Chapter 38: The Cub Has to Sleep Well

From the outside, this rock cavern didn’t look very big, but once you actually went inside, it opened up into something else entirely.

The silver giant beast found the “bed” it used to sleep on.

—If you could even call a stone slab a bed.

It looked completely ordinary, bare and undecorated. The only thing that could be called valuable was that the entire slab was one enormous piece of red crystal.

Even after so many years, the energy contained within it was still astonishingly abundant.

But that still didn’t change the fact that, at the end of the day, it was just a slab of stone.

Back when Mansendis lived here, he had never felt there was anything wrong with it.

He didn’t have any particular demands for his surroundings. Even sleeping directly on the ground in beast form was fine.

So before and after he moved in, this nest had looked almost exactly the same.

On this point, Tasiya and Mansendis were practically complete opposites.

That queen liked to indulge. She liked everything luxurious and precious.

The extravagance of Thorn Castle was in no way inferior to the royal palace.

And the room she had prepared for the cub had clearly been arranged with care. A lot of thought had gone into furnishing everything the cub might use.

If Mansendis hadn’t seen that room inside Thorn Castle, he probably wouldn’t have thought much of anything.

But once you had a point of comparison, looking at this bare stone slab now... even Mansendis, who normally never cared about such things, felt that putting the egg down on it like this was far too crude.

The bone spines at the side hurriedly “nodded” too.

The cub... needs a good... comfy... big house!

Mansendis didn’t say yes or no—but he had the bone spines stay here to keep watching the egg.

As for him, he went back again.

Inside the royal palace, Mond wasn’t surprised at all that Mansendis returned so quickly.

Before the silver-haired sovereign could even give an order, Mond, as if expecting it, produced the things that had just been prepared.

“This is a blanket. You can lay it on the ground. This is a quilt—filled with the softest cotton. This is a pillow. They say that when cubs are still inside the shell, they sometimes like to sleep lying down too.”

“Oh, right, and this...”

As Mond spoke, Mond took out another...

A little basket?

Mansendis lifted a brow.

Under the silver-haired sovereign’s gaze, Mond said calmly, “Given what the little Highness looks like right now, beds in other sizes aren’t quite suitable. But a basket like this is just the right size.”

And this was also inspiration Mond got from the Gumu.

Naturally, since it was being prepared as the little Highness’s “bed,” Mond had personally modified it—padding it with a soft little quilt. A tiny pillow and tiny blanket were included too. There was even a thoughtful touch: an ultra-mini silver giant beast plush, sewn by hand, placed inside.

So what was sitting in front of Mansendis now was an ultra-luxury version of a bas—no, a baby bed.

“......”

In the end, Mansendis accepted everything in silence.

Mond had prepared very thoroughly. What Mond showed Mansendis was only part of it. Considering the environment in the King’s Pool, the older chief affairs officer had properly prepared everything the cub might need.

It was the kind of thoroughness that made even Mansendis, the father, look less prepared by comparison.

The silver-haired sovereign didn’t say anything, but he seriously committed every one of these cub supplies to memory.

Seeing Mansendis’s attitude soften compared to before, the smile in Mond’s eyes turned even more relieved.

“The little Highness’s situation is special. This subordinate already asked Doctor Mu Luo. Mu Luo said the little Highness is very likely to have been heavily stimulated, or to have exhausted too much all at once. Out of a defensive instinct, the body retreated back into an infant state.”

Mu Luo wasn’t actually certain either. Mu Luo had been formally hired as the Saint Clan’s doctor after Mansendis took the throne, and hadn’t come into contact with other royal blood. So Mu Luo couldn’t say for sure whether Wen Yuzhi’s situation was good or bad.

Now, it could only depend on whether the environment over at the King’s Pool could help the cub recover.

Thinking of that small, milky-soft egg—no bigger ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) than Mansendis’s palm—Mond couldn’t help feeling worried.

The little Highness already didn’t match royal-blood cubs of the same period. Who would’ve thought that even as an egg, it would be such a tiny one?

If it were possible, Mond would have liked nothing more than to personally go along and take care of the little Highness.

But the environment of the King’s Pool was something only Salilaino could endure for long periods. Ordinary Saint Clan couldn’t withstand such enormous energy radiation deep underground.

Even among Salilaino, most royal blood chose to move into the royal palace after hatching.

Someone like Mansendis, who stayed there for the entire juvenile stage—so far, there had only ever been that one.

.......

Wen Yuzhi vaguely felt like...

...so comfortable it was ridiculous.

But...

Curled up like this...

Mm. The stomach seemed a little hungry.

That thought had barely flashed through Wen Yuzhi’s mind when, all of a sudden, he seemed to sense something.

The cub instinctively opened the mouth and went nom—

The air was sweet, OvO!

