Frey thought this group had gone mad.
Especially the ones who grabbed both sides of their crown and yanked so hard they gasped, almost rolling their eyes and fainting.
…Seriously, thatโs your mental power!! It represents your brain!! Unless you deliberately solidify it, only you can touch the Crown Clan’s most important symbol, and youโre just going to forcefully pull it off?!
Good grief, you guarded against others but didnโt expect youโd have to guard against yourself, huh???
โAwoo?โ
What are they doing?
Little Chu Zao sat properly in Freyโs arms, listening to the strange, distorted noises behind him.
At his age, curiosity was strong. The little cub carefully cocked his head to look over.
Frey pulled at the corner of his mouth, unable to explain that they were trying to pull off their own โbrains.โ
Too outrageous, absolutely absurd!
Especially since the little one in his arms was imitating them, still a bit puzzled why they couldnโt pull theirs off. Acting it out, both paws gripped his own little halo andโbiuโpulled it off again, holding it in his arms, then raising it highโlook, Zao Zaoโs can come off.
Zao Zao is a little angel, his halo can be used to bonk people!
Holding Little Chu Zao, Frey just felt as if his brain was being yanked right out.
Looking ahead or behind, Frey felt none of this was what he should be going through.
It was all a bit abstract.
Especially since he didnโt dare move.
This little ball was so small, only two palms big, soft and tender like a newborn beastโone wrong move and heโd easily hurt him.
So, Frey had to freeze in this awkward posture.
None of the powerful Crown Clan left in Holy Cas had ever raised such a soft, adorable little cub before. They were remarkably clumsy and helpless.
They were better at conquering territory in a limited time and finding their own amusements.
Just like now, as they brute-force yanked and pulled at their own โold buddiesโ of several centuries.
Finally, they had to accept the ridiculous fact that only Little Chu Zao could remove his halo, and each of them touched their own crowns, deep in thought.
The halos that had been forcibly tugged at looked a little dimmer, as if countless โ่โ (dammit) needed to be shouted.
Anya, left at the back of the group, hadnโt joined in trying to yank off his halo. He still held suspicions about Little Chu Zao.
Even though Little Chu Zao was their Dwight familyโs cub.
Anya looked at that furry little ball, unable to stop frowning.
After a while, he looked away.
Thinking to himselfโhe for one would not, like past members of the Crown Clan, make protecting cubs his instinct.
This was a new era now!
Meanwhile, inside the room.
The raging Meilun had been subdued by Amos.
Amosโs gaze was cold, meeting Meilunโs blood-red, maddened stare.
Their crown halos clashed fiercely, and Amosโs overwhelming spirit force forced Meilun to the ground.
Amos knelt on one knee, the metal chains of his black uniform shaking and glinting. One hand clamped Meilunโs shoulder, the other gripped his head, pressing it down so hard the floor cracked, while spirit force slowly calmed.
Meilunโs utterly wild blood-red eyes were crazed, his mouth letting out slurred growls.
The top of his head, where the crown halo was already mostly reduced to its base ring, cracked again, scattering like embers to ash in the air, then slowly vanished. When Meilunโs spirit halo was fully hidden, he suddenly coughed, his eyes gradually clearing.
โAll rightโฆ Your Majesty Amos.โ
His voice was weak, hands clutching the ground hard enough to gouge it, smears of blood everywhere, Meilunโs hands all bloody flesh.
โUncle Meilun, are you clearheaded now?โ
Amos spoke gently, with a calm kindness, gazing at his elder whose vitality was running out.
As a mythical race among the stars, the Crown Clan rarely reached the end of life before.
But now, theyโd learned to say farewell to suffering clansmen with calm and softnessโa torment for the living Crown Clan, numbing after so many rounds of pain and so many unwanted goodbyes.
โYes, Iโm clearheaded now.โ
Meilun gave a low laugh, voice rough from the spirit force rampage and the agony of a broken crown. His eyes were so bloodshot, the whites fully red.
He seemed calm, but his smile had a hint of maniaโlike a calm sea before a storm, unseen undercurrents roiling.
Amos helped Meilun sit up.
Meilunโs mind was already highly unstable.
He muttered as he stared at Amos.
โThis is fateโโ
โYour Majesty Amos, maybe I should tell you, as an elderโthereโs a voice in the universe constantly reminding us: this is the fate of the Crown Clan, myths shouldnโt exist in the stars, countless forces will target usโฆ whether people, or disasterโฆ this is fateโฆโ
Amos wasnโt interested.
But he still maintained basic respect toward a dying clansman.
Meilun looked at Amosโs expression and smiled.
โLook at yourself, Your Majesty. I understand, youโre being modest, but the pride and disbelief on your face canโt be hidden. So unrulyโฆ Well, I must admit, thatโs part of why you made it to the throne.โ
โHonestly, Iโm tired of myself. Who knows when this crown will finally shatter completely? I used to think I could bear the pain of reaching the end, but now I see I overestimated myselfโฆ Even starting to hallucinate.โ
Meilun leaned against the wall, his snowy hair to his shoulders, messy and stained with blood and dust, features sharply definedโeven in disgrace, he looked like a fallen nobleman.
