Lu Xia hadn’t expected Lan Ya to be so loose-lipped, saying whatever came to mind. It made her feel a bit awkward.

Picking up the meal box Graces had brought, she spoke, feigning a casual tone. "That’s just her personality. Don’t take it to heart."

"Mm, I know." Graces’s voice sounded calm, as if Lan Ya’s words hadn’t affected him at all, which made Lu Xia breathe a sigh of relief. "How did you get off work so early today?"

"It hasn’t been very busy lately, so I could leave early." He didn’t elaborate on the specifics. Watching Lu Xia eat the meal he had cooked himself, his eyes shimmered with gentleness. "How is it? To your liking?"

"It’s delicious. Actually, you don’t have to cook every day. We have a chef at home..."

"I know, but I want to do things for you." Graces suddenly cut her off, expressing his feelings so directly that it took Lu Xia by surprise. Then, it occurred to her that he was probably doing this for the child in her belly, and it seemed normal again. She nodded and said no more.

But honestly, Graces’s cooking was quite good.

After eating, Lu Xia’s sleepiness returned. She had been like this lately—getting drowsy and tired very easily.

After a quick wipe of her mouth, Lu Xia started to get up to go lie down in the lounge. But just as she moved, Graces suddenly reached out. "You missed a spot here."

As he spoke, he was already wiping the corner of her lips clean.

The sudden gesture stunned Lu Xia for a moment. She blinked, feeling a little strange about it. But when she looked up at the man’s impassive face, she wondered if she was just overthinking things. "Thank you. I’m going to go lie down for a bit. If there’s nothing else, you can head home first."

Without another glance at Graces, she walked straight to the lounge, thus failing to notice the slight curve of his lips.

’It’s not my imagination,’ he realized. ’The little female before me hasn’t put up her defenses.’

In truth, the Empire’s perception of males was not wrong. They were a greedy bunch. Give them an inch, and they’d take a mile. He was no exception.

Graces didn’t leave early as Lu Xia had suggested. Instead, he sat down to wait for her to wake up so they could go home together.

Lu Xia slept very deeply. When she woke, she was still a bit dazed, forgetting where she was. Once she was fully awake and tried to get out of bed, a wave of dizziness and a sharp pain in her abdomen made her break out in a cold sweat.

Graces, who was waiting outside, heard a sound from the lounge. His eyes snapped open, and he rose and went to the door. "Are you all right?"

"Graces..." Lu Xia’s call was not loud, but it was enough for Graces to hear.

The man didn’t hesitate, pushing the door open and rushing inside.

When he saw Lu Xia curled up on the bed, her face pale and etched with undeniable pain, Graces panicked. He swept her into his arms. "Where does it hurt?"

Just as he finished speaking, the terminal on Lu Xia’s wrist began to ring. The name "Doctor Eugene" appeared on the screen.

Graces realized what was happening and quickly answered the call. The voice on the other end said, "Duke Lu Xia, I’m detecting an anomaly in your physical condition. Are you all right?"

"She’s not doing well. Can you come over right away?" Graces quickly described Lu Xia’s current state. "She seems to be in a lot of pain."

"In this situation, it would be best to bring her to the hospital for a full system check-up. Her condition is unprecedented, and we have very little reference data to draw from." Without test results, Eugene couldn’t make a diagnosis, let alone begin treatment.

Graces wasted no time. Gazing at the little female, her brow furrowed in agony, he said decisively, "We’re on our way."

The moment he hung up, he found a blanket, wrapped Lu Xia tightly in it, and carried her as he sped out of the No. 1 Institute.

Before leaving, he had already contacted the old butler to have the hovercar ready.

The old butler was startled to suddenly see Graces carrying a pale-faced Lu Xia in his arms. "What happened? Wasn’t she just fine a moment ago?"

"I don’t know. We won’t know for sure until she’s been seen at the hospital. You know where Doctor Eugene is, right? Get us there now, hurry!"

"Oh, oh, right!" It all happened so suddenly that the old butler didn’t even notice the complete shift in Graces’s aura.

It was an unconcealable dominance that one could not—and dared not—refuse.

If the old butler hadn’t been so blindsided by the incident, he would have realized that such a commanding presence shouldn’t belong to a "defective" male who had endured so much torment.

The hovercar sped toward the hospital.

From the moment he received the message, Eugene had been preparing. As soon as they arrived, he immediately started running a battery of tests on Lu Xia.

By this point, Lu Xia had already lost consciousness from the pain.

Lu Xia was not far along in her pregnancy, and her belly wasn’t showing yet. If you didn’t know, you would never guess she was pregnant.

While waiting for the test results, Eugene questioned the old butler in detail about Lu Xia’s recent situation. When he learned that Graces was the child’s Male Father, even someone as experienced as him was stunned into silence.

Finally, in a very uncertain tone, he asked, "Mr. Graces, my apologies for being so rude, but I must ask... you are a non-Gene Fusion Expert, correct?"

Eugene’s question was phrased very gently. He hadn’t directly asked if Graces was a "defective" male, instead using the term "non-Gene Fusion Expert" to afford Graces a measure of respect.

Graces nodded without hesitation. "Yes."

His answer was crisp and direct, with no hint of hesitation or concealment. After speaking, as if he understood why Eugene was asking, Graces quickly posed a question of his own: "Does my condition have any effect on my Female Master’s current situation?"

He was now worried that his own issues were the cause of Lu Xia’s suffering.

Eugene hadn’t expected Graces to ask that. He was still reeling from the shock: the Male Father of the child in Lu Xia’s womb was a "defective" male. This completely contradicted his initial assumptions.

After all, given Lu Xia’s status, even if she wanted a child, she would never choose to have one with a "defective" male. That was why, when he first learned that Lu Xia had conceived naturally, his immediate assumption was that her other half must be a male with an extremely high gene fusion degree to have created such a miracle.

But now, Graces’s appearance had completely overturned his previous speculations and given him a shock he was completely unprepared for. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Duke Lu Xia was carrying the offspring of a "defective" male. If the people at the Fertility Research Institute found out, their jaws would drop in shock!

A successful natural conception was already of immense research value, to say nothing of the fact that Lu Xia was carrying the offspring of a "defective" male. After all, everyone knew that "defective" males were completely infertile.