Free Web NovelMansendis recognized it at once: the plush toy had been made in the likeness of Mansendis’s beast form.
As for who would do something like that—there wasn’t a second Saint Clan member in the entire palace with the nerve, other than Mond.
After all, it wasn’t the first time.
Something similar had once happened around Mansendis and Tasiya as well.
This old chief steward, who came from the Heimo and had devoted most of a lifetime to the palace with meticulous diligence, always carried an education philosophy toward Saint Clan cubs that was so stubbornly gentle it bordered on ridiculous.
Even when dealing with royal blood, the attitude was as if dealing with an ordinary, common child.
Mond would place all sorts of pretty plush dolls in front of Mansendis and Tasiya, saying that children outside all liked them.
Tasiya glanced at those plushes, then asked openly, “Mond, are you going to make my younger brother into a plush toy too?”
Then, just as Mond’s face went pale with panic, Tasiya covered the mouth and laughed.
“What are you thinking? Of course not Mansendis. That’s my own younger brother. I mean Brand.”
“I don’t like him. He’s so annoying. He’s always trying to steal my things. If only he would disappear.”
Tasiya sounded as if it were just a casual complaint to Mond. The tone was offhand, and Mond couldn’t tell whether it was a joke—or whether Tasiya truly meant to kill another royal-blood.
And Mansendis, listening to the conversation at the side, never showed the slightest interest in those plush toys from start to finish.
Seeing Mond’s attention get snagged by Tasiya, Mansendis simply returned to the nest with an indifferent, cold expression.
Mansendis could more or less guess what Mond was thinking.
Nothing more than wanting them to have a childhood that could be called happy and warm.
But Mansendis was not like other Saint Clan.
For royal-blood Salilaino, the pride and madness carved into the bones meant that even in childhood they already possessed astonishing aggression and competitiveness.
Unlike the other Saint Clan, who had a strong collective consciousness, Salilaino had a much stronger sense of self.
Even with blood relatives, they still maintained an extremely cold, distant, unfamiliar kind of space between each other.
Rather than family, the relationship was more like a relationship of mutual competition.
Like a wolf pack in the wild: every wolf chases the wolf king’s position. The strong are honored, the weak submit. That belief only showed more clearly among the Salilaino.
They had the same powerful strength, the same bloodline, and the same mad temperament. So many similarities did not bring royal-blood closer—on the contrary, it made it so none of them would yield to any other.
The final outcome could only be mutual slaughter.
So in Mansendis’s eyes, all of Mond’s efforts were nothing but wasted energy.
Everything that happened afterward proved that view.
And so now, seeing the beast-form plush beside Wen Yuzhi again, Mansendis’s expression turned icy. Mansendis reached out, intending to take it away.
But the instant Mansendis touched it, Wen Yuzhi stirred.
As if sensing someone was about to snatch away what was in his arms, the sleeping teenager frowned instinctively. The grip tightened hard around the plush. The lashes trembled uneasily, like he would be startled awake in the very next second.
Mansendis hesitated.
And the body reacted faster than the mind. By the time Mansendis came back to himself, the hand that had reached out had already loosened and let go of the plush.
Even with no one actually taking it, Wen Yuzhi still didn’t feel at ease. freewebnovel.cσ๓
Wen Yuzhi carefully pulled the plush, little by little, tighter into the arms. But because the silver plush was simply too huge, even though the teenager tried hard to hug it in sleep, the result looked instead like an enormous silver giant beast folding its body around him, drawing him beneath its wings.
Only after finally confirming the plush wouldn’t be taken away did Wen Yuzhi rest the cheek against it. The tightly knit brow slowly relaxed.
The room fell quiet again. Mansendis’s hand still hung suspended in midair.
If Mansendis wanted, Mansendis could take the plush at any time. That little bit of strength meant nothing against an ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) adult Saint Clan.
Mansendis could also, before the cub woke, sternly tell him that Salilaino were absolutely not meant to be that soft.
But Mansendis didn’t.
Mansendis did nothing at all.
Instead, Mansendis withdrew the hand.
Just as Mansendis was about to leave, the teenager on the bed seemed to murmur a blurry sleep-talking phrase.
Mansendis listened carefully, and realized the cub was calling...
“Dad...”
Just two words, yet they were like a stone dropped into a still lake.
It sent ripples through emotions that had no business stirring.
But the very next moment—
the cub on the bed continued, sleep-muddled, in a voice so light it was almost like whining, like he was acting spoiled. In it was a faint, hard-to-catch thread of grievance, joy, and... longing.
It was obvious. This “dad” wasn’t referring to Mansendis.
The one the cub was relying on, unwilling to let go of in the dream, wasn’t Mansendis.
That target... was likely Wen Che.
In any case, the cub’s dependence in sleep was not for Mansendis.
Mansendis understood that fact with painful clarity.
The huge room abruptly became so quiet that only the teenager’s shallow breathing remained.
And after saying those two phrases, Wen Yuzhi sank right back into deep sleep.