โHallucinate?โ
Amos finally spoke again, standing up lazily, turning his head toward the door.
The intense spirit shock just now had left the door slightly ajar, and Frey could be vaguely seen standing outside.
โWhat do you mean?โ
โHaha, Your Majesty, do you know what I felt before my spirit force rampaged? The presence of a cub!โ
Meilun laughed lowly at that, his hoarse voice trembling with pain.
After the rampage and further shattering of his crown, heโd taken it all for hallucination.
โIโve at least seen cubs before. You last generation Crown Clan probably canโt remember childhood at all, never mind actually seeing cubsโโ
Meilun stared at Amos. โOf course, thatโs good. Compared to the pastโฆ you have no weakness, no soft underbelly. Yours is the strongest Crown Clan generation, Your Majesty Amos, but I always thinkโbefore you grew up, before you suffered the agony of your shattered crowns, back when you were all little white ballsโฆ there was still warmth.โ
Every generation of Crown Clan, at the end, still had memories of inheritance and warmth. But by Amosโs generation, it was all gone.
The generation led by Amos was the strongest Crown Clan had ever knownโin constitution and in spirit force, the clan reached its peak on the eve of extinction.
But they were unlike all who had gone before. Was this luck or misfortune?
Amos just looked at Meilun, then glanced once more toward the door.
โIf you mean a cub, I did pick one up a few days ago.โ
Meilun, lost in tragic thought: ?
He stopped smiling, spoke coldly without mercy.
โI think youโre dreaming.โ
Amosโs comm sounded.
A mechanical voice notified him.
โHonorable Majesty, nutritional milk tailored to the little highnessโ missing essential elements has been prepared and is being kept warm. Please promptly feed the little highness. This is the monitoring system: the little highnessโs data is below standard; please feed diligently or the highest command of the Crown Clan will be automatically triggered and another guardian assigned.โ
Meilun:โฆโฆ
Yes, because Little Chu Zaoโs health was so poor, very badly raised, and underdeveloped, Amos, as biological father, was technically still in a probationary period.
Even as the emperor of Holy Cas, as the Crown Clanโs royalty, there was still a cub-protection system above all rights, showing just how fierce crown protection used to be.
Though Amos couldnโt fully grasp the logic of this system now, he still elegantly turned off the comm.
โPlease, do go on? Zao Zao has to have his milk.โ
Meilun: โฆ?????
Meilun looked thoroughly choked.
Wait, hang onโฆ wait!!!
Meilunโs eyes widened, all his former sorrow gone: โYou saidโyou picked up a cub?!โ
How could that be?!
โAwoo~โ
Baba?
Outside the door came the soft little cubโs awoo, the tender baby-dragon voice drifting through the small crack.
Meilun looked over instantly, through the door crack glimpsing a little white ball.
Being held in Freyโs arms, sitting very properly, seemingly waiting for something.
Little Chu Zao blinked his amber, honeyed round eyes.
Two fuzzy ears twitched as he listened for sounds inside, poked his little head out, and then caught sight of Meilunโs blood-red, completely crimson eyes.
The little cub got a fright, ducking out of sight immediately.
No more white bundle.
Only the sound of โbaby dragon roarโ: โAwoo!โ
Baba, are you done?
Meilun raised a hand to rub his eyes.
Wait a minute, was that a hallucination?
He seemed to see that little halo, butโwhy did it feel like the halo wasnโt on top of the cubโs head?
Amos looked at the disheveled Meilun.
At this stage, however elegant or image-conscious a Crown Clan was, they never bothered to tidy up; all hope lost, hanging on only out of not wanting to understand themselves, waiting for final, tragic demise.
Amos thought for a moment, looking at Meilunโs daze.
โUncle Meilun, maybe you should tidy yourself up and take a look at Zao Zao.โ
Amos said it coolly and calmly: โZao Zao is my cub.โ
Meilun: ?
Trying to show he was neither anxious nor eager, he tugged up a smile, glancing at the door where a little tail could be seen wagging.
โBiological?โ
Amos: โBiological.โ
Meilun: ?????
No, seriously, how did you manage to pick up your own? And your majesty, whatโs with this attitude? Is this Versailles or what?!
[Authorโs note]
Meilun: โฆThis is fateโฆ
Amos: I picked up a cub.
Meilun [throws away fate]: ??? Cub?!
Amos: Biological.
Meilun [eyes even redder from jealousy]: Your own child?!
*
Yes, because of pollution, it had become very rare for the Crown Clan to have biological cubs, and for several generations most had none. His Majesty would soon be flooded by envy, jealousy, and resentment, hahaha.