Heir of the Six-Winged Angel

"What is this?" Snow White demanded of Eva.

She could sense the immense power contained within the liquid, but her experiences in the Fairy-Tale World had left her deeply wary of Eva.

"Shh..."

A perfect, kindly smile rested on Eva's face, but her voice was cold as frost. "It's something good for you. It will give you greater power and a more noble status, my good daughter."

"I don't want it! Drink it yourself!" Snow White refused without hesitation.

After all, those words were far too familiar. Eva had said the same thing when she made her eat the poisoned apple. Instinctively, Snow White felt overwhelming danger and resistance.

"No, I won't." Eva's smile deepened, carrying a trace of mockery.

"Have you forgotten the rules between us? We cannot harm each other. We are bound by the power of the rules."

As she spoke, Eva brought the mouth of the bottle closer to Snow White's tiny lips.

Snow White felt utterly helpless.

Rules—yes, there truly were rules restraining them, preventing her from directly harming Eva, and vice versa.

But she still did not trust Eva. The rules only said they could not hurt each other; they did not say they could not trip each other up!

In Snow White's eyes, there was no way this bottle contained anything good.

She did not believe her vicious stepmother had suddenly become a good person.

She used all her strength to turn her head away and pressed her lips tightly shut, wanting to burst into tears and draw the people outside in.

But she had forgotten that she was only a frail infant now.

No matter how firm her will was, she could not make this tiny body mount any effective resistance.

Snow White's tiny limbs flailed futilely a few times. In the end, she could only watch helplessly as Eva forcibly poured several drops of pale golden liquid into her mouth—liquid that radiated a holy aura yet filled her soul with unease.

The liquid slid down her throat and instantly transformed into a scorching warm current. It was not painful; instead, it carried a strange comfort and immense vitality as it flooded through her limbs and bones, even reaching deep into her soul.

Snow White felt as though some kind of mark had been forcibly branded onto her body. A power sharing the same origin as that pale golden blood began quietly taking root and merging within her.

"That's more like it."

Eva watched with satisfaction as an exceedingly faint pale golden glow surfaced around the infant's body before vanishing.

She knew the potion had begun to take effect. The seed of the Divine Bloodline had been planted, awaiting its future awakening.

Feeling that the timing was about right, Eva swiftly put away the Magic Mirror and crystal bottle.

She gracefully lay back down on the bed, waved away the magical barrier around the inner chamber, and activated Reflection Magic at the same time.

At once, the entire bedchamber was replaced by an illusion of Eva drenched in sweat, her face twisted in pain as she struggled through labor with the help of the midwives.

"Ah—!"

A remarkably realistic cry of pain rang out from the bedchamber, piercing through the tightly shut doors.

The outer hall of Emerald Palace.

The cry made Xue Ye's entire body shudder, and his heart grew even more anxious.

Qian Renxue's heart leaped into her throat as her nails dug deeply into her palms.

Time seemed to pass for an eternity. At last, accompanied by a loud infant's cry, the bedchamber doors were flung open.

A midwife rushed out carrying a swaddled bundle, joy written all over her face.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations! Madam has given birth to a healthy little princess!"

"A princess?" The joy on Xue Ye's face immediately faded somewhat. Compared to a princess, he preferred a prince. After all, males had a greater chance of inheriting the royal family's Swan Martial Soul.

But when he remembered that this was a child born to him by his beloved Eva, his mood brightened once more.

Xue Ye strode forward and looked at the infant in the swaddling clothes. Her skin was snow-white, her hair jet-black, and her little face wrinkled. She was indeed a baby girl.

Xue Ye smiled. "Good, good. As long as mother and daughter are safe."

He took the infant and held her symbolically for a moment before passing her to a maid beside him. His attention immediately shifted to the bedchamber. "How is Eva?"

Qian Renxue's gaze immediately locked onto the tiny infant.

When she saw that striking head of jet-black newborn hair, the tension in her nerves abruptly eased, and relief rose in her heart.

Black hair! Not gold!

This further reduced the possibility that the child was hers. After all, her Martial Soul was the Six-Winged Angel, the most supreme Divine-Gifted Martial Soul on the entire Douluo Continent, and she possessed Innate Soul Power at rank 20.

If she had a child, that child would certainly awaken the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul.

Moreover, the members of the Qian Clan all had brilliant golden hair, not ebony-black hair.

Thank goodness, it isn't blond.

Qian Renxue murmured inwardly and let out a long breath.

The shadow cast over her heart by that night's accident was largely dispelled by that black hair.

She was almost certain now that this child had nothing to do with her! Eva had been deceiving her!

That letter, that so-called flesh and blood, had all been a means for Eva to control her!

At that moment, when Qian Renxue looked toward the bedchamber, her gaze contained not only her usual vigilance and wariness, but also a trace of icy fury.

If the child was fake, then all her previous conflict and panic had become proof that Eva had been toying with her!

She would remember this debt.

Inside the bedchamber.

Lying on the bed, Eva saw through Reflection Magic the disappointment on Xue Ye's face outside the hall, as well as Qian Renxue's relieved expression and the icy flash of anger in her eyes.

The corners of her rosy lips curved into an arc filled with malicious amusement and a desire for control.

I'll let you be happy for now, little angel.

Eva chuckled silently to herself. Her gaze pierced through the walls and landed on Snow White, with her jet-black hair, in the maid's arms.

It was still far too early to relax.

The potion within Snow White's body had already begun taking effect. The angel's bloodline had entered her body, and golden wings would eventually grow.

Eva closed her eyes, savoring the pleasure of having placed a piece in this grand game.

The real show had only just begun.

Crown Prince's Residence, late at night.

Candlelight flickered, illuminating Qian Renxue's cold face, which carried a hint of mockery.

In her hand, she held a letter from Emerald Palace that had just been delivered by a trusted subordinate.

Eva's handwriting remained languid and alluring, yet its contents made the sneer in Qian Renxue's heart deepen.

"Your Highness,

I know Your Highness does not trust me. Yet the bond of blood and my heart may be witnessed by Heaven and Earth. This girl is without doubt Your Highness's flesh and blood. If Your Highness still harbors doubts, simply invite a Soul Master skilled in bloodline sensing, and the truth will be known with one examination. My child and I await Your Highness's favor.

Written through tears by Eva."

"Heh."

With a flick of Qian Renxue's fingertips, the letter drifted lightly onto the desk.

"Still refusing to give up? Still acting?"

Looking at the words "written through tears," which seemed so heartfelt, she found them incomparably ironic.

Eva thought she was Xue Qinghe, so she was extremely confident about the child's parentage.

But she was not Xue Qinghe at all. She was Qian Renxue, heir to Spirit Hall's Six-Winged Angel.