When Wen Yuzhi acted spoiled, all he wanted was for Dad to pet him.

And Mansendis was no different from all the doting parents in the world who spoiled their own children—he had never had the heart to refuse a cub’s request.

The silver-haired sovereign lifted the hand that was not holding the comb.

He stroked the cub’s hair, his palm resting lightly over it, smoothing gently from the crown all the way down to the ends.

His touch was very gentle.

That kind of smoothing petting made Wen Yuzhi so comfortable that he could not help narrowing his eyes slightly. The exhaustion and pain in his body seemed to be soothed away beneath the warmth of Dad’s hand.

If he had turned into his beast form, the cub would probably already have gone limp by now, all four little paws stretched out, flattened into a fluffy little pancake.

Even so, the way Wen Yuzhi looked now was very much like a lazy cat. That relaxed posture, that clingy way about him—there was hardly any difference between him and a soft little kitten.

When Mansendis’s hand reached the ends of the cub’s hair, he paused slightly and lifted a strand with his fingertips.

“It’s gotten a little long.”

“I guess it has, a little...”

Ever since arriving on Dark Tower Star, Wen Yuzhi had not cut his hair again, and before he knew it, the ends had grown rather long.

Paired with how young the cub still looked, it gave him a somewhat androgynous air.

Like a delicate little girl, beautiful to an almost unreasonable degree.

Sometimes when Kasha and the others looked at the cub’s face, with those somewhat similar features and the way his appearance now blurred gender, they would inevitably fall into a momentary daze.

As if Tasiya had returned.

After all, Tasiya had been like this in her youth as well. She had always dressed like a little boy, with a sharp, brilliant edge in her brows and eyes. Every movement she made had carried the bearing of a flamboyant little prince who lived exactly as she pleased.

Wen Yuzhi, meanwhile, was softer.

Most of the time, he looked quiet and harmless, obediently staying at the silver-haired sovereign’s side like a beautiful doll.

But Wen Yuzhi was already used to his own appearance.

Other than the changes to his hair and eye color, he did not look all that different from how he had looked back at the Wen family’s home.

For Mansendis, though, watching the cub change little by little made time feel as if it had passed far too quickly.

Just a while ago, he had still been a tiny little thing that could be cradled in one hand, and in the blink of an eye, the cub in his palm had grown so much that when he stood, he nearly reached Mansendis’s waist.

Even though Mansendis had long been mentally prepared for it, now that he was watching the cub transform from a tiny doll-like figure into a small boy with his own eyes, his heart still could not help filling with mixed feelings.

At that moment, he seemed to truly understand, in a way he never had before, the worries of parents.

There was joy in it, but there was also reluctance.

Seeing his child grow made him feel genuinely happy, but selfishly, Mansendis still thought the whole process was far too sudden and far too fast.

It would have been nice if it could have gone a little slower.

That was what Mansendis thought to himself, though he did not let it show on his face.

The silver-haired sovereign continued to stroke the cub’s hair gently.

Again and again.

This was the kind of idle time that belonged only to father and son. No one would come disturb them. Wen Yuzhi could act spoiled with Dad without holding anything back, and Mansendis could relax too, without needing to continue wearing the identity of Saint Clan sovereign.

In the enormous room, only their low voices could be heard, and what they talked about was all ordinary, trivial things.

“I’m still hesitating over whether I should cut it shorter. Mond said he could cut it for me, but I also want to keep it...”

There was obvious distress in Wen Yuzhi’s voice.

As Mansendis combed through the feathers on the cub’s wings, he said, “Does Zhizhi want to keep hair as long as Dad’s?”

“Mhm. Dad’s hair looks nice.” Wen Yuzhi nodded. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Long and smooth—he liked it a lot.

And Dad with long hair looked very handsome.

Someday, he wanted to be just as handsome as Dad.

Hearing the cub’s somewhat childish declaration, a trace of amusement flickered through Mansendis’s eyes.

“I should probably cut mine too. When you sleep, you always like grabbing my hair.”

“Do I? I don’t really remember... Dad...”

Whoever that bad baby was, it definitely was not him.

Zhizhi was very well-behaved.

The cub blinked rapidly, obviously trying to muddle the subject past.

Mansendis did not expose that tiny guilty conscience of his. He only punished this “bad baby” by tickling him instead.

Wen Yuzhi was terribly ticklish. His whole body was full of sensitive spots. The moment Dad touched him, he obediently admitted his wrongdoing.

The two of them played around like that for a while, and by the time Wen Yuzhi once again flopped back down across Mansendis’s lap, sleepiness had started to creep over him again.

“Dad, I’m sleepy...”

The cub mumbled.

Mansendis had already noticed that Wen Yuzhi’s eyelids were drooping.

So the moment the cub finished speaking, the silver-haired sovereign picked him up and placed him on the bed beside them.

Wen Yuzhi had already grown up. The little basket he had once slept in was long too small now.

But Wen Yuzhi had clearly been very fond of those tiny beds, and he had not let anyone put them away. Instead, he had found a place for them in the room.

