Dragon Palace Home #10.

"Don't be so willful all the time and insist on doing whatever you want," Enrique Valdez said through the video call. His usually captivating eyes were now strict as he reminded his student to be more careful in the future. "I know that we're the creative kind of people who like doing our own thing, but there will be times when we'll have to temporarily stop and rebalance our personal lives first. You're pregnant now, Xiulan. It's not only your own body anymore that you need to take care but your baby as well."

"I understand, Teacher," Iris said in a humble tone, feeling like a child being scolded by an elder. She had no choice but to inform all her instructors about her pregnancy and the miscarriage scare. She couldn't hide it while constantly attending their virtual lessons in bed for the past few days.

Most of the time, Enrique Valdez was a man of few words but even he couldn't stop himself from scolding Iris this time for her carelessness after hearing what happened to her. Unlike everyone else who all blamed either Rose Young or even Jin Liwei for causing Iris' miscarriage scare, the legendary hitmaker didn't mince his words and directly chided his student, telling her that her actions that eventful night were her own responsibility and nobody else's.

Iris accepted her music mentor's scolding without any complaints. In fact, she felt relieved that someone finally placed the blame on her. Ever since she was ordered to stay in bed for at least half a month, guilt for endangering her and Jin Liwei's babies constantly plagued her.

Sure, it was Rose Young's evil plot against Jin Liwei that triggered all the unfortunate series of events that night, but Iris was still the one who lost control of her own emotions and recklessly tried returning to the hotel when her presence there wasn't really needed. As a matter of fact, she now realized that her presence at the hotel only served as a distraction to both her husband and big brother because they worried about her safety.

It was pure foolishness to do the things she did that night. Instead of using her brain, she allowed her extremely volatile emotions to cloud her judgment.

Sighing, she continued listening to her music mentor's harsh but sensible lecture on her foolishness. The more Enrique Valdez pointed out her mistakes, the lighter Iris felt. It was as if the weight of her guilt was gradually being lifted off her shoulders.

This wasn't a masochistic tendency but more of Iris treating her mentor's scolding as a catalyst to finally forgive herself and free her from the guilt.

"Thank you, Teacher. I know my mistakes. I'll make sure not to do them again."

Enrique Valdez's grave expression finally eased a little. His hazel eyes also gentled. He sighed. "Good that you know. Take a break from our collab project for now. There's no rush. I'll visit you soon. I'm looking forward to the birth of your child with Liam."

The mentor and student chatted for a bit longer before the video call ended. Iris put the tablet on the bedside table and adjusted her body into a more comfortable position on the bed.

"Meow," Ice Cream grumbled after being disturbed from her beauty sleep. But when she realized that it was her own mommy, her stare of death transformed into a cute expression and she began rubbing herself against her mommy while purring contentedly.

Iris smiled and petted her eldest cat daughter, enjoying the feel of Ice Cream's fluffy grey fur on her hands. It was only Ice Cream who was accompanying her at the moment.

Popcorn seemed to be playing with Little Jun somewhere in the mansion. Jiang Ying Yue was on duty.

Dom was busy representing Iris in the various events and meetings that she was unable to attend due to her bed rest. There were a ton of important matters that needed Iris' regular attention such as all her companies and some of the remaining commitments she had after leaving Bright Summit and starting LXC Studio with her husband and brother-in-law. Since she was not allowed to personally take care of these responsibilities, she had no choice but to send Dom on her behalf instead. Of course, the final decisions still rested on her after hearing Dom's reports.

As for Jin Liwei, her husband wasn't at home. He had to fly to another city using his private jet to attend an urgent business meeting involving a current construction project. He had to assess the problem in person to come up with the best solution. At first, he was unwilling to leave her but she persuaded him to go, especially since the problem sounded urgent.

She didn't want to hold him back from fulfilling his duties as the President-CEO of Jin Corporation just as much as she didn't want him holding her back from running her own companies. Besides, it was only supposed to be a daytrip anyway. He would be back home in no time.

"Mommy, mommy! Ketchup is detecting some major activity in my little kitty brother Bacon's system which indicates that he might possibly wake up very soon! The cuter and mightier Ketchup is super-duper to the highest level excited! Yay yay! Meow~"

Iris' eyes lit up and didn't notice Ice Cream's irritation at the sudden interruption. She immediately grabbed her tablet again and allowed Ketchup to take over it. Bacon's system program showed on the screen. Iris also became excited just like Ketchup.

Since she couldn't do it herself, Iris gave Ketchup several instructions instead to assist Bacon's approaching awakening. This was to help her cat AI son deal with the drastic change in his system after evolving into the true power flood. Iris wanted to create some new protective programs to seal a big portion of Bacon's new capabilities until he reached a certain level of skill and maturity but this plan needed to wait until after her bed rest.

She monitored the fluctuations in Bacon's system and guided Ketchup in controlling the activity within a safe level. Finally, after almost half an hour, all the fluctuations stopped and settled down.

Iris held her breath.

Then….

The tablet's screen flickered and a black cat appeared, his familiar golden eyes glowing brightly.

"Mother, Bacon is back."

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