Chapter 23: Baby, You’re Heavy

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Mo Feng doubted he could persuade Lu Yao, so he only shook his head. “Forget it. I won’t nag you anymore. I still need to head to the base for work. You stay home and rest well today. Take care of yourself. The medicine the doctor prescribed—I put it in the cabinet for you.” He rose to his feet and started toward the door. “Oh, right. I saw a few bottles of topical medicine for sprains and bruises in there. Did you hurt yourself anywhere else?”

“Ah… that.” Lu Yao blinked, suddenly remembering what Mo Feng was talking about. “It’s medicine I got back when I was with the Silver Halberd Fleet.”

“Silver Halberd Fleet?” Mo Feng frowned. “Did someone mess with you? How did you get hurt?”

Seeing him already on the verge of charging out to fight, Lu Yao quickly explained, “No, no one. It was the first time I met the snow leopard. He pounced on me and knocked me down. I hit my head, but it wasn’t serious. I’m fine now.”

“You hit your head?” Mo Feng’s voice rose several notches. He turned his sharp gaze to the fluffy big cat at the foot of the bed. No amount of soft fur could cover the fury surging in his chest. “You actually let Lu Yao hit his head?! Do you have any idea how precious his head is?”

“Woo…”

Even though Mo Feng was furious and shaken, in front of Lu Yao he didn’t dare truly lash out, nor could he bring himself to seriously blame an animal with the intelligence of a child. Trembling, he could only point at him and stammer, “You… bad kitty! You’re such a bad kitty!”

He stormed off in anger. The snow leopard nearly crawled under the bed to hide. It really was his fault—whether for knocking Lu Yao down and making him hit his head, or for causing him to catch a chill and fall ill.

What good was he? When he was human, he had been too afraid to get close to Lu Yao, terrified that Lu Yao would dislike him for it. After their arranged marriage, he had briefly felt a sliver of hope, but the unavoidable marking had triggered Lu Yao’s alpha pheromone sensitivity, plunging him into pain. Zhou Yunchen had chosen distance over hurting him further, even if it meant sacrificing what little closeness he had.

Now, as a snow leopard, Lu Yao came near of his own accord, yet again it was his fault that Lu Yao’s body suffered. To Lu Yao, he amounted to nothing. Lu Yao never truly needed him by his side. His presence only brought trouble—trouble now, and trouble back when they had first married.

There had even been plenty of gossip online, vile rumors about Lu Yao’s omega identity and temperament sparked by their arranged match. The words had been so nasty and obscene that Zhou Yunchen had frowned time and again reading them.

Even knowing that Lu Yao never browsed forums or news sites and would never see such filth, their mere existence enraged Zhou Yunchen. He would not permit anyone to insult Lu Yao, not even with words. At his firm command, Silver Halberd Fleet’s PR department had worked overnight to erase those rumors.

Yet none of it changed the fact that every time Zhou Yunchen got close to Lu Yao, he brought endless hidden troubles.

He believed he ought to stay away, just as before—watching from afar in silence. As long as he knew Lu Yao was safe and well, that was enough to satisfy him. He would no longer be greedy. That way, even if Lu Yao never came to like him, at least he would not despise him. The latter possibility was what Zhou Yunchen feared most. As for the former, he had never truly dared hope for it.

The snow leopard buried his face in his paws, curling entirely behind the bed, leaving only his long, fluffy tail sticking out from the side, too large to tuck away. Why was he hiding himself like this?

Lu Yao lay on his side, cheek pressed to the pillow, too sore and tired to get up. “Be good.”

No movement came from the foot of the bed. The snow leopard crouched low, waiting for his sentence to be passed. Lu Yao exhaled softly, patting the thick quilt Mo Feng had added for him, and called again. “Baby.”

The word struck the snow leopard like fate itself—not the shattering of an ice peak, not the collapse of stone, but a pair of gentle hands seizing his heart. The touch was soft, yet it blocked his throat and stilled his blood, leaving him breathless. His ears shot up in disbelief. Was Lu Yao really calling him?

Lu Yao saw the rounded, pointed ears poke out from under the bed and smiled faintly. His coaxing seemed to work. “Sweetheart, come here. Be good, come to me.”

A pair of eyes appeared next.

“Listen to me, all right? Come here.”

The snow leopard slowly stepped out from his hiding place, hesitating as he moved toward Lu Yao, uncertain of the fate that awaited him. Lu Yao’s voice hadn’t been harsh, but Zhou Yunchen still felt his heart pound with dread, as if even those few soft calls might be his last meal. The snow leopard’s paws landed lightly on the floor, carrying him to the bedside.

Lu Yao hadn’t shifted his position. He simply patted the empty space beside him. “Come on. Up.”

The snow leopard’s eyes widened slightly. He had never once been allowed on Lu Yao’s bed. The dumb housecat, on the other hand, climbed up every day.

Seeing the snow leopard hesitate, Lu Yao thought he hadn’t understood, so he repeated patiently, “Come up. Come lie beside me, honey.”

His voice was soft—just above a whisper, lacking the full force of command, and tinged with a husky note. It was like a drifting cloud or warm grains of sunbaked sand.

The snow leopard stared into Lu Yao’s eyes, terrified of missing the slightest nuance. He set his front paws on the bed. The mattress yielded under their weight, sending a wave of unreality through him. The next instant, he thought he glimpsed a flicker of amusement in Lu Yao’s eyes. But before he could be sure, the world spun. With a startled yowl, he tried to leap away.

Lu Yao didn’t give him the chance. Catching him off guard, he seized the snow leopard’s forelegs and, with a sharp tug, hauled him onto the bed, tossing him onto the empty side.

The bed was five feet wide, about the size of a queen matress—just enough space for Lu Yao and the snow leopard. Breathless, Lu Yao turned his head. The snow leopard was staring at him in shock. Lu Yao caught his front paws in one hand, and with the other, pinched his jawline.

“Little baby, you’re a bit heavy.”

Author’s Note:

So actually, Lu Yao never gave the snow leopard a name. He’s free to call him things like “baby,” “sweetheart,” or “honey.”

 

 

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