The doctor set down the documents. He too appeared much more at ease. “In any case, there’s nothing majorly wrong with His Little Highness. He’ll be as right as rain in a few days.”
Ye Muo perked up a little too. He was nodding incessantly in Norton’s arms. “Muomuo’s all good.”
The doctor couldn’t help but chuckle, “Then, Your Little Highness, do you want to get an injection or take medicine?”
The little head stopped nodding. Ye Muo looked almost shocked: (●︿●)
After a moment of thought, he hid his arms between himself and Norton and pressed himself firmly into Norton’s arms. “Muomuo d-doesn’t have anywhere to get shots.”
He was more than familiar with injections, but the last one seemed so, so long ago. Before, he thought being allowed to remain here, being carried around in someone’s arms, would be worth any amount of injections…
But now, he became afraid.
The doctor adjusted his glasses and started talking nonsense, “Well, feet will do just fine too.”
The feet dangling outside quickly disappeared too. The child’s nervous voice could be heard. “No feet! Muomuo has no feet!”
The doctor feigned helplessness when faced with the curled up Muomuo. “In that case, you’ll have to take medicine.”
Ye Muo was about to readily agree, but his previous deception being successful emboldened him. He raised his head and thought for a few seconds before cleverly saying, “Muomuo’s mouth is broken. Muomuo can’t taste anything, so Muomuo won’t take medicine.”
Bert patted him on the head. This little guy was going a bit too far. “Then you’ll have to get a shot. Did you know you can get a shot in the mouth too? Maybe we can fix your mouth at the same time.”
Ye Muo covered his mouth and quickly made his decision. “Medicine! Muomuo will take medicine.”
Ano comforted him with a straight face, “Don’t worry. You can’t taste a thing right now so it’ll go down easy.”
A small cup of liquid medicine was soon delivered.
Ye Muo held the cup in his hands. Feeling a mixture of grievance and wariness, he tentatively licked the edge, only for his eyes to brighten. He started chugging the sweet liquid down.
Bert was the first to clap. “Muomuo’s so capable.”
So medicine could be as sweet as candy, ah. Ye Muo understood now. He held out the cup and looked at the others expectantly. “Muomuo’s capable! Muomuo wants more.”
Bert stroked his chin. “But there’s no more. If you want more, it’ll have to be a shot.”
The little cup was retracted. “Then Muomuo doesn’t want more.”
The easily coaxed Ye Muo insisted as he painstakingly lapped up the last bit of sweet liquid, “And no s-shots.”
　　……
Ye Muo fell asleep relatively quickly that night, but he didn’t sleep soundly. He kicked off the blanket several times, only for Norton to tuck him back in.
He even woke up several times throughout the night, but he didn’t cry or make a fuss. Most of the time, he just scooted toward Norton’s arms. He calmed down as soon as the man placed his hand back on his back.
The only time he made a sound was when Ye Muo poked his foot out of the blanket and Norton tucked it back in. He jammed it back out with his eyes shut. “Muomuo, Muomuo’s burning.”
Norton felt his forehead, which did seem warmer than usual. So he let the child’s foot be and pulled the top of the blanket down from Ye Muo’s chin as well.
Ye Muo was rejuvenated when he woke up early the next morning. In fact, thanks to how much sleep he’s gotten, he didn’t even try to linger in bed today, nor did he keep his eyes close while waiting to be dress, nor did he dive back under the blanket and try to wheedle his way into wearing it in place of clothes.
Instead, he took the initiative to sit up. “Where’s Muomuo’s bottle?”
“Muomuo didn’t have it yesterday. Muomuo was saving it.”
There was always a warmed bottle at the bedside, an unlimited supply at that. However, Adlet always knew when to hand Ye Muo a bottle, so Ye Muo rarely had to go without. This was his first time asking for one right after waking up.
Adlet only prepared a portion adequate for Ye Muo should he wake up during the night. He was already finished by the time they arrived at the dining room and was currently nibbling on the bottle for fun.
Adlet was slightly relieved and smiled. “Good morning, Your Little Highness.”
He received a warm response and a request to have a cupcake.
“Perhaps after the meal, Your Little Highness.”
Ye Muo made a sound of anticipation and earnestly declared, “Muomuo wants to eat.”
Norton took his seat.
Sylvia was already reaching over. Ye Muo didn’t know what for, so he sat obediently in place as Sylvia pressed her hand to his forehead.
Ye Muo thought about it before pulling her hand down to his cheek and nuzzling her hand. Everyone else was always touching here, after all.
“Muomuo’s softest here.”
Sylvia gasped, “Our Muomuo is so generous.”
Ye Mu puffed his chest out a little and kept nodding. “Muomuo is generous.”
He busied himself with eating once Adlet brought over his plate. He even rejected Adlet’s help and insisted on holding the spoon himself today. The butler cheered him on from the side, “Muomuo is so capable.”
Sylvia watched with a faint smile for a while. “Looks like there’s no need to postpone your trip.”
Helene picked up that something was off and turned away from Ye Muo. “Trip? What trip? How come I don’t know about it? Are you guys leaving me behind?”
“Then Dylan and I are going to tear this palace down!”
Dylan grunted but didn’t outright reject the idea.
Ye Muo was too busy to even lift his head earlier. He had to quickly swallow the food in his mouth and raise one little first to either join in the fun or support her. “Tear it down!”
