Chapter 368: Lanen is Pregnant with an Egg

Chapter 368: Lanen Is Pregnant

Lin You felt that his current life was absolutely perfect.

As a hardcore anime fan, Lin You often harbored many peculiar, naughty fantasies he dared not voice aloud. For instance, he had his eye on a butler costume, or a cat tail accessory, or even the idea of role-playing with Lanen—where he’d be the tyrant and Lanen his captive, or vice versa, with Lanen as the general who captured him.

He could tie Lanen’s hands for a forced encounter, or let Lanen bind his hands for a self-service feast—either way was fine. In short, faced with his beautiful military spouse who wore uniforms every day, Lin You’s mind was always brimming with all sorts of strange and naughty fantasies.

"Calm down, Lin You! You’re the Insect Emperor now! You must be noble! Proper! Reserved! No dirty thoughts! Do you really want Lanen to know how perverted you are? You’ll scare him off!"

Lin You admonished himself like this.

But today, his country estate received an enormous delivery package.

—The manor was Lin You’s personal sanctuary. Many things couldn’t be easily purchased in the palace, such as figurines and various comics, so Lanen had bought this estate for him. When work wasn't too busy, Lin You would come here for short stays.

An automated robot delivered the package to him. When Lin You glanced at the store name, he nearly fainted.

—It was the adult novelty online shop he’d been browsing frequently lately!

After a series of laws regulating the relationships between male and female bugs were enacted, the capital’s adult novelty stores underwent major reforms. Gone were the whips and nails and other BDSM gear; instead, they introduced a series of cat ears, cat tails, valet outfits, butler uniforms, and other items, which became hugely popular among the capital’s citizens.

The shop Lin You had been browsing was currently the most popular shop in the capital.

He peeked guiltily at the box.

—Wait, he’d only looked! He hadn’t placed an order… right? He shouldn’t have, should he?

For a moment, Lin You genuinely couldn’t recall whether he’d absentmindedly used his fingerprint to pay while half-asleep. In any case, he now had another concern to deal with.

Lanen would be home from work in half an hour. What was he supposed to do with this box of stuff?

To avoid being labeled a perverted male bug by his wife, Lin You decided to stash the items in the basement.

What? Why didn’t he call the servants or the butler?

Even an otaku had dignity! How could he possibly let the servants or butler handle something like this!

And so, His Majesty the Insect Emperor personally dragged the box into the basement.

After carefully verifying the name and address, he guiltily confirmed that it was indeed his—no delivery mistake here. It had to be his accidental purchase. Seizing the window before Lanen returned, he eagerly tore open the box.

The first thing that caught his eye was a fluffy cat tail plug-in.

The pure white tail was long enough to drag on the floor. Thanks to the advanced sensory technology of the interstellar age, the tail even came with temperature and pressure sensors, allowing it to curl around another person’s calf.

Lin You: "…"

This was definitely testing his willpower.

With great difficulty, he averted his gaze and looked at the next item—a custom-made butler uniform.

Unlike the well-tailored palace butler attire, this outfit deliberately accentuated the chest, waist, and hips. Lin You held it up and estimated that, given how built Lanen was, the chest lacing probably wouldn’t close properly.

Regretfully, he set the butler uniform aside.

There were also assorted other items—all things Lin You had eyed and saved in his shopping cart for a long time. It was as if whoever ordered this had precisely picked out the dozen or so items Lin You wanted most from the shop’s thousands of products. Overwhelmed, Lin You squeezed his eyes shut.

It must have been his own accidental fingerprint payment!

At that moment, the sound of a door opening and shutting came from above the basement.

Lin You checked the time and realized Lanen had returned home from work.

—Ever since Lin You ascended the throne and the political situation stabilized, Admiral Hoyle resigned from his position as General, yielding the position to Lanen. Thus, Lanen was now the General.

Meanwhile, Admiral Hoyle happily retired to a life of fishing, gardening, and bird-feeding, with his greatest daily joy being bugging Lin You online: "Kid, when are you and Lanen gonna give me grandkids?" or "I want to cradle an egg."

Lin You would brush him off with vague replies like "Yeah, yeah," shooing Admiral Hoyle away.

It was an era of peace, with few military conflicts, so Lanen didn’t have much to worry about in that regard. However, paperwork never let up, and Lanen always returned home at this hour.

Sheepishly, Lin You closed the box and left the basement.

He pretended nothing had happened, having dinner with Lanen, taking a walk, cuddling while watching TV, and then falling into bed together.

—Time for their usual nightly fun.

Lanen hadn’t changed out of his uniform, knowing Lin You loved seeing him in it. He let Lin You push him onto the bed and begin untying the dress uniform sash.

As Lin You worked on it, Lanen glanced around and suddenly asked, "Hmm? Did the cat tail not get delivered? Or did you not like it in person?"

"..."

The Insect Emperor turned to stone.

Lin You’s lips twitched, stammering, "Y-you—you were the one who bought that?!"

Lanen clasped his fingers, guiding Lin You to unwrap the outfit. "Yes. You don’t like it?"

Lin You: "How did you know?!"

"Hmm? Was I not supposed to know?" Lanen tilted his head in confusion. "I saw you adding it to your cart when you were browsing the holoscreen at night. Did you not actually want it?"

