Chapter 109: Chapter 109: Tutu’s Cub
The hand Yu Zhizhi held the phone with suddenly trembled. Her eyes widened as she stared at the small, white device in disbelief—
’The Duke?!’
’Or am I just tired from playing all day and starting to hallucinate?’
Yu Zhizhi held the phone without a sound for a long moment. Water from her hair dripped down her neck, and she belatedly began to dry it with a towel.
After making that call during the day, the Duke had stayed in the pool for the entire day.
In Varolan’s Imperial City, a rare storm had raged.
By evening, the rain had gradually subsided.
He rested against the edge of the pool, his snake tail resting at the bottom. The fingertips propping up his forehead were slightly pale.
The downpour had washed the bamboo leaves in the courtyard clean.
But the Duke’s chest remained heavy, as if a massive stone were weighing upon it.
「Nightfall.」
The crescent moon was half-hidden.
The communicator worn on the Duke’s ear suddenly lit up.
He slowly opened his golden eyes and saw a string of white text floating in mid-air.
’—It’s actually the little female.’
She had called him back.
The Duke stared blankly, his fingers lightly touching the communicator.
Soon, the voice he had longed for day and night came from the other end.
"Hello, who are you looking for?"
’Who am I looking for?’
The Duke’s dark lashes were long. He held one hand to the communicator as steam curled around him, his submerged snake tail beginning to move slowly in the pool.
What was once deathly still...
...now seemed to have come back to life.
He couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle, a sound laced with a hint of pleasure, yet mixed with undeniable self-mockery.
He was happy because of this call.
And he found that happiness absurd.
’This is just a disobedient little pet. How could she so easily toy with my emotions?’
"Hello, I’m looking for a little runaway bunny. Is she there?"
The other end of the communicator suddenly went silent.
Even though he couldn’t see the little female, he knew she must be staring with wide, rabbit-like eyes, looking completely lost.
The Duke waited patiently.
The moment Yu Zhizhi heard the man’s voice, her heart began to race. Even after all this time, she still remembered his tone—lazy, husky, with a barely-there smile and a hint of cool indifference.
In the wooden cabin late at night, the fireplace burned quietly.
Its faint light illuminated only the front half of the sofa.
Yu Zhizhi curled her legs up, and the towel on her head slowly slipped off. The hand holding the phone trembled slightly, just like her heart.
The stone clock on the wall went TICK-TOCK.
"How... how do you have..."
’How does the Duke have her communication number in Paradise?’
"Have you had fun while you’ve been away?"
From the other end of the line, the Duke’s deep, magnetic voice was even clearer through the communicator.
It was as if he were whispering right beside her ear.
Yu Zhizhi hugged her legs and replied in a small voice, "It’s... it’s been okay."
After a pause, she added, "Today was especially fun. We built a snowman. Yusen is amazing—the carrot nose he carved for it was beautiful."
"We also went to a small restaurant and ate some of Paradise’s specialty dishes—"
"I drank a tiny bit of mixed wine. It was lychee-flavored, and it was super sweet."
Listening to the little female’s sweet, cheerful voice, the Duke felt an uncontrollable tickle in his heart, mixed with a faint bitterness and resentment.
From the silent phone call during the day until now, he had sat in the pool, enduring a torrential downpour.
The storm seemed to soak him not just to the bone, but to his very soul. He slowly closed his vertical golden pupils. Steam swirled around the pool as his soaked, ink-blue hair fell over his shoulders, a single drop of water tracing his jawline before falling into the water.
He sat alone.
He sank into despair.
He struggled. He raged.
His mood had been on a roller coaster of twists and turns. But the little female showed no signs of inner conflict. She was just happily sharing her joy for the day.
So simple, so open.
As Yu Zhizhi chattered on, she noticed the silence on the other end of the communicator and couldn’t help but ask, "Duke, are you listening?"
"...Yes."
The word seemed to be forced from between the man’s teeth.
Yu Zhizhi dried her rabbit ears with the towel. Her hair was half-dry now, and a smile touched her lips. "The Mermaid likes apples, you know. He drank several glasses of apple wine—"
"Enough," the Duke cut off her incessant chatter. "Don’t talk about the Mermaid anymore."
’He knew she’d bought a fish.’
’She doted on it like it was some kind of treasure, constantly revolving around that Mermaid.’
"Oh..." Yu Zhizhi could tell the Duke’s voice was tinged with displeasure. Even across such a great distance, a shiver of fear instinctively ran through her.
"I watched the livestream today," Yu Zhizhi said, lying on her side on the sofa and resting her head on a fluffy pillow. "One of the Snake Pups has a weaker Constitution. You... you have to treat them all equally. You can’t be harsh with him."
The Duke knew what the little female meant. He had already given orders for the six Snake Pups to be raised together.
However—
"The other five have been named by the Snake Clan elders. Only this one remains without a name."
"Why?"
"In the Snake Clan, male cubs who fail to meet the initial assessment standards are abandoned."
"Then—then he—" Yu Zhizhi sat up immediately, her voice panicked. "The pup is still so small! He can’t be thrown away!"
"He wasn’t," the Duke said, his tone calm.
He had his servants relay the command: this naturally weak Snake Pup would not be expelled from the Snake Clan’s territory.
’No matter what, it was Tutu’s pup, after all.’
’Tutu gave birth to him.’
’Tutu had given birth to him... for him.’
When he thought of that, it became difficult to apply the Snake Clan’s cruel rules to this little pup.
Yu Zhizhi heard the sound of a lighter.
’The Duke must be lighting his pipe right now.’
"Give him a name," the Duke said after taking a drag from his pipe. He leaned back against the pool’s edge, and smoke soon swirled around, obscuring his vision.
The crescent moon emerged from behind the clouds, its gentle light rippling on the pool’s surface.
’He was discussing their pup’s name with the little female.’
At that moment, the Duke felt an immense joy, and his snake tail swayed gently in the water.
Yu Zhizhi paused, stunned.
’Give a name to that little snow-white snake?’
She thought for a moment, then said softly, "Yu Meng."
’—Yu?’
The Duke’s hand, holding the long pipe stem, stiffened slightly. His vertical golden pupils narrowed slowly. "You gave birth to a snake, not an eagle."
Yu Zhizhi held the phone, her tone cheerful.
"I know. You weren’t at the hatching ceremony today, so you probably didn’t see him. Ammon is pure white all over, just like a pristine, flawless feather."
’What a stupid name.’
’A feather, of all things.’
’The little female really does still miss that damned eagle the most.’
The Duke’s fangs tensed. "No."
"Actually, it has another meaning," Yu Zhizhi said softly. "In the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, Yu Meng is a spirit beast that has wings but can never seem to fly. But no matter how many times it fails, it never gives up."
"Besides, Yu Meng doesn’t know that it doesn’t need to be in a hurry to fly. Because one day, when the wind comes, it will be able to take flight."
"I hope our pup can also fly with the wind one day."
The Duke listened to the little female’s soft voice, filled with tenderness and well-wishes.
Her tone turned coaxing:
"Let’s call him Yu Meng, okay?"
