Norton redirected his gaze to the crowd and showed a rare smile. “No need to be so sombre. This is a day of celebration.”
The guests below averted their gazes from Norton and Ye Muo began to move about. Conversation slowly came from below.
Ye Muo relaxed a bit. He subconsciously supported the heavy crown on his head and looked up at Norton. Norton paused and quietly stated, “Your birthday gift.”
This crown which was referred to as ‘Glory’ by the outside world has another name within Grantz– Blessing. The latter was not used frequently but held deep symbolic meaning. The crown was crafted from rare materials from Grantz’s first warship. Embedded within were jewels from the first Grantz swords. Having been present at their birth, it has protected the Grantz until now.
“I give the blessing of the Grantz to you.”
With that, Norton led Ye Muo down the staircase.
The crowd gathered around them.
Ye Muo spotted Lady Ye, Ano and the others within the crowd.
Norton led Ye Muo all the way to the other side of the hall, where the younger generation who haven’t yet earned the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with their parents gathered.
They all stood pencil straight as they watched Ye Muo.
Ye Muo spotted several familiar faces here too. His fellow students, Ye Yun, Augustus and others.
Norton let go. Ye Muo glanced back at him before joining his peers.
He had only taken one step before they all saluted him. “May imperial glory endure, and Grantz forever be immortalized!”
……
In the late evening when the guests dispersed, Adelt led Ye Muo back to his room. “All the presents received tonight have been stored in an unused room on the first floor. Please go check them out at your leisure.”
Ye Muo’s steps paused. He turned to Adlet.
Adlet smiled knowingly. “Of course, some of the gifts are already in your room. You can open them tonight.”
He opened the door to reveal the stacks of gifts on the carpeted floor.
There was an added bounce to Ye Muo’s steps as he headed inside and peered at the gifts.
Adlet reminded before closing the door, “Please make sure to rest soon. It’s already past your usual bedtime, but a little later is fine due to all the excitement during the day. Still, I hope for you to maintain a healthy sleep schedule.”
Ye Muo made a sound of acknowledgement without turning his head. “I will, Adlet.”
The first gift he unwrapped was the latest edition hoverboard. Young people often zoomed above the city on these. Ye Muo knew it was from Ye Yun at first sight. Ye Yun has always been a selfish gift giver. He would pull up the most wanted items on his wishlist to give to Ye Muo. It just so happened that he was infatuated with hoverboards lately.
Ye Muo carefully set it aside.
The second gift made Ye Muo’s eyes brighten. It was from Adrian. Inside the bigger box was a clear glass case filled with colourful seeds and a card.
Ye Muo looked at them for quite a while before setting them aside and continuing. Ano’s gift was a new sword. Ye Muo’s old one had already broken, so he has been using the one Norton gave him in the meantime.
Ye He’s gift was a botany book. Each entry had a small specimen piece enclosed within the page.
Ye Muo’s motions soon slowed as he got to Dylan’s gift. Within was a tiny, fully intact specimen of a king insect, sealed within an unknown type of crystal.
Ye Muo set it on the table with the other gifts. After a while, he turned it to face the other direction.
Ye Muo got up again just before he went to bed and put the crystal in his wardrobe drawer. Only after burying it under several pieces of clothing could he go back to sleep.
Meanwhile, Adlet carried a tray to Norton’s study after taking care of everything. Adrian and the others were also present.
Adlet placed the tea and snacks on the desk. “Your Majesty, should Prince Dylan be removed from captured media?”
“No need.”
Norton looked up at Adlet. “Dylan will set out to exterminate king insects tomorrow. They’ll find out sooner or later.”
Adrian nodded. “It’s not something that needs to be hidden either. If everything goes well, sooner or later Helene, Aria and Jacob will wake up too.”
Dylan shook his head. “Now’s not the time. We need to wait for the right moment.”
They were all waiting for Ye Muo to grow up, to become strong enough to sustain their expenditure without affecting himself.
Norton rapped on the armrest with a modicum of force. Everyone turned in his direction.
“You may set off tomorrow.”
Dylan and the others set off before the sun have even risen with their swords and personal legions.
Footage of Dylan’s first battle surfaced online before even Ye Muo’s birthday banquet.
The first stop along Dylan’s route was a small country bordering Grantz. It was relatively safe there, so many reporters had gathered to report on king insect activity.
There happened to be one such reporter group on the ground when Dylan and his forces arrived at their destination.
The king insects were about to swarm. The first line of defense was about to fall.
The other reporter groups had already pulled out, but this one was delayed a bit due to various issues. Then, they discovered their starship was malfunctioning. The other reporters would love to help, but the warzone had already gone into lockdown. You could only leave and not enter, and all the other reporters had already left.
The local warships didn’t have time to spare either. They had to prioritize evacuating their own wounded, as was laid out in the waivers everyone had to sign before coming here. The local base would offer refuge to the reporters, but they wouldn’t divert manpower to specifically protect them.
After discussing among themselves, the reporter group decided to continue with their work.
The team lead directed the others to start a first person livestream on the current situation. Artillery fire couldn’t afford to lessen up for a moment as the king insects steadily encroached. They gathered their equipment and prepared with the soldiers in the base.
