That was too long. Considering she hadn’t felt anything unusual when she touched it, she thought she might be able to clear it herself.
“I’ll clear it slowly by myself.”
“You, Princess?”
“Yes. I have nothing else to do anyway.”
Stella smiled lightly, but Mila shook her head firmly.
“Princess, history lessons start today. There are books you must read beforehand. The lessons start late in the afternoon, so you should read those books in the morning.”
Stella had no power to refuse the schedule given to her as a hostage.
“How long are the lessons?”
“From 3 PM to 5 PM. You’ll be having lessons with the other princesses, so preparation is necessary.”
Stella had no desire to learn the history of the Credion Empire. The idea of studying because she was a candidate for empress seemed ridiculous.
“I’ll take a walk for an hour more and then go in. Please take out the books I need to read. I’ll make sure to read them before the lesson.”
If there was a book she wanted to read, she would sacrifice sleep to finish it. Besides, studying was one of the things she enjoyed.
“Just leave those stones. I’ll have the servants handle them.”
“Okay, I understand.”
Mila looked uneasy as she listened to Stella, only relaxing when Stella agreed to cut her walk short to thirty minutes. Mila repeatedly reminded Stella on her way back that there were two books she needed to read.
As soon as Mila was out of sight, Stella began to dig through the collapsed stone tower. No matter how much Uhura tried to stop her, it was no use.
“If something really bad happens because you recklessly touched it, what will you do?”
“It seems like there is no problem with me.”
It was true. The more Stella dug through the pile of stones, the more convinced she became that it would not affect her in any way.
She couldn’t explain why, but as time passed, she only felt a growing, inexplicable certainty.
As she tossed aside each stone, revealing the dirt floor, she hastily grabbed a flat stone and used it like a shovel.
Where this blind determination came from, she didn’t know, but she was as fixated on digging the earth now as she had been upon first encountering the carrot.
After about ten minutes of digging, Stella had excavated about a foot deep when she heard a clink, signaling her shovel had hit something hard.
“Uaaaaak!”
“Run away!”
The two little ones and Uhura, who had cautiously approached again, scattered in terror at the sound.
Stella, who had been watching them flee, focused her gaze back on the hard object that had surfaced. Buried in the ground was a brown jar with a lid.
With the stone in her hand, Stella tapped the jar’s lid. She half-expected black smoke to billow out, but nothing happened.
After a few more taps with the stone and no reaction, Stella cautiously touched it with her fingertips.
It remained still.
The land fairies, standing at a distance, were pale, staring in shock. Uhura was on his knees, praying fervently to someone.
Stella cautiously placed her palm on the lid. The distinct dampness and coldness of an object long buried in the earth could be felt.
She resumed her quiet digging, and soon the object was fully uncovered.
“Huh? It’s just a jar?”
What Stella had dug up was a fairly heavy brown jar. It was so ordinary that she wondered if the land fairies had been mistaken.
The only unusual thing was its glossy shine despite being unearthed from the soil, looking as new as ever.
Stella placed the jar on the ground, wrapped her hands around it, and shook it.
Thud, thud.
Something heavy was inside the jar.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
