I am the Main Character? No Thanks!: Chapter 41 (Volume 2)

Da Ling sat silently and worked on her cultivation halfheartedly.

Her mind lost in thought as the recent developments weighed heavily on her mind.

Suddenly, she felt another person sit down beside her silently.

Da Ling did not even have to look to know who it was since she was very familiar with the Qi of the person beside her.

“You have been avoiding me for some time now, Da Ling. Are you really that upset with me?”

“…No, Sister Lingxi. I am not angry at you.”

The empress of the Yin Long empire watched Da Ling, knowing what exactly was going through the mind of this little girl.

Hesitantly, she reached out and placed her hand on the girl’s head, making the child flinch a little before she relaxed.

“Are you worried that I will take your father away from you?”

Da Ling felt ashamed, for the empress had hit the nail on the head with her guess. It was this guilt and shame that made her avoid the woman that she had grown extremely close to in the past few months despite the happy occasion.

The empress guessed as much but did not blame the girl for her thoughts.

She silently took the nearly thirteen-year-old girl into her arms and cradled her to her body.

“Can you tell me why you are so worried about it? You know better than anyone what kind of man your father is, and you also know that I would never abandon those I consider my family.”

Da Ling felt hesitant, but her body had a mind of its own as her mouth ran before she could think things through.

“Back in the Capital, before Father found me, I heard talks about a boy that stayed in the slums before me.”

“They say that he was someone younger than me. Before I arrived in the capital with my mother, he was adopted by a rich merchant and his wife since they never had children of their own.”

“I heard that they wanted to groom him into an heir for their business. But, the madam of that family suddenly died and another woman became the Merchant’s wife.”

Da Ling started to shiver as memories long buried flooded to the forefront.

Despite being a powerful cultivator now, so strong that no mortal can ever hope to look her in the eye, the traumatic scene she had seen more than two years ago was still etched into her memory and made her shiver with terror.

Yin Lingxi felt Da Ling shiver in her arms, so she tightened her hold on the girl to comfort her.

“…The details of what happened afterward are not clear since no one in the slums knew about it. What is clear, is that the new madam gave birth to a son, and the one from before, the adopted one, became a hindrance.”

“Something must have happened, either the adopted son rebelled or the madam found him to be an eyesore. A few days after the child was born to the new madam, the adopted son’s body was found in the slums. The horrific state of his body….I can’t even imagine the pain he must have been in when he died.”

Yin Lingxi silently held on to the trembling Da Ling before she spoke with a slightly hurt voice.

“Do you think I will do the same to you? Despite knowing me so well?”

“NO!!”

Da Ling immediately shouted in reply to the empress’s words before embracing the older woman even tighter.

“I know you are not like that mortal woman, Sister Lingxi. If I thought you were such a woman, I would never have even allowed you near Father or let you into our lives. But, I cannot help but be afraid when thinking about what-ifs. I know that I am wrong for thinking like this, that I am questioning you and Father’s character with these thoughts, but I can’t help it, I am afraid. Afraid that I will lose the only family I have.”

Da Ling tried to shut out her powers, her ability to sense the emotions of those around her, but she still felt the storm of emotions within the older woman as Yin Lingxi stared into the distance at something that only she could see.

Slowly, the storm of emotions calmed as Da Ling felt three emotions dominate Yin Lingxi.

Blinding Love, Peerless Determination, and Overwhelming Protectiveness.

The older woman looked down at the young girl and spoke with a smile.

“Your fears, I understand them completely. It is normal for you to be afraid of such a thing. But, know this, Da Ling.”

“I, Yin Lingxi, swear to the heavens, I will never replace you. I will never look at you as a lesser even after I have children born of my flesh. In fact, I think I would end up loving you even more than I already do and even more than my biological children. Of course, I cannot be certain of it since it is in the future. But, I promise you this, I will never abandon you, I will never separate Da Wei from you, nor will I ever let you suffer any injustice.”

Yin Lingxi’s oath was instantly acknowledged by the heavens as thunder boomed in the distance, making Da Ling cry in both guilt and gratitude.

Yin Lingxi held onto the crying girl while the scene from her illusion in the secret realm, that beautiful nightmare she experienced, ran through her mind.

‘Yes. I will never abandon you, Da Ling. Should everything go according to my plan, you will be the most respected and revered princess of this empire soon enough. You may not ascend to the throne as I am bound by oath to never allow anyone on the throne that is not of my blood, but you will still have a status rivaling the ruler of this empire.’

‘This, I promise to you, my daughter.’