Chapter 95: Officially On Camera

Mu Luo’s idea was that Wen Yuzhi could either use his own name or have the palace release a few videos about his daily life.

The videos did not need to be complicated. As long as the cub appeared on camera at appropriate moments, that would be enough.

“What everyone wants to see is Your Highness.”

That was what Mu Luo said.

And there was a basis for it.

Mu Luo had done a simple survey. The Saint Clan at the supervision center all said they wanted to see His Highness the little prince more often.

Even if His Highness could not stand in front of them in person, just a video or even a photo would do.

On the Saint Clan’s internal StarNet, the few videos related to Wen Yuzhi had always maintained extremely high view counts. No matter the time of day, every time someone clicked in, there were always a large number of Saint Clan members still watching online.

That alone was enough to show Wen Yuzhi’s popularity among the Saint Clan.

The moment Mu Luo brought this up after returning to the palace, Mond immediately showed how seriously the matter was being taken.

Kasha and the others were also deeply annoyed, though what annoyed them was why they had not thought of this idea sooner.

If they had thought of it earlier, they could have recorded every single moment of the little prince’s growth.

To the Saint Clan, those would all have been extremely precious records.

But it was not too late even now.

In any case, because of Mu Luo’s one suggestion, the entire palace suddenly became lively from top to bottom.

All the Saint Clan turned eager eyes toward the cub. In the end, this was still something that required Wen Yuzhi, the person involved, to nod in agreement.

Mond thought for a moment, then asked, “Your Highness, would you be willing to appear publicly?”

The earlier videos of Wen Yuzhi on StarNet had all been casually filmed by Saint Clan members. Even the clips that showed his face contained very little of it.

Mond had asked Wen Yuzhi’s opinion about those videos before, and Wen Yuzhi had not objected to them being posted.

But what Mu Luo was bringing up now was obviously on a completely different level from that sort of small-scale thing, so Mond needed to confirm Wen Yuzhi’s wishes once more.

Wen Yuzhi did not really mind being filmed, but...

he was worried he might not actually have as much influence as Mu Luo claimed.

Just showing his face a little and saying a few words could soothe everyone’s emotions... was that really possible?

But faced with the cub’s concern, the Saint Clan present all spoke up one after another.

“Your Highness is so adorable. How could anyone possibly not like Your Highness?” That was Mond.

“This subordinate guarantees that no Saint Clan member would dislike Your Highness.” That was Kasha and the others.

If anyone truly dared dislike their little prince, they would not mind making that person disappear.

That was what Kasha and the others were thinking, though their faces still wore those gentle, smiling expressions.

Standing nearby, Alvin suddenly felt a chill go down his back.

When Alvin caught sight of the smiling look on Kasha and the others’ faces, Alvin silently chose to step a little farther away.

It could not be helped. Alvin really could not afford to provoke those thorned roses.

Still, when it came to their view of the little prince, Alvin and Kasha’s side were completely in agreement.

“Everyone likes Your Highness very much and is hoping to meet Your Highness.”

Wen Yuzhi had originally still been a little hesitant, but under this string of praise from Mond and the others, he felt as though he was about to be praised into floating away.

His head grew light and dizzy, and his face grew redder and redder.

The cub nodded that little head almost as if floating, agreeing to the filming.

So in one of the palace meeting rooms, Wen Yuzhi began his first official on-camera appearance.

He changed into a relatively formal outfit.

The pure white color made him look like a noble and beautiful little prince.

Because this would be the first video they posted, Mond and the others all felt it should be a little more formal.

The setting, the environment, the clothes, and... the cutest cub of all.

Wen Yuzhi sat upright in a tall chair. Since it was going to be recorded and uploaded online, he refused Mond’s request to install a child’s seat and chose instead to sit directly in the chair, even though it was a little too tall for him.

From a distance, it looked like a tiny doll sitting in an adult’s place.

What Mond and the others had not told Wen Yuzhi was that this only made the cub look even cuter than before.

The legs in those little boots still dangled far above the floor, yet the cub’s expression was serious and solemn, sitting upright and proper like a tiny grown-up.

That stark contrast between top and bottom gave rise to an especially adorable sense of contrast.

Wen Yuzhi was completely unaware of this.

