Chapter 765: Chapter 766: I need your blood.
{Yes. You need his blood. That is what you need.}
Isabella stared at Bubu with wet eyes, messy hair, and a face full of disbelief.
For one moment, even the pain did not seem to know what to do because her whole mind went blank.
Blood?
Cyrus’s blood?
Directly?
This damn system had truly lost whatever tiny piece of conscience it never had.
Isabella wanted to curse. She wanted to throw the clay cup near the fur bed at Bubu’s glowing little face. She wanted to grab the floating thing and shake it until all the expensive points it had stolen from her fell out. But another hard wave of pain pressed down through her body, and her thoughts scattered at once.
Her fingers dug into Cyrus’s arm. Her whole back tensed against his chest, and sweat rolled from her temple down the side of her face.
"No," she said in her mind with what little strength she had left. "Absolutely no. I am not doing that."
Bubu floated in the air with its usual shameless brightness.
{User, if you want this birth to move faster, you need his blood. His blood is the key that can guide the bloodline inside the babies. They are resisting because the demonic part of them is reacting to danger outside and the pressure inside. They need a stronger signal from their father.}
Isabella almost laughed from anger.
Father signal?
Was this a birth or some broken spiritual network connection?
"No," she said again in her mind. "That is disgusting."
{You have already tasted it.}
"That was an accident!"
{The effect still worked.}
"I was in pain. I did not even notice."
{Then notice now and do it properly.}
Isabella’s eyes widened.
This thing.
This thing had the nerve.
Another wave of pain started rising before she could continue arguing. She clenched her teeth, and her body shook so hard that Cyrus immediately tightened his arms around her from behind without pressing on her stomach.
"Isabella," he said, his voice low and anxious. "What is wrong? Talk to me."
The older woman also noticed her strange expression. "Lady Isabella, do you feel like pushing again?"
Isabella could barely answer.
She was staring at empty air, and to everyone else in the room, it looked like she had suddenly gone quiet in the middle of all the pain. Her eyes were fixed on something only she could see, and her lips trembled slightly as if she was arguing with someone without sound.
The younger woman looked confused and worried. "Is she seeing spirits?"
The older woman did not answer at once because in this beast world, strange things could truly happen during dangerous births. Some females saw ancestors. Some heard the cries of unborn young. Some said things that made no sense until later. So although she was worried, she did not dare interrupt too loudly.
Cyrus was the most frightened.
He knew Isabella sometimes stared into the air like this. He had seen it enough times to understand that something beyond ordinary sight might be speaking to her. But seeing it happen while she was in this much pain made his heart almost stop. His hand moved to her cheek, turning her face slightly toward him.
"My love," he said. "Look at me."
Isabella heard him, but Bubu was still floating there.
{User, the longer you delay, the longer you suffer.}
Isabella nearly cried from frustration. "You are so heartless."
{Incorrect. I am very helpful.}
"You are asking me to drink blood."
{I am telling you how to save time, strength, and possibly prevent further complications.}
Isabella shut her eyes hard.
This was ridiculous.
This was so ridiculous that if she had not been sweating, crying, and feeling like her lower body was splitting itself open with a stone axe, she would have taken several moments to properly insult the system.
But the worst part was that Bubu was right.
She could feel it now that the system had said it. Every time she tasted Cyrus’s blood by accident, the strange pressure inside her shifted. The babies moved differently. The burning feeling in her chest and stomach did not disappear, but it changed direction, as if something inside her recognized him more clearly.
His blood was needed.
God.
Why could nothing in this world be normal?
Isabella finally opened her eyes and looked up at Cyrus.
He was already looking at her.
His face was pale from exhaustion and fear. His red hair was damp near his temple, and his pink eyes were full of the kind of worry that made her chest hurt even through the pain. His arm still had the marks from where she had bitten him earlier. Blood was smeared faintly on his skin, and he did not seem to care at all.
She swallowed hard.
"I need..." she started.
Her voice broke.
Cyrus leaned closer immediately. "What do you need?"
Isabella looked at his arm, then back at his face.
This was embarrassing.
This was horrifying.
This was also disgusting.
Not because it was Cyrus. Never because it was Cyrus. If anything, Cyrus was the only person who could make this less horrible because she trusted him. But blood was blood. Warm blood from someone’s body. She was supposed to drink it on purpose now, and her entire modern soul wanted to crawl out through the window and hide in the snow.
Still, another pain rolled through her body, and she cried out, gripping him again.
Bubu’s voice sounded in her mind.
{Go on, Isabella. You will do it if you want this to end soon.}
Isabella wanted to scream at it.
Instead, she turned her face toward Cyrus and forced the words out. "Your blood."
Cyrus froze.
The two women also froze.
The younger woman blinked in confusion. "Blood?"
The older woman’s eyes moved sharply to Cyrus’s bitten arm, then to Isabella’s face.
Isabella breathed hard, trying to speak through the pain. "I need your blood. I know it sounds strange. Do not ask too many questions. I think it can help the babies move."
For one moment, the room became silent except for the fire and the noise outside the stone walls.
Then Cyrus nodded.
