Chapter 61: Dad Working Late

Wen Yuzhi could tell he was getting a little clingy, too.

He’d already gotten used to living carefully on his own. But after coming to the Saint Clan, a lot of his habits had quietly changed without him realizing it.

Somewhere along the way, he’d stopped drawing hard lines around everyone—keeping himself forever inside the “safe” distance he’d decided on.

He chose to step out from the inside, awkward and out of practice, and start building relationships again.

And the most important one was the Saint Clan.

Especially Mansendis—his new dad.

Wen Yuzhi still didn’t really know how to get along with this new dad, but the cub instincts in his body made him want to rely on Mansendis, to get close without thinking.

Even when he couldn’t sleep at night, he wanted to hug his little pillow and come looking for Mansendis.

It was like... if he kept his eyes on Mansendis like this, the silver-haired sovereign wouldn’t run into an accident the way Wen Che and Madam Jilanya had.

Thinking that, Wen Yuzhi gripped Mansendis’s sleeve tight. Behind him, his small wings lifted slightly with nerves.

The study was quiet.

After Wen Yuzhi finished speaking, the room fell completely silent.

Mansendis looked at the cub—at that hopeful, slightly cautious expression—and softened his tone. “It’ll be boring.”

Handling an entire race’s affairs sounded impressive, but most of the time it was just endless, complicated little matters. The process was dull and mind-numbing.

Mansendis said it because he was worried Wen Yuzhi would find it boring, staying here with him.

But Wen Yuzhi said, “I can help you, Dad. I can pour tea, and I can carry documents.”

A perfect little thoughtful assistant.

Mond, on the other hand, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry—because everything Wen Yuzhi listed was exactly what Mond usually did. The moment the little highness showed up, Mond’s job was getting snatched away.

And Wen Yuzhi meant it. He did it.

One moment he pushed the black tea Mond had brewed over to Mansendis. The next, he put anything that had been disturbed back where it belonged. Then he even flew behind Mansendis and, on his own, patted and kneaded Dad’s shoulders.

For a while, the air above the study was full of Wen Yuzhi’s little figure darting back and forth.

The cub was like a domesticated little sprite, flitting around with those small wings, busying himself everywhere—huff, huff—quick and capable.

Thoughtful to an absurd degree.

The bone spines tried to help, and Wen Yuzhi refused.

None of this was hard. When he was little, he’d often poured tea for his mother, too—and Wen Che would coax him, offering a piece of candy as payment, getting young Wen Yuzhi to pound his back and rub his legs.

Back then, Wen Yuzhi had no idea it was blatant labor exploitation. He’d sold off a day’s worth of work, waited on Wen Che until Wen Che was thoroughly comfortable, and in the end “earned” candy Wen Che had planned to buy for him anyway.

When Madam Jilanya got home from work and saw it, Wen Che was sitting on the couch like some lord, holding candy like he was teasing a cat, while her obedient little treasure looked pitiful, dutifully pounding Dad’s legs.

The result was that Wen Che got kicked out of the house for three days. For three days straight, he could only cling to the door and beg his wife and child for “forgiveness.”

If Wen Che had “tricked” Wen Yuzhi back then, then what Wen Yuzhi was doing for Mansendis now was something he chose himself.

His thinking was simple.

Dad was working so late. It was hard. Wen Yuzhi wanted to share the load, even if only a little.

And Mansendis, at last, got to experience what it felt like—having a child beside him while he worked.

He couldn’t deny it. The feeling was new, and it even made him find a bit of enjoyment in work he’d long since grown numb to.

In fact, even if Wen Yuzhi did nothing at all, just being here was enough to make Mansendis feel relaxed.

As long as he saw the cub, the mental sea that was constantly churning inside him would gradually calm down.

There was mental power involved, and there was something about Wen Yuzhi himself, too.

To Mansendis, Wen Yuzhi was the only color in this barren, lonely world.

So alive.

So bright.

Wen Yuzhi seemed to sense Mansendis’s gaze. He padded over on small steps to the silver-haired sovereign.

He’d finished everything he could think of, and now he looked up at Mansendis, eyes wide and eager, as if asking with his gaze whether there was anything else to be done.

Mansendis’s expression softened without him noticing.

“Could I trouble Zhizhi to bring me the top file?”