In the end, the team lead gave control of the camera to a young man. He had sustained a leg injury that left him propped up in a corner of the base. Meanwhile, the team lead went to help soldiers carry weapons and supplies.
The young man quietly narrated from his corner, “This is Channel 23 reporting on the United States of Libre. As stated previously, our starship was damaged and we were unable to evacuate. We have decided to remain here and continue our work.”
“We have held out with the soldiers in this base for five days. Unfortunately, despite their outstanding bravery, we are coming to the end of the line. This livestream is a farewell of sorts.
The king insects have yet to reach this place, but most of the base’s systems have already been destroyed. If luck isn’t on our side, the base might not even last until tomorrow. It could all collapse at any moment. I hope that isn’t the case.”
The young man’s last words wavered. He took a deep breath and tried to steel himself. Despite this, the terror in his voice was clear as day to all.
“I doubt many of you have seen a base on the brink of collapse. Do you hear that droning siren in the background? This place is about to be overrun with king insects, but it doesn’t matter. If this line of defense falls, another one will be right behind it. Despite our sacrifices, we will prevail.
Oh, some good news. I heard the new base is being built behind us as we speak. Everyone is working hard to buy just a little more time.”
He pointed the camera at his coworkers. “See that woman in a blue work uniform carrying boxes on her shoulders? That’s our team lead. The man in the same uniform beside her is her second in command. Forgive my selfishness. I just want to record my friends first. Forgive me, Team Lead. You told me to record whatever I want for everyone to see when you handed me the camera. I’m only an intern after all.”
The camera turned again. “The tall man over there is our technician. He’s helping those soldiers inspect equipment…”
He introduced every member of his team before pointing the camera at the soldiers bustling about.
“I hope to record as many people as I can so their family and friends can see them one last time. They are all heroes, unlike me, a coward.”
The base’s sirens suddenly stopped for several seconds. Then a synthesized voice came over the intercom.
[Level 1 Alert! Level 1 Alert!]
“Ah, I know this alarm. My team lead told me the other day. Looks like it’s time to say goodbye.”
The sirens blaring across the entire base suddenly stopped.
The people hurrying across the base all stopped as well. They looked up at the sky.
The young man was somewhat confused. He looked up too. A warship was slowly descending from above. He squinted. His first reaction was that this warship’s altitude was way too low, which ran the risk of being attacked by the king insects.
But his eyes soon widened as he made out the insignia on the hull, the interweaving sword and flames of Grantz.
He pointed the camera up and zoomed in to see exactly what was going on.
The warship stopped at a specific altitude before slowly repositioning itself and opening the hatch.
The young man subconsciously adjusted the camera angle. “It’s dangerous to jump at that altitude even with a safety device. Even supplies or weapon caches would probably sustain damage.”
With that being said, he was still kind of curious.
A hand held the edge of the ship as soon as the hatch opened. Then Dylan appeared before the camera. He crouched with sword in hand, the outline of his legs and upper body clear though his military uniform and position. High velocity winds buffeted his hair.
The young man’s grip on the camera slipped for a moment. He realized he wasn’t seeing things after realigning and murmured, “It’s Dylan, Prince Dylan!!”
Dylan seemed to sense something. He tilted his head, his sharp gaze staring straight into the camera.
The young man’s heart skipped a beat even as he met the prince’s gaze with the equipment acting as a buffer. He subconsciously tightened his grip on the equipment and murmured, “This can’t be. At this distance? That would be ridiculous.”
But soon Dylan looked away, as if he had confirmed the other party wasn’t a threat.
Dylan’s adjutant also looked in that direction. He quickly identified who Dylan was looking at and adjusted his glasses. “Should I take care of it, Your Highness?”
“No need. It would be a waste of time.”
With that, Dylan let go and dove down like a speeding falcon.
The young man only reacted several beats after Dylan disappeared from frame. He steadied the camera and tried to suppress his excitement enough to speak, “As you all just saw, a Grantz has appeared on the battlefield! We’ve won…”
The young man couldn’t help but choke up. He covered his face with both hands, bent forward and sobbed, “We’re saved… We’re saved, Team Lead…”
The footage spread like wildfire across the galactic network.
[It’s Prince Dylan! The Grantz family increases once again. Will this trend continue? Dare I hope for Princess Helene to make an appearance? I could care less about figuring out the Grantz family’s secret at this point. I just want them to all come back and see their cute little nephew! The Empress too. She would’ve been overjoyed.]
[There are mentions of Ano and Adrian sightings coming from other places as well, but no footage yet. Some should pop up soon. No news of Princess Heleen or the others yet. Also, this angle really is something. Stating my appreciation of the Grantz uniform style once again. Hoping for footage of Princes Adrian and Ano soon.]
[Prince Dylan is just right! The other two princes are too young so I always feel guilty when I simp over them…]
[I want to lean on it.]
[Previous poster, WTF. Control yourselves! How can you lean against his chest!]
[? Previous poster, how did you know what/where they wanted to lean on?! Although I also immediately thought Prince Dylan’s chest would be very comfortable.]
[Because it just looks so comfy.]
