“Fwip-fwip.”

  A much faster, softer heartbeat sounded.

  “Fwip-fwip.”

  Tia could hear her heartbeat.

  “Fwip-fwip.”

  She tried to move, but she couldn’t.

  What was going on? Why couldn’t she move?

  Was she still trapped in the cave?

  She couldn’t see anything. It was dark.

  Didn’t the system say she could live a second time? Had it lied to her?

  Why was everyone she met a liar?

  Couldn’t she meet someone normal, just once?

  After struggling to move for some time, Tia grew tired and sleepy.

  Oh well. She’d sleep first.

  *

  “Yes, you’re pregnant. It’s only two months along, which is why I had trouble detecting it.”

  Doctor Harold’s voice was cheerful.

  “Did you know that around two months into pregnancy, an embryo’s heartbeat can be detected? The early fetal heartbeat is much faster and softer than an adult's. Most people can’t hear it—but I can. Hahaha!”

  “Nausea and morning sickness are early signs, after all.”

  “Hey, are you listening to me?”

  “Are you alright? You look pale. Do you feel unwell?”

  The doctor kept sharing information, but his patient remained stunned, her face ashen.

  Loucille finally snapped back to reality.

  “Doctor… you mean I’m two months pregnant? Are you sure?”

  “That’s right,” Doctor Harold confirmed. “Your baby is still in the early stages of development. You should eat well, rest enough, and avoid long travels—fatigue will hit you harder now.”

  “You’ll experience many bodily changes from here on.”

  “Oh, you sell fruits, don’t you? I’ve bought from your shop before.”

  “You should ask your husband to help with the business.”

  Husband?

  The word felt foreign to Loucille. When did she have a husband?

  She hadn’t gotten married yet.

  “Here, I’ve listed some medicines that will strengthen your body and support the baby.”

  “Come back if you feel unwell.”

  Loucille sat up and took the prescription with trembling hands.

  “Thank you, Doctor Harold. I’ll return if I don’t feel better.”

  “Good, good. Walk slowly on your way out,” the doctor said, watching her leave with concern.

  Loucille paid the doctor’s fee, bought the medicines, and then stepped out of the hospital in a daze, her movements sluggish.

  “Nyaa~”

  Nana’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

  “Let’s go home,” Loucille murmured. “The doctor said… there’s nothing wrong with me.”

  To her, Nana was like a younger sister—not just a beastman.

  Now, she needed to return home and make sense of what was happening to her.

  *

  Back at their rental house, after Loucille told Nana to take a rest, she went to her room.

  She had a lot of things to think about.

  She was two months pregnant. How did that happen?

  She didn’t have a boyfriend, a lover, or a husband.

  She didn’t remember having intimate contact with a man.

  “Wait! Was it at that time?” Loucille said, analyzing calmly.

  “That can’t be, right? I didn’t feel anything.”

  “When I woke up, I didn’t feel anything special. My body wasn’t aching. I didn’t feel pain down there.”

  “I was dressed well. My clothes weren’t wrinkled. There was no sign of intimate contact.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t at that time, but I can’t think of any other bizarre event that happened to me.”

  Loucille pondered, “What’s more, I don’t know that mysterious man. I only met him by chance.”

  At that time…

  *

  In a fshback.

  Traveling from Ratora Town to Luna City would take a month. They had to hurry to register for the army on time.

  Loucille, Louise, and Nana arrived te at the border between Byarrie City and Luna City. They’d been traveling for weeks, stopping only to kill wild monsters that attacked them along the way. Now that they finally had a chance to sleep in comfortable beds, who would refuse?

  The border town was very lively. There were many merchants and adventurers. Carts, wagons, and carriages came and went.

  The three had a quick dinner and went to the biggest inn, but it was already full.

  They went to the inn next door, but it was also full.

  They went to all the inns in the front and central part of the border, but they were all full. They had no choice but to go to the back.

  In the back, where birds didn’t even bother to come, they found a small, dipidated inn with only a few vacant rooms.

  The three had no other choice. They were exhausted and sleepy.

  Loucille let her younger brother and Nana rest first. “Louise, Nana, you go ahead first. I’ll pay for our stay.”

  “Sister, I can do it. You’re tired too. You should rest first,” Louise said.

  “Nyaa, nyaa~” Nana mewed.

  “No, I’ll do it. You should take care of yourself. You don’t want to get sick on the day of registration, right?” Loucille said, full of concern.

  “Nana, you should rest too. You’ve been driving.”

  “I only have to pay for the rooms.”

  Louise couldn’t win against his sister, so he decided to go ahead first. “Goodnight, sister. Goodnight, Nana.”

