Chapter 45: Making a Wish

A tiny birthday hat was placed on top of the cub’s head, like a beautiful little crown.

Wen Yuzhi still hadn’t quite come back to himself. He stared blankly at all the Saint Clan in front of him, all looking his way.

They were looking at him, too.

In those pairs of different eyes, there was encouragement, anticipation, gentle tolerance.

In the reflections inside their pupils, Wen Yuzhi could clearly see himself wearing the birthday hat.

A silver-haired cub with skin whiter than snow, the birthday hat shaped like a crown pressed to his head. From a distance, it made him look like a little prince.

A little prince loved by everyone.

—Was that really him?

All of a sudden, Wen Yuzhi didn’t dare to be sure.

He looked at the cake in front of him. The candle was still burning, and the words “little baby” were written on it, clear as day.

“...Guji?”

...Am I dreaming?

Wen Yuzhi tilted his head slightly and let out a soft little call. His voice was very light, as if he was afraid of something.

To Wen Yuzhi, everything that had happened since just now was too much like an unbelievably beautiful dream—so good it didn’t even feel real.

It made him instinctively lower his voice, as if the moment his tone got even a little higher, he would poke a hole in this beautiful dream and make it burst.

And Wen Yuzhi’s reaction, falling into Mond and the others’ eyes, made the Saint Clan fall into a brief silence.

What followed was a heartache they couldn’t stop.

Anyone could see it: the cub was being far too careful.

He was so afraid, so unable to believe it.

Those round, pale-gold pupils stared at them almost without blinking, like he was afraid that if he didn’t keep watching, they would vanish in the very next moment.

Not to mention the doubt in the cub’s eyes—still unable to confirm whether everything in front of him was real.

All of it together... looking at a cub who was this overly well-behaved, how could the Saint Clan not feel heartache?

Mond let out a sigh, stepped forward, and crouched down halfway in front of Wen Yuzhi, keeping level eye contact as Mond spoke.

“Little Highness, we can make a wish first.”

...Make a wish?

Those pale-gold eyes shifted, but Wen Yuzhi still stood where he was, his gaze still stuck tightly to them.

Obviously, compared to making a wish and blowing out the candle, he was more afraid Mond and the others would disappear.

Mond didn’t get discouraged. Mond continued coaxing gently, “Little Highness doesn’t want to make a wish?”

Wen Yuzhi pressed his lips together. He didn’t shake his head, and he didn’t nod, either.

He had made wishes many times before.

But the people willing to fulfill his wishes... were already gone.

Mond seemed to see Wen Yuzhi’s hesitation, and the pity in Mond’s heart only deepened.

“Then would Little Highness be willing to trust this subordinate once? The wish you make this time will definitely come true. This subordinate guarantees it.”

Maybe Mond’s firm, earnest tone moved him.

Wen Yuzhi finally forced himself to move his gaze, letting a part of it fall onto the cake.

The candle was stuck into the cake—only one candle, because for the Saint Clan, this was the first month since the little Highness had come to their side.

After thinking it over, Mond decided that one candle was best.

Like a storybook: from the moment they met, a new chapter had already begun.

The past was past.

From now on was the future.

Bathed in the Saint Clan’s gaze, Wen Yuzhi fluttered his little wings and slowly flew toward the candle.

He didn’t fly steadily. Now and then he would even dip downward.

But even wobbling like that, Wen Yuzhi never once thought about calling for the Saint Clan around him to help. He forced himself to fly, all on his own, until he reached the top of the cake.

“Has Little Highness decided what wish to make?” Mond said from the side.

This time, Wen Yuzhi nodded.

...He had already decided.

Looking at the burning candle, under the dancing firelight, Wen Yuzhi clasped both hands in front of his chest and closed his eyes.

Everyone present watched quietly.

A few seconds later, Wen Yuzhi {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} opened his eyes.

But he didn’t rush to blow out the candle. Instead, he quickly looked toward where Mansendis and the others were.

Only after confirming that everyone was still there—not a single one missing—did he puff and blow the candle out.

The room immediately erupted into warm, enthusiastic applause.

It was just blowing out a candle...

But seeing how solemn everyone was about it, Wen Yuzhi ended up feeling a little embarrassed instead.

