"A bit too enthusiastic."
Returning home smelling of alcohol, Artoria received a warm welcome from Frigga and the admiration of the Asgardian elites for her strength. Artoria had drunk quite a lot, but fortunately, her Dragon Bloodline prevented her from getting drunk easily. Drinking a full vat of Asgardian spirits only slightly raised her body temperature without any signs of intoxication, which left Frigga feeling a bit disappointed in secret. Her plan to get Artoria drunk so she would stay in Asgard seemed to have completely failed. She couldn't understand why a girl could drink so much. After finishing the drinks, Artoria took her reward from Odin and ran off immediately, giving Frigga no chance to persuade her to stay.
"You're back?"
As soon as Artoria returned, she was embraced by a soft pair of arms; it was Gaea. Having already coaxed Mordred to sleep, Gaea was bored and watching TV when she saw Artoria return. Gaea quickly stepped forward and hugged Artoria from behind, speaking in a gentle, slightly coquettish whisper. Gaea was very concerned about Artoria's safety; from the start, she had tried her best to stop Artoria from being taken away by that Asgardian guardian. In the end, Artoria had to convince her, otherwise that fellow would have definitely had more than he could handle. Gaea wouldn't treat Asgardians kindly just because of Odin.
"I'm back."
Facing Gaea's temptation, Artoria smiled and patted Gaea's hands wrapped around her slender waist, signaling her to let go. She hadn't eaten much just now and wanted to eat more. After all, being in a stranger's territory, Artoria felt a bit constrained. Hearing Artoria's words, Gaea let go somewhat reluctantly. She had thought they could have a wonderful night together, but it seemed her charm had declined lately if she couldn't even tempt a little girl; she felt she needed some maintenance. Artoria didn't know Gaea's thoughts and didn't want to know. She was very hungry. Although with the Holy Grail, Artoria's energy was gradually becoming sufficient for her bloodline's evolution and she didn't need such low-level energy intake, for some reason, she just wanted to eat. It might be a craving rather than actual hunger.
"Has she been growing a bit fast lately?"
While taking food from the fridge, Artoria pressed a button inside. The maid on duty saw the alarm go off in the room and quickly got up to contact the chef on duty. The stoves were lit instantly. Was it time for the chefs to suffer again? Although they didn't know how many people the boss was inviting to dinner, they were only responsible for cooking. Even if they collapsed from exhaustion, they would be well compensated. If it wasn't for the high salary, who would come here to suffer!
Artoria, who was opening a snack to have some pre-meal dessert, suddenly noticed Mordred in the cradle. She realized this little girl seemed to have grown a bit since she first started 'raising' her. She wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but Artoria felt Mordred had indeed grown. Artoria frowned and glanced at Gaea. Had this woman given the girl some elixir or hormones? How could she have such growth in less than half a month? I didn't grow this fast when I was little! Artoria looked at Gaea suspiciously.
"I didn't use divine power to force her growth, I swear I didn't."
Seeing Artoria looking at her like that, how could Gaea not understand her meaning? She was actually curious as well, as Mordred's growth really violated the rules of human development; even dragons didn't seem to grow like this. Could it be that fate had bestowed a responsibility upon her, causing Mordred to grow so quickly? Thinking of this, Gaea seemed to understand something, but she didn't plan to tell Artoria. So she just said that. After all, it was her own child; how could she use a method that would overdraw the child's potential? Mordred's growth was a natural result.
"I'm not... forget it, maybe this child is just the exceptionally gifted type."
Since Gaea said so, Artoria was relieved. The suspicion in her eyes faded and she wanted to explain, but thinking that an explanation is just a cover-up and a cover-up is just the truth, Artoria gave up. Even if there was a misunderstanding, it didn't matter; it was all for the child's health, and Artoria's questioning was justifiable. Gaea would understand. Artoria sighed inwardly, gently rubbed Mordred's little head, and left the room. She stopped eating snacks; she was going to have a feast. As for Gaea's cooking, Artoria didn't dare try it at all; that would truly be lethal.
"The embryos are complete. Now it just needs some time. We can't use cloning growth Special Agents, otherwise it will overdraw the babies' lives. This is a mistake I've made before, and I can't make it again."
While Artoria was eating delicious food, Galacta and Morgan were in the lab, finally completing the initial research. Morgan repeated the steps she used when creating Mordred, but this time she didn't dare add those Special Agents that exchanged growth for life. She had made that mistake once and didn't want to do it again. She also explained her methods and techniques to Galacta, hoping that one day Galacta could perfect this technology. After all, this technology could solve the troubles of families without children. A home without children or elders cannot be called a home. The main issue was the children. Galacta's purpose might be different from hers, but both were for the sake of children. Morgan wanted an heir who could help Artoria, while Galacta just wanted a cute child to 'play' with. But they both couldn't bypass one person: Artoria.
"Oh! So that's how cute little babies come to be, but they look so ugly like this!"
It was unclear if Galacta had really listened to Morgan, but her large purple eyes stared curiously at the two embryos. Although Artoria's scent made these two embryos smell delicious, Galacta held back. Thinking of Gaea's little baby Mordred and then looking at the two lumps of flesh before her, Galacta felt a bit disappointed. Babies like this weren't cute at all.
"They need to grow for a while first, don't be in a hurry."
Morgan spoke like a big sister, comforting Galacta. After spending time together, Morgan had come to understand Galacta's foodie nature. She was a very cute little girl with a very simple mind, much easier to deal with than Gaea. As long as she cooked a few meals, this little girl would trust her without hesitation. She was so simple that Morgan felt a bit guilty and didn't want to deceive her. So even if Morgan kept some things hidden, she didn't plan to tell the girl why she was helping her.
"Will they really grow up to be very cute?"
Galacta looked away from the two embryos and asked Morgan curiously. This made Morgan speechless. These were just cellular larvae; what exactly was she expecting? No matter how beautiful a creature is, don't they all look the same as embryos? Unless the other party is born fully formed, how could there be any sense of beauty? Morgan was exceptionally speechless at Galacta's childish behavior, but had no choice but to explain it properly. However, Galacta only had a father and no mother, and was a product of her father's asexual reproduction; her education had been provided by her father's quantum computer, so she completely lacked an understanding of biological reproduction.
"Go find Artoria! Let her explain it to you properly."
Tired of explaining, Morgan didn't want to say any more to Galacta and directly passed the buck to her sister. She felt a headache coming on just looking at this girl. Even the young Mordred was much better than her; Mordred didn't have so many questions, and once taught, she understood and wouldn't ask so many stupid questions. Hearing Morgan's words, Galacta's eyes lit up, and she vanished from the lab, leaving Morgan to watch over the growth of the two embryos.
"Artoria, what is 'beep (censored)' love?"
"Pfft!"
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