Chapter 64: I Want Freedom

“Mother? Why are you here?”

Pushing the door open and stepping inside, Murong Fanghua was surprised to see her mother standing by the bed.

“Ah?!”

“I…”

Murong Qingning panicked slightly. Why had her daughter arrived so suddenly? Shouldn’t she be in the bridal suite completing her wedding night right now?

“Ye Feng… what happened to him?”

Catching sight of Ye Feng lying pale on the bed, Murong Fanghua rushed over immediately. She reached out and touched his abdomen through the sheets—the high, swollen bump was gone.

“He… just finished giving birth.”

“Given birth? When?! Why didn’t anyone inform me?!”

“Well… you were right in the middle of hosting your wedding ceremony, and it wasn’t easy for you to step away. So I told them not to interrupt you and came over to look after him myself.”

As a seasoned sovereign, Murong Qingning quickly smoothed over her initial panic, her tone regaining its smooth, composed authority.

“I…”

Murong Fanghua gently stroked Ye Feng’s flattened stomach over the duvet. Childbirth was such a massive moment in his life—she should have been right beside him.

Standing on the other side of the bed, Guen felt a heavy wave of self-reproach as well. As Ye Feng’s best friend, he felt he ought to have been there for him too.

“He just went through labor and needs total rest. You two… should get some rest as well. I’ll take my leave first.”

Offering a casual word of advice, Murong Qingning turned and left the room with quick, hurried steps.

“My baby… Where is my baby?! Where did they take my baby?!”

The second Ye Feng regained consciousness, his first instinct was to search for his child. That baby was his entire world now.

Dozing off by the edge of the mattress, Murong Fanghua was startled awake by his frantic commotion.

“What’s wrong? What happened?!”

“My child! I want my baby! Where is my baby?!”

“Wait, don’t panic! I’ll go get the baby right now!”

Soothing him as best she could, Murong Fanghua bolted out of the room to retrieve the infant. She had no idea what had happened to him—he looked completely unhinged.

He looked like a madman driven to the absolute brink!

It was only when the swaddled newborn was safely placed back into his arms that Ye Feng finally quieted down. A gentle, tender smile touched his pale lips as a sense of deep, absolute peace washed over him.

“Are… are you alright?”

Watching him cradle the infant so fiercely, Murong Fanghua felt completely at a loss. She couldn’t comprehend how a simple childbirth could suddenly alter his entire mental state so drastically.

Yet Ye Feng ignored her completely; his entire universe narrowed down to the tiny life in his arms.

A sharp, stabbing pain pierced Murong Fanghua’s chest as she watched them.

“Why…? Why are you acting like this?!”

She reached out and grabbed his arm, desperate for an answer.

Yet what broke her heart even further was the sheer, hopeless despair filling his eyes as he looked up at her—a hollow gaze of someone who had lost every reason to live.

Why? Everything was perfectly fine yesterday! What on earth happened while I was gone?!

Shaking her head in disbelief, Murong Fanghua backed out of the room to confront the attending physicians.

“Your Highness, please rest assured. This is a very classic case of postpartum anxiety. It’s just…”

“Just what?!”

“It’s exceptionally severe, and its onset was far too sudden. However, with plenty of deep rest, he should gradually recover.”

Hearing the medical prognosis failed to ease Murong Fanghua’s panic—Ye Feng’s frantic state was simply too terrifying to watch.

The head doctor was equally puzzled. Standard postpartum anxiety rarely presented with such extreme, sudden mental breakdown unless the patient had suffered catastrophic psychological trauma right around the time of labor.

Returning to the suite, Murong Fanghua watched Ye Feng clutching the baby as if his life depended on it. Gritting her teeth, she pulled out her phone.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered softly.

She tapped the screen, activating a specific music file.

The moment the rhythmic melody echoed through the room, Ye Feng’s pupils dilated violently. He looked up at Murong Fanghua in sheer disbelief, his heart plummeting into an even deeper abyss of despair.

Moving with practiced swiftness, Murong Fanghua caught the baby from his loosening grip before he slipped under.

Once she confirmed he was fast asleep, she let out a heavy sigh. She hadn’t wanted to resort to this, but in his unstable condition, he was physically incapable of getting the rest his body desperately needed.

It was her only option—she could only hope he wouldn’t hate her for it.

“Where did Master go…?”

Opening his eyes, the secondary personality looked around in confusion. This wasn’t the master bedroom he shared with her, nor was Master anywhere in sight.

He tried to scramble out of bed to search for her, but a sharp, agonizing tearing pain in his lower body forced him to collapse back onto the mattress.

He could only lie there helplessly, his eyes wide and tearful, desperately wishing for Master to walk through the door.

By the next morning, when Ye Feng’s main consciousness woke up, his physical state had stabilized somewhat.

Yet his spirit remained entirely broken. He had naively believed Murong Fanghua would never use that conditioning music on him again—how foolish he had been.

It proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that no one in this world truly loved him. They were all just self-serving captors who coveted his physical body.

They had taken his child away again. Every last shred of hope had been extinguished.

As his thoughts spiraled in dark circles, a figure stepped quietly into the suite.

Turning his head, Ye Feng saw Guen walking toward him. The sight of the innocent youth lifted the heavy gloom over his heart just a fraction.

“Brother Ye Feng, I brewed some soup for you. You just had a baby, so you need to nourish your body properly.”

Guen ladled out a warm bowl of chicken soup and carried it carefully to the bedside.

“Let me feed you. You’re still weak, so try not to move around too much.”

Guen offered a sweet smile, gently scooping up a spoonful, blowing on it carefully, and bringing it to Ye Feng’s lips.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Ye Feng hesitated before taking the bite, moved by the boy’s genuine kindness.

“Is it good?”

“Mhm. It tastes wonderful. Thank you, Guen.”

“Hehe… as long as you like it!”

Flushing slightly, Guen scooped up another spoonful and held it out.

Looking at the warm soup, and then at the innocent face before him, Ye Feng’s spirits plummeted once again.

In this entire cold, treacherous palace, the only person who offered him genuine, unselfish warmth was this sweet young man.

“Brother Ye Feng… what’s wrong?”

Noticing the sudden, heavy sadness washing over Ye Feng’s face, Guen paused nervously. Is the soup not to his taste?

“It’s nothing,” Ye Feng murmured, his gaze drifting involuntarily toward the closed double doors.

Guen followed his line of sight toward the entrance, but the hallway outside was empty.

He couldn’t understand what Ye Feng was searching for, yet seeing his friend drowning in such quiet sorrow made his own heart ache.

“Guen… do you think she actually loves me?” Ye Feng asked abruptly out of nowhere.

Guen blinked in confusion at the unexpected question, but offered a gentle nod anyway.

Ye Feng met his gaze and slowly shook his head with a bitter, self-mocking smile.

“They don’t love me. All they care about is this outer shell.”

Guen couldn’t fully grasp the deeper trauma behind those words, yet he felt a poignant ache for the heartbreak in Ye Feng’s voice.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m a terrible person—like some hypocritical scoundrel. But in the end, I finally see the truth: I’m just a toy to them. I want to run away so badly… I want to escape this life. I’m not a plaything, and I refuse to live as one. All I want… is freedom!”