Chapter 84
With life finally settling back into peace, no longer needing to hide and run, and having returned to the planet where it had all begun, Yomi also stepped back onto the life path he had originally planned for himself—going to school.
These days, admission to the Imperial Academy could be gained either through examinations or by applying with one’s skills and past academic record, and Yomi’s transformation ability met the requirements for application.
Before school started, both Yomi and Lynn received notices that their applications to the Imperial Academy had been approved. Lynn was entering the Department of Medicine, while Yomi had been accepted into the Department of Skill Research. As soon as the two good friends received their notices, they immediately video-called each other and happily celebrated becoming schoolmates.
From then on, Yomi made up his mind to pursue advanced study of his transformation skill.
While Yomi wandered through the sea of knowledge, Anxius was busy dealing with all sorts of imperial affairs. Before he could formally ascend the throne, there was simply too much chaos left behind to clean up. But no matter how busy he was, he would still return every night, even if it was only to hold Yomi while they slept for two or three hours.
After Phizhi Star suffered its crushing defeat, the interstellar war also came to an end. The Marshal resolutely chose to retire and return to his hometown. He had no face to stand before Anxius, so after receiving permission, he went back to the deep-sea camp of his homeland.
As for Jinwen, he chose to remain in the main city. Other than the blindness in one eye, his body had not suffered any lasting injuries that affected daily life. As for the scars, he had never intended to go to a beauty clinic to remove them—he wanted to force himself to remember all of it. After resting one day at the residence, Jinwen immediately went back to the base to resume training.
Now he had only one thought: become stronger. Only by becoming stronger could he protect his planet and protect the people he wanted to protect…
At the end of the month, the main city was drenched in a heavy rain.
Hospital, ICU.
The empress lay motionless in her hospital bed. Back when the emperor had tricked her onto the warship, she could still lie to herself that he had had no other choice. What she had truly never imagined, though, was that he would put poison in the food. Though she had been rescued, the damage caused by the poison was irreversible. She knew her time was running out. She also knew Anxius had come back for revenge. Even after regaining consciousness, she had never spoken.
That day, Anxius came to see her, and still neither of them said anything.
Just as Anxius was about to leave, the empress on the bed suddenly spoke in a slow, faint voice: “I’m sorry.”
After that one sentence, she died.
Anxius had been born through a skill. From the very beginning, his existence had been for battle. The emperor had wanted a machine, yet he could never feel at ease with a child he might not be able to control… She had not dared to give him any true affection. All her love had gone to Yosef…
At the final moment of her life, even she could not say clearly whether she regretted it or not. Perhaps she did, perhaps she did not. She only knew that no matter what, she needed to apologize to this child.
Anxius looked at her once. A moment later, he turned and walked away without looking back.
Treasure Star.
A secret prison in Pearl State.
Yosef had no idea he was imprisoned on a planet he had once looked down on more than any other.
He knew nothing of the outside world. He did not know where he was being held. He did not even know that the one who had kidnapped him back then was Anxius. He still believed that with its new weapon, Phizhi Star would soon defeat Snar, and at that point he might seize the chance to escape. Perhaps his imperial father would think of a way to take him away as well… Even if Snar somehow avoided being occupied by Phizhi Star, he was still the emperor’s only son, and when it came to colluding with Phizhi Star to kill Anxius, he was not the mastermind. No matter what, he would never end up on the guillotine.
Maybe the chaotic state of Snar would still need him to step forward and restore order!
…He was now the only prince left on Snar. Yosef thought so in near despair.
He did not know how long he had waited, only that the one he had not gotten was the father-emperor who should have come to save him, nor had he gotten to see Snar fall. Instead, all he got was a strange monster.
The prison guards called that monster “lord,” and some called him Satan.
In a tone like he was making an announcement, the man named Satan said, “Yosef, right? Your sentence has already been decided—life imprisonment. Ah, and don’t even think about escaping. Every inch inside these walls is wired with electricity. By the time you got out, you’d probably already be fried black.”
“…What nonsense are you talking about? Who are you? What is this place?!”
“Who I am isn’t important. This is Treasure Star… though it used to be called Junk Star. Your mother was killed by your father, and your father insisted on disguising himself as a thief and trying to run away, only to get himself killed. Since he died as a nobody, he’s probably in a mass grave now. Compared to him, you’re luckier. You get to stay here for the rest of your life under your own name. Once you die, maybe some people will even come here just to check in and visit, to boost the prison’s popularity with a prince’s prison cell. You could be contributing to Treasure Star’s tourism industry… Or maybe I should have someone film your prison life? That could bring in income for the prison too. I’m not joking, you know. I only thought of it because of your old hobbies. But even criminals should have their opinions respected, so would you—eh? Why did he faint?”
