Free Web NovelHere, under the designers’ guidance, Wen Yuzhi had already started touring the entire armaments manufacturing plant.
On either side of the cub stood Alvin and Selet—two adjutants, one handling civil authority, the other handling military authority.
Behind them were Yiluo and Feier. Along with the designers from inside the base, Wen Yuzhi’s surroundings suddenly felt especially lively.
Almost every Saint Clan member present was clustered around the cub, like stars crowding around the moon—everyone surrounding him in the center.
Meanwhile, Mansendis, the Saint Clan sovereign, seemed to be the one getting left out.
There was no one beside him. Even when he left, it was silent and unremarked, and it didn’t draw the attention of any of those Saint Clan members.
But Wen Yuzhi, wrapped in that crowd, noticed the moment Mansendis walked away and turned his head.
Seeing Mansendis already some distance off, Wen Yuzhi hesitated—yet in the end, he didn’t follow.
Wen Yuzhi knew Mansendis was busy. At a time like this, there had to be something that needed doing.
So after a brief wave of disappointment, Wen Yuzhi turned back and kept discussing with the designers what else might be worth adding to a warship’s exterior.
Off in the distance, three female Saint Clan members happened to catch the entire scene, and the color in their eyes shifted—so faintly it was almost imperceptible.
Anyone could tell the little Highness depended heavily on this father.
You could already see it in the way the cub and Mansendis had /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ interacted earlier.
When he was in Mansendis’s arms, whether it was Wen Yuzhi’s tone, or the tiny expressions in the corners of his eyes and brows—anyone whose eyes weren’t broken could clearly see how completely relaxed the cub was.
He would chatter excitedly with Mansendis about what had happened today, and when he got to something that made him especially happy, the fluffy little wings behind him would even give a small tremble. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
That was something you only showed in a safe environment.
The cub was entirely nestled into Dad’s arms. That closeness and trust couldn’t be faked.
At the very least, no royal-blood would be willing to fake that.
After all, cold, distant relationships among royal-blood weren’t rare.
On the contrary—royal-blood who could get along smoothly, harmoniously, were extremely uncommon.
The more powerful the beast, the stronger the territorial instinct. That rule applied to royal-blood just the same.
Like certain large felines, they were used to traveling alone, and they found it hard to tolerate the presence of another royal-blood at their side—one who could threaten them.
That also meant their relationships, from the moment they were born, were locked in a tense state of mutual competition and mutual wariness, brewing countless bloody struggles centered around kingship.
That was why the three of them felt... a little unbelievable.
For Mansendis, and for Wen Yuzhi.
“Mansendis, Your Highness... no, Your Majesty...”
“It’s exactly what you saw. The little Highness likes His Majesty very much, and His Majesty cares about the little Highness.”
Mond drawled from the side.
...Mansendis cared about this child?
They pressed their lips together, and it seemed a decision had already formed in their hearts.
In truth, after seeing Wen Yuzhi with their own eyes, their attitude had already begun to loosen.
Now, with Mond’s words—combined with everything they had just witnessed—their leanings gradually tipped to the other side.
“It’s time for you to fulfill your promise.”
Mansendis had Mond find them a quiet place.
It was still the female Saint Clan member with the silver rose brooch who stepped out first. Her name was Kasha. She and that head maid Kalli—the one who had been killed—were biological sisters, and at the same time, Kasha served as the captain of Tasiya’s personal guard.
“What do you want to know from us?”
This time, Kasha’s attitude had clearly changed. It wasn’t as resistant as before.
Mansendis knew it was all because of the cub.
And it also proved his guess.
—They knew Wen Yuzhi existed.
So when Kasha finished that sentence, Mansendis lowered his eyes and looked at Kasha.
“Everything. Tell me everything you know. I don’t want any concealment.”
The silver-haired sovereign’s voice was ice-cold.
His gaze fell on the three female Saint Clan members before him, and he stared in silence, as if appraising something.
For an instant, they felt as though the dust-sealed, carefully hidden secrets buried deep in their hearts had been seen through.
Every layer of cover was nowhere to hide.
Kasha could only force herself to remain steady under Mansendis’s gaze. She took a deep breath and began recalling the past.
“Kalli and I held different posts. She stayed close to the queen, and I was responsible for handling things outside.”
The two of them—one handled matters of governance, the other handled matters of the army.
“It should’ve been winter. The queen suddenly summoned the five of us and said she had a mission to give us.”
And it was that day, in the nursery at Thorn Castle, that they saw Tasiya—radiant with joy.
Tasiya looked very happy.
So happy that when she saw them arrive, she even waved them over with a smile.
And in the cradle—
There was an egg. An egg that looked like a pet egg someone had brought home.
It wasn’t until they noticed there was a massive quantity of red crystals placed beneath the egg that they finally realized:
That egg was a royal cocoon.
The discovery left all of them stunned.
And what shocked them even more was what Tasiya said next.
“This is Mansendis’s child,” Tasiya said calmly. “I took one drop of blood from him.”
The tone was casual, like it was no different from saying what she ate today.
Not like she’d taken a drop of her younger brother’s blood—behind his back—and made a child.
Kasha and the others were plainly struck senseless by the sudden, explosive news.
