Chapter 279

Chapter 279

In the evening, the Graths tacitly followed Norton to his living room and neatly gathered together.

Ye Mo was also there; his bedroom was within Norton's territory, and this living room was also his. His bedtime was clearly delayed today, but the first round of the resource competition had just ended, so Adelaide said nothing, and Norton turned a blind eye to it.

But a living room with so many Graths was obviously not a pleasant place to be.

Originally, Ye Mo was sitting on the sofa, but he was later squeezed onto the carpet, surrounded by a crowd of Graths.

Ye Mo was used to Arnold and the others occasionally coming up to him, touching his head or the back of his neck when Norton wasn't around, or playing hide-and-seek with him under the guise of lessons.

But today, they were indeed a bit too enthusiastic and forward.

Even Deenlie, who was usually very restrained, silently moved closer.

Baide also joined in the fun. He didn't really need this kind of contact to find peace; his self-control was better than these immature kids, and such things had little effect on him. But something this fun, he wasn't about to miss it.

"Baide!"

"Sorry, make way for an old man."

"Damn it!"

After being squeezed too much, Ye Mo started resisting for once.

His resistance was also gentle; he just pulled himself out of the pile of Graths and silently moved aside, then checked the reactions of others.

This shuffling away turned into a game of catching Ye Mo, and even Ye Mo himself started laughing.

Arnold went too far and laid Ye Mo down on the ground. He eased up and held him down. "Alright, I win. Don't move."

Ye Mo curled up, protectively guarding his stomach. "No tickling."

There was a knock at the door, and then Adelaide entered with a tray in his right hand. He looked at Cyril, who was squeezed in the middle with hair messier than usual.

"Forgive the interruption, but I must remind you that Emperor Norton will be here soon."

The Graths calmed down a bit, and Herli quickly started tidying Ye Mo's hair on the sly.

But Ye Mo was still stuck in the middle, unable to even pull his feet out.

Adelaide set the tray aside.

"Though it's a downer, I still hope Your Highnesses can go to sleep early. The banquet starts tomorrow morning, so you'll need to get up early to prepare."

"Banquet? I'm not interested."

"Who would go? Just let Secretary-General Lin go; he can handle anything anyway."

"My Deputy Julie can go in my place; she's very capable."

Baide clapped his hands to interrupt them. "Alright, who wants to go? Raise your hands."

Adrian tried to raise Arnold's hand but got kicked by Arnold.

Ye Mo looked around and raised his own hand.

Several Graths looked at him.

Arnold let Adrian go and worriedly pushed Ye Mo's hand back down. "It's boring, Cyril. Don't go. We can go out and play tomorrow, or play in your new garden, or go see Pawpaw. Pawpaw has lost a bit of weight lately; Adelaide handed it over to some young soldiers in the corps."

Herli also nodded. "Yeah, nothing fun."

"I'll lend Cyril my other adjutant."

Ye Mo explained good-naturedly, "But isn't it sad for Father to be all alone there? I can come back and play with you later."

Adelaide grinned. "I'm sorry, but His Majesty's intention is that there's no choice but to go."

A wave of complaints arose.

"Big Brother is too mean."

"Can't we take turns? Big Brother shouldn't go either; let Arnold go first."

"Why? You go first."

Ye Mo was still trying to free himself from the pile of Graths, pushing Adrian. "My feet can't get out."

Adelaide shook his head and began clearing the table.

The door opened again. Secretary-General Lin held the door and stepped back behind Norton. Norton walked in, scanned them, and finally his eyes landed on Ye Mo, whose hair and clothes were messy in the middle.

The group quickly scattered.

Ye Mo, who had been stuck in the middle and struggling to break free, suddenly found the space around him empty.

He looked at Norton. "Father."

Norton walked up to Ye Mo and extended his hand. Ye Mo put his hand in his, and almost without Ye Mo exerting any effort, Norton pulled him up.

Norton looked Ye Mo over, then looked at the others. "Seems like you all have nothing to do?"

"No, no."

"Our schedules are still full."

"Time for bed; us old folks need our beauty sleep."

Within seconds, the living room was empty.

Secretary-General Lin adjusted his glasses. "Should Their Highnesses' schedules be adjusted?"

Norton hummed in acknowledgment, pressing down a strand of Ye Mo's hair that had stuck up. "Give them some tasks."

...

The banquet started at noon.

But preparations on the central star began in the morning. As a planet that existed solely to serve the resource competition, everything revolved around it.