Lin You: "!"

Total mortification!

Lanen hadn’t been asleep at all!

He saw Lin You add them to the cart!

But as an old married couple, now that the topic was out in the open, Lin You dropped the act. Eagerly, he asked, "Can we... use them?"

Lanen smiled. "Of course."

Leaning close to His Majesty’s ear, his lips nearly brushing the earlobe, his warm breath teasing the sensitive skin, Lanen murmured, "Your Majesty, I’ve been waiting for this."

"..."

And so, the box from the basement was dragged into the bedroom.

Lin You picked out the butler costume and the cat tail, handing them over. Lanen arched a brow but put them on—the skirt just barely covering the curve of his thighs, the tail dangling off the bed.

That was all he wore.

Then, the tail coiled around Lin You's calf, giving it a sneaky nuzzle.

They had a delightful night. Just as they were calling it a night, with Lin You and Lanen collapsing onto the bed, embracing and ready to sleep, Lanen suddenly pushed Lin You away, grabbed the headboard, and began retching.

...

"Wait, General, are you saying that last night, after His Majesty the Insect Emperor hugged you, you started retching?"

The next day, Lanen and his adjutant Devin were chatting over lunch at the military canteen. When Lanen mentioned the incident, Devin and the others immediately tensed up.

Under the warped social norms of the insectoid race, such behavior could be misinterpreted as disgust or dissatisfaction toward a male insect.

Devin cautiously asked, "Did His Majesty the Insect Emperor get angry?"

"Oh yes," Lanen replied leisurely, swallowing a piece of steak. "At the time, I was gripping the bed rail, retching violently. His Majesty rushed over, hugged me, cupped my face, and anxiously asked if I was okay—so worried he was almost in tears. Then he called a doctor, had me rushed into an ambulance in the middle of the night, and hauled me off to the hospital."

Devin: "?"

He set down his utensils. "So how did he get angry?"

"Oh, he confronted the hospital director in the hallway, demanding, 'Lanen just had a full check-up here last week, and everything was fine. Why is he suddenly like this after just a few days?'... His Majesty was a bit agitated at the time—it was kinda cute. After he calmed down, he apologized to the director."

Devin: "..."

Watching his General strut around like a peacock, Devin swallowed a curse.

But Lanen wasn’t done. Beaming, he continued, "Aren’t you going to ask about my condition? Like why I was vomiting?"

Devin said flatly, "You look just fine to me. Fine, why were you vomiting?"

Lanen lowered his gaze, looking down at his still-flat stomach. "I have an egg."

*Pfft—*

Devin choked on his food.

Lanen frowned in displeasure. "What? Is it really so shocking that I have an egg?"

"Cough, cough—" Devin struggled to stop coughing. "General, you should see your own expression right now. I never thought I'd see you like this."

The General of the Three Armies, the White Iris, the head of the Collet Family—Lanen bore many titles and had always maintained a cold, stern demeanor in the military. His azure eyes were colder than glaciers, his composed gaze sharper than blades. But now, he was practically glowing with "brightness" and "softness."

At that moment, Lanen finished the last piece of steak on his plate. With proper noble manners, he set down his knife and fork and daintily wiped his fingers. "Ah, Devin, you just wouldn't get it even if I explained."

"..."

Devin once again suppressed the urge to shove his General’s pretty face into the plate.

But knowing he was no match for Lanen, Devin bit back his annoyance. "Fine, I don’t understand. But I do know there’s a new recruit induction ceremony this afternoon. By tradition, you’d personally demonstrate combat drills for them. Should I cancel it for you?"

"Cancel?" Lanen raised a brow. "No need."

Devin shot back, "Not worried about harming your and His Majesty’s precious egg?"

The insectoid induction ceremony was no walk in the park. New recruits were rowdy and only responded to brute force. To earn their submission, they had to be knocked into shape by their superiors—every batch was the same, and this year’s had more hotheads than usual.

As a high-ranking female insect and General of the Three Armies, Lanen was supposed to personally take to the field.

Lanen: "No need. The egg is just barely formed—it won’t affect me."

Devin: "Shouldn't we inform His Majesty the Insect Emperor?"

Lanen: "No need. I know what I'm doing."

If Lin You found out, he'd definitely worry.

Devin shrugged: "Fine, as long as you're sure."

Thus, Lanen still stepped into the arena for the afternoon ceremony.

Brimming with confidence and energy, he was in such a good mood that even the troublemakers didn't seem so bad. His movements were crisp and fluid, his moves flowed perfectly—within half an hour, he had put most recruits through their paces.

"Lanen, Lanen..."

Kicking the nearest challenger off the platform, Lanen twirled the rubber bullet gun, effortlessly reloaded it, and pulled back his messy silver hair. Gripping the railing, he looked down at the crowd from above: "Any more challengers?"

"Lanen, Lanen..."

No one responded. Only then did Lanen turn his attention to his adjutant who was softly calling his name: "What is it?"

Devin winced and closed his eyes, and jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

Lanen turned—his aloof expression froze on his face.

His Majesty the Insect Emperor had slipped in unnoticed and now stood a hundred meters away, glaring daggers at him.

Author's Note:

Lanen: *grinning like an idiot*

Also Lanen: *grin wiped clean off his face*