It was the end of the year when Holy Cas had finished establishing its barrier line.
Little Chu Zao was still a seven-year-old cub who hadn’t yet grown up.
Compared to his five-year-old self, the seven-year-old was noticeably quicker in every reaction.
He cried less, and thanks to all he’d been through, his mind had matured quite a bit.
But maybe because the barrier had just appeared and he still worried about bringing the First Legion back from its other side, the little one became even stricter with himself.
Though winter had come, no snow had fallen.
The temperature in Holy Cas was dropping, and today the wind was blowing, swirling leaves through the royal court. Dead yellow leaves tumbled, drifting down onto the soft black hair of the cub sprawled in the courtyard.
In the nearby corridor, Amos stood quietly across from the resting cub, watching him.
At the other end of the corridor, someone walked over lazily and waved when they saw Amos.
“Second Brother.”
Feeney stretched, following Amos’s gaze.
“Zao Zao’s asleep?”
A small cub, curled in a ball on a rattan chair covered with a soft cloth, a dimmed golden crown on his head like he’d been switched off, pressed onto his little head.
He was lying on a book, the soft, white face indented from it, still clutching a pen, deep asleep.
“Tut tut tut—”
Feeney snickered, about to flip over the railing in one smooth move—
“I’ll see if Zao Zao drooled—”
He had to take a picture!
Amos: …
Amos reached out, grabbing Feeney by the back of his neck.
“Don’t bully him.”
Amos stared at Feeney.
“I believe I’ve told you many times.”
He’d been beaten up a lot lately, and Amos had a real knack for hitting.
He’d always pick a spot that wouldn’t show, but hurt like hell.
Just one look from Amos, and all those sore spots started aching anew.
Feeney quieted down, but couldn’t help muttering inwardly—he’d asked Amos countless times to go easy on him, but Amos had never listened.
Still—it really was rare.
Because, from a certain perspective, Amos was a true workaholic. Before Zao Zao appeared, few things could draw Amos’s attention; turning out for “relaxation” like this, for Amos, was practically skipping work.
Ayala and Feiman were now stationed at the barrier line long-term. Frey couldn’t manage all the empire’s basics alone. Anya had just switched off from the barrier, about to return.
People like Lien, still strong, wanted to stay on the capital with Meilun and Kaman watching over Little Chu Zao, but had to go out; it left them grumbling.
But the Crown Clan was mostly busy these days, everyone with things to do.
“But isn’t Hel coming over tonight? His little wings haven’t grown at all, hahaha!”
Feeney said.
“It’s just—Second Brother—don’t you think Zao Zao is pushing himself too hard these days?”
At this age the cub wasn’t mischievous at all, just kept himself tense all day, studying and training.
It didn’t feel right.
“Mm, Holy Cas First Military Academy sent over a school anniversary invitation.”
Amos finally replied, nodding vaguely.
He let go of Feeney, jumped over the railing even more nimbly, and walked over to Chu Zao.
“School anniversary invitation?”
Feeney followed behind Amos.
“Oh, right, it’s which centenary of the First Military Academy now? Holy Cas has been a little too somber lately; it’s time for something fun to lighten the mood.”
After all, the First Legion’s situation had once been declassified on the Holy Cas royal website.
The whole of Holy Cas had discussed it for ages, the memorial ceremonies, mourning, and the new barrier line establishment. The year had been tense, with the whole country on edge.
Time to adjust the mood, otherwise, the empire strung so tight wasn’t good either.
“What?”
Feeney watched as Amos reached Chu Zao.
“You going to make Zao Zao take part too?”
These kinds of events, the Crown Clan rarely attended—they left it for the people to enjoy.
“Let him play a bit.”
Amos said, lowering his head and picking up the little one.
The soft body suddenly lifting, the cub instinctively woke, blinking his foggy, honey-colored eyes twice before he understood what was going on.
He let out a soft yawn, wrapped his arms around Amos’s neck, burrowed his fuzzy head under Amos’s chin, and watched as a dead leaf drifted down, a little dazed.
“Baba?”
