“Then I don’t like you either.”
Because of that one sentence from the gap-toothed little kitten, Ryan suffered from insomnia.
His body’s pain had clearly faded, and for the first time in sixteen years, he’d never felt so relaxed. Yet whenever he closed his eyes, all he saw in his dreams was that little kitten’s puffed-up face.
“Your Highness.” The maid who’d cared for Ryan since childhood held a branch of peach blossoms, hesitating for a moment before whispering, “These are from the peach tree in my family’s courtyard. Do you… want them?”
The moment the words left her mouth, she grew uneasy. The vibrant blooms of spring were a breath of the season for others, but for His Highness Ryan, they were an unbearable torment—pollen allergies that could make him cough up blood.
Ryan’s slender fingers hovered in the air for a moment, reaching slightly toward the blossoms before gently pulling back to rest on his knee. His fingertips curled slightly, afraid yet also yearning.
Then I don’t like you either.
That sentence echoed in his mind again. The little kitten must really like flowers, right? Was he celebrating the Welcoming Spring Festival today too?
Delphi’s Welcoming Spring Festival saw adults busy with spring planting, while children fully enjoyed the season.
This nation didn’t worship technology, yet it was far from backward. Its people lived without worry for food or clothing, their lives abundant and stable. The national treasury allocated funds to every household each year—enough that they could scarcely spend it all. Even if they did nothing their whole lives, they’d never lack for clothes or food. Their monarch gave them the confidence to live freely. Farming, for them, was simply a pure love.
“The sun’s heading out again?” The scruffy old man leaned on his hoe, looking up at the Mandjet about to take off in the sky, wiping sweat from his neck with a towel. “Why so early this time?”
Every year after the Welcoming Spring Festival, the empire’s warships headed to Delphi’s border systems for patrols, clearing out Zerg.
“The Xenoid Variant situation is dire.” The smoking old man drawled lazily, though his eyes were sharp. “The Third Legion’s been sent for support. The Abyss Frontline is stirring, and those Federation fools can’t handle it alone.”
“These new Xenoid Variants are that impressive? I don’t buy it.” The scruffy old man was eager to try. “Once I’m done with spring planting, I’ll head to the battlefield and see for myself.”
“Give it a rest.” The smoking old man mocked him. “Your crystallization’s almost at its limit. Forget killing bugs—you can barely swing that hoe without pain now.”
“Nonsense!” The scruffy old man’s eyes flashed defiantly as he spat at him, but as he turned, he touched his chest.
The hardiness of Delphi’s people came at the cost of their lives. With average lifespans far below interstellar norms and birth rates crippled by the Crystal of Delphi, this nation was mighty yet teetering on collapse.
Of its ninety thousand citizens, seventy percent served in the military. The world said King Isiris’s iron-fisted rule would doom the nation, but they didn’t know that without the sovereign’s harsh orders to rest and recuperate, every last Delphian would march to war.
But the scruffy old man couldn’t anymore. The Crystal of Delphi granted incomparable power at first, then exacted an equally heavy toll at the end. Now, even lifting a hoe felt laborious; he was on the verge of losing the right to even touch this land.
“Damn frustrating.” The scruffy old man grumbled, “I haven’t even seen the little sun grow up yet.”
The empire’s newborn little sun was earnestly scribbling homework with his fluffy face scrunched up, his tiny paws gripping the pencil as he filled in wobbly letters.
“Li Ao.” The golden-haired emperor stood at the door.
The little kitten froze for a second, set down his pencil, and grinned as he scampered over. “Xixi~” Reaching the man’s leg, he stood on hind legs, scratching lightly at the straight trouser leg and stretching lazily.
Li Ao eyed his crisp military uniform and realized something. “Where are you going?”
Isiris bent slightly to scoop him into his arms. “I’m off to clear the Xenoid Variants.”
Li Ao’s ears drooped as he recalled those nasty things wrapped in fleshy membranes. “It’s dangerous…” He anxiously tugged at the man’s arm and shook it. “It’s dangerous…” So why not stay here?
“It is, for you.” Isiris tapped his forehead. “Not for me.” Cold and arrogant as he was, he now had something to worry about. “Brenna will stay by your side. When Delphi’s summer arrives, I’ll return.”
The daddy he’d just found was leaving already. The little kitten flattened his mouth, eyes teary but holding back.
“You don’t have to be so good here.” Isiris said, “Just wait for me to come back.”
Li Ao was set down, trailing after him eagerly for a few steps before squatting at the doorframe, watching the man’s tall figure vanish.
“Your Highness.” Brenna crouched down, hands on her knees to comfort the little kitten. “His Majesty will be back soon.”
Li Ao’s eyes shimmered with tears that never fell. His big tail dragged on the ground as he remembered being left behind before—they’d all said they’d return soon, but none had.