Adlet was silent for a second before pouring her some milk, which allowed him to calm the other Grantz who were about to riot as well for now. “Please don’t do that.”
After that, he gently pressed Ye Muo’s fist back down. “I don’t think children who tear apart the palace will get cake.”
Ye Muo straightened up. “Muomuo won’t do that anymore.”
“Good little children like you, however, do deserve cake.”
Sylvia fell into deep thought. She turned to Bert.
Bert acted self-righteous. “It is a trip, ah. While Muomuo, Norton and I go on the trip, they’ll be out there earning Ye Muo’s living expenses. Are you sure you don’t want to come, Sylvia? Ye Muo hasn’t seen a warship before. Won’t it be fun to see how he reacts?”
Sylvia turned to Adlet. “There’s a pile of documents in my study of less urgent matters.”
“Understood. I will have them delivered to His Majesty’s study.”
“But why? Can’t you give them to Flynn? Sylvia, Sylvia! Is that all you’re having for breakfast?”
Sylvia seemed to think of something. She paused by the door and turned to Norton. “Do think about his official name lately, alright? I want to add Muomuo’s permissions and names to the intranet and relevant documents before you all take your leave.”
Bert took this opportunity to interject, “Why not ask me for help thinking of ideas? Aren’t I great at coming up with names, Sylvia?”
“I’ll send out an official announcement after that. We should be ready to hold a formal celebration by the time you return.”
The birth of each Grantz would be officially announced and celebrated. The birth of the next Grantz generation would have a stabilizing effect within Grantz, their neighbours and even the Exile Sectors.
The galactic network was already abuzz with various speculations thanks to the amount of Grantz staying at the palace. Any more commotion like, for example, the mobilization of the legions, would likely lead to unrest.
Even if the Grantz didn’t have any ulterior motives aside from letting off some steam, each and every move on their part tended to cause many ripples. Not like the Grantz could care less. They always followed their hearts.
Sylvia didn’t see anything wrong with that, but she was already thinking about announcing Ye Muo’s existence to the world. Why not before they left?
Although she knew the Grantz would protect Ye Muo well no matter what happened, she hoped this child, still innocent enough to tuck his plush in at night, would be able to see a better, more stable world.
Sylvia’s eyes were soft as she looked at Norton and Ye Muo in his arms. They were both her children.
Norton was watching Ye Muo when he suddenly raised his head. “I’ve already thought of a name.”
Sylvia waited. Bert also fell quiet. The other gradually stopped what they were doing and looked over.
Norton had been considering this matter even before Sylvia asked him.
For some reason, at some indeterminable point in time, he already had that name in mind.
“Xavier. He’ll be known as Xavier.”
Norton lowered his head slightly to touch Ye Muo’s cheek before closing his eyes. “My child, my Xavier.”
He paused, opening his eyes. “My supreme treasure.”
Sylvia smiled faintly. “What a wonderful name.”
“It seems things are about to get busy, Adlet.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” Adlet gently responded.
The relevant institutions and ministries needed to be informed of His Little Highness’ official name. Many changes were also required in the palace, which fell under Adlet’s responsibility.
　　……
Flynn was informed ahead of the official announcement. The first thing he did was turn on his terminal to gauge public opinion.
Netizens were still discussing why the Grantz were lingering so long at the palace. The majority believed something big was about to happen.
[This is really unusual. The last time they were all together was when our princes and princesses were children, right?]
[? What do you mean ‘our princes and princesses’? Putting everything else aside, you’re not even from Grantz! Why do you even care?]
[Why wouldn’t I care? Even the galactic pirates of the Exile Sectors are trying to figure out what’s going on, so why can’t we discuss it too? Just because we’re not from Grantz?]
Worthless chatter. The galactic pirates are only looking into it because their necks might be on the line. They must be frantically stashing away resources lately.
He kept scrolling to the newest discussions.
[Wait! Stop speculating! A new name has just been added in secret to the Grantz official website! Everyone, go take a look!]
[Is it a personnel change? Did some genius make it into the imperial guard? That’s not exactly a rare occurence. Is it worth all this fuss?]
[OMG, go take a look for yourself! The website was lagging so bad at first, but when I made it in, an official announcement popped up! The new name is ‘Xavier Grantz’! From the announcement, he’s His Highness Norton’s child! He must be greatly cherished, to be bestowed the name Xavier.
There’s even a photo of His Highness Norton holding His Highness Xavier. He’s so little, ah. No wonder they kept him secret until now. Okay, enough about that. I was about to send my well wishes when the comment section opened up. Going to use all of my internet bandwidth to queue up for that.]
[Now I understand. The Grantz all returned to prepare for the public announcement of His Little Highness. It makes perfect sense. I can rest a little easier now.]
This was within acceptable parameters. Flynn was relatively pleased as he switched to the public announcement.
In the included photo, Ye Muo was staring straight at the camera with a somewhat befuddled expression as he sat with proper posture in Norton’s lap. Norton had a hand held protectively in front of him so he didn’t fall.
Flynn watched the amount of well wishes in the comments rapidly increasing by the second and broke out into a faint smile. Although he was still a bit disappointed for some inexplicable reason, he was also very happy.
The whole world is sending you blessings, Your Little Highness.
Author’s Corner
Bert: I’m going to vacation. They’re going to work. Aren’t they both trips in a way?
Helene, who actually thought they were going to work: dismantling my home right now
