Sometime later, just a few hours before dusk, three people entered through the front door of the Zoller Estate. There were two boys and one girl. All three were very similar to one another, and it didn't take a genius to know that they were related.
They all had vibrant red hair, dark red eyes, sharp eyebrows, and were incredibly attractive. The three also wore similarly styled clothes, as they had just returned home from school.
The tallest one in the group was a boy who looked like he was 16 to 17 years old. He was about 175 centimeters tall with a relatively bulky build that resembled Cain Zoller's large muscular frame. His name was Adam Zoller, Cain and Elizabeth's eldest son.
The second boy was a bit shorter and younger than the first boy. He looked around 14-15 years of age, with a height of 165 centimeters and a lankier frame. He looked to be more of a studious and intelligent type rather than the brutish-looking guy next to him. His name was Nathan Zoller, Cain and Elizabeth's second son.
The last person, the little girl, looked no older than 11 years old. She was 145 centimeters tall, and one could already see she was a beauty in the making. She had a sweet and carefree smile on her face as she entered the building with her brothers. She was Olivia Zoller, Cain and Elizabeth's only daughter.
Olivia was the first to enter the estate while also announcing their presence to the rest of the family.
"Mom! Dad! We're home!"
The three of them soon heard footsteps coming in their direction, but they already knew who was coming toward them.
Just a few seconds later, Cain appeared in front of his children with a large smile as he gave each of them a hug.
"Welcome home. How was your day at school today?"
"Good!"
"Fine."
"Boring! Nobody wanted to play with me. I had to drag one of my friends along with me to play, but she got tired too fast, so we were forced to stop playing earlier than I would've liked."
Cain, Adam, and Nathan chuckled lightly at Olivia's antics. They knew why nobody wanted to play with her and couldn't help but feel pity towards the poor kid she ended up dragging along with her today.
Cain put his hand on his daughter's head and gave her a few pats before picking her up and putting her on his shoulder. He turned around to leave, but before he did, he left behind a few words for his two boys.
"Come to the living room after you unpack. Your mother and I have something important to share with the three of you."
Although his tone was light, Adam and Nathan could feel the power behind his words. The two of them narrowed their eyes slightly as their father rarely ever said the word "important" unless what he wanted to talk about affected the entire family.
"We'll be there soon, Father."
The two boys looked at each other, nodded, and went to their rooms to unpack and change into different pairs of clothes.
Cain watched his two boys hurry off to their rooms in slight amusement. He knew they misunderstood his words, but he didn't feel the need to correct them.
They'll find out soon, anyway. It was also just fun to watch his children acting all serious.
"Something important? Did something happen to Mommy?"
Cain almost forgot that Olivia was still on his shoulder and was slightly surprised by what she said.
'Is this what they call a woman's instinct? Well, she's only a child, so it isn't correct to call her a woman, but her instincts are quite good.'
Cain puffed out his chest in pride as he thought about how amazing his daughter was.
"You'll know in a few minutes. Just be patient, little one."
Olivia pouted but didn't say anything else. She was sure that something had happened to her Mommy, and from her Daddy's current attitude and reactions, it was something good. He definitely wouldn't be so carefree if something bad happened to her Mommy.
She put these matters to the back of her mind and decided to wait for whatever good news her parents wanted to share.
***
5 minutes later
In the living room of the Zoller Estate sat five people. Cain and Elizabeth were facing their three children with serious expressions. Adam and Nathan were both sweating as they thought something really bad must've happened for the two of them to look this serious.
Meanwhile, Olivia looked at this with a curious glint in her eyes. She was doing her best to read her parents' expressions, and although they did an amazing job hiding their true intentions, she didn't miss the overwhelming happiness in her Mother's eyes.
After a few seconds, the seemingly tense atmosphere was interrupted by Cain's voice.
"Your Mother is pregnant."
He said with a straight face, but then he couldn't help but break into a huge smile and start laughing loudly.
Adam and Nathan's faces froze for a few seconds before they turned red in shame and embarrassment.
They didn't know their Father meant that kind of 'important' news! With that said, their shame vanished when the news finally settled in, and they released large smiles.
"Congratulations!"
The two said joyfully before getting up and giving their mother a large hug.
