Chapter 8
The news that the royal merman had opened an exclusive livestream room quickly spread throughout the Aus Empire. The public’s many objections to the engagement soon gave way to sentiments like, “The little merman is so cute.”
The scientists led by Cole also underwent a complete 180-degree turn in attitude. Cole himself started an educational series about mermen and other marine life, and its viewership skyrocketed.
Of course, there were also those who took a different view.
In Catherine’s bedchambers, the door slammed shut with a bang.
Kyle angrily swiped across his smart-brain screen. On it, a silver-tailed merman was swimming in a newly built artificial lake.
“Merman, merman, merman! Can’t they talk about anything besides mermen?”
“And didn’t you say he wouldn’t agree to this engagement so easily?”
Catherine lowered her eyes and sipped her tea without answering Kyle’s question, but her tightly furrowed brows showed that she was in no better mood.
She had never expected Wright to agree to the engagement in such a short time, much less to “get along harmoniously” with Jorah for once.
In her estimation, given Wright’s personality, he should have had a huge argument with Jorah before returning straight to his post at the border.
Instead, the internet was now flooded with talk about him and that merman.
Seeing that Catherine remained silent, Kyle switched his smart-brain to Blue Star’s biggest discussion forum. The most popular topics were all about “mermen.” “Just look at what people are saying online!”
Wright already controlled most of the Aus Empire’s military forces, but most interstellar citizens had always seen him as stern and cold. Then Mu Chen started livestreaming, and public praise for Wright surged. They were saying things like...
[So the First Prince is gentler than I imagined.]
[The prince seems like a very gentle person too.]
[The prince is so responsible and dependable.]
[The prince is so handsome!]
Kyle was about to go insane. How the hell did they come up with all that?
Wright hadn’t even appeared on camera, okay? At most, they’d seen a pair of hands!
The room grew even more silent. Catherine seemed unwilling to respond to him, merely saying, “You’d better prepare properly for your meeting with Shelley Isos tonight.”
Shelley Isos’s father, Hugh Isos, was the minister overseeing the Aus Empire’s finances.
Shelley was also one of the most influential candidates on the list of marriage alliances Catherine had prepared.
Kyle’s hands shook with anger. He took a cigarette from his pocket, and an attendant hurried over to light it for him.
He suddenly asked, “By the way, what happened to the sea dogs Father recently bought from Varta?”
Sea dogs were a new hybrid species developed on Blue Star in recent years. They carried both canine and sea lion genes, looked like dogs, and could also move freely underwater.
Among the batch Jorah had recently imported from Varta was a rare, pure-white wolfhound sea dog. There were fewer than ten of this breed on all of Blue Star.
Kyle had wanted one for a long time.
“The sea dogs...” At the mention of them, the attendant suddenly stammered. “His Majesty just had someone take them away.”
Kyle frowned. “What for?”
The attendant said, “They... they said...”
Kyle: “Spit it out!”
The attendant: “They said His Majesty wanted the merman to choose one as a pet.”
“Fuck!”
Kyle’s cry of pain echoed through the vast bedchamber...
He’d been smoking it backward. He’d burned his mouth.
...
Outside the gilded palace doors,
Jorah bent down with a mysterious air. “How about I give you a present today?”
“What present?”
Mu Chen’s eyes widened instantly, anticipation filling his deep blue eyes.
Actually, when Jorah said he wanted to give him a present, Mu Chen’s first thought had been jewelry. He didn’t like those things; wearing them every day was a nuisance. Still, he immediately put on the full display of a child’s delight at receiving a gift.
Jorah was clearly pleased. His eyes crinkled with a smile, and he gestured for the attendant to open the door before them.
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
The moment the palace doors opened, the sound of a puppy’s barks came from inside, high and babyish.
Mu Chen froze for a moment. In the sunken, semicircular area in front of the stands, several dozen puppies were being held on leashes in a circle. Their coats gleamed, and they were obviously expensive breeds that had been carefully groomed.
Jorah asked him, “Do you like them?”
Mu Chen nodded. “I do.”
This time, he meant it. He’d wanted a sea dog of his own for a long time.
Jorah bent down slightly and spoke to Mu Chen as if sharing a secret. “Go pick one you like. Wright doesn’t know about this yet. We’ll surprise him later.”
“All right. Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Mu Chen’s lips curved, revealing two sweet dimples.