Though there was definitely a deliberate element of psychological torment in his words, what Satan had said was basically true. The emperor’s corpse really had been buried as an unidentified person in the mass grave outside the main city. For someone who had cared so obsessively about imperial power, not even his corpse got the treatment due an emperor.
In the eyes of Snar’s citizens, the emperor had simply gone missing after fleeing, but by now it was basically certain he had died on the run, especially since a few days earlier, Anxius’s people had already taken control of his private planet.
Still, whether the emperor was dead or alive no longer mattered. Even if he had lived, he would only have ended up on the guillotine.
One month later, after all unrest had been put down, Anxius officially ascended the throne.
Yet on the day of his ascension, the palace makeup artists were all bustling around Yomi instead.
Yomi was so busy he was practically dizzy. He held out both hands so transparent nail polish could be brushed on them, tipped back his neck so the stylist could do his hair and the makeup artist could work on his face… Then he stood up, and Anxius personally came over to dress him in his ceremonial clothes and place a glittering queen’s crown on his head!
…That’s right. On the very day of his enthronement, on the day every person on Snar would be watching, Anxius intended to hold a wedding with Yomi!
The reason was simple. He not only wanted everyone to remember this day, he also wanted Yomi to receive the blessing of an entire planet.
This was tied to Snar’s traditions. The day the emperor ascended the throne was an extremely important occasion, and the festival commemorating it was called the Festival of Blessing. Each emperor’s accession day changed the festival date. A new emperor meant a new beginning for the entire planet, and thus, every year afterward on that date, Snar’s people would offer prayers and blessings.
Everywhere in the palace, everything looked renewed.
It did not take long before the originally fresh and lovely Yomi had been transformed into a little beauty, splendid and dazzling!
At first, when the stylists saw that the future queen of Snar was a doll-like little person, they had nearly worried themselves sick. After all, the emperor’s human-form clothing could simply be scaled down from past designs, but the queen’s styling had no existing example to refer to. First, Snar had never had a male queen. Second, it certainly had never had a queen with such a tiny frame… But then they looked at the future emperor in his one-meter-ninety-plus human form and could only conclude—well, half catty to eight taels, or rather… a match made in heaven.
After much agonizing effort, they finally designed a queen’s outfit tailored specifically for Yomi: a pearl-trimmed silver-white shirt, a luxurious cravat, a corseted waistcoat, formal trousers… and atop it all, a diamond crown belonging solely to the queen, which just so happened to perfectly conceal his tiny little horns. Flawless!
“T-This is exactly what a prince among humans would look like!” one of the makeup artists exclaimed.
Yomi, who really was human: “…”
An hour later, the radiant Yomi was led out by Anxius hand in hand, walking the red carpet and ascending the high platform.
From somewhere in the distance came a wave of gasps.
Yomi had no idea those gasps were because of him. He thought they were probably just extras hired to liven up the atmosphere.
Below was a sea of people, their faces too far away to make out. Soldiers stood between him and them, and beyond those were rows of ministers and reporters. Carl was there too…
Faced with such a grand scene, Yomi was honestly nervous. After all, there was still the speech segment to come. He had prepared an entire page of notes, but the moment he thought of the whole planet watching him speak, he got even more nervous.
Anxius did not say much. His words were concise and direct. After finishing, he looked toward Yomi and carefully led him to the microphone, refusing to let go of his hand for fear Yomi would feel lost or anxious.
Yomi instantly felt much more at ease. Stepping forward, he adjusted his cravat with one hand and then looked at the microphone.
The microphone standing before him was so much shorter than Anxius’s…
Thinking that, Yomi gripped the stand and, without thinking, tested the mic: “Hello, hello…”
…Silence.
The reporters were full of question marks.
At the very front, Carl looked like he was about to die of nerves. He seemed even more tense than Yomi.
The instant he finished his “hello hello,” Yomi realized he had done something unnecessary. The technology here was highly advanced—there was never any issue with microphone failure, and naturally, there was no such thing as a mic test. Let alone on an occasion like this… Yomi had accidentally exposed one of his human habits.