  “Goodnight,” Loucille said and turned to face the old innkeeper. “How much for three single rooms?”

  The old innkeeper replied, “A single room is ten copper coins, and the parking space is five copper coins. That’s a total of thirty-five copper coins.”

  Loucille paid the bill. Even if she found the price expensive, what could she do? Leave this pce?

  Loucille went upstairs after paying.

  The room assigned to her was very simple, with only a single window. Inside, there was just a single bed, a simple table, and a simple chair.

  “What else do you expect? Sigh.”

  She didn’t have the heart to compin. She just wanted to sleep at that moment.

  “I’d better take a bath, change clothes, and then sleep.”

  After tidying up, Loucille y on the bed and fell asleep. Unfortunately, she had just started dreaming when she heard noise coming from the carriage house. Only their horse-drawn wagon was there.

  “What’s going on?” Loucille stood up and looked outside the window.

  Afraid that their wagon might be stolen, she put on her coat to go and take a look.

  Loucille used her magic to form a water ball, ready to attack if she saw an enemy. She slowly opened the back door and looked around, but didn’t see anything strange.

  She carefully walked toward the carriage house, wondering if someone was trying to steal their horse-drawn wagon.

  Loucille opened the door. It was quite dark inside, with only the moonlight from the top window illuminating the interior.

  She looked around vigintly. “No one’s here. So what was that noise?”

  “Let’s check inside.”

  With the help of the faint moonlight, Loucille walked toward their wagon and opened the back door. Their wagon was not big—just an ordinary size.

  If she stored a few things inside, only one person could fit.

  “Nothing here either. At a time like this, I wish I knew a spell to detect things.” Loucille sighed in disappointment and stopped using her magic.

  She lifted her foot to step inside, but as soon as she did, someone covered her mouth, hugged her from behind, and dragged her inside the wagon.

  “Hmm… hmm!” Loucille struggled, making muffled sounds.

  Though it was dark, and the other person wore a hooded cloak, she could tell it was a mysterious man. Pressed against his broad chest, she could feel his strength as he held her.

  “Don’t shout, and stop struggling,” the mysterious man warned. “I’ll twist your neck if you don’t.”

  “Nngh!” The mysterious man stifled a grunt as he removed his hand from her mouth. Then he bent forward, guarding himself in pain.

  Loucille could tell from his voice and movements that he was in serious pain.

  “Are you alright? Are you hurt?” she asked in a low voice. “I have medicine here. You can use it if you like.”

  She wanted to make the mysterious man let his guard down so she could escape. She didn’t want anything to do with him—she wasn’t curious about who he was or what he looked like.

  Curiosity killed the cat.

  She was sure he wasn’t here to steal their wagon, given his condition. As for why he was hiding here, she didn’t care. Her only concern was their wagon.

  The mysterious man didn’t answer. Instead, he gritted his teeth and hugged her tighter, as if that could stop the pain.

  Even injured, he was still strong. Loucille felt like her bones might crack under his grip.

  She didn’t want to be taken advantage of by some random man, but he was too strong.

  “Can you let me go? I won’t say anything. I’ll just go back to sleep,” Loucille said, trying to convince him to release her. “I’m so tired. I just want to lie in my bed. Please?”

  “You can hide here in my wagon. Just don’t steal it when you feel better and decide to leave.”

  “I told you not to make a sound,” the mysterious man said, struggling to speak. “You can’t bme me.”

  Hearing those words, Loucille turned her head to look at him—but all she saw was darkness.

  Before she could react, her vision blurred, and she lost consciousness.

  She didn’t know what happened next.

  She woke up the next day when Louise shook her body to wake her.

  “Sister, what are you doing here?” Louise asked. “Why did you sleep here? Are you alright?”

  “Mmm.” Loucille was still dazed and sleepy.

  After gathering her thoughts, her eyes widened as she remembered what had happened the night before.

  She immediately turned her head, searching for the mysterious man—but he was gone.

  Then she touched her neck to check if it was broken. She didn’t feel any pain. There was nothing wrong with her. Her neck was intact. After all, she was still breathing just fine.

  Loucille turned to Louise and asked, “When you got here, did you see anything strange?”

  “Is something wrong?” Louise replied. “I didn’t see anything unusual. When I opened the door, you were lying here, sleeping deeply. I called you multiple times, but you wouldn’t wake up. I thought something had happened to you. Fortunately, you finally opened your eyes.”

  Louise studied her sister closely. “Sister, did something happen to you?”

  Loucille shook her head. “No, nothing happened. What time is it? We should get ready to leave.”

  Louise stared at her intently. Seeing that nothing seemed wrong—and that she didn’t want to talk about it—he didn’t press further.

