CHAPTER 1195: CHAPTER 756: UNCHANGING MARK, BELATED DIVINE REVELATION

The candlelight was bright, illuminating the goddess’s side hall and the woman on the white bed groaning in pain. The faint smell of oil candles, the pungent smell of alcohol, the overwhelming scent of blood, the scent of anxious sweat, and the soothing aroma of divine smoke all mingled in the side hall, as if ominously enveloping fate.

The High Priest Itoya finished speaking in a low voice, glanced at His Highness’s reddened eyes, and then immediately lowered her head, silently. At this moment, a feeling of facing a dangerous beast surged in her heart, as if encountering a suffering and about to erupt jaguar in the deep of night.

Xiulote pursed his lips, clenched his fists, seemingly on the brink of an outburst, silently roaring for a long time. However, the terrifying eruption never came. After a while, the silent prince exhaled a long breath, letting out a painful sigh.

"Hoo! Fate! My child!..."

"Your Highness Xiulote?"

"High Priest Itoya, things have come to this... then please, you must protect my woman!"

"Ah? Witnessed by the Chief Divine! You want to choose the adult?"

Upon hearing this choice, High Priest Itoya’s face instantly showed a trace of shock. She hesitated for a while, cautiously asking again. Because the choice was of great importance, she had to obtain the prince’s verbal promise to avoid potential future recriminations.

"Your Highness... this child is a male baby, a bloodline of the royal family and yours. If you choose the adult, we would have to dismember this prince and sacrifice him to the goddess, then slowly extract his divinity... During this sacrificial process, the mother might bleed out and not make it. And even if she survives, she often loses the ability to conceive..."

High Priest Itoya advised carefully, suppressing her voice. Just a few steps away, Guard Commander Ecatl stood silently beside, always with his head bowed. Though his expression changed, he never uttered a word.

In practical terms, in the "snail shell", it is naturally more difficult to protect the adult than to directly cut open the abdomen and take the baby out. And in terms of post-operative risks, sacrificing a common woman is far safer compared to personally dismembering a noble royal bloodline. Traditionally, in other difficult childbirths High Priest Itoya had experienced, the great nobility usually chose to preserve the family bloodline...

"High Priest Itoya! This is my choice, and it is my royal decree! Would you defy my order?"

Xiulote interrupted sharply, his gaze becoming dangerous. High Priest Itoya met his eyes for just a moment and then immediately fell silent. She respectfully lowered her head, submitting with a promise.

"I follow your will, Your Highness! Since you choose to abandon the baby, we will give the mother the strong and precious obsidian knife water! Her pain will quickly ease, her whole body will relax, and the contractions will stop... With the goddess’s blessing, we will do our utmost to save your woman!"

"...Go and prepare!"

Only after hearing this promise did Xiulote nod. He waved for High Priest Itoya to prepare, while he continued to stand in place, silently watching the woman writhing in pain on the bed. However, the woman heard the recent shout and suddenly opened her eyes. She struggled to lift her head, looking at the prince standing far away, calling out laboriously.

"Your Highness... Your Highness!..."

"I am here, Nashu."

Hearing the woman’s call, Xiulote finally stepped forward a few steps, arriving by the woman’s side. He tightly pursed his lips, squatted down, and reached out to hold the woman’s pale right hand. Her hand was very light, very white, and gripped with great force, as if extending the intense pain of childbirth.

"Your Highness..."

"I am here! Don’t worry..."

Holding the woman’s hand, Xiulote’s voice turned gentle. His previously fierce eyes softened in an instant, patiently comforting the nearly exhausted woman.

"Just endure for a little while, the priest is preparing fresh anesthetic knife water. Once you take the knife water, you can have a good sleep. When you wake up, everything will be over..."

"Your Highness! No, don’t!"

Nashu’s pale hand suddenly clenched tight, even causing Xiulote to feel the pain. As a shadow slave trained by the priestess, she naturally knew the strength of the knife water. Once the contractions ceased, the baby would surely die... With this thought, Nashu shook her head with effort, her eyes showing deep pleading. Her weak voice was full of reluctance and a resolute willingness to sacrifice herself.

"Please... save... save... the child..."

"Want... want the child!"

"Your Highness, I... I am not important..."

"The child... important!..."

Hearing those words, Xiulote lowered his head, gazing at the bloodless, pleading woman. He tightly pressed his lips together, not speaking for a long time. Seeing this scene, High Priest Itoya’s expression flickered, and her actions to prepare the knife water paused. Guard Commander Ecatl slightly raised his head, looking toward the prince. Everyone was waiting, waiting for the prince’s response.

However, the expected response did not come. Xiulote looked at the pleading Nashu, his gaze deep and his eyes becoming profound. Xiulote knew this was a woman who could sacrifice everything for him. She regarded him as her only, always living in his shadow. Her sacrifice, at this moment, seemed rightful in the eyes of everyone...

This cruel era had changed him too much, making him more like a cold and ruthless king. Yet, some marks from the future were deeply engraved in his bones, stubbornly unwilling to change!

Xiulote remained silent for a moment before, in Nashu’s desperate gaze, shaking his head calmly and resolutely. Then, he turned his gaze, swept the people in the hall sternly, and whispered.

"Save her! Do not stop! Bring the knife water!"

Faced with the prince’s gaze, High Priest Itoya trembled instantly. Her actions quickened, swiftly preparing the obsidian knife water. To say it was preparation was actually to adjust the proportions, mixing the extracted magic trumpet flower, black feather jade, and mandragora juice with suitable herb powders, and for safety, High Priest Itoya also added the blood-stopping powder exclusively passed down among goddess priestesses.

"Your Highness, the knife water is ready..."

A moment later, High Priest Itoya approached respectfully, holding a small clay pot. Xiulote gently sniffed the familiar scent entering his nostrils, and his whole body relaxed. He nodded affirmatively, then held Nashu’s hand tighter, speaking softly.

"Nashu, be good! Open your mouth, don’t move, I’m going to feed you the anesthetic knife water!"

"Your Highness..."

At this moment, Nashu’s expression changed again, becoming complex and difficult to decipher. Despair, hope, pain, and acceptance all mixed together, causing her to shed tears silently. Then, the cool touch met her lips, and High Priest Itoya’s steady hands already held her jaw, bringing the clay pot to her mouth.

"No, you cannot come in!..."

"Get out of the way! We are acting on His Highness’s orders!"

At that moment, there were suddenly shouts of prevention from priestesses in the main hall outside, but the armored trusted aides did not hesitate, pushed aside the obstructing priestesses and strode to the alcove outside. Then, the wind-worn Shield Guard Ters rushed into the alcove, holding a long and uniquely-shaped "yellow brass weapon". He took two steps forward and knelt with a thud at the alcove’s entrance, reporting to His Highness.

"Your Highness! The instruments you ordered the craftsmen to create to assist childbirth have been made!"