Just as his whole body went stiff, Anxius ignored all the cameras, leaned over, and rubbed his cheek against Yomi’s face.
Another wave of gasps broke out in the distance.
Yomi’s entire face turned scarlet.
Forget it!
No turning back after drawing the bow!
Yomi straightened his back, then rose onto his tiptoes to make himself seem just a little taller. Staring at his script, he launched into his speech with great emotion and fervor.
Although the opening carried a few small flaws born of nervousness, Yomi personally felt he had performed quite well. Back when he had been a student representative in school, he had always been good at speaking. And when he built schools on Treasure Star, he had made speeches then too. Yomi was no beginner!
By the time he heard the applause, he had already forgotten those little imperfections entirely.
He obediently let Anxius wrap an arm around his waist and kiss him, and then, with Anxius bending low before him, he accepted the ring meant for the queen. The gemstone on it was so heavy…
After the ceremony ended, crowned and radiant, Yomi followed Anxius away with unmistakable pride.
Really, they were so busy. Their next destination was a private estate in the outskirts, a sealed-off manor with no cameras and no reporters. There, waiting for them, were only his family and friends (and all the familiar faces from Treasure Star too!). Everyone was waiting there for Yomi and Anxius to hold their private wedding.
Holding his bouquet, once escorted safely into the car by Anxius, Carl, and the others, Yomi could not help but stick his head back out and wave to the reporters. “Thank you, all of you! We still have another wedding to hurry to, so bye-bye!”
The nearest reporter was nearly dizzy from that brilliant smile.
…
On the night after the wedding, Anxius’s energy was terrifying. Yomi was tossed around all night long, while the forums also exploded all night.
The new queen’s tiny figure became famous across the entire internet in just a few days. Even netizens from other planets came to know this irresistibly adorable queen of Snar. It was no exaggeration to say that the queen was about to charm the entire universe to death.
Especially that little “hello, hello.” For many, many years, it remained the single most beloved ringtone among Snar’s residents, bar none.
Later, experts even specially analyzed the question: why had such an ordinary “hello, hello” become so popular?
Their final conclusion was: incoming calls instinctively made people nervous, while that “hello, hello,” saturated with sweetness, erased that tension! They strongly suspected the queen actually possessed an advanced skill for dispelling negative emotions!
Snar’s netizens: …Sounds weirdly convincing. If we weren’t old Yomi fans, we’d almost believe it!
During Anxius’s first year on the throne, he was incredibly busy. Yet he could not bear to be apart from Yomi, and he was also afraid Yomi would grow exhausted following him everywhere. So for most of that year, he handled affairs in his monster form instead, which let him place Yomi in a specially made soft nest and carry or hold him wherever he went.
That, of course, was mostly limited to holidays, because the rest of the time Yomi still had to go to school.
With the systematic instruction from the Academy, Yomi was now able to skillfully control his ability. He could even make himself bigger.
However, that enlarged state had a time limit. Basically, he could only maintain it for a few minutes, and the larger he made himself, the shorter the duration became.
Yomi: “…Feels kind of useless.”
But reality soon proved that even those few brief minutes of enlargement could still be useful.
It happened toward the end of the year, when Yomi got into a one-sided spat with Anxius.
It was not really a major matter. A new movie about humans had recently come out, and it had advertised that no special effects had been used—that all the actors were simply using special techniques to conceal their monster features.
When Yomi saw the trailer, he kept pausing and replaying every shot of the male lead. He was incredibly curious—where exactly had his features been hidden? How on earth had they concealed them?
But Anxius misunderstood. For the first time ever, he even bad-mouthed someone behind their back: “This actor isn’t good.”
Yomi, who was completely focused on finding the hidden features, paid no attention to that remark.
By the time he came back from the bathroom, though, he discovered that the screen in their bedroom now showed nothing but censored frames. More precisely, the male lead’s face had been mosaicked over in every shot.
Yomi: “…”
His first reaction was: was Anxius actually watching some kind of adult content?!
But on closer inspection, he realized it was just the censored version of the trailer.
Yomi: “…”
Only then did it hit him what had happened. “I just wanted to figure out how he hid his features… It’s not because I like him.”
The man opposite him gave a sudden tremor, and the joy in his eyes was impossible to hide. He stepped over and immediately wrapped Yomi in his arms, kissing him without end.
Yomi, however, felt oddly mistrusted, and his little temper flared up. From the depths of his soul, he protested, “D-Do you really think I’m the kind of person who only cares about looks?”
