Mansendis was still in the study.

There was a pile of things in front of him that needed handling, but for once, the silver-haired sovereign’s thoughts were not on any of that official business.

His light-brain had been left on the same screen for a very long time.

And yet Mansendis showed no intention of turning to the next page.

He simply sat there quietly behind the desk.

A huge floor-to-ceiling window stood behind him.

The heavy velvet curtains had been drawn open to both sides, and without anyone noticing, the bright daylight outside had already turned into a night dimmed with shadow.

The tea in his cup had long since run dry, but the chief affairs officer who usually took care of refilling it was not here.

Mond had gone to find Wen Yuzhi.

Mansendis knew that.

He also knew that Mond had first gone to the cub’s room and apparently had not found him there, only going outside afterward.

And then a very long time passed without Mond returning.

In truth, if Mansendis wanted to, he could release his mental power. With his strength, the mental power he sent out would be enough to cover any corner of the palace.

But in the end, Mansendis did not do that.

One reason was that Wen Yuzhi did not like the feeling of being watched at all times.

Even though Mansendis very much wanted to know what his child was doing twenty-four hours a day, he also knew that thought would not be accepted. Everyone needed some private space, even the cub.

And the other reason...

was that Mansendis was afraid too.

Afraid of what, even Mansendis himself could not quite say.

But the moment he thought of the way Wen Yuzhi had refused his approach and touch earlier, a dense, prickling pain spread through his chest that he could not suppress.

He did not like seeing the cub so plainly trying to distance himself from him.

Especially after he had once received Wen Yuzhi’s unconditional closeness and trust. Faced with a cub who had become distant from him again, Mansendis felt a kind of ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) irritation he could not put into words.

That irritation lingered in his heart.

He wanted to do something, but no matter how much he thought about it, Mansendis did not know how to coax an angry cub.

As the sovereign of the Saint Clan, Mansendis possessed immense wealth and power.

But after that conversation, which had gone so badly, he already knew that those things—things other royal bloods would compete and kill each other over—might not matter that much to the cub.

Wen Yuzhi did not care for the throne, and he lacked neither gemstones, money, nor even toys.

The cub was very easy to satisfy.

He seemed not to need very much. Even just a little bit was enough for Wen Yuzhi to feel content.

Back on Kanirila, even with nothing more than a tiny, shabby shelter, he could still live happily there. He could be excited just because he found one extra can that day, or picked one more flower by the roadside.

Mansendis wanted to make the cub happy, but he had no idea where to start.

What could he give him?

...The throne, wealth, planets, or warships?

Mansendis only knew that if he gave him those things, the cub probably still would not be happy.

While Mond had been here, Mansendis had, for the first time, sincerely asked this elder for advice.

“You are my elder, and your experience is greater than mine. I hope you can tell me what I should do.”

What should he do to repair the relationship between himself and his child?

Mond had let out a faint sigh. “If Your Majesty truly wants His Highness the little prince to calm down, then please do not say such things again. You should know that from beginning to end, the one His Highness cares about and worries about has always been you.”

“Though such a thing sounds incredible when placed on a Salilaino, I still want to say it: His Highness the little prince is different from every royal blood I’ve ever seen. Compared with power and status, what His Highness values more is family.”

A word that almost never appeared in a Salilaino’s life, and also the thing most absent from their lives.

“Forgive me for speaking plainly, but in this matter, Your Majesty was wrong. You should not have tested His Highness in that way.”

Tasiya had once come to test Mansendis, to see what he thought of the throne, and Mansendis’s answer had been a cold refusal.

Many years later, he had used similar words to ask Wen Yuzhi.

Though the starting points behind those two conversations were different—Tasiya had wanted to know whether Mansendis was a threat, while Mansendis truly was willing to give everything for his child—

Wen Yuzhi clearly valued family more. In his eyes, Mansendis’s actions had undoubtedly felt like distrust.

That was why he had gotten angry.

As an onlooker, Mond had seen the contradiction between Wen Yuzhi and Mansendis, and so he had given the sovereign before him an extremely sincere piece of advice.

“No gift is more important than Your Majesty’s sincerity. I believe His Highness the little prince will understand.”

