked the girl before it, her fate could easily be imagined!

But before Lei Jie could act, an unspeakable chill suddenly came from its tail and spread directly across its entire body!

‘Eh? L-L-Lady Yumo?!’

In that instant, Lei Jie sucked in a breath of cold air because it had noticed the expression of the pink-haired girl behind it. That ice-cold expression seemed to be warning it: ‘If you dare move, I’ll mince you.’

Instantly, influenced by its survival instinct, the cat submissively drooped its ears and could only look at Miss Mengxi with pitiful, pleading eyes.

As for the dignity of a Guardian Beast… could it possibly be more important than its life?