strictlysupreme Chapter 422 Running with the Ball
Chapter 422 Running with the Ball
Lin Liuyi promised Dasheng that she would attend his wedding with Daiyu, so she started writing her novel again, planning to accumulate more energy after the system distributed it.
After finishing her story about escaping famine, she has now switched to the genre of domineering CEOs.
The system dutifully redistributed the books, which flowed into the universe like a stream of information.
At this moment, on the capital planet.
The crystal chandelier in the royal banquet hall illuminated the entire space as if it were daytime. Arya stood close to the wall, trying to make her unremarkable engineer's uniform blend into the magnificent background.
She held a data panel in her hand, which displayed the status of the three service robots that needed maintenance that night.
It should have been an ordinary night of working overtime, until she saw the dark-haired man stumble and fall into the corridor through the side door.
“Your Highness?” Aria called out uncertainly in a low voice, recognizing that it was the second prince of the empire, Leon Augustus.
His face was an unnatural bluish-gray, and his right hand was tightly gripping the left side of his dress.
Leon looked up, a glimmer of hope flashing in his icy blue eyes when he saw the engineering department badge on her uniform.
“Help…me…” he said hoarsely, then collapsed forward.
Arya instinctively rushed forward and caught him.
Upon closer inspection, she noticed tiny white bubbles at the corners of his mouth.
How can these be symptoms of poisoning?
The words "royal banquet, prince poisoned" echoed in Aria's mind like a sharp explosion.
Her engineering mind quickly calculated the safest course of action: not to alert anyone, not to go to the medical room.
She cannot get involved in this conspiracy.
“Hold on, Your Highness,” she whispered, quickly glancing around before half-dragging, half-carrying Leon toward the staff entrance.
Her mechanical exoskeleton gloves emitted a slight hum, helping her support the weight of the tall man.
Twenty minutes later, the medical scanner in Aria's apartment emitted a sharp alarm.
"Unknown toxin, mildly lethal," the mechanical female voice calmly announced. "Immediate administration of a broad-spectrum antidote is recommended."
Arya bit her lip and rummaged through the first-aid kit.
She only has civilian-grade antidote, so its effectiveness will be greatly reduced.
But going to a regular hospital would be tantamount to suicide—if someone dared to poison the prince, they must have planted spies in major medical institutions.
“We have no choice but to take a gamble.” She plunged the syringe into Leon’s jugular vein.
Leon woke up at three in the morning and found a strange woman curled up asleep on the sofa, clutching an empty antidote package in her hand.
He tried to sit up, which triggered a violent coughing fit.
Arya woke up immediately.
"Don't move! The toxins haven't been completely metabolized yet." She pressed down on his shoulder. "I'll go get some water."
As Leon took the water glass, he noticed the mechanical ring on her right ring finger—the mark of a mecha engineer, the highest level of technical certification.
"Who are you..."
“Arya Kos, a third-class technician in the Royal Engineering Department,” she replied curtly. “Your Highness, do you know who poisoned her?”
Leon's eyes sharpened instantly.
“My brother’s men. This banquet is about the allocation of mining rights in the border star system.” He gave a wry smile. “I oppose the forced relocation of the inhabitants of Ash Star; it would kill two million people.”
Aria gasped.
She came from Ash Planet and knew how much the inhabitants there depended on the mines for their livelihood.
For the next three days, Arya's apartment became a temporary shelter.
She went to work as usual every day and brought back food and medical supplies in the evening.
On the fourth night, Leon's high fever finally subsided.
“Thank you, Arya.” He unusually used her first name instead of her surname. “Few would risk helping a marked prince.”
Moonlight streamed through the window, casting shadows on his silhouette. Arya suddenly realized that she was sharing a room with one of the most noble bloodlines in the empire.
A dangerous feeling swelled in her chest.
“I just did the right thing,” she said softly, unable to look away.
Leon reached out and touched her cheek, and the distance between them shortened without a word.
When his lips touched hers, Aria forgot all the warnings of reason.
A month later, Aria stood in front of the testing machine at the medical center, staring at the flashing results on the screen: pregnancy confirmed, dizygotic twins.
Her fingers unconsciously traced lines up her flat stomach.
After that night, Leon was secretly summoned back to the palace, leaving behind only an encrypted communicator and the vague message, "I will contact you."
“Ms. Koss?” The doctor’s voice brought her back to reality. “Given the significant differences between your genetic lineage and the fetus, further testing is recommended. This could be some kind of genetic adaptation phenomenon…”
Arya suddenly stood up.
"No need, thank you." She grabbed the data panel and quickly left.
The genetic characteristics of royal blood are so obvious that any legitimate medical institution can identify them.
That evening, her apartment was searched.
As the sound of a laser cutting through the door lock reached her ears, Arya was escaping to the roof via the fire escape.
She carried only a backpack: her savings, a fake ID, engineering tools, and a communicator that never rang.
“We must leave the capital planet.” She gasped as she climbed onto the waiting cargo drone, the unborn life within her seemingly reminding her.
From now on, she will no longer live only for herself.
The sky of Ash Star is always rust-colored.
Arya stood outside the mine clinic, wrapped tightly in her tattered protective cloak.
Six months of unconventional travel left her looking haggard, but the twins in her womb were growing tenaciously.
"Ma'am, your blood test shows abnormally high radiation levels," the clinic doctor frowned. "Giving birth under these conditions is extremely dangerous."
Arya clenched her fist.
"I will survive." She had to survive.
Having traversed three galaxies and evaded four identity checks, she will not fail at the final step.
The birth occurred on the night of the worst sandstorm in the mining area.
The clinic lost power, and Aria bit her belt to stifle her screams under the flickering emergency light.
She nearly fainted when the first baby cried.
"It's a boy! Wait, there's another one!" the midwife exclaimed.
The birth of the second baby girl took away Arya's last bit of strength.
Before darkness fell, she vaguely saw faint blue patterns on the foreheads of the two children—the mark of royal pure blood.
Then the world fell silent.
"Mom! Maxie stole candy with his telekinesis again!" Six-year-old Lila rushed into the repair shop, her golden braids bouncing up and down as she ran.
Aria lifted her head from the control module of the mining mech and wiped the oil off her forehead.
"Lila, how many times have I told you not to come into the work area—"
Her words were interrupted by a piercing, metallic crackling sound.
At the other end of the workshop, seven-year-old Max stood in front of the snack cabinet, his eyes gleaming with a faint blue light, while the alloy packaging on the shelf was eerily suspended in the air.