He asked sweetly and softly, rubbing his big eyes.
“Time yet? Zao Zao accidentally fell asleep.”
Amos took his hand away from rubbing his eyes.
He was warmly dressed, body soft and warm in the breeze, with a sugary scent leftover from sneaking candy earlier.
“It’s not time yet.”
Amos’s eyes softened a little, weighing the little cub in his arms.
At this age, he shouldn’t still be carried everywhere.
But the little one was smaller than most Crown Clan kids, hadn’t been properly raised before, and even after two years of nourishing in Holy Cas and grown a bit, he still hadn’t hit his prime.
“But you need more rest.”
Amos looked down, meeting his cub’s gaze.
Chu Zao blinked, still hugging Amos’s neck. After a moment he whispered, “But Zao Zao wants to learn more, sooner.”
To grow up faster.
To fulfill his promise.
“Only squeezing your own time and giving yourself pressure won’t make you any better.”
Amos said.
“Hel must have told you that, too.”
Hel had indeed said so.
In the last six months, Hel also thought Chu Zao was way too hard on himself.
Chu Zao tilted his little head, about to say more—
Then got distracted.
Because Amos fished a brand new bag of sweets out of his pocket—
He held it up, watching the little cub’s gaze follow.
That greedy-cat look was adorable.
“The First Military Academy sent you an invitation.”
Amos handed the bag of candy to Chu Zao.
The little cub squealed, hugging the big bag, eyes sparkling and cheerfully pressing close.
Amos held him and turned to go. He said,
“Take part in the school celebration in a few days—relax a bit. Oh, and your class should have some arrangements, too.”
Like activities, food, even some DIY stuff—
Amos seemed to remember the Holy Cas people did such things.
He glanced at the boy, clearly never having done this before.
“You can ask your friends about it.”
“Okay.”
Chu Zao nodded his little head.
“By the way—”
Feeney followed behind.
“Are parents invited too? In a few days—?”
Chu Zao, perched on Amos’s shoulder, blinked over at Feeney as Feeney continued.
“I’ll probably be free that day, so I’ll just barely—”
“You won’t be free.”
Amos stopped, turned to look at him, and spoke evenly.
Feeney: …
Hey hey hey, that’s only because you decided last-minute, right, Second Brother?!
*
Meanwhile, at Holy Cas First Military Academy.
Special Class.
Most of the special class weren’t that old. They’d just gotten the news.
“A campus celebration? At a time like this, we’re doing that stuff?”
Someone was wiping down model gun parts, quickly disassembling for training, grumbling after hearing the announcement.
“Yeah, we haven’t achieved anything, and this is like opening champagne early. They gave every class a space to do specialty activities? Only three days left? There’s no time!”
“No idea what the school is thinking—gonna get laughed at by the other military academies.”
“It’s normal. We’ve all been too tense this year—and it’s only once a century.”
“Fine, fine. So what’s the Special Class doing?”
“No clue. Coffee shop? Lottery? Ring toss?”
“I heard the advanced division’s doing lottery and ring toss, and competition prizes—they’re pretty invested.”
“Hey—brute, got any ideas?”
Chao Huangmu was napping by the window.
He trained hard, and the rapid growth in psionic power sometimes left him less sharp than before. He got nudged awake, stretched, then spun around to sit backwards, resting on the chair back.
“Any ideas, me?”
He grinned.
“All that takes a day, you need people on rotation. Let’s just run a breakfast shop—only open the first half, close later, makes sense.”
“Eh?”
“That’s… actually reasonable.”
“No, there’s a big problem here.”
“None of us can cook! Come off it—a breakfast shop?”
“Oh, that’s easy.”
Chao Huangmu tapped away on his communicator, yawned lazily, looked at them, and smiled brightly.
“There’s a great breakfast shop on the First Avenue. They stock up, then open. We just cover their sales for the day from our class funds, they get a day off, and the boss loves it.”
He looked like a pro.
And really, with Chao Huangmu’s personality and his persistent, can’t-be-stopped ways, always managing things perfectly, he always came out ahead.
“All good, sounds great. So all we need to do is move things over.”