He thought that with his face set so seriously, he looked very stern, never realizing that in the eyes of Saint Clan members like Mond, no matter what His Highness the little prince did, he looked unbearably cute.

The adorable cub was still a little nervous in front of the camera.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Wen Yuzhi...”

Wen Yuzhi first gave a brief self-introduction, then answered a few questions the Saint Clan would be more interested in.

“What do you like best?”

“Dad.”

“What’s your favorite fruit?”

“Thornfruit.”

Perhaps it was because this interview format of simple question and answer felt fairly relaxed, and because all the questions were such ordinary everyday things, but Wen Yuzhi’s slight nervousness gradually eased without him noticing.

Along with that, his body stopped being so stiff. The legs hanging in the air beneath the chair began to sway lightly.

The camera in Alvin’s hands immediately caught that moment.

This Saint Clan adjutant calmly recorded it without showing any reaction.

And when the video was later posted to the Saint Clan’s internal StarNet, that exact scene made countless Saint Clan members, all wearing expressionless, icy faces, frantically take screenshots.

His Highness the little prince was answering questions with the utmost seriousness, yet under the chair, those legs were lightly swinging.

The image looked exactly like a cat lazily swishing its tail. It was impossibly cute.

The moment the finished video was posted, the Saint Clan’s StarNet lagged in an unprecedented way.

One had to know that the Saint Clan’s StarNet was top-tier across the entire interstellar world, and yet even so, the Saint Clan’s internal network had nearly collapsed because of this one video.

By the time those Saint Clan members finally squeezed their way in and clicked it open, they instantly realized the video was in holographic mode.

The benefit of that mode was that it let them step directly into the environment where the video had been filmed, as if they were speaking face-to-face with His Highness the little prince.

It felt more real, more immersive.

And at the end of the video, Wen Yuzhi said this to all the Saint Clan.

Something he had once said to Mansendis.

“There was a time when I never knew what I could do for everyone. I’m clearly royal blood enjoying everything, but I don’t have great strength like Dad does.”

When the cub said this, that snowy white, soft little face even scrunched up a bit, the brows drawing together faintly, as though he were troubled by it.

But before the Saint Clan watching this could begin to feel distressed, the cub on screen had already adjusted his mood.

Wen Yuzhi curved his brows and smiled at the camera. “But now I’m very glad, glad that I have this ability that can help everyone. This is also something I’ve always wanted to do.”

“I’m very happy to have had the good fortune to meet all of you, and I hope this royal blood of mine won’t disappoint you.”

After hearing those words, the Saint Clan almost all, as if by unspoken agreement, raised a hand to touch their chest.

And there, a sour, swelling emotion was spreading.

It was a very strange feeling.

But they did not dislike it.

If anything, there was even a voice urging them to answer in their hearts—

Never.

They would never be disappointed in His Highness the little prince.

His Highness the little prince was so warm... and even more than that, a treasure they wanted to protect with the utmost care.

So how could they possibly feel disappointed?

At the very end of the video, Wen Yuzhi released his mental energy.

A butterfly flew out from his palm.

It flew straight toward the camera, landing on every Saint Clan member watching the video.

As the light fell, the exhaustion in their bodies seemed to be gently brushed away along with that soft touch.

It was brief and faint, but it truly existed.

That moment also let every Saint Clan member see hope.

...........

After filming the video, Wen Yuzhi suddenly fell unconscious without any warning.

That frightened all the surrounding Saint Clan.

Fortunately, Mu Luo had been right there at the time.

Mu Luo quickly checked on the cub’s condition.

“He overused his mental energy.” With prior experience, Mu Luo arrived at the conclusion very quickly.

Thinking back to how the cub had directed that burst of mental energy at the camera in the final moment, how could the Saint Clan present fail to understand?

That had never been part of the process during rehearsal. The cub had added it on the spot.

And as for why...

almost all the Saint Clan present understood clearly in their hearts.

Kasha and the others pressed their lips together.

Alvin glanced at Mond, the look clearly asking whether the video should still be posted or not.

Mond answered without hesitation. “Post it. His Highness loves the Saint Clan. That is our good fortune.”

And they absolutely could not fail to live up to His Highness’s kindness.

After saying that, the old chief affairs officer stepped forward, intending to pick the cub up.

But Yiluo and Feier stopped him.