That way, every time he passed by, he could still see his two little beds.

The same went for the small furniture he had used before, except those had all been moved by Mansendis into one of his rooms.

That once-empty display room was empty no longer. It was now filled with all kinds of things connected to the cub.

Mansendis’s stated reason for it was that all of those objects had commemorative value.

They recorded the cub’s time growing up.

And to Mansendis, those objects were more valuable than anything else.

The moment Wen Yuzhi touched the soft bed, he almost immediately fell asleep.

Mansendis tucked the blanket over him.

When his hair fell forward, perhaps because it tickled a little, the sleeping cub unconsciously reached out and grabbed—and ended up catching hold of Mansendis’s hair again.

Seeing that, Mansendis reached out and poked the cub’s soft white cheek.

“And you still say you’re not a bad baby...”

Only bad babies grabbed hair indiscriminately.

It was hard to say whether Wen Yuzhi heard that sentence, but in his sleep, the cub smacked his lips and muttered a soft rebuttal.

“Zhizhi... good...”

Seeing that even asleep, the cub still wanted to “argue his case” with him, Mansendis let out a quiet laugh.

He immediately humored him. “Yes... Zhizhi is a good baby.”

The cub seemed to deeply agree with that.

“Zhizhi... very good... very good...”

As he spoke, his voice grew quieter and quieter, until in the end, the cub only murmured dreamily, “Zhizhi still has to eat with Dad...”

The words were so faint they were almost impossible to hear, but Mansendis missed none of them.

Clearly, even in his subconscious, Wen Yuzhi still remembered that he was supposed to eat with Dad.

But ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the cub who had said he wanted dinner was already fast asleep on the bed, his brows filled with deep exhaustion.

Looking at him, Mansendis felt that these past few days, the cub seemed so tired that even the baby fat in his cheeks had thinned noticeably.

When he had picked Wen Yuzhi up just now, he had felt lighter than he had a few days earlier.

Using mental power at such high intensity every day was still too exhausting for a cub.

And yet the cub was also very strict with himself. He never once cried tired. On one side he had to keep learning other things, and on the other he had to go to the military and comb through the Saint Clan members’ mental seas, day in and day out, without fail. Even during the discomfort of his molting period, he simply gritted his teeth and endured it.

Moments like today, when his feathers were being combed, were already one of the rare chances Wen Yuzhi had to rest.

Just like Mond, Mansendis also wished the cub did not have to be so tired.

But both of them understood clearly as well.

What Wen Yuzhi was doing now was something he wanted to do, something he liked doing.

Every time he successfully treated a Saint Clan member, Wen Yuzhi felt an enormous sense of accomplishment.

So even though he was tired every day, he also spent every day happy.

Because he knew that he had once again saved two Saint Clan members who had been drowning in despair and pain.

He had fulfilled those words he once said to Mansendis.

To use his own strength to help everyone, to lessen the Saint Clan’s suffering, even if it meant he himself would become very, very tired.

Thinking of that, Mansendis could not help lowering his head and pressing a light kiss to Wen Yuzhi’s forehead.

“Sleep. Get some good rest.”

Preferably with a good dream.

Mansendis tucked the cub’s hand, which had wandered outside the blanket, back under it.

And he did not throw away the feathers that had been combed off earlier. He placed them into a small box.

There were already quite a few feathers inside that little box.

All of them had come from Wen Yuzhi during his molting.

Just like those old belongings, these feathers too were witnesses to the cub’s growth.

Mansendis had not discarded a single one. Instead, he had treasured all of them.

After leaving the room, Mond instinctively glanced past Mansendis’s shoulder.

“Zhizhi fell asleep,” Mansendis said.

Mond was not surprised. “This subject already had the meal sent back to the kitchen. It can be delivered again once His Highness wakes.”

Mansendis thought for a moment. “Have them prepare something more nutritious. He’s gotten thinner again compared to a few days ago.”

“He has.”

The cub’s physical changes could not escape the notice of the Saint Clan who stayed with him day and night, and Mond too could see that Wen Yuzhi looked thinner than before.

Even without Mansendis saying anything, he had already instructed the Gumu to prepare enriched meals specially for the cub.

And while caring for the little one, Mond had not forgotten the grown one either.

He added, “His Highness also made apple maple pudding today. Would you like to eat it now, or shall it be put aside first?”

Naturally, the moment he heard it had been made by the cub, Mansendis said at once, “Send it to the study.”

Over this stretch of time, Wen Yuzhi had made quite a lot of desserts little by little.

At first, the Saint Clan in the palace had been too reluctant to eat them, but now... well, although they were still reluctant, they would at least take a taste under the cub’s hopeful gaze, tasting the desserts he had made so carefully.

Even then, they ate with extreme caution, savoring every bite.

His Highness the little prince had made them by hand.

More than eating them, they wanted to preserve them properly.

Mansendis was the same.

But after Wen Yuzhi discovered that once, the cub had said nothing. It was simply from that day on that he started going into the kitchen more often, making desserts to give everyone.