Alvin knew the little Highness was thin-skinned. The adjutant gave a soft cough and stopped clapping, asking casually, “May this subordinate know what wish Little Highness made?”

“Now that you say it, this subordinate also wants to know,” Mond nodded along.

Not just them—everyone was looking at Wen Yuzhi with curiosity.

Wen Yuzhi covered his mouth and made a shaking-no gesture.

His mother had told him before—wishes...

Weren’t something you could say out loud.

You had to keep them hidden in your heart.

Besides...

Looking at the Saint Clan in front of him, what Wen Yuzhi didn’t tell Mond and the others was that his wish had already come true the moment he opened his eyes.

He wanted this not to be a fleeting dream, but something real.

He wanted to open his eyes and still be able to see them.

Now those two wishes had both come true. As for the third wish...

What Wen Yuzhi wanted was to have family who loved him.

And that “family” was no longer only Wen Che and Madam Jilanya. In his heart, many more silhouettes had slowly appeared.

Since the cub didn’t want to say it, the Saint Clan were still curious, but they respected Wen Yuzhi’s wishes.

Then Mond somehow produced a small pushcart.

It had probably been meant to hold the cake before, but now Mond put the cub on it instead.

“There are still some surprises inside. This subordinate will take Little Highness in to have a look.”

Wen Yuzhi didn’t expect there to be more surprises after this.

He lay against the rail of the pushcart, craning his head to look around.

And he saw that the palace interior had been carefully decorated on a large scale.

The walls were hung full of balloons and streamers. The floor was covered with dolls, piles and piles of toys, and all kinds of gift boxes—big and small—scattered everywhere.

The palace that had once been solemn and magnificent was gone. What appeared before Wen Yuzhi now was more like a fairy-tale amusement park.

No doubt, this was Mond and the others’ work.

Catching the surprise in the cub’s eyes, Mond smiled and said, “This should have been done the first day you returned.”

A welcome ceremony to celebrate the little Highness’s arrival.

It was just that back then, Mond couldn’t get a read on what this new king’s-blood’s personality was like, and Mond also didn’t know Mansendis’s attitude toward it, so the plan could only be set aside for the time being.

And this time, it just so happened they could hold the welcome ceremony together with the celebration for the little Highness’s hatching.

So Wen Yuzhi got to see all of this.

After saying that, Mond handed the cub an empty candy jar.

When Wen Yuzhi saw the empty jar, he blinked in confusion.

But very soon, he understood why it was empty.

Because a Ge De soldier walked up. The uniform made it obvious this was palace security, the same kind as Yiluo and Feier.

The guard looked at Wen Yuzhi nervously, didn’t say a single word, and only dropped the candy clenched in the palm into the jar in front of Wen Yuzhi.

One, two, three...

The Saint Clan working in the palace all lined up and came to Wen Yuzhi one by one. Almost every single one tossed one piece of candy into the jar.

This was also Mond’s idea.

Everyone already knew the little Highness had successfully hatched, and everyone wanted to celebrate for the little Highness.

Mond understood how they felt, but considering the cub’s limited energy, Mond ultimately chose this method.

Wen Yuzhi had once given every Saint Clan in the palace little cookies.

And now they were giving candy as gifts, placing it into the small jar beside the cub.

When the last Saint Clan finished, the candy jar happened to be filled to the brim. Through the glass, you could see the colorful candy inside, packed full—just like the Saint Clan’s feelings.

—Beautiful, and precious.

Wen Yuzhi suddenly felt like this candy jar was a little heavy. He put it together with the brooch Mansendis had given him, placing both into his little basket.

Right beside the silver doll... and that outfit.

Without realizing it, his little basket had gained so many things.

And every one of them was something he treasured. He wanted to hide them away, and even when he slept, he wanted them all to keep him company.

That childish, adorable cub behavior made the Saint Clan who had given candy feel like their hearts were about to melt.

The little Highness... liked their gifts.

The smile on Mond’s face never went away.

“Besides this candy, after hearing the news of your hatching, Saint Clan outside also sent many congratulatory gifts. We displayed some, and there are more we already put away. If you have time, you can go look.”

More?

Wen Yuzhi froze.

He hadn’t expected so many Saint Clan to give him gifts.

