Liu Shu caressed her baby's flaming hair with a pondering expression. The flaming hair was not like a candle's flame, flickering upward. Instead, the fire seemed to have weight and substance like normal hair. The only thing different was that her fingers would slowly shift through the hair as if it were soft, orange-colored magma.
After analyzing, she could see that some of the <Sanguine Blaze>'s skills were beneficial and without any drawbacks. Still, she didn't want to let them take effect. All her baby's skills must have some sort of mental influence, and even if she was a World Tree and could probably resist it with just her <Willpower>, Liu Shu wanted her love for her baby to be pure and not influenced by anything other than her natural motherly love.
Smiling at the child in her arms, Liu Shu spoke gently. "I will love you dearly, my child. So, don't worry." She, of course, knew that this child's personality would be a bit troublesome, regardless of how well she treated her. "When you make mistakes, I'll be stern with you. When you do something good, I will praise you. When you are with me, I'll love you dearly and show you how much Mommy loves you."
As she spoke, Liu Shu raised the baby and rubbed her face with hers. "The only thing Mom asks you is that you understand that Mom loves you, regardless of what you are."
The child's blood-red eyes shone happily, and she giggled, hugging Liu Shu with her chubby arms. The lower flower half was also dancing happily, the red and blue petals bouncing happily.
After she placed her between her arms again, like her previous children, the voracious appetite of the Alraune-related species was revealed. Liu Shu couldn't help but laugh as she felt the now familiar sensation on her breast. "Why are all my babies so insatiable? Thankfully, I basically have an unlimited supply."
There was something she was curious about, though. Separating the baby's mouth with a pop sound, Liu Shu used her free hand to open the child's mouth. "Oh! So that's how you are sucking blood while only leaving red marks on my skin."
Besides the usual set of teeth, the child's mouth had suckers on the roof of her mouth instead of the usual palate. These suckers could open and reveal thin teeth with sucking properties. Liu Shu nestled her back between her arms and used this opportunity to check the overall situation before placing her body back into a meditative state.
Her sight quickly expanded as pulses of energy echoed throughout her entire root system. "Stragglers are almost solved… Oh? They've sent the armies back to counterattack without waiting for me?"
Quickly checking on the situation that her roots could see, Liu Shu noticed that the cities closest to the Wall Forest had already surrendered and fallen under the Golden Sap Country's control. "Only Warlya is left. Still… There is quite a lot of crime in those cities they've conquered. I guess that I'll need to do a swift cleanup when I fully wake up."
She was curious about the situation beyond her viewing range, but she didn't want to bother the generals and ask about it when she was going to fall asleep soon. As she looked around, she couldn't help but notice a very conspicuous group of people. "Hm…? Who are these people? They have a similar aura to Harmonixia."
When she was observing them, Liu Shu noticed one of them suddenly stop and look straight back at her. "Huh?" This was a surprising reaction for her. "How come this Sylvan could detect me? Also…" Her Avatar's eyebrows scrunched as she saw the woman waving at her. "Why does she give me such a dangerous feeling? I feel that even if I fight her with my main body, I'd have difficulty dealing with her."
It wasn't impossible, but there was a real possibility of dying at her hands if they were to fight. "Fourth Energy Cycle?" Liu Shu asked herself, being quite sure that the woman with an elegant figure and shifting purple and blue hue hair had reached that level.
There was no worry in her heart, though. After all, this woman was inside Violet and being accompanied by Harmonixia and other close people. 'Ah! Is she Harmonixia's mother?'
With that in mind, Liu Shu moved her gaze away, ignoring the woman and focusing on herself.
Meanwhile, Melody was quite eager to hear her daughter-in-law's voice when the presence observing her suddenly disappeared and moved away. Her smiling face froze for a second. 'Huh? Did I do something wrong? My pretty and beautiful World Tree daughter-in-law has given birth to three gorgeous grandchildren, so I wanted to make a good impression so that she keeps giving me more!'
Other than Violet and Eluan, there was the flowerpot baby in Harmonixia's office, Violue. This was probably Liu Shu's least intelligent child. But that didn't mean that it wasn't loved or that it was completely unaware of its surroundings. The gorgeous flower could easily recognize Harmonixia's aura and act spoiled toward her, coiling around her finger and expelling nice scents to cheer up her mother. If one had to compare, her intelligence was probably similar to that of a very young kitten.
Liu Shu, unaware that she had made her mother-in-law worried and insecure, refocused her attention on the child between her Avatar's arms. By then, the Avatar had been healed and fixed by her roots and sap, recovering her initial pristine and pure beauty. So, Liu Shu stood up with the child in her arms and walked around with a pondering expression. "What should I name you? Do I wait for Cinderielle to be able to come into my Core Room?"
Thinking of her lover's reaction to the fruit that their love germinated, the World Tree couldn't help but feel her lips arching. "She will probably freak out." There was some worry in her heart, though. "But… Unlike the other three, this one is clearly somewhat more malicious and can target the mother. Will she be angry or wary?"
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The other children were dangerous, but they did nothing to Liu Shu herself other than having difficult births. Meanwhile, the Sanguine Blaze would hijack the mother's maternal love, which was naturally unacceptable for anyone's partner. Liu Shu's amusement was replaced with deep worry. "I hope she can understand that I am not affected." Her lips arched wryly. "It's very difficult to prove you are not crazy when they think that you are." Poking her baby's gelatinous cheek, she whispered. "Especially so when I am naturally willing to slaughter anyone who dares slight you."
