Chapter 76: I Love You Too

Wen Yuzhi hadn’t meant to eavesdrop.

He’d been touring the warships inside the weapons manufacturing plant with Alvin and the others.

Warship after warship sat parked in neat rows across the open lot, like a lineup of luxury cars.

Only their price tags were far higher than any luxury car could ever be.

Only the Saint Clan’s kind of wealth could leave them sitting here like roadside cabbage—and still let Wen Yuzhi choose one at random.

“These are all the newest models, Your Highness. See anything you like?”

Alvin said it.

But Wen Yuzhi was distracted.

Just a moment ago, he’d been excited for this tour.

But maybe because Mansendis wasn’t here, Wen Yuzhi couldn’t stop thinking about how the silver-haired sovereign had looked when he left...

And with that, the warships in front of him stopped being all that interesting.

Alvin noticed the cub’s mood had dropped.

So after they finished this section, Alvin offered, “Would you like to rest for a bit first, Your Highness?”

Wen Yuzhi didn’t refuse.

But on the way to the lounge, Wen Yuzhi wanted to stop by the restroom first.

Thinking there was a restroom back where they’d just passed, Wen Yuzhi didn’t have Alvin and the others follow. He fluttered his wings and went to find it by memory.

Only... this base was simply too big.

Wen Yuzhi meant to retrace his steps, but the longer he walked, the more he realized he might have gotten lost.

He didn’t know where he was anymore.

Just as Wen Yuzhi was debating whether to contact Alvin on the light-brain, he passed a corridor and sharply caught the sound of Saint Clan voices talking.

Curious, Wen Yuzhi looked over.

And saw several unfamiliar Saint Clan women, and also...

Dad?

When he saw the silver-haired sovereign seated at the head, Wen Yuzhi froze.

It looked like they were discussing something, everyone’s expression a little serious.

...Probably something important?

Thinking that, Wen Yuzhi was about to leave when he heard them mention the royal cocoon.

Wen Yuzhi stopped.

He hesitated, warring with himself for a moment, but in the end he still couldn’t help quietly ducking behind a potted plant.

Just a little.

He’d only listen to one line... and then he’d go.

And then—

One line turned into two, then three...

Until without even realizing it, Wen Yuzhi had listened to the entire thing.

Even after Mond left with Kasha and the others, Wen Yuzhi still hadn’t noticed the conversation inside had already ended.

Which was how the cub still on the scene got called out by Mansendis directly.

When Wen Yuzhi heard Mansendis call toward this side, he nearly toppled out from behind the plant in sheer fright.

He hurriedly pulled his wings in, but it was already too late.

Knowing his hiding spot had been exposed, Wen Yuzhi walked out from behind the plant, looking a little embarrassed.

He kept his head lowered, but still snuck a glance in Mansendis’s direction.

And when he realized the silver-haired sovereign was looking right at him, Wen Yuzhi—

Ah... oh no...!

He snapped his gaze back and kept his head down, acting like he hadn’t done anything at all.

At the same time, the cub called out very obediently, “Dad.”

Only, maybe because he felt guilty, that soft voice unconsciously slowed, dragging out the last syllable until it practically sounded like he was acting cute.

And the little wings behind him trembled faintly with nerves.

Mansendis hadn’t even spoken yet, and Wen Yuzhi already looked like the word guilty should be stamped on his forehead.

Seeing that, a trace of amusement flickered through Mansendis’s eyes.

You couldn’t deny it—when the cub appeared in that moment, the irritation and gloom Mansendis had been feeling over what Kasha said vanished in an instant.

But outwardly, Mansendis didn’t show it. He tapped the tabletop.

“Come here.”

His tone wasn’t heavy.

But Wen Yuzhi was already guilty, and the moment Mansendis spoke, he immediately flapped his wings and flew straight over.

He didn’t pause once, diving right into Mansendis’s arms.

“Dad...”

Before Mansendis could react, Wen Yuzhi warmly rubbed against him, little wings even resting on Mansendis’s hand.

He looked up, those round eyes blinking, lashes fluttering. His hair fell down, brushing against snow-white, soft cheeks.

Obedient. Cute.

And this was a move Wen Yuzhi had used all the time when he was younger.

As long as he put on this look, those well-born ladies couldn’t help handing over all the desserts on the table, calling him their precious baby.

As for everything else?

Gone, straight to the clouds.

This—

worked.

Mansendis knew Wen Yuzhi was trying to win him over, and he very much enjoyed the cub’s closeness.

He set the cub on his own knee. While plucking off a leaf that had gotten stuck in Wen Yuzhi’s hair back by the plant, he asked, “You heard it all?”

“...Yeah.”

Whether it was about Tasiya, or the royal cocoon being stolen—Wen Yuzhi had heard it all.

“I’ll investigate this thoroughly.”

Mansendis promised it solemnly.

Wen Yuzhi blinked and replied softly, “I believe you, Dad.”

The cub trusted Mansendis almost unconditionally.

Even though not long ago, Mansendis had openly admitted he would have killed him.

And yet Wen Yuzhi’s attitude toward Mansendis hadn’t changed in the slightest.

When Mansendis looked over, Wen Yuzhi even tried to comfort him instead. “I’m actually not that bothered by this...”

At first, when Wen Yuzhi heard his birth had been something Tasiya planned in secret, he really had felt conflicted.

