Both the giver and receiver of the candy were completely calm.
The little white plush ball, standing at full attention, stretched as long as he ever had, clamped the candy wrapper in his mouth, and fluttered his little wings in confusion that hadn’t had a chance to be useful.
Right—even if he hadn’t changed directly back to human form.
But cub, aren’t you able to fly?
Little Chu Zao shifted back, and when he did so, he kept the tiptoe pose, biting the candy wrapper.
The little cub then took the wrapper with his hand again, looking at Amos.
He dazedly and softly said, “Zao Zao forgot.”
The moment he saw candy, Zao Zao forgot everything.
You couldn’t blame the cub; in his human form, he so rarely flew that it even came as a surprise to himself—oh, Zao Zao can fly!
Amos was overwhelmed by the cuteness.
He picked the little guy up and sat him naturally on his knee.
The ghost bear the cub had just dragged along was now back in his arms.
Amos finished signing the last document; the virtual screen disappeared before his eyes. He looked up at Feeney, standing not far off.
He warned, “Keep your weird sense of aesthetics away from Zao Zao. Stand aside. I’ll deal with you again later.”
Feeney: …?
Wait, Second Brother, haven’t you already dealt with me once? Still going to?
With Amos as backup, the cub just nodded his head gently, happily unwrapping the candy Amos had given him.
—An unexpected delight for a cub!
Little Chu Zao sucked on the sweet candy, cheeks puffed up.
Honey-colored eyes reflected the figure of Feeney, growing ever more desperate.
In this moment, the heavy cloud hanging over the Crown Clan—whether Morlo was still suffering—briefly lightened.
There was still a bit of time left.
Even though they didn’t know if they would find Morlo, or if they’d get answers, at least they were near that goal.
Little Chu Zao finished his candy.
They were not far from the polluted zone.
Hel was still in the medical bay under sedation.
The other Crown Clan had already gathered at Amos’s door.
Though no one voiced it, everyone was clearly restless.
Since the wave of pollution came and beasts started attacking, the Crown Clan had become ever more busy; the nobles with more power even busier, and it had been a long time since they’d been together like this.
Frey, as the oldest brother, though not the strongest, was emotionally the most stable and was currently discussing the situation with Amos.
Anya and Feiman stood by in the corridor, somewhat agitated, sometimes glancing at the little cub behind them, then talking about Hel’s condition.
Hel’s situation was indeed dire.
His psychic halo had been forcibly stabilized by the little cub, but his emotions had collapsed.
The first time Morlo left, it was already a heavy blow to Hel—let alone a second time.
They were currently discussing how to control Hel when the time came.
Little Chu Zao, having finished his candy, sat obediently on the soft stool Amos brought for him, hugging Ghost Bear, wings slightly spread, and his halo flickering nervously.
He had nothing to add—he just blinked, watching the adults discuss.
Only one person hid in the shadows, twitching in frustration.
After a string of setbacks, Feeney was forbidden from approaching Chu Zao.
Beneath his beard, his face looked a shade ferocious, gripping the corner, staring at the cub.
He couldn’t hold back in the end, and took a few steps forward—this time keeping a safe distance—pointing to his own face in utter grief.
“Really can’t reconsider? Zao Zao, won’t you look again?”
Feeney had always been unfazed by anyone in the clan criticizing his taste. After all, there hadn’t been any cubs in the Crown Clan, and anyway, Holy Cas people always praised his rugged manly charm!
But he never expected Chu Zao could break him this badly.
When Feeney came closer, Amos looked his way.
Seeing the cub wasn’t backing away, Amos said nothing.
Feeney flipped his hand, then grabbed into the void.
Whoosh—
Dark ash leaked between his fingers, in a flash forming a huge longbow.
In contrast to the delicate Cupid’s Bow the cub had, Feeney’s bow was rough, fierce, with a cold murderous aesthetic, quite different from Amos’s.
This once ever-smiling, second-best warrior of the Crown Clan, who could sneak into beast armies and take down the alpha from a thousand miles away, was trying to lure the little cub with his weapon.
See, Zao Zao? Our weapons are the same!
Aesthetics have to match, right?
But clearly, the cub wasn’t focused on that.
Little Chu Zao’s eyes widened.
