Chapter 134: The game became dangerous
The cub’s eyes shot open wider than before. He stared at the woman before him and his mouth widened.
"You’re having a baby?!" He gasped. His voice was low like a whisper, he remembered her warning for them to be quiet so he obeyed despite his amazement.
Mira smiled at him, she did not want him to know the truth. She wanted to break it to her husband first before anyone else and she wanted Ming Tao to be the one to reveal this to everyone in the clan with her by his side.
Mira placed her hand on the boy’s head and ran her fingers through his short, nicely cut hair.
"It is all part of the game." Mira stated to him.
The cub still had the surprise look on his face but his shock slowly drifted into a smile. "I thought you were when you told me that." He stated in a gentle breath. "What king of game hunt is that? Why do you have to pretend being pregnant?"
Mira did not want to over complicate things with an explanation. She also did not want to explain this to him when her sister was right there, far from them yet close to them. Mira sighed.
"I will tell you the details later. But the treasure delights in little treasures, so this is the secret code for her to not mark you a loser." Mira said. That seemed believable enough. Technically, she did not say a false statement, she just sugar coated the truth.
If Hye Yang had any suspicion of Mira having a child, she might want to get rid of Mira’s baby. And that is when Mira would trap her red handed.
Mira needed this cub to lure Hye Yang away from her hide out so she could lace everything Hye Yang owned with itching powder. Then she would put laxatives in Hye Yang’s food.
Her sister better be ready to scratch her body like she’s got a pox and shit her burning intestines out, and that would only be the beginning. Mira wanted to ensure that the hand Hye Yang used to pay her skinny cat would be swollen.
She had to find something Hye Yang was allergic to and fast.
[ Is somebody jealous?] System chimed.
Mira pouted. She had every right to be jealous and mad. She did not answer system.
[I more than happily want to see how this plays out, host!] showed on the screen before Mira.
Mira shut her eyes for a brief second than let out an exhale. She hoped today was not one of the days Hye Yang would decide to be kind and share her food with Ming Tao and she hoped Ming Tao was not next to Hye Yang otherwise he would suffer it too.
[ He did ruin your pest infestation scheme for Hye Yang in the pride land, maybe this would be a decent pay back, host. ]
Mira’s face reddened at system’s words. She did not want to think about that right now, it may push her to actually want to get her revenge on Ming Tao and she loved him too much to want to be petty with him.
Small fingers made its way into Mira’s hair and tugged at it lightly. That pinched but not so much. "Special lady, you have been staring into space for so long." The boy said, he genuinely sounded worried to see her quiet after she said what she told him. Especially because he asked her a question and she did not reply.
"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts." Mira apologised to the boy sweetly.
"My mommy said that people who drift into silence mid sentence to get lost in a world of their own are mad. Are you mad, special lady?"
Mira’s face flattened. The boy had an innocent face full of curiosity as he asked that and Mira could not tell if he was genuinely curious and innocent of his words or if he was rage baiting her. She assumed the latter.
"And where is your mommy now?" Mira asked the boy with a smile. She looked creepy with the way she shut her eyes and smiled ear to ear.
"Pregnant and in my daddy’s home." The cub stated.
Well, you see, you should not listen to the words of women carrying babies because we say things we do not mean when the hormones go rampant, Mira wanted to blurt out but she held herself. She was indeed going mental and she hated that this child was right.
"Sure would be nice having another you roaming around the clan." Mira said instead.
The boy made a face. "You’re lying. I can hear the falsehood." He said baby like.
Mira giggled. She was not lying, maybe. "No, I’m serious. You are such a sweet soul."
"My sweetness wants to eat some meat." The boy remarked.
Mira almost laughed aloud. "And you will." She uttered. "Let us hurry and get you back with the rest so we can have a nice meat feast."
His eyes instantly sprung to life at the sound of meat and he nodded.
"Should I just go there and tell her that you are pregnant?" The boy asked.
Mira took a pause to think. Doing that would be too direct and raise suspicion with her sister. The cub was alone so she would not advise him going near a woman who would not hesistate to end the life of a young beast for her own gain.
"No. Don’t do it that way. Our treasure is not an easy one to crack or please." Mira finally said after deep thought.
"What do I do then?" He asked. The boy scratched his head as he faced Mira.
Mira put a hand on her chin as she racked her head for a good enough approach. Something finally came to her mind. "I need you to do a lot of pretending."
"What do you mean?" The boy sucked his lip into his mouth after asking that.
"Pretend as though you are on her team and not mine. Pretend like you were running away from me and stumbled on her path. And when you meet her, do not act as though you saw her. Act like you are surprised."
The cheetah cub just stared at Mira in bewilderment. "That sounds like a lot of work." He said.
"I will give you every single meat in this sheet if you do as I tell you to." Mira said.
The task suddenly did not seem too tasking anymore for the cub and he was eager to leave. He did not question what the others would have if she gave him everything in there and he did not seem to care if they had nothing. All he wanted was another taste of the delicious, succulent meat again. It was the best thing he had ever put his mouth around and he had bitten many things.
"So all I have to do is pretend that I came from a bad place. Then I tell her that you are pregnant?"
Hearing him say this out loud made Mira know how dumb this sounded. She needed more of that to put Hye Yang off guard.
"Complain." Mira said. "Pretend that you do not like me and complain about me."
The boys face brightened. He had a cheeky smile on his face as he giggled. "That would be easy. Nobody likes you."
Mira felt a screw in her head come loose at his words.
[ Hehe. He hit you right where it hurts. ] system chimed.
Suddenly, Mira did not want to think of a good plan to keep the cub safe. She just wanted to let him go there on his own accord but her morals would judge her. It was tempting though.
[ And you say I am petty. ] System remarked. Mira imaged a sly smile on system if she could picture a face to system and it did not sit right with her.
She took a deep breath in then let out a sigh. "Good to know you won’t be having any trouble at all."
The cub kept on giggling. Soon, his giggle because a soft laughter. The more he laughed, the more Mira felt a screw come loose.
"Focus child. You have not yet won your prize." Mira said warmly. This was her way of reminding him that it could be given to someone else.
The child’s face immediately became serious as he got the memo. "What do I complain about?" He asked?
"Complain about how much you do not like me and wish I was gone while making your way to the treasure.
Then when you see the treasure so close to you, pretend like you didn’t see her. That is when you would say that you over heard me saying I am with child and you do not wish to have a small version of me in the cheetah clan. Ensure she hears you."
"And what do I do from there?" The baby asked, looking at Mira with determination. Mira knew he did not understand the gravity of what she was asking him to do so she continued.
"She will try to warm herself into being friendly. Allow her. Then, listen to all she has to say and agree. She might give you something to give to me. Take it. But tell her to wrap it in a way that you will be able to carry. Ensure she wraps it with something that would so obviously belong to her."
"And if she does not give me anything?" The cub questioned.
Mira took a pause, she had no answer to that. "Let us hope that she will."
Comments