Chapter 26: The Royal Beastman (Part 2)
Under his threat, the thin golden cobra changed back into the form of a young boy. His fluffy blond hair covered his sharp vertical pupils as he stared fixedly at the two people before him.
“This is my room. You were the ones who broke into my room first.”
The little boy bared his beast fangs and was about to bite Bai Ye, but the secretary bird’s claws pressed against his throat, leaving him weakly panting.
Seeing his fierce, menacing appearance, Bai Ye carefully lifted the boy’s messy bangs and examined that dirty yet still delicate face with some disdain.
“There’s a door for a mouse hole behind the bedside cabinet in your room,” Bai Ye calmly stated.
The boy looked at him in shock. “How do you know?”
“Because I installed it.”
Bai Ye withdrew his mental body back into his mental sea, then very familiarly pulled a stool out from under the bed and sat on it.
“My wife used to live in this room.”
As Bai Ye spoke, he turned the snake-shaped ring on the ring finger of his left hand.
“I was afraid he would go hungry back then, so I installed a mouse hole and stuffed white mice into his room every day.”
“…”
The blond little boy fell silent for a moment, then looked speechlessly at the self-moved Bai Ye.
“We snake beastmen are different from wild beasts. We don’t eat such disgusting things.”
“You brat. You’re so skinny you look like a mummy and you’re still picky.”
Bai Ye smacked the boy on the head.
“And what do you mean disgusting? They’re not like those sewer rats. The ones I gave my wife were all clean little white mice.”
Jin Chi’an pinched his nose in disgust and interrupted, “Bai Ye, why is there a snake beastman here?”
“Oh, you can just ask him directly.”
Bai Ye kicked the blond boy’s calf, signaling him to answer.
The little boy reluctantly lowered his head, using his messy bangs to cover his eyes.
“I was locked here by Father. Because Father doesn’t like us snake beastmen.”
“Father? You mean Charlemagne VII?”
“Mm.”
“You mean you’re a beastman born in the imperial royal family?”
“Of course. You’d better be more respectful to me. I… I’m the Thirteenth Prince.”
Bai Ye burst out laughing and asked maliciously, “Oh, the Thirteenth Prince? Then what’s your name?”
Bai Ye tilted his head, trying to see the boy’s expression clearly. The boy’s face flushed red, and after stammering for a long while, they finally heard what he said.
“Little Thirteen.”
“Yo, Little Thirteen. You don’t even have a name, and you haven’t even been given the royal family’s surname. What right do you have to call yourself a prince?”
Bai Ye mercilessly used his index finger to lift Thirteen’s chin.
“What kind of prince doesn’t live in a palace and lives in a broken-down tower instead?”
“Stop trying to drive a wedge between us. Father said that once Twelfth Brother comes of age, he’ll give me a name.”
Thirteen slapped Bai Ye’s hand away, bared his sharp teeth, and was about to bite him.
The moment his teeth touched Bai Ye’s skin, a strange mental power came over and froze Little Thirteen in place.
The snake eye on the mirror, which had originally looked as if this had nothing to do with it, was now glowing gold, releasing mental power to control Thirteen’s movements.
Bai Ye seized the chance to take a dried-out steamed bun from the bedside cabinet and stuff it into Thirteen’s mouth.
A moment later, the snake eye’s mental power slowly withdrew. Thirteen, who had been frozen in an attack posture, fell to the ground, his forehead hitting the floor heavily.
“Ah!”
Thirteen climbed up in pain, clutching his gradually swelling forehead as he looked at the mirror in confusion.
“Why did you stop me? They’re the bad guys.”
“Bah, you’re the bad guy. Not only are you a bad guy, you’re also an idiot.”
Bai Ye argued childishly with him.
“That dumbass emperor gives you one little sweet treat and you bare your heart to him. Are you a masochist? Are you rushing to be the royal family’s dog?”
Bai Ye grabbed Thirteen by the collar and forced him to stand.
“I’m telling you, once he gives you a name, your life will have nothing to do with you anymore. From the moment of naming, you’ll have to spend the rest of your life as that Twelfth Prince’s dog.”
“Tell me. When did that dog emperor say he would give you a name?”
After Bai Ye finished speaking, he lazily leaned against the wall behind him and waited for Thirteen’s answer.
“To… today.”
“Today?”
Jin Chi’an looked thoughtful.
“The timing is too coincidental. Also, Bai Ye, what do you mean by giving him a name?”
“Tch.”
Bai Ye said disdainfully, “It means making this boy form a one-way brand with that Twelfth Prince or whatever. Before the branding, every beastman born into the royal family across the generations was locked inside this tower.”
“In that case, the person he’s supposed to bond with probably isn’t the Twelfth Prince.”
“You’re talking about those Kashemir Zerg bastards, right? Of course, it’s possible. After all, we don’t know how many people in the royal family are still lucid.”
As Bai Ye spoke, he placed his hand on Thirteen’s head.
“Don’t worry. Uncle will take you out.”
After saying that, Bai Ye slowly stood up and looked out at the gradually brightening sky. There was still half an hour until dawn.
“You’ve already seen what you wanted to know. Are you still going to look for him?” Bai Ye asked Jin Chi’an.
“He took Jin Mian’s body. Sooner or later, he’ll appear at the banquet.”