He was awed by the cool way the longbow appeared, then looked down at his own palm.
He copied the move, flipping his hand, and out came Cupid’s Bow.
The cub tilted his little head—
Not cool enough.
Try again!
He flipped his hand again—
Whoosh—
Had it appear once more, still not cool—
The little cub had actually been led astray.
He even started studying random moves.
Feeney reached out, meaning to say something to stop the cub, and heard Amos’s footsteps.
But he also thought—
“What’s wrong with a little showing off? If you’re awesome and don’t show it, isn’t that a waste?”
The little cub’s eyes went wide: Is… is that true?
Feeney’s head got a slap from Amos.
He hugged his psychic bow and retreated to the corner, howling.
Everyone else just stared at him.
Unreliable as ever, that’s Feeney.
“We’re almost there—”
Frey withdrew his amused gaze, looking a certain way.
“Probably less than half an hour left.”
“Mm.”
Feiman replied.
“Later I’ll go with Anya to check on Teacher Hel. The pollution zone is complicated with a lot of beasts—get ready for anything, and the military can’t go out recklessly—”
For humans, the pollution was deadly, causing countless losses.
“It’s basically meaningless,”
Feeney, wailing in the corner, suddenly spoke.
His eyes went oddly cold.
“In the end, it always ends in death, so it’s just reckless anyway.”
The others looked at him.
Feeney went on.
“When the pollution swept across the stars, even with parts of space cut off, we didn’t know whether some survived, whether pollution swallowed them completely or left some clinging to life. Crown Clan disappeared, worlds fell, coronets shattered, and for centuries there was no changing that outcome.”
He dropped his gaze, burying all his madness, then looked up and cackled again.
“Ah, but, I got the message and sent scouts right away—rationality is rationality, feelings are feelings.”
It was a mask.
Feeney was only matching what he guessed others would do.
He honestly didn’t think it meant much.
But Amos understood what Feeney was thinking.
He didn’t press.
More interesting to Feeney—before they reached the heavily contaminated zone—
Suddenly, a longbow was thrust at the cub.
Feeney’s psychic weapon was huge compared to the others.
For little Chu Zao, it was like aromatic crunchy food pushed to his mouth, but so big he couldn’t eat it.
The cub instinctively widened his eyes and pushed at it.
No, can’t—can’t—
But Amos had already picked up the nervous cub.
Feeney was still calling, unwilling to give up.
“Big Brother Amos’s is strawberry flavor. Zao Zao, try a bite of my psychic energy—find out what mine tastes like! I’m so curious, I tried myself, couldn’t figure it out.”
Never mind repeating the “Big Brother Amos is strawberry” part—what even is this?
Feeney’s actions were always wild, but this one was wilder than ever.
“No, wait—”
Anya stared at Feeney as though seeing Chu Zao take off his own halo for the first time—shocked.
“Third Brother, what did you do? You actually bit your own—?”
First the halo incident and knocking himself out, now this—Feeney was rewriting what the Crown Clan thought possible.
“Yep.”
Feeney looked up.
“Just a taste—just one—”
The cub, lying on Baba’s shoulder, chin resting, looked at Feeney holding out his bow.
He couldn’t resist anymore.
“Baba.”
“Hmm?”
Amos—still calm, like nothing could faze him by now—heard the cub whisper, wings instinctively standing up to block his body.
“So weird, Third Uncle is so weird—”
Amos couldn’t help but smile.
Finally, the Crown Clan had given unique Zao Zao some true Crown Clan shock.
“Don’t mind him.”
Frey sighed, hand over his eyes.
Even Amos, after getting his psychic weapon chewed on by the cub, had to get used to it—only someone as odd as Feeney could do this on purpose.
“Just one taste!”
Feeney pleaded.
“Just a tiny request, can nobody help me out? Heaven knows, I barely survived destroying all those instruments (referring to my bad luck), braved beast lairs a thousand times—finally to reunite with my family, and I can’t even have this?”
He sounded pitiful.
But—who would believe that?
Anya muttered—so much of it was his own fault!
And then the cub, after a moment’s thought, poked his little head out, chomp—took a bite.
Huh?
At this moment the cub clearly had no real need for psychic food.
Face puffed, he chewed for a while, then slowly swallowed.