  “Let’s go inside the inn to eat. Nana bought us breakfast.”

  “Okay,” Loucille agreed.

  After breakfast, they continued their journey. Loucille pushed the events of that night from her mind.

  They traveled for a few more weeks before reaching Luna City.

  Louise focused on applying to the army. At the recruitment station in the city, they ran into several acquaintances—even Lenard was among the applicants.

  Lenard had grown up with them in the orphanage and was Louise’s childhood friend.

  Loucille was relieved that her younger brother wouldn’t be alone in the army.

  She stayed in the city until Louise was officially enlisted.

  On the way to the Saha Kingdom, Loucille wore a wide smile on her face.

  She felt immensely proud. Louise was only fourteen years old this year, but his dream was within reach.

  Loucille, on the other hand, was twenty-one years old, but…

  She shook her head. One day, she too would achieve her dream.

  From Ratora Town to Luna City, then to the orphanage in the Saha Kingdom, and back to Ratora Town—the entire journey took her two months.

  *

  Back to the present…

  That was all she could remember. Nothing else stood out.

  Should she look for him? How would she do that?

  Grab any man wearing a hooded cloak and listen to his voice?

  Then say to him, ‘Hey, man, you made me pregnant---take responsibility!’

  Loucille shook her head.

  No matter how much she thinks about it, nothing will change.

  She had better face reality and make pns for her future.

  It wasn’t like she could abort the baby—it wasn’t the baby’s fault.

  Loucille smacked her cheeks with both hands to calm herself down, then stood up and went downstairs.

  She would prepare their lunch. As she was about to start cooking, Nana appeared in the kitchen.

  “Nyaa~” Nana offered to help.

  Loucille smiled and began washing the vegetables. She pnned to make vegetable soup and bread.

  Nana chopped the vegetables while Loucille kneaded the dough.

  Before long, the meal was ready, and the two enjoyed it together.

  “Nana, I’m going back to my room to rest. You should take a nap too. We’re both tired from the long trip,” Loucille said.

  They needed to recharge. They had been traveling for months—plenty of rest was essential.

  “Nyaa~ Nyaa~” Nana agreed.

  Loucille smiled and went upstairs again.

  This time, she needed to pn for their future.

  “I can’t stay in this town,” Loucille muttered worriedly as she sat on the chair.

  “Everyone nearby knows me and Louise. They know I don’t have a boyfriend or husband.”

  “If they find out I’m pregnant, they’ll point fingers at me.”

  “It’s better to go somewhere no one knows me—somewhere far from the war…”

  “But where? Maybe I should ask the Merchant’s Guild for recommendations.” She scratched her head in frustration.

  Without wasting another minute, Loucille headed straight to the Merchant’s Guild.

  “Ersah, may I speak with the Guild Master?” Loucille asked the receptionist.

  Ersah looked surprised. “Oh, you’re back! Did Louise get accepted?”

  “Yes, he passed the tests and was accepted. Is the Guild Master in?” Loucille replied.

  “That’s wonderful! The Guild Master is in her office—you can go straight in,” Ersah said.

  “Thank you, Ersah.” Loucille smiled and walked to the Guild Master’s office.

  She knocked and waited.

  “Come in,” called Guild Master Lisa’s voice from inside.

  Loucille opened the door and entered.

  “Loucille, you’re back? When did you arrive? How is Louise?” Guild Master Lisa asked.

  “I just returned. Louise was accepted into the army,” Loucille replied.

  “That’s excellent news! Your brother is quite talented. So, what brings you here?”

  “Guild Master, I wanted to ask if you know of a good pce to source fruits—somewhere merchants don’t frequent too often.”

  “I see. Having trouble finding good suppliers nearby, are you? I know a few pces, though I can’t vouch for their quality. We don’t deal in those goods here.”

  “That’s alright. I’ll check them out myself.”

  Guild Master Lisa pulled a map from her cabinet and spread it across the table.

  “On the far east side of Byarrie City, there are a few scattered vilges. The entire eastern region is surrounded by mountains and forests. The nearest town is quite a distance away, so I’m sure you’ll find plenty of fruits there.”

  Loucille studied the map. Guild Master Lisa’s description made it sound like the perfect pce to disappear and start anew.

  “Thank you, Guild Master! This is a huge help. I’ll go and scout the area!” Loucille said excitedly. “I’ll head there right away. See you soon.”

  Guild Master Lisa watched as Loucille hurried off. She couldn’t help but shake her head and ugh. “That girl is as lively as always. Ah, youth…”

  Loucille stopped by the front desk to buy a map before heading home.

  Sezaika