But what he’d been conflicted about was Mansendis’s attitude toward him.

He hadn’t been born out of anyone’s expectations. So would Dad hate him for that?

Wen Yuzhi thought it almost cautiously.

He’d already lost Wen Che and Madam Jilanya. After finally getting a new family, he didn’t want to lose it a second time.

And when Wen Yuzhi heard Mansendis ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) say he would kill him, Wen Yuzhi’s mind had gone almost completely blank.

It felt like his heart hurt—hurt so badly he could barely breathe.

But at the same time, he could understand Mansendis.

A change of power was bloody and cruel by nature. And a sudden child—still a product the previous sovereign had schemed into existence for some purpose—

It went without saying how awkward his existence was.

So Wen Yuzhi didn’t hate Mansendis for making that decision.

Besides...

He could feel it. When Mansendis said that line, his emotions had been pressed down hard.

It was exhaustion.

Wen Yuzhi had felt that fatigue on many Saint Clan members.

But on Mansendis, it was especially intense.

Like the first time Wen Yuzhi saw him on Kanirila—the silver giant beast covered in wounds, like a blade packed with cracks, visibly pushed right to the edge.

That pain, that weariness—it was too vivid.

So even hearing Mansendis say he would kill him, Wen Yuzhi still couldn’t bring himself to hate Mansendis.

“I won’t blame you, Dad. Whether you wanted to kill me or not, I won’t blame you.”

Mansendis stared down at the cub in his arms.

Wen Yuzhi lifted his head, meeting the silver-haired sovereign’s gaze.

Those eyes were clear and clean, without the slightest shadow. Mansendis couldn’t find even a trace of resentment toward him in them.

Wen Yuzhi said it calmly, and willingly.

Mansendis fell silent for a moment. After a long while, he finally sighed, his fingertip brushing the cub’s cheek.

“You’ve already seen a Saint Clan member lose control. This kind of pain stays with us our entire lives. Only death brings release. It’s our fixed fate—something we can’t shake off and can’t escape.”

“As long as even one Saint Clan member is still alive, we have to keep enduring that pain. And as long as one Salilaino is still alive, that pain will never end.”

“In the past, I only wanted to end it all faster. But later, I realized I was wrong.”

As Mansendis said this, he lowered his head to look at the cub in his arms.

This was his child.

His blood ran in the cub’s veins. The cub would nestle against him, get close to him, bring him the most important feelings in life.

Mansendis didn’t doubt it for a second—if he’d truly destroyed that royal cocoon back then, he would regret it now.

And so, about the person he’d been then, Mansendis admitted his mistake to the cub plainly.

“I shouldn’t have been running away. And I didn’t have the right to decide for you—or for the Saint Clan. I’m sorry, Zhizhi. I’m not a qualified dad.”

He was also a derelict sovereign.

Because of the Salilaino identity, he’d always carried a kind of self-punishing mindset. He’d thought he’d already done what a sovereign was supposed to do.

But all these years, he’d never truly cared what the Saint Clan beneath him thought. He’d only gone ahead and decided everything for them.

—He was the one who chose to give up first.

With Mansendis’s status, for the silver-haired sovereign to admit his own mistake out loud was already almost unthinkable—let alone to his own child, with such directness and sincerity.

Wen Yuzhi hadn’t expected it.

He’d never imagined Mansendis would apologize to him... or say outright that he wasn’t a qualified dad...

The cub stared at the silver-haired sovereign in front of him, almost dazed.

Mansendis used his fingertip to ruffle Wen Yuzhi’s hair.

It was like these words had been buried in his heart for a long time, never said—and now, with this moment in front of him, Mansendis simply let everything he’d been holding back come out.

Wen Yuzhi blinked slowly. A faint sting gathered at the corners of his eyes.

But he knew the Saint Clan couldn’t stand seeing him cry. Every time he cried, Mansendis always ended up flustered and at a loss.

So Wen Yuzhi held it in.

He didn’t cry. Instead, his brows softened, and he pressed his head into the silver-haired sovereign’s palm.

“I heard what you said after that.”

Wen Yuzhi had heard everything Mansendis said afterward, too.

“Dad loves me, right?”

Wen Yuzhi asked it quietly.

Mansendis answered without hesitation. “Right.”

Wen Yuzhi smiled.

He said, “That’s enough.”

In his heart, Mansendis was already a qualified dad. Not just qualified—he was the best dad in the world.

“Dad, can you say it again?” Wen Yuzhi sat on Mansendis’s knee, rubbing his cheek against Mansendis’s palm, eyes shining as he looked at him. “I want to hear you say it one more time.”

Before, Mansendis had said it to Kasha and the others. Wen Yuzhi wanted to hear him say it to him, in person.

“You said I get one willful request a day.”

Now the cub was righteously using his right to be willful.

Mansendis lifted a brow.

A rare smile surfaced on his face.

The silver-haired sovereign’s lips curved slightly. He was obviously in a good mood.

Under the cub’s eager gaze, Mansendis spoke slowly:

“I’ll give you all my love, Zhizhi. I’ll love you with my life, I swear it in the name of Mansendis Salilaino.”

His voice was low. Different from usual, it sounded solemn and unwavering.

Wen Yuzhi still couldn’t hold his tears back. They slid down at last.

And he said—

“Dad... I love you too.”