The brow smoothed out; the corners of the mouth lifted slightly—clearly dreaming of something good.
......
Mond was waiting with hands tucked into the sleeves at the doorway.
While looking at the carved patterns on the railing, Mond silently counted how long Mansendis had been inside.
Thirty minutes...
The king had stayed inside for half an hour.
It was a number that genuinely surprised Mond. Mansendis was a sovereign who pursued efficiency in everything—never liked delays, and never wasted time on anything insignificant.
Aside from commanding battles on the field, nearly every minute and second of Mansendis’s rule was spent handling all kinds of affairs. If the mental sea turmoil hadn’t already reached a severe level, Mansendis would have had even less time to rest.
An action like today’s—coming to see Wen Yuzhi right before departure—was the first time Mond had ever seen it from Mansendis.
And Mond felt comforted.
In the entire palace, there was no Saint Clan member more willing than Mond to see the king and the young Highness grow close.
Even if they were Salilaino—so what?
As long as something was alive, it would have feelings.
In Mond’s eyes, the young Highness was the existence who could awaken feelings in Mansendis.
Only...
Mond didn’t know if it was imagination, but after Mansendis came out, the old chief steward could clearly sense that the silver-haired sovereign’s mood was not very good. freeweɓnøvel.com
Mansendis lowered the gaze. The face was expressionless, showing no joy or anger.
Mond couldn’t read Mansendis’s thoughts, and only grew even more careful, focusing completely on serving at the side.
They walked for a while like that. Just as they were about to leave this palace hall, Mond suddenly heard Mansendis speak.
“Have you raised a child?”
Mond froze.
But Mond still answered honestly, “This subject has not raised a child.”
After coming of age, Mond had come to work in the palace, and up to now, Mond’s life could be said to have been given almost entirely to the Salilaino—naturally, there could be no children.
Mansendis also knew it was the wrong person to ask. Mansendis thought for a moment, then gave an order:
“Find a few in the Heimo who have raised children. Have them write a report for me.”
Write... write what?
...A report on how to raise a child?
Mond went blank.
And the Saint Clan who were selected upon hearing the news also went dumbfounded.
Raise a child? They didn’t know how to raise children at all.
Saint Clan fought from the moment they were born. So-called cubs had destructive power that was not to be underestimated at all. In any case, if you tossed them off to the side, they wouldn’t die. That was why very few Saint Clan ever personally raised children.
You could imagine what kind of disaster it would be to make a group of subordinates who only knew obedience and slaughter write reports on raising children.
............
Wen Yuzhi felt like he had a very long dream.
First, Wen Xingyan came in the dream to snatch Wen Yuzhi’s things. Wen Yuzhi fought desperately to protect them and didn’t let that happen.
And afterward, Wen Che appeared.
When Wen Yuzhi saw Wen Che sitting on that familiar sofa, softly smiling and calling “Zhizhi,” Wen Yuzhi couldn’t hold back and threw himself into Wen Che’s arms.
Wen Yuzhi called out “Dad” out loud.
Wen Che held him the way he had when Wen Yuzhi was little.
In that familiar, warm embrace, Wen Yuzhi finally found a sense of peace.
Wen Yuzhi told Wen Che everything that had happened during this time.
Then, Wen Yuzhi hesitated, and in the dream asked the question he hadn’t dared face during the day.
“Dad... if I’m not your biological child...”
“Then would Zhizhi mind that we aren’t your biological parents?”
Wen Yuzhi hurriedly shook his head. “How could I mind!”
Wen Che lifted a hand and gently stroked the teenager’s hair. The eyes were tender, and on the face was still that bright, easy smile.
“You are my child. You are a gift the heavens gave us. Your mom and I will love you forever.”
“Dad...”
Wen Yuzhi woke from the dream, blinking. The corners of the eyes seemed to still feel a little damp.
Wen Yuzhi immediately wanted to rub them, only to realize the hand was tightly gripping the silver plush beside him.
This...?
Only then did Wen Yuzhi see that, while sleeping, he’d unknowingly rubbed over to the side where the silver plush was lying.
He clearly remembered he’d fallen asleep on the other side.
Maybe it was because the room Mond had prepared was too close to a human-style decor—warm and ordinary, just like the place he’d lived with the Wen family before he turned seven.
At first it was fine. But once Wen Yuzhi lay on the bed, feeling that empty loneliness and quiet wrap around him, Wen Yuzhi inevitably thought of Wen Che and Madam Jilanya.
He missed them.
Longing and confusion surged up all at once, as if they were about to swallow him whole.
Wen Yuzhi buried the face into the pillow and pulled the blanket up, covering himself tightly.
But even so, there still wasn’t any sense of safety.
In the end, after struggling for a moment, Wen Yuzhi still reached one hand out from under the blanket.
Hesitant, careful, Wen Yuzhi tugged at the silver plush beside him.
Like grabbing onto a piece of driftwood he could cling to.