So in the end, Mansendis had gone to make those desserts.

It was only that between delivering them in person and having Mond take them over, Mansendis had chosen the latter.

Mansendis knew that if he took them himself, the cub would not want to see him for the time being.

After Mond left, Mansendis had remained in the study waiting for the outcome.

That wait lasted the entire afternoon.

The sky outside had already darkened, and just as Mansendis’s patience was about to run out, at last some movement came from the courtyard beside the floor-to-ceiling window.

The silver-haired sovereign behind the desk rose at once and came to the window.

Mond and Wen Yuzhi had returned.

They stood on the steps at the entrance, one old and one young, talking and laughing together. Whatever Mond had said, it made the cub break into a happy laugh at once.

That clear laughter drifted up from below. Anyone who heard it would be able to tell how delighted Wen Yuzhi was at that moment.

And in the past two days, this was the only time Mansendis had seen a smile on the cub’s face.

He watched them walk into the palace.

But the study door was never knocked on.

Very clearly, the cub had not come to see him first upon returning.

Mansendis waited quietly for a while, but the one who came was Alvin, bringing the official business that still needed handling today.

The silver-haired sovereign pressed his lips together. The aura around him, which had just softened, instantly turned icy again.

He looked at the additional documents placed before him and asked Alvin expressionlessly, “Did you pass through the courtyard on your way here?”

Alvin was a little surprised, as if he had not expected Mansendis to suddenly take an interest in his route.

But he still replied, “I came in through the main entrance.”

Then, as though remembering something, Alvin added, “But I happened to run into Lord Mond and His Highness the little prince in the corridor.”

“Judging by it... Lord Mond was probably taking His Highness the little prince to the dining hall.”

Crack.

A small sound rang out.

Mansendis had accidentally knocked the teacup to the floor.

...

After Wen Yuzhi came back, he and Mond first went to the kitchen.

When they came out again, Mond already had a bag of freshly baked little cookies in hand.

With that bag of cookies, Wen Yuzhi went to the study.

On the very first day he had arrived on Dark Tower Star, Mansendis had given him unrestricted access to the entire palace. Wen Yuzhi could go anywhere in it whenever he wanted.

Even the more sensitive study was somewhere Wen Yuzhi was allowed to enter at any time.

But Wen Yuzhi did not choose to knock. He simply pushed the door open and went in.

The light inside the study was dim. Mansendis had not turned on the lights, and the room was steeped in shadow.

He was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. The clear moonlight spread out at his feet, yet it did not illuminate the silver-haired sovereign’s figure, as though even the moonlight itself was avoiding him.

It was hard to tell whether it was because of the lighting, or because the room was too quiet.

But Wen Yuzhi suddenly felt that, at this moment, Mansendis looked very much like that silver beast in the mental sea, shrouded in loneliness and desolation.

As though endless darkness were about to swallow that figure whole.

Wen Yuzhi froze for a moment, then flapped his wings and flew over to Mansendis’s side.

The cub carefully reached out his hand.

That soft, tiny palm lightly touched Mansendis’s hand.

That faint contact against his fingertips made Mansendis lower his head.

He saw the cub.

Wen Yuzhi stood beneath the moonlight, and the bright moon poured fully over him, making his silver hair and the white little wings behind him seem touched with a soft, glowing sheen.

Like a little angel.

And now, the little angel lifted his head, pale-gold eyes reflecting Mansendis’s figure.

Wen Yuzhi had just opened his mouth to speak. Before any words could come out, his body was suddenly drawn into a warm embrace.

“Dad...”

The words he had meant to say came out instead as a hesitant call.

Mansendis did not move. He lowered his head and gathered the cub into his arms. His silver hair spilled down, covering the silver-haired sovereign’s expression.

Only Mansendis himself knew just how out of control his emotions were.

All the irritation and unease that had filled his heart over the past two days turned into scorching, boiling emotion the moment Wen Yuzhi took the initiative to come close to him.

He could not help pulling the cub into his arms and holding him tightly.

As if only by doing this could he keep the cub from leaving him again.

“I’m sorry...”

Mansendis said it in a low voice.