Not to mention that the actor was nowhere near as handsome as Anxius. Even if he had been, Yomi would never be so shallow~
So cute…
Anxius felt his heart go weak and numb all at once. He had been completely struck by that tiny little expression of Yomi’s. One kiss turned into another, and soon it felt as if he wanted to swallow Yomi whole…
Yomi’s little flare of temper was quickly drowned in Anxius’s scorching kisses, but he still felt a bit unconvinced. So, with a this-might-work attitude, he activated his skill and instantly made himself much bigger. The newly giant, beautiful Yomi plopped himself right onto Anxius and began voicing all his grievances.
Anxius knew how far Yomi’s training had progressed, but the sight of his suddenly enlarged wife still made him pause in surprise for a moment. Then his gaze darkened and deepened. Returning to his monster form, he scooped his oversized precious baby into his arms and gently coaxed him, “Mm, it was my fault.”
Love him… however he was, he loved him so much…
Yomi deflated at once.
A few seconds later, flushed and burning all over from the kissing, Yomi shrank back into a little ball in the monster’s arms. He looked at the monster, embarrassed, then rubbed himself against him with a smile. “Darling, I was just joking with you~”
There was no way he wanted to be flattened under Anxius’s original form.
Of course Anxius would never flatten him. He changed back into his human form and carried him straight back into the bedroom…
When Yomi woke again, it was already evening. His body was covered in red marks, and he found that he was the only one left on the bed. Looking toward the servant tidying things outside, he asked, “Where’s Anxius?”
“His Majesty is in the kitchen, preparing dinner for you.”
Yomi slipped on his slippers and was about to go downstairs, but as he passed the study, he suddenly remembered he still had a thesis to write. So he decided to go in and look for a few reference books.
There were many books in there, and Yomi quickly found one he needed. But as he kept searching, his eyes were caught by the title of a book placed high above: The Human Handbook Every Snar Citizen Should Read.
In an instant, memories surfaced of the days when he had first come to the manor and worked as the Empire’s Little Treasure.
Back then, Anxius had often been seen with that very book in his hands.
Later, during the earthquake on Junk Star, Yomi had accidentally exposed his identity as a human and only then learned that Anxius’s skill had seen through him from the very beginning.
So back then, when Anxius had been reading this book, had it been because he was curious about him?
Driven by a strange impulse, Yomi climbed up the ladder and took the book down.
Inside, it was filled with information about humans. Some of it was true, some merely speculation… Yomi casually flipped through it, and very quickly reached the final page.
There, tucked inside, was a completed but never mailed reader response survey.
At the top, the printed line read: After finishing this book, please write down your thoughts and tell us. If you have questions, we will try our best to answer them.
The person who had filled it out had obviously not been in a normal—or calm—state. The handwriting twisted badly across the page, and there were visible tremors in multiple places.
A cool evening breeze drifted in through the window, stirring the hem of Yomi’s clothes and also unsettling old memories.
At that moment, footsteps sounded from the stairway outside, followed by Anxius’s voice as he spoke to one of the servants.
Yomi gently slid the book back into place, stepped off the ladder, and opened the door with the reference book still in his arms. The instant he did, his eyes met Anxius’s, who had just been about to open the door himself.
“What are you doing in the study?”
“Looking for reference books.”
Anxius came over to take his hand. “Next time, tell me. I’ll find them for you in my original form. The bookshelves are too high.”
“So I really am too short?” Yomi lowered his head, his eyes immediately filling with a misty, pitiful look. Every bit of him practically screamed drama.
“…” After a few seconds, the man, helpless, simply picked him up. “It’s the bookshelf’s fault. Tomorrow, we’ll start remodeling the bookshelves.”
“Hehe.” Yomi’s little face flushed red, and he lifted his head, revealing soft lashes like goose down. “Darling, I was just teasing you… mwah.”
The next second, Anxius planted a heavy kiss right on his lips.
The moon had risen.
The study was silent.
That book was hidden forever after in the corner of the shelf, just like that tiny visible corner of the iceberg that was Anxius’s love for him.
Reader Response Survey for The Human Handbook Every Snar Citizen Should Read:
Yomi, Yomi, Yomi, Yomi, Yomi…
Yomi, hello…
Welcome, I… protect you… don’t be afraid…
Don’t want humans… only want Yomi…
—End of Main Story—