The cub squirmed in Amos’s arms, wanting down.
Amos set him down and they watched as the cub toddled over to Feeney.
The cub was so tiny.
Feeney, stunned by the strange sensation, stared straight at the little bite on his bow; when the cub approached, he only just looked up.
He was crouched—he’d already realized how tiny the cub truly was.
Feeney also knew his own excuse was nonsense. He was curious, always used all sorts of antics to mask a lack of feeling, but this little one would actually believe it.
To the cub, Third Uncle really came back late; Baba had said Third Uncle had gone through a lot and brought back news about Teacher Hel’s mate.
The cub could never resist gentleness.
So, before Feeney recovered, the small child took a deep breath, looking at his uncle’s big beard, steeled himself, and gave Feeney a hug.
“Third Uncle.”
The cub’s voice was soft and innocent.
“Zao Zao tried it, it’s sort of sweet, a little bitter, but Zao Zao has never had anything like it before—”
The little one was too young; his past was not good. He’d only recently had his first candy; many flavors are still unknown.
Everyone looked on as Feeney froze, listening to the cub’s soft voice.
“But even though Zao Zao hasn’t tried it yet, he’s sure he’ll taste it someday—then I’ll tell Third Uncle.”
Are there unknowns ahead?
Doesn’t matter—just keep going and they’ll vanish.
Feeney slowly widened his eyes.
It wasn’t an act.
That soft, warm little ball just pressed up to him.
Smelling of just-eaten candy.
He was just like a sweet.
Feeney always felt differently from the others.
So, when Amos had spoken of the cub, he’d never truly cared.
It didn’t matter—those things never really meant anything to him.
But now.
Feeney suddenly understood why Anya and Feiman were always fighting to stay close to this little cub.
He’s just so small, so soft, hugging him is like holding a creature without bones—ah, Amos is lucky, to walk around all day holding this little one.
Feeney tried his best,
But in the end he couldn’t resist as that numb, hard inner shell was gently tapped over and over.
Until the cub changed again, turned into a white ball, and slipped out of his arms, leaving Feeney grasping at nothing.
This time, he remembered his wings; he fluttered back to Amos, settling in Amos’s arms with the ghost bear.
Ghost Bear, still made from Amos’s shirt, had been improved to look even more bear-like, so now Amos had a white and a black thing in his arms, making him look softer than ever.
Two white paws went up, scrubbing his cheeks, halo wobbling atop—
All the Crown Clan looked over and realized at once what the cub was expressing—poked, Third Uncle’s beard poked Zao Zao.
Zao Zao tried as hard as he could, but he just couldn’t resist.
A hush fell for a moment.
Feeney froze; Anya turned away, chuckling softly—fine, just keep your beard.
Right then, Amos’s communicator rang.
“Your Majesty! We’ve sighted Third Army’s starships, pollution indicators and energy are spiking—should we proceed?”
They’d arrived.
Amos, holding the cub, didn’t hesitate.
“Proceed, enter the pollution zone, start power scanning—look for the strongest anomalies.”
“Yes, sir!”
Soon after, in the ship’s medbay—
“Do we need to increase Prince Hel’s sedative?”
“Should we? We’ve already entered the polluted zone—would it even help?”
The attached medical staff frowned.
“What if, what if we find Lord Morlo soon?”
“But what if it takes a long time? It’ll only be worse for Lord Hel…”
Worried, they clenched their fists.
No one noticed as, in the med pod behind them, Hel quietly opened his eyes—showing none of the calm from the drugs.
His fingertips, silently, braced on the edge of the medical pod.
*
Elsewhere in the galaxy.
With it confirmed the eighth knight and their leader were really dead, the Hymn Organization taskforce paid close attention.
The Hymn Organization couldn’t get into the polluted zone. After getting the video from Lin Yuan, every attempt at reconnaissance had failed; finally, the arrival of Holy Cas Third Army forced them to pull back.
“Holy Cas’s army is moving into medium pollution, toward heavy—should we act?”
“Best not to—stay away. For the god’s descent, we need to keep the group intact; no rushing in like Compassion did, only to die at the hands of the Crown Clan.”
Every leader of Hymn over the years had, by some chance, eventually met the Crown Clan and died.
