Chapter 2

2.

Midnight came, and the child had still not arrived.

Suddenly, a maid scrambled into the room and dropped to her knees in panic.

“Madam! Cultivators have surrounded the gates! They say they don’t know if the baby in your belly is human or monster, and they’re breaking in to slaughter you!”

Callum set me down gently with a bittersweet smile. “Don’t be afraid, Loralie. I will plead for mercy on your behalf and beg them to spare you.”

He stripped off his outer robe, revealing the horrific, jagged scars left behind by the Agony Spikes all those years ago.

His mother ached for her son, but she wiped her tears and soothed me gently. “Fear not, my dear. Callum will handle everything. You just focus on bringing the child into the world.”

Behind closed doors, I fought through the agony and gave birth to a daughter.

Outside the main gates, Callum knelt in the dust, tearfully pleading for my survival.

After the labor, his mother brought the swaddled baby to my bedside with a proud smile. “Look, Loralie! Doesn’t she look just like you?”

She was so busy cooing over the infant that she completely missed the chilling frost in my eyes.

How laughable. Looking at that bundle of bloody flesh, I felt nothing but utter revulsion.

This creature was never my daughter, so how could she possibly resemble me?

Supported by the maid, I stumbled out toward the courtyard gates. Callum was stripped bare to the waist, kneeling before the hostile crowd while raising a brutal Soul-Rending Whip high above his head.

He shouted loudly, “Loralie is my wife! Whatever sins she carries, let me bear them all on my own body!”

“I beg you all to show mercy and spare my newborn child…”

His display was so moving that it truly looked as if I were his most precious treasure in the world, someone he would die for without hesitation.

Even the most stone-hearted spectators fell silent at the sight. The aggressive cultivators who came to demand my blood slowly lowered their blades, touched by his devotion.

Too bad he couldn't see the expression on my face as I stood behind him. There was not a shred of gratitude in my eyes.

My former senior martial brother, Garrett, pointed his sword at me and roared, “Loralie Locke! You are born of evil blood, and that child in your womb was likely a cursed demon! If Callum hadn’t protected you with his life, we would have severed your head a decade ago!”

My former master looked at me with deep disgust. “Sparing your life was mercy enough. But a demonic seed cannot be allowed to live.”

I pulled my lips into a cold sneer, clutching Mother Croft’s sleeve while letting tears spill down my cheeks.

Right on cue, she stepped forward heroically to shield me, refusing to back down even when my master’s cold blade pressed against her throat.

“Now that Loralie has married into our family, she is our daughter! I don’t care what she gave birth to. Even if it is a demon, I claim it as our blood!”

Many in the crowd took a step back, completely disarmed by the Croft family’s selfless, unconditional protection.