Jorah leaned on the scepter in his hand, his face full of fondness.
The attendant beside them immediately understood and stepped forward to open the enclosure for Mu Chen.
The King’s cheerful mood over the past few days made it clear that he truly liked the little merman.
As soon as Mu Chen entered the semicircular area, the little sea dogs barked even more excitedly.
As if trying to get his attention, the puppies all pulled out every trick in the book when Mu Chen passed by.
Some puppies immediately flopped onto the ground, exposing their soft bellies and rolling around at Mu Chen’s feet in every which way, doing their best to win him over.
Others circled his feet, or sat on the ground with their pink tongues out, gazing up at him hopefully.
Mu Chen crouched down and stroked the puppies’ fluffy heads. Their throats immediately rumbled with happy purrs.
He looked at the puppies circling around him...
So cute.
Mu Chen thought.
Too bad they already seemed domesticated. He wasn’t interested.
Mu Chen stood in the center of the area and looked around. Among all the puppies wagging their tails at him, he suddenly felt a pair of icy eyes meet his.
He followed that gaze and spotted the sea dog hidden in a corner, its trainer holding it back with a leash pulled taut.
It had a coat of gleaming snow-white fur. Though still a puppy, it was already a good deal larger than the others. Its fluffy limbs hinted at the sleek, powerful build it would have as an adult.
It bared its sharp fangs and stared at Mu Chen with deep blue eyes. Its triangular ears were pinned back against its head, and it let out warning growls.
“Your Highness, that sea dog has wolf blood and a violent temperament. It hadn’t been fully trained when it was brought here, so you’d better not get too close to it...” The attendant beside him picked up a round, brown puppy. “What do you think of this Kemu puppy? It’s gentle and very intelligent...”
Mu Chen narrowed his eyes. He gave the brown puppy a perfunctory pat, but kept his gaze fixed on the white dog. “What breed is it?”
“It’s a wolfhound sea dog, Your Highness.”
“Ruff! Ruff!”
Two hoarse barks came from the corner.
Unlike the other puppies’ high, babyish yaps, these sounded more like the snarls of a ferocious beast in a fight.
When the white dog saw one of its kind exposing its belly to please that foolish human, it grew even more defiant.
The person in the center of the enclosure wore an elaborate formal outfit. His neck looked so soft it could be bitten through in one snap, and his entire being radiated an air of harmlessness.
The wolfhound sea dog’s instincts told him this was a weak, useless human, easy to bully.
It ground its sharp back teeth together and tensed its entire body, waiting for a chance to strike.
“Your Highness.”
Apparently noticing Mu Chen’s interest in the sea dog, its trainer smiled at the little merman and tried to adjust his grip on the leash.
But the instant the trainer let his guard down, the wolfhound sea dog broke free of its collar and charged forward like a runaway horse.
“Ah!”
Panicked shouts immediately rang out from the enclosure.
The attendants carried no weapons for self-defense. Faced with the sea dog baring its fangs, they instinctively scattered to either side.
The dog was one of the fastest breeds of sea dog. At full speed, he was incredibly swift, and no one could stop him.
Jorah noticed the chaos from the stands in the distance and stood up, his brows furrowing.
“Your Highness, look out!” Mu Chen’s personal attendant snapped back to his senses and tried to pull him away, but in his panic nearly tripped himself.
Yet in that split second, he saw the little merman standing perfectly still, calmly watching the white dog charging toward him without even moving a finger.
The white dog was only a step away from Mu Chen. It had only to lift its front paws to pounce on him, and the scene seemed frozen in place.
The next instant, a look of alarm flashed through the wolfhound sea dog’s eyes, as though it had sensed some terrible danger. Even the bark that had been about to escape its throat turned into a faint whimper.
It felt a horrifying aura emanating from the smiling person before it. A fierce, icy current surged toward it, and a bone-deep chill wrapped tightly around it.
If mental power had a physical form, it would be like a tiny boat lifted by towering waves over a sea lashed by lightning and thunder—alone and helpless, while a pair of enormous blue eyes hung in the dark sky, watching it.
Mu Chen maintained his sweet, harmless smile, while secretly releasing his mental power toward the sea dog.
The onlookers only felt the temperature around them drop a little. They had no idea what had happened. When they came to, the ferocious white dog wore an expression of shock and terror.
“Whimper...”
The sea dog’s ears flattened against its head. It bared its teeth at Mu Chen while making a nearly plaintive whimper.
