Free Web NovelAfter a whole day of excitement, Wen Yuzhi still ended up sleeping in the little basket from the beginning.
He leaned against the mini silver doll, and in his arms he was hugging the little outfit Mansendis had given him.
Not far from his “pillow” were the scale brooch and that candy jar that was already filled to the brim. As soon as Wen Yuzhi opened his eyes, he could see them at any time.
The cub was almost completely surrounded in the middle by his treasures.
—A full sense of safety.
Before falling asleep, Wen Yuzhi had carefully checked every single item one by one. Only after confirming there was nothing missing did he finally feel at ease and close his «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» eyes.
Not long after, shallow, light breathing slowly came through.
Mansendis heard the cub’s breathing. Only after watching the other person fall asleep with his own eyes did he turn off the small night-light by the bed.
When he came to the side of the little basket, the silver-haired sovereign bent down and tucked in the rumpled corner of the blanket for the cub.
Compared to the first time he did this—clumsy and slow—Mansendis’s movements had grown more and more practiced now.
There was no need for the bone spines’ help either. After tucking the blanket in, as if he still had a bit of selfishness in him, Mansendis lightly touched the cub’s soft cheek with the pad of his finger.
And just as he’d expected, the sensation under his fingertip was very soft.
The cub’s cheeks were soft and squishy.
Mansendis could only restrain his strength, using the gentlest force possible.
If the people in other star sectors—those who called the Saint Clan monsters and called Mansendis a tyrant—saw this, they’d probably be shocked enough for their eyeballs to drop.
Was this really the Saint Clan tyrant who went mad expanding outward the moment he took the throne?!
Not only people from other star sectors—even the Saint Clan had never seen their King have a side this gentle and careful.
Because in the past, Mansendis never thought about these things.
As long as he stood there, that icy, powerful presence alone was enough to make everyone fear him. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
But now, for his child, he was willing to rein in every bit of his sharpness.
“Sleep well.”
The silver-haired sovereign looked at the cub sleeping soundly and spoke in a low voice.
“Good night.”
May you have a good dream.
In his sleep, Wen Yuzhi didn’t know whether he heard that sentence or not. The hand holding the little outfit tightened slightly, and only after he caught the lingering scent on it did the cub’s faintly furrowed brow slowly smooth out.
.......
The next day, when Mond walked into the room with Yiluo and Feier, what they saw was still the cub curled up in the little basket, asleep.
A cub about the size of a doll lay on his side, sunk into the soft bed. A fluffy white little blanket covered him, tucked in tight, revealing only the small head topped with silver hair, and behind him, the same pristine, tender little wings.
He slept quietly. That posture was so well-behaved it was unreal.
Mond noticed that the blanket corners around him were still neatly tucked and not messed up at all. That meant the little Highness hadn’t moved even once in his sleep.
Whatever he looked like before falling asleep yesterday, he still looked exactly like that now.
—A very typical good baby sleeping posture, no doubt.
All three Saint Clan present felt their hearts go soft.
It was Yiluo and Feier’s first time entering the little Highness’s room, and also the first time seeing what the little Highness looked like asleep.
At this moment, they weren’t just nervous and excited. Even their vertical pupils suddenly contracted into pinpoints, and the exoskeleton attached to their arms, under the violent rise and fall of their emotions, began to spread upward like some kind of pattern, finally climbing past the neck and crawling onto their pale cheeks.
This ferocious and eerie sight was the picture enemies feared the most on the battlefield.
Because it meant these Ge De were in a state of extreme excitement. And Ge De in this state were usually the hardest to deal with.
No one wanted to run into a pack of that kind of frenzied monsters.
Yet these monsters that made enemies tremble were now as if frozen in place. They stood straight in a spot not far from the little basket, quietly watching the cub sleep inside.
Those cold vertical pupils didn’t blink once, silent like two tall statues.
The three Saint Clan present, without even speaking, all chose to stay quiet at the same time. Not one of them had any intention of waking the cub.
Because no one could bear to break such a tranquil, beautiful picture.
So they waited like this in silence, waiting until the sun shone in from the open terrace, and the sunlight fell straight onto the cub.
As if he sensed that warm, cozy touch, the cub lost in a sweet dream finally couldn’t bear to wake up anymore.
First, those pristine little wings moved gently. Then the long lashes fluttered twice, and the cub drowsily opened his eyes.
In those pure, pale-gold irises was still sleepy moisture and a thin watery haze. Under the sunlight, they looked dewy and glossy, so beautiful.
But the little head was still bobbing.
After a long while, Wen Yuzhi finally woke up properly.
He lifted his head and immediately saw Mond.