Shaking her head, she whispered to herself. "I have only two more months until my body completes the <Tier Up>. So, I'll just inform them that the baby has been born for now."
The calm Fire Sylvan suddenly heard Liu Shu's gentle voice in her mind. "Cinderielle, I've already given birth. The baby and I are okay. Think of a name before the three months I'll need to finish my transformation."
And so, Cinderielle received the news and lost her composure completely. The assistant by her side suddenly saw the usual calm, cool, and charming boss rip the document with the writing feather she held. "L-Lady Cinderielle, is everything okay?"
She could easily see that the Sylvan was twitching, wanting to go somewhere but holding back with all her willpower. "That…" Cinderielle was confused, unable to answer her subordinates' concerned words. 'She gave birth during her Tier Up? Isn't that super dangerous?' Her heart couldn't help but clench; she knew that the birth must've been extremely complicated.
First, Cinderielle walked to the window and allowed the sun to hit her body as she took a deep breath. The sun helped Cinderielle's metabolism work as she slowly calmed down. Being a plant, she could naturally utilize plant methods like photosynthesis. Still, it was not enough for them, who had a high-speed metabolism. Therefore, they needed to eat other foods, such as meats and plants, to balance the energy consumption and nutrients in their bodies.
"Lady Cinderielle?"
"I am okay."
The woman answered with a calm tone, even if her heart was feeling a torrent of unknown emotions. It's not the first child; Red had already grown enough to communicate with her and brightened her daily life with the joys and sorrows of having children. Still, this child was different from Red.
"A name… Right. I need to think of a name." The woman looked out of the window, receiving looks from the rest of the office where she worked. Even when she was of the highest echelons among the city officials, Cinderielle liked to work along with others. So, her desk was surrounded by her most trusted subordinates.
A lizard man at the side hissed with a smile and asked. "Boss, did the madam finally bloom with a new beautiful flower?"
Cinderielle's face cracked and she waved her hand, sending a low-powered fireball to that man's face.
The explosion sent him flying back for a few meters, while others snickered. It seemed that their boss was okay. However, as they laughed, they heard an unexpected answer. "That's right. Do you guys know a place to look for children's names? Ah… wait. But I don't know what race the child will be."
Everyone was surprised and then quickly congratulated her. They knew how desperate their Lady was in this regard, so knowing that the love between their boss and the World Tree finally bore another fruit was very good news.
"Hm… The previous children were all related to Alraune, right?" Cinderielle tilted her head and asked, confused. "Is there any fire-related Alraune subspecies? Do any of you know?"
Many were unaware. However, as they thought, Cinderielle caught someone suddenly freezing as her eyes revealed a look of horror. "Hey."
"Y-YeS!?" The high-pitched tone sent a clear sign of doubt into Cinderielle's heart, and some nervousness returned to her.
"You know the species, right?" Cinderielle was not that worried about Liu Shu safely giving birth to a Sylphaith. However, no one would be entirely worry-free about the person they loved.
"Ah… Lady Cinderielle, this one doesn't know." Everyone in the room deadpanned, looking at the sweating woman with shifty eyes. 'You are about to have a nervous breakdown! Who are you trying to deceive!?'
Cinderielle rubbed her forehead and sighed. "Lana. You and I both know that you are horrible at lying. Just tell me straight about your guess."
Lana wanted to cry. 'How can I curse Lady Liu Shu, hypothesizing that blood-sucking parasite species will be her precious child?' She really didn't know why she reacted and didn't keep a straight face.
However, under Cinderielle's insistence, she could only bite the hard root and hope her teeth didn't break. "Lady Cinderielle, this one once read about this species by chance. Therefore, you must not believe my nonsense guess."
"Get to the point."
Seeing the impatient facial expression, she braced herself and blurted it out. "I was thinking about the <Sanguine Blaze> species."
Everyone in the room suddenly became silent, and their eyes widened so wide that their eyes risked popping out of their orbits. Only Cinderielle was slightly clueless. However, seeing everyone's horrified reaction, she knew that this species was dangerous. "Explain its details."
Lana very much didn't want to do that, but in the end, she was forced to do so.
"...and those would be the general effects of their skills for a C Tier Sanguine Blaze once they are born."
Cinderielle's entire body was frozen stiff as her anxiety started to soar. 'L-Liu Shu said that she is okay. So, there shouldn't be any problems… Also, it's not guaranteed that she will give birth to that little monster… right?'
The Fire Sylvan held her impulses to rush into the Core Room and check on Liu Shu with all her <Willpower>. 'I'll know later. For now, let's try to absorb information about all species that fall into that category.'
So, with a worried heart, the Fire Sylvan left for the Endless Library.
Once she arrived, she saw the usual mothkin flying around, now accompanied by many people from the Songtree family and some top-notch crafters of the city.
After the Songtree Clan learned about the qualities of the Endless Library, they've been sending their people in batches here, even using tournaments and other methods to create and give quotas to their geniuses and elders.
Three months went by swiftly amidst worries and other minor events, like Cinderielle going to participate in the war just to vent her feelings.
"Okay… Time to visit this mysterious child of mine."
Taking a deep breath, Cinderielle took off towards the Core Room.
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