They were silent for a while before forcing out, voice rough with strain, “Y-You... you mean this royal cocoon is Prince Mansendis’s child?!”
“Yeah. Doesn’t he look like my little brother?” Tasiya said, sounding amused. “Honestly, I’m pretty baffled too. Why does my cold, icy little brother have such a cute child? It’s making me want a child of my own too...”
As she spoke, Tasiya even had them lean closer to take a look.
Kasha and the others kept their faces stiff, trying as hard as they could to stay serious, but their eyes couldn’t stop the curiosity as they drifted toward the cradle.
And once they looked, they couldn’t quite look away.
They had to admit—the little Highness was really small.
And didn’t look like the Saint Clan at all...
So pale, and looked so soft.
Were royal-blood Highnesses like this when they were little?
They couldn’t help wondering. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
But Tasiya said, “He is a one-of-a-kind miracle.”
“The Mother Goddess is still watching over us.”
Then, as if something occurred to her, Tasiya’s expression abruptly turned solemn, and she ordered them, “I’m having you come here because I need to ask you to take him away. For now, he can’t stay on Dark Tower Star. Brand has been watching me. This child absolutely cannot be discovered by them!”
“You’re my personal guard. You grew up with me. You’re the only ones I trust. Now I’m handing the royal cocoon to you. Before he successfully cracks his shell and is born, your duty is to help me take good care of him.”
Kasha and the others immediately knelt and swore an oath.
Swearing that no matter what, they would protect the little Highness.
And that night, carrying a vast amount of red crystals and holding the royal cocoon in their arms, they boarded a warship and left Dark Tower Star for Esoris.
That was an arrangement Tasiya had thought through with extreme care.
Esoris was only a mining star. On ordinary days, very few Saint Clan members went there—let alone that group of exalted royal-blood.
And the one managing Esoris at the time was Kalli, the head maid at Tasiya’s side. In other words, Esoris was completely within Tasiya’s sphere of influence.
And the rich mineral deposits on Esoris could also mask the energy of the red crystals very well.
At the time, this was the best arrangement Tasiya could make.
Kasha and the others truly did spend a stretch of peaceful days on Esoris.
The Saint Clan didn’t know a new royal-blood had been born, and the group of royal-blood led by Brand still kept their eyes fixed tightly on Tasiya inside the palace.
As the situation grew more and more tense, Esoris—a mere mining star—became, instead, a patch of pure land.
“Then what happened?”
Mansendis listened as Kasha recounted, in full detail, everything they knew. His expression was so calm it was impossible to read joy or anger.
Only when he heard Tasiya call the cub a one-of-a-kind miracle...
did a faint ripple of emotion appear in the depths of the silver-haired sovereign’s eyes.
But almost immediately, Mansendis pressed it down again.
Kasha and the others didn’t even notice that instant of change.
They continued speaking, slowly.
“Later...” As if recalling what came after, Kasha’s eyes unfocused for a moment—then came anger and hatred.
A long-sealed fury reignited, and yet it still dragged her back to the original, burning resentment.
“We kept obeying the queen’s orders and guarded the royal cocoon at all times. But later, we received a message. It said Prince Brand and the others were preparing to launch a coup, that the queen might be in danger, and that those of us personal guards who were outside needed to rush back to support her.”
“Who sent that message?” Mansendis asked.
“One of our personal guard,” Kasha said, voice dropping. Her hands at her sides clenched into fists.
“Later I learned that at the time... she was already dead.”
“How did you find out?”
“Her corpse was dumped outside the base!”
Remembering the death of an old sister-in-arms, Kasha’s voice turned especially agitated in that instant.
They received the message and were frantic with worry over Tasiya’s situation. After thinking it through again and again, they decided Kasha and one other Saint Clan member would head to Dark Tower Star to check what was happening.
The remaining three would stay and continue protecting the little Highness.
But when Kasha and the other left the base, they saw a corpse outside.
And that corpse belonged to the personal guard who had messaged them earlier—someone who had stayed at Tasiya’s side.
It was obvious the person had been killed.
The body lay in a pool of blood, reverted to beast form, the heart area torn open.
With the Saint Clan’s powerful bodies and vitality, for a high-tier Heimo to be killed this quickly—there was a high chance the killer was also Saint Clan.
And narrowing it further, someone with that ability who could do it without alerting them... could only be royal-blood.
But at the time, drowned in enormous grief, Kasha and the others didn’t react fast enough.
It wasn’t until Kasha realized the corpse had been deliberately tossed here—and that nothing was missing from the body, except that the light-brain was gone—that she understood:
This might be a trap, set to lure them away from the royal cocoon on purpose.
Only, by the time they realized it, it was already too late.
Worse still, the three Saint Clan members who had stayed with the little Highness also received a photo of the corpse outside.
They mistakenly thought Kasha had gotten into trouble. They rushed out, and at the base entrance they collided head-on with Kasha, who was hurrying back with a grim expression.
One look at each other—what was there left not to understand?
This was clearly someone deliberately trying to draw them away!
And their target, without a doubt, was the place they had been guarding!
And that was exactly the case. When Kasha and the others rushed back, the room was a wreck—messy beyond belief, like everything inside had been looted.