Sweet, like cotton candy.

After discovering that, Wen Yuzhi, still half-asleep, simply started eating the “air.”

Once the stomach was full, the cub smacked the lips, rolled over, and went right back to sleep again.

And inside the cavern, the bone spines sensed the surrounding energy continuously gathering toward this area—then, in an instant, being absorbed by the milky-soft little egg.

That process went on for quite a while before stopping. Once the cub inside the shell stopped actively absorbing, the gathered energy slowly dispersed again.

Was the cub full?

The bone spines weren’t entirely sure.

But watching that energy lazily drift away, they had to admit the cub really was full.

Only...

The bone spines thought back to how much energy Mansendis absorbed in a single go, then thought about the tiny bit the egg had just absorbed.

The conclusion was—

The cub ate way too little!

Just eating that much, when was the cub going to wake up?

spikes sigh.jpg

But worry was worry. The bone spines’ movements didn’t slow down at all.

Their division of labor was extremely clear. Some carefully lifted the little basket and gently rocked it. Some tugged the small quilt up a little higher after it slipped down.

Some even found the best-selling children’s fairy-tale book in the galaxy and pressed the listen-and-read button.

A gentle female voice slowly sounded.

“Today we’re going to tell the story of a little duckling looking for its mom. A very, very long time ago, there was a confused little duckling...”

Along with that gentle voice, the bone spines continued to lightly rock Mond’s custom baby bed.

Rock, rock.

The cub has to sleep well in there.

This entire scene was also being seen, through Mansendis’s light-brain screen, by the Saint Clan on the other end.

And in their ears, the story of the little duckling looking for its mom played in sync.

“.......”

Who were they?

Where were they?

What were they doing?

Oh, right—they seemed to be in a meeting.

So what were they supposed to say now?

The Saint Clan who had been up next to report suddenly, in that instant, completely blanked.

As for why this awkward scene happened... it really had to start from the beginning.

The news of what happened in the royal palace had already spread through Dark Tower Star at high speed. Not long after, Alvin sent out a notice: the king had decided all meetings would be moved to the light-brain.

At the time, everyone had been guessing whether the king’s mental sea was acting up again.

But once the meeting started, the Saint Clan immediately sensed that where the king was located didn’t seem to be inside the royal palace.

Some sharp-eyed Saint Clan had already noticed the king was in the King’s Pool.

Before they could even think about why the king would go to the King’s Pool for no reason, their attention was pulled by the scene behind Mansendis.

Different from when Mansendis first arrived here with the egg, the cavern now had undergone earthshaking changes.

That bare stone slab had been covered with a snow-white blanket. Various little items were piled on top—without exception, all small and miniature.

And placed in the center was a little basket that looked richly decorated.

The bow ribbons on it looked oddly out of place beside the cold, icy presence of the silver-haired sovereign on-screen.

It wasn’t just the ribbons. Everything that had suddenly appeared in the cavern felt abrupt when placed next to Mansendis.

None of it looked like something the silver-haired sovereign would use.

So whose was it?

That question had only just risen in their minds—when, in the next moment, the answer appeared right in front of them.

As the bone spines rocked the basket, the Saint Clan on the other side of the screen caught a glimpse of what had been carefully tucked inside...

An egg?!

The instant they saw the egg, the Saint Clan still didn’t react.

Not until they saw the golden patterns on the egg—

Th-this was...?!

As if realizing something, their pupils abruptly widened, their breathing freezing for a beat.

Crack.

One Saint Clan, without paying attention, slapped a long crack straight across a metal tabletop said to be usable on a warship hull.

It was obviously a loss of composure—but right now, no one was going to scold that Saint Clan.

Because the rest of them weren’t doing much better.

“May I ask... is that the little Highness?”

In the dead silence, one Saint Clan finally took a deep breath and asked the silver-haired sovereign carefully.

Mansendis had no intention of hiding Wen Yuzhi’s state. He gave a bland “Mm.”

Even though they’d already had a vague guess, once they got the officially confirmed answer, the Saint Clan’s eyes still lit up in a flash.

Every single one of them stared without blinking at the egg sleeping there.

It was placed in the small basket, wrapped in soft little quilts. Even so, they could still see it was a very round, small shape—smooth on the outside, with a gentle halo around it.

For a moment, the Saint Clan couldn’t even think of words to describe it.

Only two characters echoed in their minds.

—Cute.

A tiny little thing. It looked like you could lift it in one palm.

This was actually their little Highness...

So babyish and small it made their hearts feel like they were about to melt.

At that moment, the one thing the Saint Clan were most jealous of was probably the bone spines that could get close to the egg.

Damn it—they wanted to personally take care of the little Highness too.

