Pregnant Cultivator, Doted by Big Boss

But it was only natural for them to be happy, now that their soul bodies had returned to their physical ones.

The siblings’ soul bodies had been separated from their bodies for two years, and now they had finally returned. They felt as though they had survived a great ordeal. After embracing, they looked up at Celeste Grant, their faces filled with gratitude.

Cora Ainsworth took his sister by the arm and knelt before Celeste Grant.

"My sister and I thank the Princess Consort for saving our lives."

Clara Ainsworth followed suit, kneeling as well.

"This humble girl, Clara, thanks the Princess Consort for saving my life."

Cora Ainsworth spoke up. "From now on, our lives belong to the Princess Consort. We swear to serve you faithfully until death."

Celeste Grant waved her hand dismissively. She glanced at them and said in a low voice, "Get up. I have no need for you to die for me. Just live your lives well from now on."

The two were deeply grateful.

"Thank you, Princess Consort."

"Thank you, Princess Consort."

After the siblings rose from the floor, they were still acclimating to their bodies.

’To have been wandering souls for two years, and now to feel our feet on the ground again, to breathe fresh air... This feeling of being grounded is just incredible! This is what it means to truly be alive.’

Celeste Grant averted her gaze from them, her focus returning to the two masses of black mist in her hand. Within the barrier hovering above her open palm, the two masses of mist darted about, struggling to escape her grasp.

A voice emerged from the two masses of black mist.

"Let us go, you treacherous woman! Do you have any idea who we are? We won’t let you get away with this once we’re out."

"That’s right! We won’t spare any of you, you pathetic ants!"

The two masses of black mist traded threats, their voices sharp. But unfortunately for them, their power was lacking. They couldn’t even break the barrier in her hand, let alone pose a threat to Celeste Grant.

Seeing that these two things were still acting so arrogantly, Celeste Grant sneered. "Feeling bold, are we?"

As she spoke, she gave her hand a slight upward push.

At that moment, the spherical barrier she had formed flew up from her palm, hovering in the air before her. Her eyes fixed on the black mist within it.

She gave a slight smile, which then vanished as she spoke. "I don’t know what you things are, but if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s people acting arrogantly in front of me."

As she spoke, she casually lifted her hand and, with a few flicks of her wrist, sent several slaps their way. She was using magic to strike them from a distance.

"AHHHH... Stop! Stop it!"

"How dare you hit me... AHHH..."

Celeste Grant continued to slap them, and the two masses of mist inside the barrier shrieked in agony. Finally, their cries turned to pleas for mercy.

"Stop hitting us! Please, stop!"

"It hurts too much! I’m begging you, please stop! Any more and we’ll be completely wiped out! Who in the world are you?"

Celeste Grant paused and chuckled. "Begging for mercy already? I much preferred you when you were acting so arrogant a moment ago."

The moment she finished speaking, the two masses of mist hastily replied, "No, no... We wouldn’t dare!"

Celeste Grant shot the mist a glance. "Now, are you ready to tell me what you are?"

But upon hearing her question, the two masses of black mist clammed up, determined to keep their secret no matter what.

"We can’t say."

"That’s right... We can’t say. We can’t say it, even if it means death."

Celeste Grant let out a soft "Oh?" "Is that so? Well then, I suppose there’s no use in keeping you around." As she spoke, she began to gather power in her hand.

Sensing the danger, the two masses of black mist hastily cried out.

"Wait, wait... Stop... I’ll talk! I’ll talk, okay? Let’s talk this over, we can talk this over!"

’It seems everything is afraid of death,’ she thought.

"Then talk."

"You... let us go first."

"Yes! We have our dignity! You have to get rid of this barrier first. It’s too cramped in here; we bump into the sides if we so much as twitch."

Celeste Grant rolled her eyes. ’These two seem a bit dim-witted.’ Still, with her level of cultivation, she could easily recapture them even if she let them go. She wasn’t worried about them escaping.

She gave a light flick of her finger, and the barrier imprisoning the two masses of mist vanished. Simultaneously, the two masses of mist fell to the ground and revealed their true forms.

Even Celeste Grant couldn’t help but stare, momentarily stunned, at the creatures that had revealed their true forms. She watched them for a good long while, surprised that such strange beings existed in the world.

How to even describe them? They were two half-meter-tall wintergourds—and that wasn’t a metaphor. They literally looked like two upright, walking wintergourds. Their bodies were pitch-black, with a pair of long, thin legs poking out from the bottom. They had eyes and mouths on their "heads," and even slender little arms, though their hands were merely two-pronged claws that served as fingers.

Although Celeste Grant was surprised by their actual appearance, her life of cultivation had taught her to accept almost anything. So, she didn’t find the sight completely preposterous.

Looking at the two figures standing before her, only one word came to Celeste Grant’s mind: wintergourd.

"Wintergourd..."

The moment she spoke that word, her mind was subconsciously flooded with a series of recipes: stir-fried wintergourd, wintergourd and pork rib soup, wintergourd with stir-fried pork, braised wintergourd... ’All delicious,’ she mused. ’I just wonder if these things taste the same.’

The siblings standing to one side stared wide-eyed at the fiends before them. ’Are those... wintergourds?’ They scanned the two creatures from top to bottom, their gazes finally landing on the spindly, thumb-thick legs.

’So the black mist could change shape... No, this must be their true form.’

For a moment, Clara Ainsworth forgot to be afraid. She glanced at the two wintergourds, then looked to her brother beside her. "Brother... are those wintergourds that have become sentient?"

Hearing this, Cora Ainsworth swallowed hard. ’So it wasn’t just me who thought they looked like wintergourds. The things that possessed our bodies really are fiends born from wintergourds.’

"They certainly do look like wintergourds," he murmured.

’Heavens knew he was just an ordinary commoner. How did he ever get mixed up with creatures like these?’

Just then, the two figures began to speak.

One of them, in a hoarse, grating voice, spoke with a smug laugh. "Stunned by my handsome appearance, are we? I knew it. With a figure and face like mine, my charm is impossible to hide. After all, I’m quite popular among my people. It’s no surprise that you’d fall for me."

The corner of Celeste Grant’s mouth twitched.

’These two wintergourds? Handsome?’ Celeste Grant felt she couldn’t even form an opinion; this was a cross-species issue, after all. ’This is just too awkward. I don’t want to listen to any more of their nonsense.’

"Enough nonsense. What exactly are you?"