Mu Chen held out his hand and walked toward it step by step.
But with every step he took, the sea dog retreated involuntarily.
Before long, the sea dog bumped into the fence behind it. Panting, it bared its sharp teeth at Mu Chen in a final attempt to resist.
The little merman paid it no mind. With his eyes curved into a smile, he crouched and gradually moved closer to the sea dog, like a child eagerly unwrapping a present.
Mu Chen picked up the collar the sea dog had shaken off and slipped it back around its neck.
Several times, the white dog bared its fangs and tried to bite Mu Chen’s fingertips, but each time it seemed to be frightened back by something utterly terrifying,
Once the collar was back on, Mu Chen slowly placed his palm on the white dog’s head. Looking at its attempt to act fierce despite being afraid, he smiled and said,
“Good dog.”
As he spoke, he scratched under its chin.
“Whimper...”
The sea dog bared its teeth, but couldn’t help letting out a comfortable rumble.
At that moment, King Jorah came down from the stands.
The attendants, who had been panicking moments earlier, were now simply bewildered.
Mu Chen picked up the wolfhound sea dog as if it were a doll and walked up to the King. “Your Majesty, I want this one.”
“All right.” Jorah smiled approvingly.
The little merman had a good eye. He had picked the bravest puppy of the lot at once.
Still, wolfhound sea dogs had always been unruly and difficult to tame. When it had broken free of its leash just now, Jorah had worried it might hurt the little merman.
But this dog seemed especially attached to Mu Chen, because it had put its fangs away the moment he approached.
So Jorah attributed it all to the little merman’s natural affinity.
The sea dog trembling slightly in Mu Chen’s arms: “Whimper...”
Attached to him, my ass.
Holding the white dog, Mu Chen rubbed his chin against its fluffy head. Then, like a child showing off a new toy, he said happily, “I want to take it to show His Highness.”
Jorah smiled and waved for the attendant beside him to follow. “Go ahead.”
...
Meanwhile, Mu Chen’s exclusive livestream room was showing a boring promotional video of the scenery, and quite a few comments had already appeared:
[Where’s the little merman? Why hasn’t he streamed this afternoon?]
[I feel awful if I don’t get my merman fix all day, sob sob.]
[Merman (crawling in the shadows) Merman (screaming) (twisting) (crawling) I want a merman! (roaring) (wriggling) (crawling in the shadows)]
After a while, the livestream switched scenes. A few barks came from a distance, then the camera zoomed in. Everyone saw the little merman holding a snow-white puppy in his arms, its wet tongue licking the camera.
[Wow, a puppy! Does this mean he has a pet now?]
[Is that a wolfhound? I heard that breed is pretty fierce. Why is the one in the little merman’s arms so quiet and well-behaved? Does the dog like mermen too?]
[Hahahaha, so cute!]
“Your Highness, look!” Mu Chen held the puppy up for Wright, who had just returned from the training grounds. “His Majesty Jorah gave it to me.”
Wright saw the smile in the corners of the little merman’s eyes, and it seemed to rub off on him. He pressed his lips together. “It’s cute.”
“Awooo... whimper...” The wolfhound sea dog had only gotten halfway through a howl when it felt cool fingertips touch the back of its neck. Its howl instantly turned into a puppy’s whimper.
Furious, but too afraid to say a word.
“Go on, pet it. It’s very well-behaved.” Mu Chen held the dog up in front of Wright, as if showing off his new present.
“Huff... huff...”
As Wright’s hand reached toward it, the wolfhound sea dog bared its teeth and rumbled a low warning from deep in its throat.
But when it turned its head, it met Mu Chen’s smiling gaze. Those icy blue eyes were watching it with a smile.
The wolfhound sea dog’s ears drooped at once. Looking utterly cowed and afraid, it obediently let Wright pick it up.
Watching the puppy change its expression so quickly, almost as if it had a split personality, Wright was taken aback too. He petted the dog’s head and asked Mu Chen, “Have you given it a name?”
“Not yet.” Mu Chen rested his index finger against his chin, seeming to ponder what to name the sea dog.
After a while,
He seemed to come up with a good idea and clapped his hands. “Why don’t we call it Little Guai?”
Wolfhound Sea Dog: ???
“Whimper...”
What kind of name was Little Guai? It’d lose all face in front of its peers if it went out with that name.