And through the entire meeting, the Saint Clan were more or less a little absent-minded.

They would glance at the materials in their hands, then couldn’t help glancing at the egg again.

Finish reporting one task—then look at the egg again.

All in all, during a single meeting, the Saint Clan had no idea how many times they drifted off.

But there was one thing that wasn’t said outright—yet everyone was doing it in unspoken agreement.

Being quiet.

Keeping as quiet as possible.

Even when reporting, they kept their voices low, afraid that if they weren’t careful, they might disturb the egg still sleeping.

When the meeting ended, after getting Mond’s approval, the Saint Clan immediately went to their own social accounts and started showing off the egg.

They had seen the little Highness in egg form with their own eyes.

Even if it was only through a screen, rounding up, it still counted as seeing it with their own eyes!

As expected, after the photo of the little Highness sitting beside the throne, the photo of the little Highness turning into an egg spread on Saint Clan StarNet as well.

And all the noisy commotion outside had absolutely no effect on this cavern.

After shutting off the light-brain, Mansendis walked over to the stone slab that had been completely transformed.

First, he observed the egg’s condition.

After confirming there was nothing abnormal, he finally relaxed.

The bone spines at the side proudly swayed their bodies.

The posture was basically saying, praise us already—we took great care of the cub.

They couldn’t wait to claim credit.

Mansendis originally didn’t want to bother with these companions now causing trouble again, but thinking that the cub usually liked spending time with them, he still gave them one line of praise:

“Not bad.”

Just that single sentence made the bone spines freeze in place, stunned by the favor.

They had only tried to fuss around a little like usual—never expecting Mansendis to actually praise them.

The bone spines almost couldn’t believe it.

Because in their understanding, getting a spoken compliment from him was something rare beyond rare.

Had they heard wrong?

The bone spines “looked” at Mansendis doubtfully.

But as they watched the silver-haired sovereign bend down and personally pull the little quilt over the egg, the bit of doubt that rose in their surprise gradually faded away.

Mansendis... really seemed different now...

The thoughts of these companions didn’t matter to Mansendis. He returned to his true form.

The silver giant beast appeared in the cavern once more.

With his current size, he could no longer lie on the stone slab. The cavern, which had felt spacious enough, was instantly squeezed full.

The enormous silver giant beast lay there. It even looked a little cramped.

The silver giant beast shifted uncomfortably, but still chose to endure it.

Then he lowered his head, very gently picked up the small basket—along with the egg inside—in his mouth, and set it down beside him.

After thinking for a moment, he also spread the bone wings and carefully covered it.

Only after doing all of that did the silver giant beast close his eyes and fall into sleep as well.

And while father and son were, for once, that close and harmonious here, on the other side, the port on Malente Star was extremely busy because of a transaction.

The Pachi people living on Malente Star were one of the few races that could maintain trade with the Saint Clan.

Their planet’s resources were extremely single. Heavy energy sources like ore had to rely on outside supply.

But at the same time, the Pachi were naturally warm and bold. Unlike the infamous Padar people, the Pachi looked down on methods like plundering and stealing other people’s wealth.

If they were going to “take,” it had to be taken openly—through skill, through persuasion, through credibility and reputation.

Holding to that belief, the Pachi trade caravans were famous across the interstellar world.

Their business footprints covered every planet.

Even the Saint Clan—whose name alone could make people flee in fear—were a race the Pachi dared to approach proactively to establish trade.

The Saint Clan didn’t lack ore, but they still needed certain daily goods. Compared to producing it themselves, buying directly from the Pachi was more convenient.

Back and forth like that, the Pachi successfully started doing business with the Saint Clan.

The cargo ship the Padar people had tried to seize earlier was exactly the cargo ship the Saint Clan had prepared for trade with the Pachi.

So if you asked who was happiest about the Padar people’s downfall, it was these Pachi.

They couldn’t wait for the Padar people to die sooner. That way, when they traded between planets, they wouldn’t have to fear those mole-rats coming to rob them.

With one major threat gone, and also hearing the good news that the Saint Clan cargo ship had docked at the port, the Pachi supervisor in charge of this trade couldn’t wipe the smile off the face.

And during the transaction, the Pachi also noticed that the Saint Clan on the other side seemed to be in a pretty good mood too.

They didn’t know what they’d seen on their light-brains, but their cold eyes had instantly turned gentle.

The Pachi had traded with the Saint Clan for a long time, and they had never seen these Saint Clan show emotions like this so openly.

They couldn’t help feeling curious.

What, exactly, was on that light-brain?

Thinking that, the Pachi supervisor worked hard to stretch the neck.

Effort didn’t betray the willing—eventually, the supervisor really did see it.

It was a photo.

The subject of the photo was a soft-looking egg.