They did not allow those Heimo to come forward. Instead, the two of them carefully picked up His Highness the little prince themselves and carried Wen Yuzhi back to his room.

Through the whole process, they never handed the cub over to anyone else. They kept him protected tightly in their arms the entire time, fulfilling their duty as personal guards.

Clearly, in Yiluo and Feier’s hearts, His Highness the little prince was more important than anything else. Even when facing high-ranking Saint Clan members like Mond and Alvin, they would not retreat.

Part of the reason for that was also thanks to Kasha’s training.

Kasha constantly emphasized loyalty.

After all, that was how Kasha and the entire personal guard had been—absolutely loyal to Queen Tasiya.

While Wen Yuzhi had been busy, Yiluo and Feier had also grown a great deal during this time.

They were steadily advancing on the path toward becoming qualified personal guards.

.......

Aboard the Thanatos.

The silver-haired sovereign stood inside the command room, looking through the photos in his light-brain.

Lina had sent all of them to him.

They recorded what the cub had looked like during the royal cocoon stage.

At that time, the base had not yet met with disaster. The three Saint Clan members tasked with guarding the royal cocoon had decorated the hatching nest warmly and beautifully.

Lina liked taking pictures, so almost every day she would take a photo of the royal cocoon, recording its growth.

At first, it had only been a tiny little thing, but bit by bit, slowly, it had become rounder and rounder, even taking on a faintly chubby look.

The moment Mansendis learned Lina had those photos, he immediately asked for them.

In exchange, he allowed Kasha and the others to move into the palace.

And every single photo in there, Mansendis had already looked at countless times.

All of those were the part he had never been able to take part in, the part whose absence remained a regret.

He needed to look at those pictures, needed to look at the scenes inside them, to slowly fill in the stretch of the cub’s life he had missed.

Mansendis had also seen the video Mond and the others had filmed.

It could be said that the entire warship was playing it.

The moment His Highness the little prince’s voice sounded, whether busy or not, every Saint Clan member could not help stopping to watch.

And when Mansendis watched the cub, still wearing that baby-faced look, speak with grave seriousness and say that the one he liked best was Dad...

the thought of going back rose in Mansendis’s mind at once.

And this was only the first day of their separation.

Mansendis had already begun thinking about his child.

He could not help wondering—

Had the cub been taking good care of himself while Mansendis was away?

Had the cub been eating properly?

Had the cub been sleeping properly?

These “idle distractions” that Mansendis once would have scorned were now the very things he missed most and worried over most deeply.

And it was at this moment that Mansendis realized it was not Wen Yuzhi who could not bear to be apart from him.

It was Mansendis who could no longer bear to be apart from the cub.

In days without ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the cub nearby, that familiar loneliness and weariness had once again returned to his side.

But by now, Mansendis was already a little unaccustomed to it.

Elsewhere, Wen Yuzhi was also feeling a little unaccustomed.

He startled awake from sleep, calling for Dad without thinking.

In the past, the moment he called out for Dad, Mansendis would have already gathered him into his arms.

But now, he called for quite a while without getting any response at all.

Only then did Wen Yuzhi belatedly realize it.

Dad had already gone out. He was not here beside him.

At that thought, a wave of loss suddenly welled up inside Wen Yuzhi.

But that feeling of loss did not last long.

The cub flapped his wings and flew out.

When he came back again, there was now a large coat in his hands, one that was obviously far too big for him.

If Mond had been there, Mond would have recognized it at once as one of Mansendis’s coats.

Wen Yuzhi placed it on his bed. Then, in the room, that beautiful young boy vanished from sight, replaced by a fluffy little beast.

And that snowy-white little beast rolled around on the coat several times, until its fur was covered with the silver-haired sovereign’s scent.

Only then did it stop.

After that, it dragged the coat over beside the giant silver doll that took up more than half the bed.

It spread the coat underneath itself and pressed its body tightly against the huge silver doll.

Only after doing all that was the little beast satisfied enough to lie down.

It hugged its fluffy tail, and surrounded by that familiar scent, the cub was finally able to continue sleeping peacefully.

Wen Yuzhi slowly closed his eyes. Squeezed up beside the doll, the little fluffy body rose and fell with each breath.

“Dad... hff... y-you have to come back soon...”