Borrow cookware from the cafeteria and don’t sweat the details—the equipment now can make anything.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
But Peng Liang seemed puzzled.
“Brute, what do you do in your spare time, anyway? How do you know everyone?”
“Ah—this?”
Chao Huangmu said.
He was confirming details with the breakfast shop owner.
“Because the last couple months, His Highness loved this place’s sweet porridge.”
So he went after it, even helped out at the shop, learned the recipe, and brought it to Chu Zao every day.
A brief hush.
Even classmates who hadn’t been paying attention looked over at the mention of “His Highness.”
What?
“You—”
“If you’re not a try-hard, will you die?!”
Not just competitive with training, but here too?
Who the hell could’ve guessed?!
And with his nasty streak, and just handing that out to everyone?
No way, right?
Must be a scheme?
So why reveal it now—
Chao Huangmu looked up and beamed.
“Because His Highness is tired of it now.”
Knew it!!
“Ahh—you’re too much!”
“Condemn you, harshly criticize you!”
“But speaking of His Highness—”
The others kept talking.
While kids passing by the door gathering intel regarded it with scorn—finally a day off, who wanted breakfast? The Special Class wouldn’t get their business—
Chao Huangmu, meanwhile, finished his tasks and was about to nap again, when a message popped up on his screen.
Zao Zao: What are we doing for the campus festival this time?
Zao Zao: Zao Zao wants to come and will get there early in the morning.
Chao Huangmu froze—his sleepiness gone; he shot to his feet.
Bang.
Everyone looked over.
“What is it?”
Chao Huangmu clutched his comm: “His Highness is coming.”
Oh, so His Highness is coming…
…
“What?!”
An explosion of chair scraping as everyone jumped to their feet at once.
Then the previously bored, training-obsessed special class got wildly excited.
*
Royal court.
Chu Zao looked at the message on his communicator.
Breakfast?
The cub sprawled on the sofa, buried in a soft blanket, two little legs kicking, communicator in front of him, thinking with his head tilted.
Oh, Little Chu Zao remembered, for a while, Chao Huangmu brought him that delicious sweet porridge.
Apparently from this same shop.
Running a business?
He’d never done it, and was kind of excited.
And what else happened at campus celebrations?
And parents were supposed to go too—
Yes, parents too.
To fight for the spot, the training room was lively.
Chu Zao sighed softly.
“Your Highness, your hot milk is ready.”
Butler Mori smiled, setting a cup on the coffee table.
“Okay, Grandpa Mori.”
The cub beamed as he spoke to Mori.
“I’ll drink it right away—Has Baba come out of the training room?”
“Seems like he has.”
Mori replied, watching the cub climb up, naturally hugging his little ghost bear, overflowing with affection.
“And His Highness Anya is back too, seems to be busy with something.”
Oh—that so.
The cub picked up his milk, took a sip, and nodded.
After checking the temperature, he gulped it down.
Then licked the leftover milk from his lips.
“Uncle’s back too.”
So—did they have results?
The cub was actually curious.
But recalling what Chao Huangmu had told him—
Little Chu Zao propped his chin:
“Breakfast—breakfast—”
“What’s wrong, Your Highness?”
Mori asked softly.
“Is there a problem with breakfast? Or something special you want tomorrow?”
“Is the court’s breakfast different from outside?”
Chu Zao tilted his head and asked.
“Most of it is, yes.”
After all, the Crown Clan didn’t eat properly, per se.
They had no appetite; mostly they liked high-energy nutrition liquids.
The royal court began hiring master chefs only because of the little prince.
Thus, breakfast here focused more on health, not like the convenience foods Holy Cas citizens usually ate. Many of them skipped breakfast or just grabbed some nutrition liquid when busy.
“Oh—”
Little Chu Zao nodded.
“So if we open a breakfast shop, won’t it be popular?”
Little Chu Zao truly learned a lot from Hel.
Even in business, he was so precise, considering what he’d been taught.
You can disdain your enemy, but never underestimate them—know the situation, gather intelligence, like how business needs market research.
Hel had told him that.