What Mond didn’t say was that almost the entire Dark Tower Star had prepared congratulatory gifts for Wen Yuzhi.

Even when Mansendis and Tasiya were born, they didn’t receive this kind of treatment.

It was clear: the little Highness truly won hearts.

And what Wen Yuzhi hadn’t expected was that the “some” Mond mentioned was enough to fill the entire palace.

From the entrance all the way to his room, both sides were stacked with all kinds of gift mountains, to the point there was barely any space to walk.

“Everyone really loves you,” Alvin said.

Back on the first day Wen Yuzhi arrived at Dark Tower Star, he had already felt the Saint Clan’s love for him once.

But now, looking at so many gifts, he was still deeply shaken by that intense, blazing affection.

Still, with so many gifts, Wen Yuzhi also felt a bit troubled.

He didn’t want to disappoint everyone’s feelings, but forget his little basket—even his room couldn’t hold that many gifts.

Seeing the cub looking at a loss, Mansendis spoke.

“All of these gifts will be placed into your storerooms. You can open them slowly.”

Only then did Wen Yuzhi relax.

The wish was made, the candle was blown, and the palace surprise Mond and the others prepared had been seen.

Next, it seemed like it was time for cutting the cake.

With Wen Yuzhi’s current size, the knife for cutting cake was something he could only lift if he hugged it with both hands.

Good thing he had wings to carry him up.

Starting from the top layer, Wen Yuzhi cut straight down in a clean line.

And the very first slice he cut, in front of all the Saint Clan, he handed to Mansendis without any hesitation at all.

“Thank you.”

Receiving that first honor, the silver-haired sovereign’s mood visibly brightened.

The other Saint Clan looked at it with envy, but they weren’t surprised.

After all, the King was the little Highness’s father, and the highest-ranked among them. It was only reasonable for the little Highness to give the first piece to the King.

What they cared about more was: who would Wen Yuzhi give the second piece of cake to?

In their eyes, the order of handing out cake was basically the same as their ranking in the cub’s heart.

The first piece had clearly been decided as Mansendis.

So who got the second piece was especially important.

Every Saint Clan hoped to get that second piece.

Because that meant, in the little Highness’s heart, that person was the most important existence besides Mansendis.

...Who would it be?

Mond and the others were so nervous they practically held their breath.

They watched as the cub cut the cake, then handed it to—

The bone spines.

That’s right. In Wen Yuzhi’s heart, the bone spines who had been caring for him these days were the most important besides Mansendis.

After that, only after he finished cutting and dividing the rest did he start placing a piece into each Saint Clan’s hands from near to far. He didn’t forget Mu Luo or the Gumu, either.

Every piece was about the same size.

The whole point was balance.

It left the Saint Clan—who had been silently competing for half the day—caught off guard. But they couldn’t deny it: they had been completely soothed by the cub’s thoughtful, all-around way of handling things.

And only after that tense, on-edge atmosphere turned back into a warm, harmonious scene did Wen Yuzhi quietly let out a breath.

In his heart, every Saint Clan was important. If he had to clearly rank who mattered more, it was far too hard.

And if he messed it up, it would easily turn into a fight.

Better to be like this—everyone could eat cake properly.

Thinking that, Wen Yuzhi took a bite of cake.

Whether it was because the Gumu’s skill truly was outstanding, or because this cake had been given a special meaning—

Wen Yuzhi felt like this was the best cake he had eaten since he was seven.

Sweet.

“Did you have a good day today?” Mu Luo came over and asked quietly.

Wen Yuzhi nodded almost without any hesitation.

A good day.

It didn’t even need to be said—right now, the cub’s eyes looked like they were filled with starlight, glittering.

Wen Yuzhi felt like he was really happy today.

He made the wish he wanted, and he received so, so much love.

It was something he never even dared to imagine before.

Thinking of that, Wen Yuzhi couldn’t help lifting his head to look out the window.

Of course, he knew the starry sky here wasn’t the same as the one from the world he used to live in.

But still, looking at the stars overhead, for a moment, Wen Yuzhi really wanted to tell his mom and dad that he wasn’t lonely anymore.

He had new family.

Mm... a lot, a lot of them—and they all loved him.

Wen Yuzhi thought that maybe he was starting to look forward to living among the Saint Clan.