“Mm... gu?”
Wen Yuzhi wanted to call Mond right away, but the pitch came out off.
Mond, though, seemed to understand anyway.
Smiling, Mond said, “Good morning, Little Highness.”
Seeing that the cub still wanted to say something, Mond also guessed what was on his mind.
“The King is in the council hall right now. Merita also has matters to attend to at Selet’s side, so today it will be this subordinate serving you.”
Wen Yuzhi’s head was still a little foggy. He nodded instinctively.
Mond carefully scooped the cub into his palms. In the bathroom, small-sized toothbrushes, towels, cups, and the like had already been set out.
Wen Yuzhi was placed on the sink. The sink, at his current size, was so big it was almost unbelievable.
Once he stood steady, the cub picked up his little cup and held it under the faucet sensor to fill it with water.
Without Mond’s help, Wen Yuzhi could finish washing up on his own.
Seeing that, Mond didn’t try to interfere, and instead silently retreated to wait in the outer area.
After Wen Yuzhi finished, he flapped his little wings and flew out by himself.
Mond had also prepared clothes suitable for Wen Yuzhi to wear at his current size.
Piece by piece, they were brought over in a little wardrobe about the size of a handbag.
The styles were almost the same as the clothes in Wen Yuzhi’s dressing room, only scaled down a lot in size.
Laying them out all together, at a glance it looked like dressing up some doll.
Mond picked among them. “What color clothes would Little Highness like to wear today? This subordinate feels this white set is very nice.”
Mond held up a small outfit: a little cape over a shirt and shorts, matched with small sheepskin boots.
With Mond’s years of service in the palace, the clothes chosen were all the ones best suited to the noble status of royal blood.
It was just that even the most luxurious clothes, once shrunk down to doll size, would unknowingly become a little cuter.
And with the cub wearing them, you didn’t even need to think to know how adorable it would look.
But Wen Yuzhi stared at the clothes, hesitated for a moment, and then still shook his head.
“Does Little Highness not like it? Then how about this blue set?” Mond reached into the little wardrobe, intending to take out another.
Wen Yuzhi hurriedly stopped Mond.
Compared to these pretty new clothes, Wen Yuzhi wanted more to wear the two little robes Mansendis had woven for him.
Mond recalled those little robes with almost no tailoring to speak of, basically like sacks.
Then Mond looked at the cub’s little-angel appearance.
Mond fell silent. Mond held back, and thinking of how pretty and adorable the cub would look dressed up, Mond decided to struggle one more time.
“Little Highness, how about taking another look? There are also some recently popular styles that look very nice.”
But no matter how Mond coaxed, Wen Yuzhi stubbornly insisted on wearing the one Mansendis had woven.
The result of this standoff was that Mond lost.
“.....” fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
With a numb expression, Mond watched the little Highness change into the sack-like outfit, then looked at the beautiful clothes left cold on the side.
Very crisp and clear, it felt like something shattered in Mond’s chest.
At this moment, Mond only knew that the little angel cub in Mond’s imagination, even prettier and cuter than a doll, vanished with that heartbroken sound—
With a crack, it was gone.
And after Mond stepped out earlier, Mond’s mindset also quickly adjusted back. Mond’s expression returned to normal, looking every bit like the steady, reliable chief affairs officer Mond was meant to be.
Seeing the delight in Wen Yuzhi’s eyes, Mond explained, “Starting today, they will stay close at your side at all times.”
Every royal-blood was supposed to be equipped with a personal guard. At the earliest, it was established not long after hatching.
This was also to prevent anything from happening to a precious royal-blood cub.
But there were always exceptions, like Mansendis, who refused the establishment of a personal guard.
So at the beginning of Mansendis’s reign, there was almost no support at his side. He took the throne through absolute force and cleansing.
But Mansendis’s situation did not apply to the cub.
Wen Yuzhi had almost been attacked before. The impact of that incident even made Mansendis decide to seal off the entire Ninth Star Sector.
Even within the Saint Clan, everyone was furious about it.
The matter of forming a personal guard for the little Highness passed through the meeting very quickly.
Selet was already preparing selections within the military, and Mond, thinking Wen Yuzhi was more familiar with these two Ge De, first arranged for them to follow at the little Highness’s side.
Meaning Yiluo and Feier directly went from palace guards to Wen Yuzhi’s exclusive personal guards.
They could even refuse to follow Mansendis’s orders, and would answer only to Wen Yuzhi.
For Wen Yuzhi, the biggest feeling about this was that he could see Yiluo and Feier all the time now.
And with the two of them there, Wen Yuzhi didn’t have to fear encountering something like that night again.
