The sea breeze blew against their faces, carrying a faint, salty-sweet scent. Lu Xia and Graces stood on the veranda for a while before returning to the villa.

The butler had already cleaned the rooms they would be using for the day and had thoughtfully decorated them with bouquets of flowers.

The Breeding Master had taken Little Pu Tao down to be fed, and he was now asleep.

Lu Xia and Graces also had something to eat, then changed their clothes and went to the beach.

After tossing the sunscreen to Graces, Lu Xia lay down on her stomach on a lounge chair that a staff member had prepared. "Graces, you need to put some on later too."

The sun at the beach was brutal. If you didn’t protect yourself properly, you’d be peeling by the next day.

Graces squatted down, carefully pouring the sunscreen into his hands and rubbing them together before gently applying it, bit by bit, to Lu Xia’s exposed skin.

’Her skin has always been so fair and delicate. I have to protect it well.’

"Graces, how long has it been since you’ve really relaxed?" Lu Xia asked while lying there. She felt that even if she did nothing at all, just lying there and feeling the sea breeze was incredibly relaxing.

She had been so on edge lately. She thought going to the nightclub with Lan Ya would help her unwind, but it turned out she hated that kind of noisy environment. Instead of relaxing, she just got irritated. Still, the trip wasn’t a total waste, since she’d obtained the Ice Spirit Gene.

"I haven’t really relaxed much, but ever since I got together with Xiaxia, every day has been wonderful." Graces never spoke about his past, but Lu Xia knew he must have had a very difficult life before.

It was hard enough for a ’defective’ male to become an officer, let alone rise to the rank of Colonel on his own merits. That required earning it with real, tangible military achievements.

Graces must have sacrificed even more than those males who became Gene Fusion Experts.

Yet he had never once complained or spoken to her about it.

Hearing this, Lu Xia turned her head to look at Graces, who was still meticulously applying her sunscreen. "Let’s do this more often from now on."

Graces’s heart tightened slightly, but a smile touched his lips. "Okay. Whenever Xiaxia needs me, I’ll do my best to be there."

After the sunscreen was on, Lu Xia helped Graces apply a layer to his back.

Sipping on ice-cold watermelon juice, gazing at the azure sea, and watching Graces’s figure as he surfed in the waves, Lu Xia felt that this was the kind of life a normal person should enjoy.

It seemed that only being close to nature could truly make her relax.

When Little Pu Tao woke up, the Breeding Master brought him over to Lu Xia. The little one was being raised well, chubby and covered in baby fat. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

And as he grew, his features became more defined, inheriting Graces’s rugged handsomeness as well as Lu Xia’s fair-skinned beauty.

’This kid really knows how to pick the best features from both of us.’

He felt heavy in her arms. Lu Xia applied a bit of baby sunscreen on the little cub, changed him into a swimsuit, then put him in a floatie and let him bob in the sea.

The little guy wasn’t scared at all. He floated in the water, kicking his legs happily, clearly loving the sensation.

Lu Xia held onto his little floatie and played with him for a while. It was a rare and precious parent-child moment.

Graces came over to them and took over the task of watching the little cub, while Lu Xia took his place to go surfing for a bit.

However, her stamina wasn’t nearly as good. She got tired after just a short while and had to drink some Spiritual Spring Water to recover.

Little Pu Tao was having a great time, and he was quite reluctant when Graces lifted him out of the water. But he was still too small, and they worried he couldn’t handle being in for too long.

But the little one’s attention was easily diverted. As soon as Graces lifted him high in the air, he forgot everything else and giggled with delight.

Lu Xia joined the father and son at the dining area, where someone was already grilling seafood for them.

After being active for so long, they needed to eat something to replenish their energy.

"There’s a bustling market here in the evening. Want to go check it out?"

"Okay!" Lu Xia readily accepted the suggestion. Since they were out, they might as well go wherever the action was.

Since they were by the sea, there was very little grilled meat; it was almost all seafood. The ingredients were fresh and tasted wonderful.

Lu Xia loved eating seafood anyway, not to mention she now had Graces, her personal human shell-peeler.

Even Little Pu Tao was drooling, babbling "Ah, ah," but alas, he couldn’t eat any of it yet and could only watch.

Fortunately, the Breeding Master saw his pitiful look and prepared a bottle of milk for him.

The little guy hugged his bottle, staring at the food on their plates. He watched them eat as he drank his milk, as if their meal was his side dish.

So adorable.

Graces suddenly stood up. "Xiaxia, can I take a picture of you?"

"Of course you can, but do I look okay like this?" She was still eating and hadn’t even dressed up properly.

"You look great. Very beautiful." Her natural appearance wasn’t messy at all; on the contrary, it was soft and lovely.

Graces opened his terminal and took a series of photos of Lu Xia and Little Pu Tao. Lu Xia also asked a staff member to take lots of pictures of the three of them together.

"We should print these out when we get back and put them in a photo album. When Little Pu Tao is older, he’ll be able to see them." Lu Xia thought this was a wonderful way to preserve memories.

Graces nodded, a smile in his eyes. "Okay."

He felt that he would never forget this day for the rest of his life.

"Graces, has something been on your mind lately?" Lu Xia’s sudden question made Graces pause, and he asked, confused, "Why would you think that?"

"It’s just a feeling. I feel like you’ve been preoccupied ever since you came back from your mission. Did you run into some kind of trouble? You can tell me, and we can figure out a solution together. Don’t keep it bottled up inside."

Graces had always known that Lu Xia was very smart and perceptive.

’But some things were better for her not to know.’

Graces took Lu Xia’s hand and smiled. "No, don’t worry, Xiaxia. If there was something, I would tell you."

"Alright. Well, when you’re ready to talk, you can come to me." Seeing that he didn’t want to talk, Lu Xia didn’t press him.

’If Graces isn’t talking, he probably has his reasons.’

’I’ll wait for him to sort things out.’

After finishing the last crab, Lu Xia wiped her hands. The sun was now halfway set on the horizon. "When are we going to that bustling market you mentioned? Is it far from here?"

"Mm, it’s a bit of a walk, but we can drive."

"Should we head over now then?"

"Yeah, I’ll go get the car. You and Little Pu Tao wait here for me." Graces got up and drove over in the transport vehicle the butler had prepared. Unlike a hovercar, it was a regular car that only ran on the ground, but it was more than enough to get them to the market.

As soon as Little Pu Tao saw the car approaching, he spread his arms and started babbling, "Ah, ah, ah!" clearly interested.

Once Lu Xia carried him into the car, the little guy touched and looked at everything, absolutely loving it.

Lu Xia smiled. "Does Pu Tao like the car?"

As if he understood, Little Pu Tao babbled, "Ah, ah!" It seemed he really did love it!