The moment Wen—Little Assistant—Yuzhi heard that, he nodded like a pecking chick.

A file... a file...

He fluttered over to the other side of the desk. The documents Mansendis needed to handle every day were stacked there, and Alvin had already sorted them in advance.

In the interstellar era, strictly speaking, everything could be processed on a light-brain. But for some important confidential documents, paper backups still existed.

Wen Yuzhi didn’t look around. He grabbed the top file and came back.

“Dad...”

Mansendis followed the voice and looked over—only to see Wen Yuzhi hugging the file and struggling to move it.

The cub’s whole body was blocked; only the small wings were visible. From Mansendis’s angle, it looked exactly like the file itself had sprouted wings and was walking.

As that thought crossed his mind—

The file slipped.

With a smack.

It fell down, revealing the cub behind it—cheeks flushed red from effort.

He looked a little tired, but Wen Yuzhi’s eyes were shining.

He lifted his gaze toward Mansendis.

...Huh?

Wen Yuzhi froze.

Was it his imagination?

Did Dad... just smile?

Wen Yuzhi blinked, trying to confirm it by looking again, but Mansendis looked no different from usual.

When the cub looked over, the silver-haired sovereign even tapped Wen Yuzhi’s forehead lightly with a fingertip.

“Good work, Zhizhi.”

Wen Yuzhi pressed his lips together, a little embarrassed from the praise. Even his small wings drooped.

He tried to push the file over to Mansendis.

But maybe the fall had knocked the set-in-order papers loose—when Wen Yuzhi moved, a single sheet slid out.

Wen Yuzhi glanced at it without meaning to, and caught a place name that felt a little familiar.

—Esoris.

He’d heard that name from Alvin and Mond. He only knew it seemed to be a mining planet, and that warship manufacturing was there, too.

But overall, Esoris was still unfamiliar to him.

Mansendis saw that page, too—saw more of it, and more clearly.

Alvin had been continuing to investigate Tasiya.

More precisely: investigating what Tasiya had done during Tasiya’s reign.

Most of the female officials who’d once followed at Tasiya’s side had died in that riot. A lot of evidence and truth had been buried along with them.

Especially the matter of the little highness’s origin. Tasiya had concealed it to the extreme—not only did the Saint Clan have no idea they even had a new royal-blood child, even Mond, serving inside the palace, hadn’t known Tasiya was secretly cultivating royal blood.

If Wen Yuzhi hadn’t appeared—causing all kinds of traces to surface—this could have continued to deceive the entire Saint Clan.

Even after confirming Wen Yuzhi was his child, Mansendis still had Alvin keep digging.

Because no one believed Tasiya would do all of this for no reason.

It wasn’t like Tasiya suddenly wanted to care about a younger brother—looking at Mansendis staying alone in a rock cavern day after day, fearing he’d get lonely, and so creating a child to keep him company.

Mond wouldn’t believe that.

Mansendis believed it even less.

He sent Alvin to investigate, and in the past few days, there was finally a little progress.

Alvin found that Tasiya had gone to Esoris several times.

What was strange was that, at the time, Tasiya hadn’t brought any attendants at all, going alone. No one knew how long Tasiya stayed there, or what Tasiya did.

Alvin also asked Selet.

Esoris was under Selet’s management now; not long ago, Selet had even gone there to handle trouble.

But Selet said Selet knew nothing about Tasiya’s visits.

Selet and Alvin had both only begun to rise after Mansendis took the throne. Before that, Esoris had always been managed by the head maid at Tasiya’s side. And the Saint Clan working on Esoris had already been replaced in full.

Those newcomers had no idea what Queen Tasiya ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) had done here in the past.

The investigation stopped there.

But Mansendis stared at the report and fell into thought.

Mond, sensing something, lifted their head and looked toward the silver-haired sovereign.

And heard Mansendis give an order: “Make preparations. The day after tomorrow, I’m going to Esoris.”

As he spoke, Mansendis lowered his head and looked at the cub nestled quietly near his hand, as if unwilling to disturb him.

“Does Zhizhi want to go, too?”

The moment Wen Yuzhi heard the question, he nodded without even thinking.

“Yes!”

He wanted to go with Dad!

Seeing how naturally the cub and the silver-haired sovereign got along, Mond said with relief, “Then if the little highness is going as well, I’ll need to prepare properly.”

