Chapter 30: Thank You

Come in?

Let who come in?

The Heimo inside the council hall couldn’t help turning to look outside—and as Mansendis’s words /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ fell, that sliver of a hem near the doorway shifted.

Tap-tap-tap...

The sound of little dress shoes striking the floor rang out.

The teenager hesitated, then slowly stepped out of the shadows. He walked up to Mansendis and, in doing so, exposed himself to the gaze of every Saint Clan present.

The clothes Wen Yuzhi had just changed into were a white silk shirt with a ruffled collar.

That soft, light fabric sat on him perfectly, setting off skin as pale as fresh snow and making the teenager look especially docile—almost cluelessly innocent.

Faced with Mansendis’s question, Wen Yuzhi blinked. Thick lashes curled upward and fluttered lightly, casting a faint shadow on his lids.

He glanced toward the Heimo inside and replied in a low voice, “You were discussing state affairs. I was afraid I’d disturb you.”

Mansendis seemed to accept that explanation. He gave a cool, indifferent “Mm,” then added, “Next time, come in directly. Don’t stand outside.”

If it had been in the past, every Salilaino of the Saint Clan held ruling authority—they could debate policy and command armies.

But after Mansendis took the throne, that changed.

Even so, Wen Yuzhi was still royal blood, and more than that, Mansendis’s only child. His status among the Saint Clan was equivalent to the crown heir.

Whether it was something big or something small, Wen Yuzhi had the right to participate.

Mansendis had never once thought of suppressing a cub whose wings hadn’t even grown in yet.

Wen Yuzhi was still by the door when Mansendis had already turned and walked back into the council hall.

Noticing the teenager hadn’t followed, Mansendis paused. He tilted his head slightly and said in a flat tone, “What are you spacing out for? Come in.”

Wen Yuzhi immediately stopped drifting and obediently followed behind Mansendis.

Mond seemed to have expected this. Mond brought two attendants and had them move in a smaller seat and place it beside the throne.

The distance was very close—practically right at Mansendis’s right hand.

What this position and distance symbolized, the Heimo below understood at a glance.

Mansendis didn’t raise any objection to Mond’s arrangement.

He walked up and sat on the throne.

Wen Yuzhi hesitated for a moment, then sat on that smaller chair as well.

The Heimo all bent to salute him, palm resting over the heart.

“We pay respects to Your Highness. We are willing to fight for you. By blood and honor, we swear.”

Even though he’d already experienced it once, facing so many Saint Clan saluting him still left Wen Yuzhi shaken.

Last time, he’d been farther away from those offering the salute, so the impact hadn’t hit him as hard as it did now.

He was seated high above. They stood below.

He looked at them—and they saluted him, offering loyalty and submission.

That order and reverence between ruler and subject left Wen Yuzhi at a loss.

Without thinking, he looked to Mansendis.

Wen Yuzhi didn’t realize it, but subconsciously he had already started treating Mansendis as someone he could trust—someone he could turn to for help.

Like a child who runs into a problem they can’t solve alone and instinctively seeks a parent first.

Mansendis didn’t dislike that feeling. If anything, Wen Yuzhi’s closeness made the silver-haired sovereign feel pleased.

And he wasn’t stingy about stepping in at this moment to teach his child.

“What you do is accept it.”

Mansendis had said something like this before.

In the face of a people’s submission, what a sovereign does is accept it calmly.

They were swearing to Wen Yuzhi’s bloodline, to his status—and also, to the teenager himself.

Those three didn’t conflict.

How to balance them... was something Wen Yuzhi would have to face on his own.

Mansendis wouldn’t handle it for him, but while the cub was still green, he would stand behind him and give him the greatest support he could.

With him there, the fledgling bird could slowly grow feathers, could even curiously explore the world—until its wings were fully grown.

Wen Yuzhi turned his head as if he’d realized something and looked down at the Saint Clan below.

He drew in a deep breath. He pressed his lips together, steadied his voice, and said, “Rise.”

When the Heimo stood one by one, Wen Yuzhi softened his tone a little.

“I accept your loyalty.”

As he spoke, Wen Yuzhi glanced toward where Yiluo and Feier stood.