Bai Ye said indifferently, “Up to you. My mission is only to ensure your safety. I don’t want Felix badmouthing me in front of Aphrodite.”
“Let’s go.”
Ignoring his rambling, Jin Chi’an walked past the two of them, opened the room door, and headed outside.
“Where are you going?”
“To prepare for the banquet later.”
Jin Chi’an looked as if he were in a fairly good mood, but a ruthless glint inadvertently crossed his eyes.
“I have to take back what belongs to me.”
“Is that so? Then take it back.”
Bai Ye chuckled and followed him out of the room. Before leaving, he did not forget to remind the boy inside, “I’ll leave the mirror to you. Once today passes, you’ll be able to leave this place.”
After restoring the door lock to its original state, the two of them went back up to the top of the tower.
Bai Ye summoned the secretary bird from his mental sea and had it carry the two of them back to the room inside the palace.
By the time they arrived, the night sky above the palace had already been replaced by daylight. The maids, butlers, and guards inside the palace had gradually become busy, preparing for the palace banquet later.
Inside the room, Jin Chi’an changed into the prepared formalwear and found several mental-power enhancers from the desk cabinet.
These were things he had asked the butler for back when he worked in the palace. Presumably, the other party also knew about the incident that would happen during this palace banquet and had specially left these things behind.
Jin Chi’an placed the enhancers and the shielding device into his pocket.
Only when the bell rang on the hour did he push open the door and prepare to head to the banquet hall.
When he passed by Bai Ye’s room, the other party’s door opened from inside.
Bai Ye was dressed like a flamboyant peacock, drawing close to him in an extremely flashy manner, clearly intending to walk with him.
Jin Chi’an moved away with some disgust, trying to keep some distance from him.
“Don’t stand too close to me. I don’t want to be associated with you at the banquet.”
“Why? I’m the most popular sentinel among District One nobles.”
Bai Ye was somewhat stunned and deliberately leaned closer to Jin Chi’an.
At the same time, this action drew the attention of the surrounding noble ladies.
The noble guide ladies passing by all released their mental bodies one after another, tentatively sensing Jin Chi’an’s mental strength.
This made Jin Chi’an’s heart tremble. He pushed Bai Ye, who was still leaning toward him.
“Don’t come closer. I don’t like the smell of bird sentinels. You stink.”
“Stink? Me?”
Bai Ye froze in place and sniffed the scent on his arm.
A strong perfume smell rushed at him, choking him so much that he forgot to argue for a moment.
Thinking of the noble ladies who had surrounded him yesterday, Bai Ye immediately understood.
Yesterday, in order to keep watch over Jin Chi’an, he had almost not rested for even a moment. He had not even showered before he started guarding outside the other party’s room.
Bai Ye thought about it and affirmed the idea in his mind.
It had to be the mixed perfume smell from those noble ladies. He was a fragrant sentinel. A secretary bird was the best-looking among birds.
…
Inside the banquet hall, the sounds of nobles conversing blended with the symphony echoing through the hall.
The fountain placed in the center of the banquet hall flowed with a special fruit juice from the empire’s District One.
At this moment, the golden snub-nosed monkey guide from the Allied Forces stood in front of the fountain, raising the stemmed glass in his hand and filling it with some of the juice.
“What is this?”
Jin Chi’an also took a stemmed glass and approached his side.
“A fruit juice produced in District One. But it’s mixed with a bit of mental-power suppressant.”
As the golden snub-nosed monkey guide spoke, he brought the glass of juice to his lips, took a small sip, and continued, “There’s also the taste of some hallucinogens.”
“Then you…”
Jin Chi’an looked at him in disbelief as he drank the fruit juice in the glass in one go.
“It’s fine. I’ve done anti-drug training. The rest of you just shouldn’t drink it.”
The golden snub-nosed monkey guide switched out the fruit juice in Jin Chi’an’s hand, then swept his gaze around the area. Almost every noble present had a glass of District One’s special fruit juice in hand.
“Looks like their target is District One’s high bloodlines.”
Before he finished speaking, the banquet hall doors, which had originally been closed, slowly opened. A row of royal guards lined up on both sides of the entrance.
In the very center of the hall doors, a man dressed in the imperial robe stepped into the hall. The princes of the empire followed closely behind him, among them Little Thirteen, who had already been cleaned and dressed up by the servants.
At the same time, the side door of the banquet hall also opened. A mother and daughter walked in from outside. They were none other than Qi Wan and Jin Mian.
Only now, the two seemed to have reversed roles. They no longer looked like a mother leading her daughter. At this moment, Qi Wan seemed more like a servant by Jin Mian’s side.
The two who had just entered happened to encounter the emperor’s entrance, and they followed everyone else in performing the highest royal salute to the emperor.
Because Jin Mian’s head was lowered, Jin Chi’an could not see her expression at that moment.
Only after the emperor slowly walked toward the throne at the front and sat down did everyone raise their heads.
Because of this, the emperor’s current appearance fell into Jin Chi’an’s eyes.
A few months ago, the man had been tortured by the wasting illness until half his life seemed gone. Now, he sat on the imperial throne, looking radiant as he sized up the District One nobles below.
Only when his gaze fell on Bai Ye did the emperor reveal an inexplicable smile.