Wen Yuzhi blinked and leaned against Dad’s chest just like before.

He had heard Mansendis’s apology.

Instinctively, Wen Yuzhi wanted to shake his head, but then he realized Mansendis would not be able to see that.

So he changed his words and said, “Dad, I love you.”

There was no need to ask anything, and no need to explain. Those few short words alone represented Wen Yuzhi’s answer.

“I know you love me very much too. I’m very happy, Dad...”

Wen Yuzhi did not actually know that much about Mansendis’s upbringing.

Only after hearing Mond explain it did Wen Yuzhi realize that Mansendis seemed to love him even more deeply than he had imagined.

Just as Mansendis had sworn before, he was willing to love him with his life.

It was a kind of love that gave everything.

It was not because of distrust. On the contrary, it was very heavy.

Yet it made Wen Yuzhi feel very secure.

He liked this kind of love very, very much.

“The throne may be wonderful. Maybe many royal bloods want it. But in my heart, you are the most important.”

“I don’t want Dad to get hurt.”

After saying that, Wen Yuzhi thought for a moment, then added, “And I don’t want anyone else to get hurt either.”

He went on and on, saying a great many things in one breath.

All of those were things he had thought through on the way back, words he wanted to say to Mansendis.

Every sentence landed heavily in Mansendis’s heart.

It made a sour feeling spread uncontrollably through his chest.

“Actually, I’d rather you had a little more ambition, Zhizhi.”

Rather than being so soft...

Being too soft made it too easy to be hurt.

Mansendis would rather Wen Yuzhi be harsher, more ambitious.

Too soft?

Wen Yuzhi thought back on it. It was only in front of the Saint Clan that he seemed to become like a real cub.

He could act spoiled without restraint, and give all his trust without reservation.

That was probably because...

“I trust Dad to protect me.”

The cub had once said those same words before, back when facing the Saint Clan while they were out of control. Now he said them again.

Wen Yuzhi trusted that Mansendis could protect him.

That was why he had the confidence not to fear being hurt.

As for ambition, Wen Yuzhi did not really have any great ambition. He thought life as it was now was already very good.

If so-called ambition came at the cost of hurting Mansendis or the Saint Clan, then Wen Yuzhi did not want it.

Even if that meant the highest throne.

“Maybe I’m not a qualified royal blood...”

Wen Yuzhi said, blinking.

He did not have a strong, forceful temperament, nor any real desire to compete.

Compared with other domineering royal bloods, his temperament really did seem a little... unqualified.

But Mansendis frowned. He seemed displeased that the word unqualified would ever be placed on Wen Yuzhi.

“Don’t say nonsense. You’re very good.”

There had never been a better child than the cub.

He was so lovable.

So much so that Mansendis had more than once felt grateful—grateful that the Mother Goddess had favored him enough to let the cub return to his side.

Wen Yuzhi, however, did not become pleased with himself just because of Mansendis’s words.

He knew that compared to Dad, he was still far behind, and he also understood Mansendis’s worries about him.

So Wen Yuzhi pressed his lips together and said, “Can Dad teach me? I can learn.”

Learn how to become a qualified crown prince.

Even if there really did come a day like that, he still hoped the one who crowned him would be Mansendis.

The Saint Clan’s tradition of taking the throne by murdering kin—Wen Yuzhi wanted it to end with him.

“I want Dad to always stay by my side. You can watch me grow up. If Dad isn’t here anymore, then no one will protect me, and I’ll be scared.”

Wen Yuzhi knew very clearly what kind of situation a child without parents ended up in.

He did not want to lose Mansendis too.

Mansendis lowered his eyes. It seemed he had many things he wanted to say, but in the end, the silver-haired sovereign only said one hoarse word.

“Okay.”

How could he possibly bear to abandon his child?

To leave his child to face all of that outside alone.

He had been wrong.

...

And so the conflict between father and son, which had lasted two days, finally disappeared in this moment.

Mond stood at the door. He did not go in, only turned to leave.

Just before the door closed, Mond heard the cub’s voice again.

“Dad, I baked some little cookies.”

“A return gift?”

“Mhm! And I ate all the cake Dad made for me too.”