“Please help me hand the things out to everyone.”

Ge De nature was obedience.

After Wen Yuzhi spoke, Yiluo and Feier carried out the little Highness’s instructions with strict precision.

They distributed the items Wen Yuzhi had prepared.

The berry tarts had a layer of jam, and they were packed in semi-transparent little boxes with pretty butterfly-silk ribbons wound around the outside.

It was so delicate that each Heimo was even more careful than usual—moving as lightly as possible before daring to reach out and take it.

Wen Yuzhi blinked lightly, looking a little embarrassed as he spoke. “It’s just a small token. I hope you’ll like it.”

...Made by the little Highness personally?

The Heimo didn’t show it on their faces, but their fingers quietly tightened around the box a fraction.

This was a gift bestowed by the little Highness—more than that, something the little Highness had made by hand.

If they could, they would have wanted to hide what they held so no outsider could see it.

Like a dragon that had obtained a precious treasure.

If anyone truly dared to covet their treasure right now, these Heimo would not hesitate to crush them to pieces.

Wen Yuzhi hadn’t expected giving gifts to be this effective.

A large part of it was that he had never dared to imagine his sincerity would be treated with such weight and care.

Whether it was Yiluo and Feier, or Mond, or Merita, or these Saint Clan in front of him—none of them looked down on a cake slice and a few cookies as something “small” with no value.

On the contrary, once they received the gifts, their joy was obvious, as if it were an honor.

That intense emotional feedback surged in like a tide, leaving Wen Yuzhi flustered.

He pressed his lips together, and the ears hidden under silver strands of hair flushed even redder.

“You did very well.”

Mansendis watched all of it.

He was trying to praise a cub, but because he’d never really done this before, the stiff, unfamiliar tone came out cold.

More than praise, it sounded like stern reprimand.

Thankfully, Wen Yuzhi was still immersed in the joy of having his sincerity affirmed. His eyes sparkled as if filled with starlight.

And under that happiness, Wen Yuzhi temporarily forgot Mansendis’s identity. With cheeks red, he held back his excitement and expressed his gratitude to the silver-haired sovereign.

“Thank you.”

Just three simple words. The teenager’s tone was light, and the drawn-out little tail at the end unconsciously lifted upward.

Anyone could hear how happy Wen Yuzhi was right now.

Mansendis’s knuckles, tapping the armrest, paused.

He looked at the smile on Wen Yuzhi’s face.

For a moment, he seemed to understand Mond and Mu Luo’s feelings.

A cub should be happy—carefree.

And compared to how Wen Yuzhi had looked before, full of worry and especially cautious in front of him, Mansendis felt that this smiling Wen Yuzhi fit him better.

Only... there was one thing.

Mansendis swept a glance over the gifts the Heimo below had received. Those pale-gold vertical pupils darkened without him noticing.

He looked at the teenager beside him, who still hadn’t realized anything, and the silver-haired sovereign spoke as if casually.

“Only they have gifts?”

Wen Yuzhi shook his head. “Yiluo and Feier too. I also gave Mond and Merita theirs. The cookies were a bigger batch—besides what I just handed out, I also had Mond help distribute the rest.”

Mansendis listened to Wen Yuzhi list it all out—practically the entire palace had received a gift from the cub. Even his companion entity had.

Only he hadn’t.

The silver-haired sovereign’s mood suddenly wasn’t so calm.

But before that faint displeasure could even rise fully, Wen Yuzhi carefully took out the very last berry tart from the small basket.

It was also the biggest one.

Wen Yuzhi had even drawn a crown on the top of the box, and smeared gold patterns around it.

It made this tart instantly different from the others—one look and you could tell who it was meant for.

“This one is for you.”

Mansendis had already guessed it was for him.

But when Wen Yuzhi said it out loud, that feeling was still different.

He thought of Kanirila—back then, the cub had also given him many things.

At the time, Mansendis hadn’t cared at all.

But when they left, those items had still been brought back onto the warship.

Yesterday, after returning to the palace, Alvin had even asked him what should be done with the things they’d brought back.

Mansendis’s answer then had been: “Keep them.”

In outsiders’ eyes, those things had no value at all—so shabby they couldn’t even be called a proper gift.