They desperately wished for the Crown Clan’s destruction and fanned the flames constantly—but when encountered, usually only just scrambled to escape.
“That was half a year old—maybe that Crown really did survive for a while in some weird balance, but eventually, only death awaits; no need to waste more effort here—better think about new recruits.”
“Recently, all the candidates have been mediocre—okay as pawns but far from good for the real organization. But there is a girl, growing rapidly.”
“Oh?”
“I checked—used to be the daughter of a noble house, family was in Boel, but they were persecuted, hunted, even threatened by the Spirit Eye clan—escaped in the end, wound up on a drifter planet. She’s gifted, and hates all long-lived races; ambitious, using our support, just went back to Boel and is already expanding her power.”
“Sounds promising. Let’s keep an eye on her, and if she checks out, initiate her into our creed.”
“Right—”
The one speaking, satisfied, looked out at the immense sea of stars on his screen; they couldn’t approach, still couldn’t see where Holy Cas’s army had gone, but he maliciously crushed his own cup.
“Crown Clan—wouldn’t resting sooner be better?”
*
The specialized ship crawled forward in the contaminated zone.
Interstellar contamination was fatal to life, damaging to machines, and the medium zone was crawling with beasts.
It was all too much; even with Zao Zao, no one dared leave the ship. All progress depended on the ship’s weapons, and movement slowed to a crawl.
The contamination zone was vast. They searched and searched.
Feiman and Anya, as they neared the heavy pollution zone, left the bridge for the medbay.
At the same time, the bridge sounded an alarm—one of the onboard shuttles had undocked, destroyed its comms and locator, and was speeding away; possible escape in progress.
Amos reacted instantly, called for Hel’s signal to be checked, and hurried to the medbay with Chu Zao.
On the way, he heard Feiman’s and the bridge’s report.
—The always-composed Teacher Hel had disappeared from the medbay after entering the polluted zone.
—Hel’s signal had also been shut down.
“What does he want to do?!”
Anya, standing in the medbay, pointed to the message Hel had left on the screen.
—This is surely Morlo and my destiny; my coronet is shattered, Morlo can’t be alive, or perhaps it’s a blessing to reunite in death.
“We should have just sat and watched over him.”
Feiman frowned.
“Shouldn’t have let him stay in here to calm down. The medical staff were all just knocked out.”
“Teacher Hel is a Crown Clan elite—his family were imperial tutors for generations. If he wants to go around us, we can barely stop him.”
Feeney, leaning nearby, added.
“Teacher Hel and Lord Morlo know each other best; and back then, only Hel made it out of the poisoned zone. He’s probably the only one who could find Morlo.”
Simply unwilling to involve the cub in something so dangerous.
Chu Zao clung to Amos’s neck; he couldn’t read the words Hel left, but he could sense the atmosphere, and looked up seriously at the adults.
Zao Zao had tried hard, but hadn’t managed to help—
Would there be no more Teacher Hel?
If Teacher Hel could be with his partner, it would make things easier—even the hurt or the heartache of loss; maybe it was the best outcome.
But Teacher Hel said Zao Zao would have what every other Dwight had—
The cub felt very spoiled at this moment—but… Teacher was lying.
The cub’s eyes suddenly overflowed with tears.
“Baba, does it mean… there won’t be Teacher Hel anymore?”
Was he to lose the loved ones he’d found?
Amos was silent for a moment, stroking the cub’s hair.
Chu Zao’s tears dripped down, he sniffed, halo lighting up: “But Zao Zao… Zao Zao still wants Teacher Hel—Zao Zao hasn’t gotten to help Teacher Hel yet.”
Teacher was stern but always in pain—Zao Zao knew that.
From the corner of his eye, the cub saw the familiar, flickering, almost broken psychic thread.
At the same time, Hel, having reached his target position, broke away from the Holy Cas convoy.
The shuttle sped forward, taking the miserable, blurred route from his memory.
He was an imperial tutor of the Crown Clan—
He could not, could never let his students face more danger.
But, he couldn’t hold out much longer; forgive him for leaving without a word… the pain was too much.
Who knows how long passed.
On the shuttle screen, among swirling dust, he saw a pair of scarlet eyes.
Are you suffering like this too, Morlo…