Wen Yuzhi’s thinking was very straightforward.

If he gave them often enough, then everyone would stop treating them as such treasured things.

So from that day forward, there were always desserts giving off tempting aromas appearing on Mansendis’s desk in the study.

Mond sighed softly. “His Highness is always so thoughtful. He’s clearly only a child, yet he’s more sensible than most adults.”

Mansendis also thought of all the things the cub had done, and after a long moment, he said, “He’s very good.”

Having a child like Zhizhi was his good fortune, and also the Saint Clan’s good fortune.

The topic in the corridor was naturally a light one.

But once they entered the study, Mond immediately drew in his expression and became serious.

“We’ve detected a great deal of discussion appearing on the external starnet. They brought up His Highness’s existence and explicitly stated that the Saint Clan has given birth to a new royal blood.”

It was obvious that this news was directed at the Saint Clan.

The people spreading it sounded absolutely certain, as if they had seen it with their own eyes.

And the matter of the royal blood had never been publicly announced by the Saint Clan. Mansendis had sealed the Ninth Star Sector, cutting off the possibility of any outsiders entering Saint Clan territory.

Before that, the only outsiders who had ever seen the cub—the Padar people—were all dead.

Logically speaking, the outside world should not have known.

But at the same time, that was not absolute.

There were no walls in the world that never leaked. From Kanirila to the Saint Clan’s various actions since then, if someone truly wanted to suspect something, it was possible to arrive at such a guess just by being bold enough.

What Mond cared about, however, was the mention in those rumors of the baby egg.

His Highness’s royal cocoon form was somewhat different from ordinary royal bloods.

Other royal-blood cocoons were all covered in scales on the outside. They looked larger and more ferocious.

But His Highness’s had instead been extremely small, snow-white and round, and adorably soft-looking.

Ordinary people simply would not associate something that looked like that with the Saint Clan.

And yet the ones spreading the rumors had been extremely adamant that this baby egg was the new royal blood.

How could they be so sure?

Unless...

they had seen a royal cocoon before.

A royal cocoon that looked very similar to His Highness’s.

Mansendis’s gaze turned cold.

“It seems the last warning still wasn’t enough to make them behave.”

Whether their target was the Saint Clan or the cub, Mansendis had no intention of tolerating such insolence and provocation.

Those people, however, were also very clever.

They only hid behind the network spreading rumors, and when public discussion began heating up, they withdrew cleanly, leaving behind no trace at all.

Their purpose was obvious—to test the Saint Clan’s attitude.

And whether the Saint Clan responded or not, their goal had already been achieved.

A very despicable method.

And entirely in line with Mansendis’s impression of them.

Those desperadoes were like a pack of rats in a gutter, usually hiding in the dark, only to poke their heads out now and then to disgust you.

Mansendis could not deal with them the same way he had dealt with the research institutes.

Those people had no fixed residence. They wandered between star sectors, and their numbers were scattered. Finding them was not easy.

But whether it was easy or not, Mansendis had never once given up on tracking them down.

...

Meanwhile, elsewhere—

Zhuo Haoyu had also brought up the topic that had been getting so much attention online lately while talking with Xi Heyan.

“Did you hear? Apparently the Saint Clan has a little royal blood now.”

Xi Heyan shook his head. Lately he had been busy with Bernard’s situation and had not paid attention to the entertainment gossip online.

Zhuo Haoyu had not expected Xi Heyan not to know even this, but then he thought about it.

“Right... lately you’re either busy working or chatting with your little friend. Of course you wouldn’t know about this stuff.”

These days, Xi Heyan took his light-brain everywhere with him. He even lowered his head to look at it in class all the time.

Zhuo Haoyu could tell with one guess that he was chatting with that little friend.

Xi Heyan corrected him. “I’m tutoring him.”

“Right, right, tutoring, tutoring... Never seen you this enthusiastic about helping your classmates.”

Zhuo Haoyu muttered under his breath.

Xi Heyan shot him a cold glance.

The look on his face seemed to say: With someone like you, is tutoring even necessary?

Zhuo Haoyu: “...”

At last, he understood what it meant to humiliate himself.

Afraid Xi Heyan might say something even more devastating, Zhuo Haoyu hurriedly changed the subject.

“Do you know Yunni Star?”

Before Xi Heyan could answer, Zhuo Haoyu answered his own question.

“I’m guessing you don’t. It’s a vacation planet that was under development. The photos they released on the starnet were gorgeous. Tons of people were waiting for it to open so they could go play there. My mom and I even already bought tickets for the passenger ship.”

“But now they suddenly said it won’t be opening after all. It’s become private property. Everyone online is guessing what big shot bought the place.”

At that point, Zhuo Haoyu could not help sighing.

“I hate rich people!”

Xi Heyan ignored him.

His attention had landed on that planet instead—or more accurately, on the value of that planet.

He found himself thinking about how much a planet would cost.

And the final conclusion he reached was...

that he probably could not afford one in this lifetime.