But because Wen Yuzhi had given them, Mansendis still chose to keep them.

“Put them in my room.”

The silver-haired sovereign ordered.

Hearing that they were to be put in Mansendis’s room, Alvin froze for a moment before responding in a low voice that it would be done.

Mansendis’s room had a collection room too, with a layout similar to where Wen Yuzhi lived now.

Only, that collection room had been empty ever since it was built.

Mansendis didn’t like luxury, nor did he care about cherishing expensive playthings. Among the spoils of war, there were plenty of items other races treated as priceless treasures.

As for those, Mansendis usually threw them into the warehouse.

So the warehouse treasures piled up higher and higher—yet Mansendis’s side remained empty.

But now it was different.

That collection room would finally have a use.

Even if that “use” was just storing a pile of random junk—yet in Mansendis’s eyes, the value of that junk was clearly higher.

—Because it was what the cub gave him.

But this berry tart was different from those things. This was something the cub had made by hand. Mansendis rarely had experience accepting gifts, but he still knew gifts were meant to go both ways.

The silver-haired sovereign lowered his eyes and considered for a moment, then had Mond bring the warehouse key.

Then, under Wen Yuzhi’s confused gaze, Mansendis handed him that key.

“There are some things inside. When you have time, you can go look and see if you like them.”

From the way the silver-haired sovereign put it, it was as if he’d directly given Wen Yuzhi the entire warehouse.

Mond watched from the side, feeling both surprised and... like maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Because Mansendis’s attitude was too calm.

As if what he was giving away was just some random napa cabbage from the roadside, and not the treasure vault he’d accumulated through years of campaigns.

Wen Yuzhi didn’t know the value of the key, but he did know one berry tart was absolutely not worth a return gift like this.

He didn’t even think—he immediately tried to hand the key back to Mansendis.

Mansendis showed no intention of taking it back.

“In the future, if you want to give gifts, pick from inside. Rewards for your subjects don’t need you to do it personally.”

Wen Yuzhi nodded, dazedly.

......

What happened in the council hall today spread quickly.

Everyone’s focus landed on the gifts the little Highness had given out.

And the Heimo who received gifts became, in an instant, the most envied existence on all of Dark Tower Star.

A photo of the little Highness seated beside the throne was also reposted everywhere on the Saint Clan’s internal star network.

The word that appeared most in the comments was “cute.”

The way the little Highness sat was cute.

The way the little Highness spoke was even cuter.

The way the little Highness pressed his lips, embarrassed, was even—even cuter.

In the eyes of these Saint Clan, there was basically nothing in existence cuter than the little Highness.

So soft. So obedient.

It made them want to submit—and also made them unable to resist wanting to protect him.

Those two emotions tangled repeatedly in their chests, until they couldn’t help secretly saving the little Highness’s photo.

None of what happened on Dark Tower Star surprised Mond at all. They even intentionally let that photo spread.

The little Highness had only just returned.

Most of the Saint Clan were still watching with curiosity, observing.

They were naturally devoted to royal blood—but it had been far too long since any new royal blood had been born. The king’s condition had become more and more untenable, and the Saint Clan had been shrouded in a stifling, uneasy atmosphere for a long time.

They were afraid of losing their king, and they felt lost about the Saint Clan’s future.

Mond stayed on Dark Tower Star, and those feelings hit even more deeply.

Mond knew that if those emotions kept fermenting, it would become a threat to the Saint Clan’s development. And Mond also knew very clearly what the Saint Clan most wanted to see right now—so Mond released Wen Yuzhi’s photo.

The little Highness seated beside the throne—those features of silver hair and gold eyes clearly symbolized Wen Yuzhi’s pure royal-blood identity.

Sure enough, once the photo went out, attention from top to bottom of the Saint Clan was captured. They all wished the palace would release more photos of the little Highness.

Only at this time, Mond was already on the way to the king’s room.

But even faster than Mond were those bone spines.

The moment they slipped in, they smugly swayed the little cookies Wen Yuzhi had baked for them right in front of Mansendis.

They even deliberately waved every single cookie around in a full circle.

It was practically saying—

Look. We have so many. You only have one.

Obviously, the cub loves us more.