Elizabeth returned the hug as tears glistened in the corner of her eyes. She felt so blessed to have such sweet children.
On the other hand, Olivia was shocked by the news before her eyes turned into stars at the possibility of her no longer being the youngest.
"Does that mean I'm going to be an Older Sister?!"
The little girl leaped up from the couch with shining eyes as she stared at her Mother's belly.
Elizabeth saw how excited her daughter was and chuckled.
"Yes, you're going to be an Older Sister now. I'll be relying on you to help take care of your little sibling."
"Don't worry, Mommy! I won't let anyone bully my little sibling! Only I have the right to bully-ahem play with my little sibling! That's my right as an older sister!"
Everyone staggered when they heard Olivia's reply and didn't know what to say. They all looked at her with bewildered expressions. They only had one thought when they looked at her innocent expression:
'Is she really that bored?'
Elizabeth was the first to react and looked at her cute and innocent daughter with a faint smile…
Then she lightly flicked her forehead.
Ouch!
"Silly girl. It's fine to play with your new sibling, but I hope you will respect their boundaries if they don't want to play with you. I don't want a rift to form between any of you kids because of something like that."
Elizabeth then gently caressed her daughter's head.
"I know, Mom. I was just excited that I will no longer be the youngest."
"It's good that you know."
Elizabeth gave Olivia a satisfied smile and stopped caressing her head. The rest of the family had wry smiles on their faces as they looked at this scene and soon shook their heads. The five of them continued to talk for some time, but there wasn't anything noteworthy that happened after that.
Adam and Nathan didn't have much to say other than congratulations to their parents. While they were excited to have a new sibling, it would still be a while before the child was born, and with their Father there, nothing would happen to their Mother.
They've already been through this before when Elizabeth was pregnant with Olivia, and they saw just how protective their Father was towards their Mother during that time.
He basically never left her side! No, it would be more accurate to say that he literally never left her side!
Olivia was different and couldn't contain her excitement… Until they told her, it would take around 9 months for the baby to be born. Her excitement instantly deflated when she heard that. 9 months?! That was almost a whole year! Who knows what kind of stuff will happen between now and then?
Just thinking about that possibility made her want to cry.
Olivia ended the conversation with her parents in a sullen mood as she walked back to her room to finish her homework.
Then, from that day on, the family carried on like normal except for a few 'minor' differences—one of those 'differences' being Cain.
The man never left his wife! He cooked her high-nutrition food. He would ensure she was always comfortable when sitting or lying down. He wouldn't let anyone other than his immediate family near her. And he would even give her regular massages!
Not only that, but the man stopped working. Naturally, he got quite a few complaints, but he just told them:
"My wife is pregnant, so get someone else to do it!"
He was uncompromising, and it's not like others could force him to do his work. Hell, even the King had to give him some face. Partly because he was strong, and there was absolutely no benefit in fighting Cain.
Still, it's mostly his and the Zoller Household's contributions to Elysium that allowed him to get away with such behavior.
Plus, it's not like his work would affect Elysium's day-to-day operations, so the King and the Upper Echelons of the Country just let him do as he pleases.
It'll take him a while to catch up on his work after the baby is born, but for now, it was best not to get on his bad side.
Months soon started to pass, and before anyone in the Zoller Household knew it, nearly 5 months had already gone by.
Elizabeth's belly had already expanded, and it would only take a glance to know that she was pregnant. She has been getting regular check-ups with the Doctor, at her husband's request, and knew that her baby was incredibly healthy.
However, on this particular day, Elizabeth noticed something strange happening to her baby. She didn't know what it was, but something was telling her that something was going on with her baby. She's always trusted her instincts and decided to check it out herself before alerting the doctor. Without wasting any more time, she sent her consciousness into her body to check out her baby.
Almost all cultivators can send their consciousness into their bodies, so this wasn't difficult for Elizabeth.
Truthfully, she didn't even need to have a doctor do check-ups on her, but her overprotective Husband made her do so on the off chance there was something she missed.
Soon, her consciousness reached her baby, and she did a quick scan, not finding anything wrong. She wondered if maybe she was just being paranoid and almost retracted her consciousness before her instincts told her that something was really happening to her baby.
So, once again, she scanned her baby, but this time more in-depth, and was shocked by what she found.