Receiving psychic soothing was a very long but comfortable process.
Underage children could temporarily let their parents take care of their rapidly developing and difficult to manage psychic power. It was quite a relieving sensation.
The room was also quite warm, Ye Muo’s eyes slowly closed as he rested against Norton’s leg. His quiet breaths were reassuring to Norton.
Norton touched Ye Muo’s ear. It was a little cold. Ye Muo’s temperature has been on the low side these past few days, perhaps due to his injury.
He removed his cloak and wrapped Ye Muo in the soft fabric. The fur collar surrounded Ye Muo’s face and covered the lower half entirely.
Norton’s psychic power entered Ye Muo’s psychic domain bit by bit, soothing Ye Muo.
The recently absent exchange of memories began again.
When Ye Muo was calm, the memory fragments exchanged would reflect that.
Norton closed his eyes, thinking that he would see Ye Muo interacting with Lady Ye or Ye Zhiyuan again.
But this time was different. Norton opened his eyes and stopped stroking Ye Muo’s hair.
For Norton saw himself.
As the memory of Ye Muo’s class continued, the teacher slowly went over Grantz’s history on the projector.
“…The Grantz killed the insects, forced the galactic pirates back and raised the flag on that bloodsoaked land. Their glory is undeniable. This is a video of His Majesty killing a king insect. It was used as a teaching tool at first, but it was later leaked…”
The children in the classroom were still very young, so the video wasn’t projected holographically and it was an edited version.
Ye Muo sat properly, his hands on his desk. He was in the front row.
Due to being put in stasis during incubation for some time, Ye Muo has always been a little shorter than his peers since he was a child until recently.
Norton stood at the classroom door, and Ye Muo sat in the seat closest to said door.
Ye Muo was within arm’s reach. Norton watched Ye Muo look up attentively at the teacher like the rest of the children. Then he lowered his head and touched a symbol of interweaving sword and flames in his textbook, the Grantz insignia.
He heard Ye Muo repeat what the teacher was saying in a whisper, “The glorious Grantz…”
The psychic soothing was about to end. Norton’s psychic power gradually withdrew from Ye Muo’s psychic domain.
Norton also extricated himself from Ye Muo’s memories. He slowly resumed massaging Ye Muo’s nape. The child was asleep with his head on Norton’s knee. He seemed the same as before.
Norton knew that many children along with Grantz’s citizens were proud of the Grantz. Still, to know that Ye Muo felt goodwill towards his family still touched Norton.
In this dimly lit room, Norton sat pencil straight with a clear, sharp glint in his eyes like a freshly honed sword.
Yet if he had a choice, he would rather Ye Muo not be a Grantz. Then he could sit in the classroom forever, watching those videos and reading those texts.
After a while, the door was gently pushed open. Ano quietly walked in and saw Ye Muo asleep against Norton’s leg.
He lowered his voice, “Adlet has already sent Lady Ye and the other back, Big Brother.”
With that, Ano went to check on Ye Muo. He carefully lifted a corner of the cloak around Ye Muo. ” Is he okay?”
Norton also lowered his voice, “He’s asleep.”
Ano got down on one knee next to Ye Muo. He gently circled the child in his arms as he observed him. He looked up after a beat.
“His face is so flushed, Big Brother.”
Ano then touched Ye Muo’s face. “He’s burning up too.”
Norton parted the cloak wrapped around Ye Muo a bit and he frowned. “Adlet, go get the doctors.”
Adlet was already at the doorway. He came in. “Your Majesty.”
Ye Muo also woke up. He lifted his head from the cloak. His cheeks were flushed as he opened his eyes. When he saw it was Norton who was holding him, he closed his eyes and settled down again. He even buried himself deeper into the cloak. “Where’s Mom?”
Ano answered him, “Lady Ye went back first.”
Ye Muo mumured dazedly, “I’m a little cold, Mom. And tired.”
Ano patiently conversed with him, “Your mom isn’t here right now.”
Ye Muo’s lips fluttered weakly as he eyes remained closed. His voice was barely above a whisper, “Dad.”
But Norton heard him. He unconsciously became even more careful with his movements.
Ye Muo has always referred to him strictly as ‘Father’, and he was unused to even that. Most of the time, Norton had to remind him.
Ye Muo had already fallen asleep again.
Adlet walked over and touched Ye Muo’s forehead with practised movements. His wife was very busy at work so he was the one who stayed home and took care of the kids at first. He was quite good at it as a result. Then, due to his skills, he slowly developed a career in this field and eventually ended up at the Grantz Palace.
Although the young Grantz were rather thick-skinned as children and hardly needed any care.
“Don’t worry. He should just have a fever. The doctors will be here momentarily to prescribe something for His Little Highness. He’ll be fine with a hot meal and a bit of rest.”
Norton frowned with Ano. They were both unfamiliar with this. All Grantz were very healthy and sturdy even as kids. They would only see a doctor for external wounds.
Even the empress had been very healthy due to her exercising hobby.
Ano tucked Ye Muo more securely in the cloak while saying, “I thought this was something that only happened to infants.”
Although Norton didn’t voice it, he obviously agreed with Ano. He’s read some parenting books before.
Adlet fixed the cloak for Ye Muo. “Perhaps it’s due to his injury then. He’s been running out constantly to plant trees instead of focusing on recovering.”
Ano pursed his lips and fell silent.
Adlet continued, “Also, His Little Highness has been living outside all this time. He didn’t receive adequate care during the key incubation period either. His health has always been poorer than Your Highnesses.”
Now Norton was quiet as well.
Especially since Ye Muo has been put into stasis for some time during incubation.
If it wasn’t for Ye Muo’s biological mother leaving him behind for some reason, Ye Muo wouldn’t even exist right now.
