The night color spread like thick ink, and only the warm glow at the top of the West Tower flickered slightly in the cold wind.
In the rear garden of the Palace, the originally desolate land had now been divided into different areas by neat fences.
Six-year-old Hailey was currently draped in a thick coat sewn from scraps of fur and old linen, holding a dim oil lamp in her hand.
Since the day she was saved by Sophia at the alley entrance and settled in the West Tower, this child who had escaped death demonstrated surprising diligence.
Although she still did not speak much and appeared rather inferior and timid, she was unambiguous when it came to working.
She was like an alert little squirrel, carefully tending to those two piglets every day, even curling up in the haystack next to the pigsty to sleep.
Irene had seen this a few times; she wouldn't go back to her room to sleep even when told to.
For her, this was not just work; it was her only reliance in this cold world.
"Grunt... Grunt..."
The piglets were sleeping soundly, but Hailey was awakened by a burst of low, suppressed groans of pain coming from next door.
That was where the two precious Leighton milk cows were.
Hailey carried the lamp, her small body shrinking into a ball in the cold wind as she nervously walked toward the cow shed.
Under the dim light, she saw that the slightly larger milk cow was irritably circling in place, occasionally letting out heavy and painful 'moos', its breathing as rapid as a broken bellows.
"Moo-cow, what is wrong with you?"
Hailey's heart instantly leaped to her throat.
In her understanding, these two cows were the treasures that 'That Majesty' valued most.
She did not understand what childbirth was, nor did she know that these two cows were already pregnant when they were exchanged.
She only saw the cow in pain, sweating, and struggling.
"Are you hungry?"
Hailey spoke with a crying tone, clumsily running back to the fodder room and hugging a large pile of grass mixed with fine bean dregs.
She held the fodder up to the milk cow's mouth.
Although the milk cow subconsciously chewed a mouthful, a violent labor pain immediately struck its abdomen, causing it to let out a miserable scream that was even sharper and louder than before, flinging the fodder in its mouth straight out.
Hailey was so scared she sat down on the ground, the oil lamp nearly extinguishing.
"Did... did I feed it until it got sick?"
Fear instantly corroded her entire body.
She thought of those heads hung on the city walls, thought of those bandits who were branded.
If these two cows, known as 'hope', died because of her, would that Big Sister who saved her reveal a look of disappointment toward her?
"Help, someone save the Moo-cow."
Hailey wiped away a handful of tears. She didn't even care to put her shoes on properly, running barefoot on the cold stone road, trying to find the soldiers who frequently patrolled this area.
*
At this moment, Sophia was draped in a heavy black velvet cloak, intending to take advantage of the quiet night to go to the West Tower and discuss the progress of the potato sprouting with Irene.
"Two o'clock in the middle of the night. This damn biological clock.
"Irene said the potatoes have already sprouted green shoots the size of fingernails. I have to see it with my own eyes to be able to fall asleep.
"After all, that isn't just potatoes. That is french fries, that is shredded potatoes with vinegar, that is my entire empire..."
Sophia rubbed the corners of her eyes, which were a bit dry and astringent. Just as she was holding the railing to go down the steps, suddenly, a thin figure smelling of dry grass crashed headfirst into her arms.
Ouch!
Sophia was knocked back half a step, a dull pain throbbing where she was hit.
She subconsciously wanted to frown, but her long-term habit of facial paralysis caused her to merely lower her eyelids coldly.
"Who?"
The cold, clear voice sounded like a block of ice hitting the ground in the night.
Hailey fell to the ground and looked up.
Although the other person was covered in a black cloak, those pupils shining with faint golden light under the moon, the flying silver hair, and that unique, pleasant scent made her recognize her instantly.
"Big Sister!"
Hailey seemed to have grabbed the last straw. She fiercely lunged forward and hugged Sophia's skirt, smearing tears and snot all over it:
"I beg you, save the Moo-cow!
"Hailey fed it grass, but it screamed so fiercely! It looks like it is going to die!
"It is all my mistake. Punish me, but I beg you to save it! That is the cow Her Majesty values most!"
Sophia looked down at this little girl who was crying to the point of breathlessness, then listened to the bursts of cow calls coming from the distance. Her pale golden pupils contracted slightly.
This child seems to not know who I am yet; she only remembers that I am the Big Sister who saved her and gave her wheat cakes.
"Screaming miserably? Can't eat? And sweating?"
Sophia's brain operated at high speed.
Sick? That should be unlikely.
Wait, when the Queen of Leighton sent the cows, she seemed to have mentioned that these two cows were excellent breeding cows that had just been mated.
Combining that with the rhythm and frequency of this call... this isn't sickness, isn't this about to give birth?
Sophia's inner heart instantly switched to carnival mode.
Milk cow giving birth!
Is this what they call 'buy one, get one free'?
Originally there were only two cows. If this is born, the scale of my dairy product factory will directly expand by 50%!
Moreover, if there is a bull among the calves born, then I can breed them myself in the future.
Although her heart was already thinking about the joy of double cream, the gaze with which Sophia looked down at Hailey remained severe.
She extended that fair and slender hand, gently pressing it on the top of Hailey's head, stopping her wailing.
"Stop crying."
Sophia's voice remained steady without a single ripple.
"Lead the way."
When Sophia arrived at the cow shed, Irene and Willow had also been awakened by the commotion and were rushing over carrying lamps.
"Your Majesty! Why are you here?"
Irene looked at Sophia, then looked at the milk cow that was lying on its side on the ground with its abdomen heaving violently, and instantly understood.
"This is bad! Is it sick? or difficult labor?
"I haven't studied veterinary medicine!"
Willow was also spinning around in anxiety:
"What can be done? This is Her Majesty's most precious treasure."
Sophia stood quietly in the center of the cow shed.
The black cloak flapped loudly in the night wind. Her figure appeared exceptionally tall and unfathomable under the dim firelight.
Hailey shrank into the corner, tightly clutching the crumbs of a wheat cake, looking at this Big Sister in terror.
"Irene."
Sophia spoke coldly.
"Go to the West Tower and fetch those few pieces of sterilized cooked leather I asked you to prepare before, and that basin of boiled warm water."
"Ah?" Irene froze for a moment.
"Your Majesty, what are you going to do?"
Sophia approached the milk cow, commanding calmly.
Although she had never done these things, in her past life, she would often scroll through short videos. She had seen all kinds of videos about trimming cow hooves, trimming horse hooves, animal midwifery, camping, and so on.
Therefore, knowing some general methods, Willow proceeded slowly according to Sophia's words.
Half an hour later.
With a wet, tender 'moo', a calf covered in mucus and wobbling unsteadily fell onto the soft haystack.
Willow used the leather to cushion her hands and gently pushed the calf toward the mother cow.
The big cow gently licked its own child. That radiance of motherhood appeared unusually holy in the dim cow shed.
Willow stood up, took a wet towel, and wiped the bloodstains from her fingers one by one.
Sophia, standing to the side, finally relaxed her mood.
Exhausted me to death.
Although I was just standing to the side directing Irene and Willow to do the work, that sense of tension was simply more deadly than facing that assassin.
However... Little Milk Cow, grow up quickly. In the future, you are my milk supplier.
________________________________________
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