Chapter 3

Right at that moment, the system notification went off in Daphne's head once again. "Congratulations on your pregnancy, Daphne. It's been detected that the father's psionic strength is Rank SSS, and he has a 10% chance of fathering a child. The harder it is to have a child, the higher the points you will be rewarded. Please protect your child well! " What a great time to tell her that. Daphne was clenching her jaw so tight that her teeth were about to break. "No, I don't agree," said Daphne. "What?" Lester walked up to her and said, "Please say it again." He was very intimidating. Daphne swallowed her saliva and said firmly, "I said I want to keep this child. Since God made them my child, I'm going to protect them." Both of them locked eyes with each other, not fearing one another. "Do you know who's the father?" Lester was afraid she would become suspicious, so he added, "How are you going to raise the child on your own?" "This is something for me to think about in the future. I'm going to keep them, no matter how hard and tiring it might be," Daphne replied. The determination in her eyes moved Lester in the end, and he no longer insisted. Everything would be fine as long as Daphne and the child did not know who the father was, and Herkoen did not know that he had a child. Herkoen's psionic strength was Rank SSS. His father, the leader of the coalition, had lost hope that Herkoen would have an heir in the future. The first thing Lester should do at the moment was to keep Daphne safe at all times. He absolutely could not let the Renegade Coalition learn about the news of her pregnancy. He quickly came up with a plan in his mind. Before he left, he told Bryan to keep this a secret or he would be punished for leaking the country's top secret. Daphne looked out the window as she sat in the flying car, but her mind was somewhere else. In two short days, her life had been turned upside down, and she had no idea what would happen next. Oh well, she would just take it one day at a time. Suddenly, a glass of warm water appeared in front of her eyes. "Have some water. It'll be good for your health." "Thank you," she replied. She accepted the water, but she only took a small sip. "I've had someone request the authorities to have you detained at my manor. You can just stay at the manor to prepare for your delivery without any worries from now on," said Lester. Daphne did not expect that he would go to such lengths. "Can I? Would I not cause you trouble?" "It's fine. The women from the underground boxing ring are just locked in the Hildi Prison for ten days or so as a punishment. You guys are not heinous criminals. A small request like this will be approved. Arrangements will be made for all the women after that as well. "Besides, you—you don't have an identity now. If the police were to find out after you leave, you'll be put in a shelter for females," Lester explained. Upon hearing that, Daphne decided to just stay at his manor. The rules of this place were too scary. She would step over the line if she were not careful. The flying car parked at the same spot before it left, which was outside Daphne's room. "Lester!" A young man ran past Daphne and jumped into Lester's arms. "Lenko, you're too rude. We have a guest here. Behave yourself." After Lester had lectured the young man named Lenko Waltzan, he let go of his brother. Feeling embarrassed, Lenko glanced at Daphne and said, "I'm sorry, Lester. I didn't notice that we had a guest." Then, he nodded at Daphne. She instantly became fond of him. What a polite young man. "Alright. Wait for me in the study," Lester told Lenko. It was after his brother left that Lester apologized to Daphne, saying, "I'm sorry. My brother is quite careless, so he didn't notice you." Daphne felt that was very normal. Lester was at his home, interacting with his brother. She should be the one apologizing instead. Seeing how apologetic Lester was made her feel extremely guilty. It was clear that Lester and Lenko had not done anything wrong. But… Lester looked like a knight from the fairy tales. He was so handsome. "You're such a pervert, Daphne. Wipe the drool off your face! You're going to drown me soon. Don't you forget that you're pregnant with another man's child," said the system. "Shut up. Stop peeping at me," Daphne replied. "Alright. I'll mute myself," said the system. "It's fine. I like his happy and lively character. I'll let you get back to your work, Colonel Lester. I'm going to take a rest," said Daphne. "Alright." Lester nodded and watched her go into her room. His expression turned solemn as soon as he turned around, and he quickly went to the study before shutting the door hard behind him. "Why are you here?" he asked. Lester sprung up from the seat and stood up straight like a soldier. "Lester, I came because I have something important to report to you," said Lenko. "Go on." Lester sat at his desk, looking livid. He looked like he was telling Lenko that he had better have something important to say, or he would be punished. "The Emperor has sent someone to spy on our family. It's clear that he is suspicious of us. Your suspicions are true," Lenko reported. Seeing that Lester did not react much got Lenko feeling confused. "Why doesn't it look like you're worried to me? The Emperor is suspicious of our family. We would definitely be oppressed in the end." Lester picked up the military documents that had already been arranged and looked through them. He said, "Our family has been bathing in glory for thousands of years. The people trust us deeply. It's only a matter of time for the emperor to be wary of us. If worrying could settle this problem, I would've done that a long time ago." Lenko said, "But other than the issue with the Emperor's suspicion, we also have the other families keeping a close eye on us, ready to pounce. They just won't let us go if we make the slightest mistake. You have no idea how many trivial matters our family has to deal with every day." He continued, "For example, they said our family allowed soldiers to hurt the citizens; they said our family's businesses sold bad products and asked the authorities to step in, and more. I feel sorry for Father every time I see him frown because of all these things." Lester shot Lenko a glance, and Lenko realized he misspoke and immediately apologized. "I know that very well without you telling me about it," said Lester. The Emperor was wary that the Waltzan family's merits would overshadow him, so he showed hints of wanting to oppress them. At the moment, all he needed was for the family to make one major mistake, and he would be able to eradicate them for good. That was why Lester was just a colonel and had never been promoted for years, even though he was the male with the most powerful psionic strength in Hildi. Lester's father held an important position in the country. If the emperor allowed Lester to thrive, it would be harder for him to deal with them. They might even have the power to turn Hildi upside down. "But Lester—" Lester cut him off and said, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Tell me, how are your homework and your grades?" Lenko became excited at the mention of grades. He cleared his throat and started speaking without stopping. "Let's talk about my latest grades, then. My psionic strength is at Rank SS+, but I showed signs of breaking through and reaching Rank SSS. I've mastered ancient history and modern history and scored an A for those. "The best thing is that our school has started to let us learn about the structure of battleships, and we probably would be able to get some hands-on experience in another six months." "Not bad," said Lester. It was rare for Lester to praise Lenko, but Lenko did not seem too happy upon hearing it. Not a trace of a smile was on his face as he said, "But you could already pilot a small battleship when you were my age. You even knew about a few types of military weapons. I'm only starting to learn about them now." "You mustn't get ahead of yourself," Lester responded. Lenko accepted his fate. It was true that he was not as talented as his brother, but… The figure of a woman suddenly popped into his head. He instantly turned into a nosy character and plopped himself down on Lester's desk. "Lester, who's that lady from earlier? Is she my future sister-in-law?" he asked.