Norton became somewhat serious. Ye Muo had been put into stasis during incubation, yes, but the physical before didn’t uncover any problems.
Now he was considering a more thorough examination.
Adlet was somewhat surprised. He only mentioned it because all Grantz required special care during incubation. How could this be…
Any reputable conception centre wouldn’t make a mistake of this magnitude.
Norton succinctly explained, “He’s a remnant of the rebellion.”
Norton could mention it very calmly by now. The him from before would fly into a rage, but now all he felt was relief. Thank goodness Ye Muo was not disposed of as a remnant of that rebellion.
Nestled in the cloak, Ye Muo’s hand hidden within clenched tightly. His nails dug deep into the palm of his hand. His eyes had opened at some point. He immediately closed them again when Norton shifted.
Norton easily scooped Ye Muo up. He wasn’t even as heavy as Pangzhua as a cub.
Ano and Adlet followed Norton to the second floor.
Norton set Ye Muo on his soft bed and tucked him in.
Then he left the room.
Ye Muo opened his eyes. He stared into the darkness at the ceiling and savoured the phrase ‘a remnant of the rebellion’.
He pondered the phrase for a long time, trying to glean more information.
No one has even told him about his past. Ye Muo also had no memory of the time before he met Ye Zhiyuan.
He only remembered some common knowledge, the fact that he shouldn’t be a small child, and another language. However, his life as Ye Muo or some other person started with two bodies and the cloying scent of blood in that ruined living room.
Ye Muo was very scared at first. His lack of memories made him feel like he was adrift in a vast, endless sea without anything to hold onto. The corpses only frightened him further, until he was incapable of rational thought.
The woman’s body was crushing down on him. The suffocating scent of blood filled his nose. He used all his strength to push the woman’s body off.
It wasn’t until later that Ye Muo realized the body he had initially pushed away was probably the person once closest to him.
On the first day in Ye Muo’s memory, the woman who was once so close to him was taken away in a body bag.
In the end, Ye Muo could only catch one glimpse of her from far away.
Ye Zhiyuan also discovered Ye Muo’s strange state after bringing him back home. He brought the child to a doctor, who said he was suffering from memory loss as a result of trauma.
So Ye Muo has always been plagued by a conundrum. Did that child die and he took over their life? Or was he that child who had forgotten everything.
He quickly set that problem aside. Whichever was the case, Ye Muo could only hold on tight to what he could.
After that, whether it was Ye Zhiyuan or Lady Ye, Ye Muo carefully, tentatively tried to establish a relationship with them.
This process was agonizing for him. Ye Muo always felt like he was taking Ye Yun and Ye He’s parents from them, bit by bit.
Actually, Ye Muo felt relief when Ye Yun and Ye He bullied or messed with him. He saw it as a way to atone for his sins. Thus, he never took the initiative to tattle or resist.
If Lady Ye or Father found out about the bullying, Ye Muo would even receive comfort.
But soon, the Ye brothers began to accept Ye Muo.
Ye Muo lost even the reason he had been clinging onto. He could no longer deceive himself.
The better the Ye family treated him, the more he fell into turmoil.
Yet at the same time, Ye Muo couldn’t control himself. He had to grasp something in order to keep surviving in this foreign world.
So he began to look into his past.
Ye Muo could only piece together his origins through the tidbits he knew.
When Ye Zhiyuan first brought him home, Ye Muo thought he was a mistake, the product of a one night stand.
Later, after his return to the Grantz family, Ye Muo has speculated many times about the truth of the matter.
Ye Muo knew very well that, if Norton was unaware of his existence, his biological mother might have employed some unseemingly methods. Perhaps Ye Zhiyuan chose to help him because he was an acquaintance of Ye Muo’s mother.
Still, regardless of what happened in the past.
Ye Muo has a father and mother. Even if his father didn’t know of or welcome his existence, his deceased mother welcomed his birth.
She loved Ye Muo and fought to her last breath to protect him. Ye Muo was often both moved and ashamed of this deep act of love, for he didn’t know if he was that beloved child.
Some times, when he thought he might have taken over that child’s life, Ye Muo would feel ashamed of himself.
But at the same time, Ye Muo could not deny how happy he was to receive this kind of love. He tightly grasped hold of it and anchored himself.
After learning that he was not Ye Zhiyuan’s child at all, Ye Muo could even start to face Lady Ye, Ye Yun and Ye He openly.
Yet now, Ye Muo was once more cast astray.
Ye Muo stared at the ceiling with a pale complextion. His lips opened and closed several times soundlessly.
How pitiful.
He arbitrarily denied the possibility that he was that child and fashioned a likeness of the child in his mind to pity.
This was the only he could accept the truth.
A remnant of the rebellion.
Not even an accidentally created life.
Just a tool.
There was no one who truly loved him from beginning to end.
…..
Norton gently closed the door. Adlet and Ano were waiting outside. “We should ask the doctor about whether Ye Muo requires further examination.”
Ano leaned against Ye Muo’s door and quickly divvied up the work. ” Then you go discuss with the doctors while I take care of him. Adlet said it would be better if he has something easy on the stomach before taking his medicine.”
Adlet: “Then you’ll have to visit the kitchens, Your Highness. His Little Highness didn’t eat much at noon.”
Ano immediately left, afraid Norton would call him back.
Adlet turned and immediately met Norton’s eyes. He shrugged. “Why not give Prince Ano a chance since he sincerely wants to take care of His Little Highness? He did well before, right?”
Norton nodded after a while.
Author’s Corner
I want to finish editing this novel already. I need to set up foreshadowing for the events ahead. Smashing my keyboard out of frustration.jpg
The second year without comments, because for me every day is like a year.