After all, this would be the little highness’s first long trip.

Esoris wasn’t on Dark Tower Star. Even by warship, the travel time was close to a full day. For Wen Yuzhi—who hadn’t left Dark Tower Star yet—this really did count as traveling far.

So in the next few days, Wen Yuzhi was excited.

But before they officially left for Esoris, Wen Yuzhi went to see Woke again.

Woke had mostly recovered.

Logically, Woke could already return to the military and report back.

But Woke still refused to leave.

Mu Luo went to persuade Woke, only to hear the Ge De soldier speak with a stiff tone on an expressionless face: “The little highness said the little highness would come see me.”

No matter what Mu Luo said, it always ended the same way—one sentence, the little highness will come see me, shutting everything down.

After several attempts, Mu Luo finally understood just how stubborn these Ge De soldiers were.

In Woke’s mind, if the little highness said there would be time to come visit, then Wen Yuzhi’s words were an order. Until Wen Yuzhi came, Woke would follow the command and wait here.

Mu Luo didn’t doubt that if Wen Yuzhi never came, this Saint Clan soldier would still be willing to wait forever.

Fortunately, Wen Yuzhi hadn’t forgotten the soldier he’d saved.

This was the first Saint Clan member he’d healed.

Wen Yuzhi cared about how Woke was doing.

They didn’t know how long the trip would take, so Wen Yuzhi wanted to visit Woke once more before leaving—check in, and also help comb through Woke’s mental sea again, seeing how the practice of these past days had turned out.

Soft mental power smoothed over the chaotic, restless places bit by bit, like feathers brushing lightly across them.

When Wen Yuzhi withdrew his mental power, he asked Woke, “How does it feel?”

Lower-tier Saint Clan weren’t good with words. Getting them to come up with descriptive terms wasn’t easy.

Woke thought for a long time before answering, “Very light.”

Like the brain had been washed by something—suddenly relaxed. The sharp, chaotic pain eased.

Mu Luo checked Woke again.

And just as Woke had said, the brain was relaxed, and the mental sea had calmed.

Even though Mu Luo already knew Wen Yuzhi’s gift could soothe the Saint Clan, seeing the effect of this combing with their own eyes still left Mu Luo unable to hide the shock.

Looking at the now-peaceful mental sea, only one sentence was left in Mu Luo’s mind.

—Like a miracle.

Wen Yuzhi’s gift, to someone like Mu Luo who’d studied mental power for years, was almost like a miracle.

That kind of mental power—restless and chaotic to the extreme—looked beyond saving to ordinary people. But the cub could soothe it with ease.

The process was simple, and fast.

And for the one being soothed and combed through, it was no different than getting a life back.

“So incredible...”

Mu Luo couldn’t help murmuring under their breath. When Mu Luo looked at Wen Yuzhi, that gaze turned heated—especially as it lingered on the cub’s head, as if wanting to see through the silver strands and into what was inside.

But in the very next moment, Mansendis’s icy gaze snapped Mu Luo out of that excitement.

Mu Luo immediately lowered their head. All the messy thoughts in their mind scattered clean.

Wen Yuzhi didn’t know what had just happened. Seeing Mansendis arrive, he obediently called, “Dad.”

Only then did Mansendis pull his gaze away from Mu Luo.

Mansendis knew Mu Luo’s personality wouldn’t allow Mu Luo to truly do anything to Wen Yuzhi. At most, Mu Luo would want the cub to cooperate with some examinations—and even that, constrained by the Saint Clan, Mu Luo wouldn’t dare bring it up out loud. At most, it would stay as a thought.

But even if it was only a thought, Mansendis couldn’t tolerate it.

When Mansendis passed in front of Mu Luo, his steps paused.

The silver-haired sovereign’s voice was cold. “There won’t be a second time.”

Mu Luo quickly replied with respect, “Understood.”

After Mansendis left, Mu Luo finally felt the air start moving again.

And at some point, Mu Luo’s back was already soaked in sweat.

Mu Luo understood: Mansendis had let it go lightly only for Wen Yuzhi’s sake.

Otherwise, with what Mu Luo had just been thinking, Mu Luo would have died a thousand times over.

Even if finding another doctor who could be trusted wasn’t easy, Mansendis had ways to make doctors from other races cooperate obediently.

With that thought, Mu Luo felt even more on edge.