These two Ge De who could enter the palace as guards had combat quality at the very top level among the entire Saint Clan.
They knelt on one knee in front of Wen Yuzhi. Originally they should have performed the hand-kissing礼, but because Wen Yuzhi’s current form was too small, the hand-kissing could only be temporarily changed into offering scales.
The two Ge De each plucked a scale from their own body and offered it to Wen Yuzhi.
And this was also the most solemn oath among the Saint Clan.
A scale held extremely important meaning within the Saint Clan, like the golden scale brooch worn by royal blood. It symbolized identity and power.
Mansendis giving that brooch to Wen Yuzhi also meant that he was willing to share the authority in his hands with his child.
It was an invisible promise.
In Saint Clan history, even between partners or blood relatives, it was rare for a royal-blood to be willing to do this.
And now these two Ge De were also willing to offer up their scales, which was equivalent to offering their purest loyalty along with it to Wen Yuzhi.
As long as Wen Yuzhi accepted them, it meant he accepted these two Ge De’s following.
Mond originally wanted to say that the formal appointment would wait until later, but Mond didn’t expect Yiluo and Feier to directly choose to offer up scales.
Compared to the meaning of offering scales, the so-called appointment ceremony was nothing more than going through a procedure.
The current situation was somewhat beyond Mond’s expectations.
But thinking that the one Yiluo and Feier were willing to follow was the little Highness, none of this seemed surprising.
After all, the little Highness truly had that kind of ability.
Like a warm light, making these monsters who lived in darkness unable to resist wanting to draw close, feeling longing.
And Ge De behavior leaned more toward instinct and intuition. Once they decided, they would not change. So it made sense that Yiluo and Feier would make this choice.
Wen Yuzhi still didn’t know the meaning scales held for the Saint Clan.
Seeing Yiluo and Feier pull their scales out, the little wings behind him also trembled, as if feeling pain along with them.
“...Guji!”
He tugged on Mond’s sleeve and pointed at Yiluo and Feier.
Mond understood the cub’s meaning and soothed him. “Don’t worry, Little Highness. It doesn’t hurt.”
It was only plucking a scale. That little bit of pain was nothing compared to the pain brought by mental sea turmoil.
Even though Mond said it didn’t hurt, and Yiluo and Feier didn’t act like it hurt much, Wen Yuzhi still wanted to do something when he saw their bleeding wounds.
And just as that thought rose, Wen Yuzhi seemed to sense something and guided his mental energy.
The next moment—
Two crystal-clear butterflies flew out from his palm.
They fluttered their wings and landed on Yiluo and Feier’s wounds.
In the blink of an eye, the spots that had been bleeding instantly healed.
Th-this is...!
Wen Yuzhi froze.
Before, in the council hall, his consciousness had felt like it entered a profound, mysterious state. How his mental energy erupted, how those butterflies came out—his sense of it was all hazy.
But this time, he felt the connection between him and these butterflies very clearly.
They were like extensions of his mental energy.
Separated from his body, yet he could still control them, and even from a distance he could still sense their existence.
It was a very wondrous feeling.
Wen Yuzhi couldn’t help calling the two butterflies back.
They hovered at his fingertips. Their wings were transparent and crystalline, giving off a quiet, gentle sheen like moonlight.
Just as Wen Yuzhi wanted to observe them more closely, those butterflies vanished like a dream.
“Your mental energy isn’t very stable yet. You can’t keep them manifested outside for long. Once your mental energy stabilizes in the future, they can appear outside all the time.”
The most obvious example was the bone spines.
They could remain outside for long periods.
Wen Yuzhi still couldn’t do that. Letting the butterflies stay out even for this short time was already his limit.
He touched his stomach.
A strong wave of hunger hit.
Mond knew this was because the cub had consumed too much all at once, and his body urgently needed energy replenishment.
“This subordinate has prepared breakfast. Would you like to eat a little?”
The cub didn’t make a sound.
Mond seemed to realize something. Mond asked tentatively, “Then should this subordinate take you to see the King first?”
Sure enough, this time the cub nodded.
Wen Yuzhi was very hungry, but right now he wanted even more to go find Mansendis and the bone spines first.
After waking up and not seeing the silver-haired sovereign and bone spines’ figures like usual, Wen Yuzhi felt a faint unease and emptiness in his heart.
But he didn’t show it right away.
It wasn’t until Mond asked whether he wanted to eat breakfast that the first thought in Wen Yuzhi’s mind was to go find Mansendis first.
Breakfast could be a little later.
He just...
Just... missed Mansendis a tiny, tiny bit.