The little kitten lowered his gaze to his own fluffy paw feet. Just as his ears drooped and he turned to go, he spotted a pair of immaculate feet.
Li Ao blankly looked up, backlight outlining the man’s cold, restrained yet oppressively imposing silhouette.
“I’m not abandoning you.” Isiris dropped to one knee, one hand on his knee, the other stroking the kitten’s head. “I simply have to go.”
Tears swirled in Li Ao’s eyes for several rounds before he couldn’t hold back. He stood and threw himself into the man’s embrace—a tiny bundle not even reaching the man’s knee when crouched, yet utterly pitiable.
Isiris’s lips were cleanly sharp, usually lacking any extra curve and seeming especially cold. Now they hooked upward, his voice warming. “Don’t want me to go?”
The little one didn’t cry out loud, just pitifully buried his face against him and nodded.
“Then,” Isiris lifted him to his shoulder, “how about I stay one more day? I’ll teach you to pilot a starship—that way, you can go to Aiai’ang’ang on your own whenever you want.”
“Mm.” The little kitten softly rested his head on the man’s neck, voice still choked.
Unprecedentedly, the already-departed Mandjet halted its journey and returned to standby.
Isiris strode forward with the kitten, pointing out the path. “Through the courtyard, and you’ll reach the starship hangar in the castle.”
“Which one do you like?” Isiris asked.
All the starships looked the same—roundish hemispheres. Li Ao couldn’t tell them apart and rubbed his eyes.
“Then pick one and mark it.” The golden-haired emperor glanced up, signaling a servant for paint, then handed the brush to the little one. “Do it yourself?”
Li Ao perked up, tilting his face up. His eyes, still red from crying, were watery as he took the brush from daddy’s hand, dipped it in paint, climbed the starship, and started smearing.
After a frenzy of scribbling at kindergarten level, he pointed proudly at his doodle for Isiris. “This is Li Ao!”
The golden-haired emperor eyed the two circles atop four little dotted legs. “Very well drawn.” At least the leg length was accurate.
“This is puppy.” A coal ball with big red eyes.
“This is Machine.” You could tell he’d tried hard for a “robot.”
“This is grandma.” A figure with a flowery headscarf.
And the last one—he pointed at the golden sun, puffing out his fluffy chest proudly. “This is Li Ao’s daddy.”
After explaining, he seemed shy, dropping the brush and rubbing his paws together, not daring to look up.
“That’s right.” Isiris tapped his little head. “I’m Li Ao’s daddy.”
“Come on, daddy’ll teach you to drive the starship.”
Driving was really just tweaking the AI’s autopilot program. Delphians always relied on manual control and rarely used AI piloting; this starship’s assist system was being truly activated for the first time.
He bound the starship’s ownership to Li Ao, making it the little kitten’s exclusive ride. Once set, the kitten just needed to press a button to auto-fly to Aiai’ang’ang.
Isiris spent the day playing with him in Aiai’ang’ang until deep into the night, then rushed back to Delphi.
The little kitten, happy all day, slept soundly with his head on his little puppy plush, fluffy belly rising and falling with breaths. Isiris reached out, gently placing his hand over it. Hard to imagine such a frail body housed such a brave and kind soul.
“Goodnight, my child.” His voice was low.
As he rose, he said to the robot waiting nearby, “Silver Wing, take good care of him.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and left, his steps steady and resolute, vanishing into the moonlight.
The next day, Li Ao woke to find daddy really gone. But after yesterday, he wasn’t too upset.
Xixi is different from them. The little kitten brushed his teeth.
Xixi and grandma are the same. He puffed his cheeks to rinse.
Daddy and Machine and puppy will all stay with Li Ao. He spat the water, bared his teeth, and stared seriously into the mirror. “Once my teeth grow in thick, Xixi will come back!”
“Li Ao will work hard farming, make lots of money, so others go kill the bad things!” That way Xixi won’t have to leave!
His little mind thought simply, and no one corrected him. The robot wiped his face. “Someone’s here to see you.”
“Who?” The little kitten went out and saw the white-haired boy standing outside.
His long illness wouldn’t heal overnight; he was still slender, cradling a few peach blossoms, face pale but with a faint blush. “Do you want this?”
Li Ao looked suspiciously…
Staring at the person for a long time— so long that Ryan uncomfortably turned his head away.
The little cat hesitated and took two steps forward, but seeing how pretty that peach blossom was, he said, “Then wait a moment, okay?”
Ryan was slightly stunned. He watched him patter patter patter run into the house, then a moment later patter patter patter run back out. Standing up straight, with a one-yuan coin clutched in his paws, “Here, for you.”
Buying flowers with money? Li Ao was all too familiar with that. It was just that before, he had always been the one initiating trades with the flower shop auntie, but now someone was coming to him to sell flowers.