Butler Mori froze.
Breakfast shop?
Who?
You?
As the only young prince, pondering whether a business would do well in Holy Cas’s territory?
Chu Zao thought.
He’d correct people’s thinking and create demand.
He clenched his tiny fist, wings fluttering excitedly as he floated up, looking determined.
It was then that other Crown Clan walked through the door.
“Second Brother, next time can we fight somewhere else?”
Feeney gritted his teeth.
“I just can’t understand, Third Brother, how you keep getting beat and never learn?”
Anya sighed.
Amos didn’t reply.
But Meilun’s voice piped up—
“Isn’t it a parent-teacher event? I’m free, let me go— you young people are all busy, better you keep busy!”
He almost sounded like he was floating with happiness.
“Uncle Meilun, give it a rest.”
Feeney grumbled.
“There’s no limit on numbers—is it so bad for us all to go?”
The more he thought, the less justified he felt about being lately beaten.
He glanced at the main hall, having caught the end of Chu Zao and Mori’s conversation.
“Breakfast? What breakfast? Who’s got time for breakfast these days?”
Feeney said, and the cub, hearing this, turned his wide honey-pink eyes in surprise.
Floating in the air with wings flapping, the furry cub looked so obedient and clueless with those big eyes.
Good—
Feeney darted over. The only one in the Clan who still didn’t know to behave after a tough beating was him—some learning! He’d put this little thing in his arms to ease the pain of being thrashed by Amos!
Feeney moved too fast, and too suddenly; though Amos reacted quickly, in the end, he only twitched his fingers and didn’t move—prize pool still building .jpg
The cub just blinked at Feeney barreling over, like a butterfly.
Before the little butterfly Zao Zao could even react, Feeney grabbed him gently, pulling him down.
And scooped him straight into his arms.
Feeney chuckled softly.
“What were you thinking about up there in the air?”
He rubbed his chin, now sporting a bit of stubble, against Chu Zao’s face on purpose.
At once, the “little butterfly” got mad, grabbing a lock of Feeney’s hair.
His wings flapped as he squirmed in Feeney’s arms—
“Third Uncle, bad Third Uncle!”
A soft, angry little voice came from the cub.
Feeney had thought—he couldn’t control Amos, but surely he could handle Zao Zao?
Hmph, Zao Zao was still a tiny cub—
Then realized the cub was not quite right—
A little elbow jabbed his chin—a sharp hit.
Feeney’s jaw started to ache.
And the struggling little thing was actually hard to hold—was the kid’s strength increasing?
Then Chu Zao’s forehead bumped Feeney’s nose. Feeney grunted—having been beaten by both father and son, he now let go, holding his nose—definitely stronger!
Against a growing, tireless, full-strength Zao Zao, an unguarded Crown Clan at his peak would still get the elbow.
The other Crown Clan laughed.
Amos, who’d almost reached out to grab Feeney’s collar again, now smiled with narrowed eyes.
Meilun guffawed, even whipping out his communicator to record: “Hahaha, I’ll send this to Kaman, let him watch—serves you right! Hey, Granddad’s good Zao Zao, did you hurt your head?”
Chu Zao clutched his forehead.
If he’d headbutted Feeney’s nose, of course it didn’t really hurt his own.
Looking at his third uncle nursing his nose after a double beating, Chu Zao kindly leaned in.
“Third Uncle, are you okay? Who told you to tease Zao Zao?”
He peeked at Feeney’s face from under his arm.
“I’m fine.”
Feeney muttered.
“Absolutely fine.”
“Oh—but, Third Uncle—”
Chu Zao responded and, thinking a second, said seriously—
“You can’t skip breakfast, you know? Do you know what happens if you keep skipping breakfast?”
Hm?
Feeney met the cub’s eyes.
For a moment, his gaze softened.
Oh…that’s concern…
Feeney was about to tell the cub that Crown Clan didn’t need to worry about such things—
But the cub, earnest and naive, after half a year of tension, finally smiled, flashing little white teeth.
“It will hurt Zao Zao’s breakfast business.”
Feeney: …