The banquet was held at the tallest building on the central star, which was normally closed to the public. Its data was not uploaded to the Star Network; it was a blank space. Some hackers tried forcibly entering it in the holographic world, only to be locked out for three months, each login to the Star Network leaving them in a blank room.

The banquet invited leaders from various countries, who chose their own entourages, usually the contestants for the team matches.

During the banquet, some open-air sections would temporarily be accessible through the Star Network to the holographic world, but the indoor areas remained off-limits as before.

Since there was a chance to see interactions between their favorite star players at the banquet, although it was a bit dull compared to other events, it still drew a lot of attention.

Quite a few people were hanging around the entrance.

"Suonan went in, they don't look too happy."

"You kidding? How could they be happy? Eliminated in the first round, that's a first."

"Kainan is here. Leisa finally isn't coming in battered and bruised this time. He always comes to make an appearance for Kainan, usually injured. I can't even watch. Last time, his teammates' families scolded him, saying their kids were having a funeral while he was attending a banquet. They made up later, but damn, it was brutal. Even hearing about it made me feel bad."

"Kainan actually pulled this off? I'm literally crying. Leisa finally doesn't have to bounce between funerals and banquets. I honestly used to think that if Leisa was gonna stay with Kainan, dying in the resource war might have been the best thing that could happen."

Suddenly, the orderly venue erupted in commotion, and quite a few people inside the banquet turned to look.

Zener, standing beside Leisa, turned his head.

The people watching the entrance through the holographic feed knew why right away.

"Grath is here! So handsome!"

The people ahead parted ways for them almost instinctively, like the Red Sea parting.

They stood on both sides. Those who had been conversing nearby stopped and looked over.

All Grath members attended in military dress uniforms, with swords at their waists. Different from their combat gear, these had chains and other shiny stuff.

At the front was Norton, ignoring everyone staring at him. A bit behind was Secretary-General Lin, followed by Deenlie and Herli, who were responsible for security today.

Arnold was tagging along at the very back with Ye Mo, holding his hand. Jacob and Elia were also with Ye Mo, tasked with his protection.

The Grath members showed little expression, simply following the main group.

Baide, however, seemed quite at ease. He patted Adrian on the back. "Get me something stiff."

Adrian shot a glance at Ye Mo and dropped his voice. "Keep your voice down. Ye Mo's around. Go drink over there."

"You actually care about that? Let me think... wasn't it some little brat who, at thirteen, raided my liquor cabinet and got me scolded by Sylvia?"

"Herli took me, and Adelaide had already said we could try it. I just had a little too much. Keep it down."

Baide got excited instead. "Cyril is much older now than you two were back then. I've raised kids—he can handle a little liquor."

"Shh! Big Brother would kill me. And he's still on milk."

Adrian glanced at Ye Mo again and quickly shoved Baide toward the drink station. Cyril was different—he hadn't developed well in the womb. And if Cyril wanted alcohol, Adrian wouldn't be able to refuse.

Ye Mo barely noticed Adrian and Baide leave. He was looking at Zener, who was nearly jumping up and down waving at him. Without thinking, he slowed down, glanced at Norton and the others who were already far ahead, then turned back to look at Arnold.

Arnold looked back. "Go on, Cyril. Why are you looking at Big Brother? Go wherever you want, do whatever. He won't care."

Only then did Ye Mo step forward lightly.

Jacob and Elia followed right behind Ye Mo. They weren't into the banquet either.

Zener was still a little intimidated by Jacob and Elia. Even though they seemed more approachable, in his eyes, all Graths were monsters.

But with Leisa and Ye Mo around, he had some guts. Zener sidled up to Ye Mo and pulled out a small box. "My mom told me to thank you for helping me in the competition. I brought you a gift—figured if I ran into you, I'd hand it over."

Ye Mo looked a little shy. "You already gave me that strawberry drink and the blanket."

Jacob took the box before Ye Mo could. He couldn't give it to him until it was checked.

Zener didn't mind. For him, giving it was enough. "See, I told you my collected supplies would come in handy. They used to mock me back then. Only the captain didn't. My captain is really great..."

Arnold locked eyes with Leisa. Leisa nodded first. Arnold was tough to get close to—he was usually cold to strangers.

Leisa walked over. "I never really thanked you properly."

Arnold nodded, not even saying a word, and turned his gaze back to Ye Mo. Leisa didn't mind. He also looked at Ye Mo and Zener and said in a low voice, "You'll probably receive many invitations from different countries recently."

Leisa's voice was almost inaudible. "Be careful."

Then Arnold looked up at Leisa. "Thanks."

Leisa nodded. Out here, there were too many eyes. He didn't say more.

Arnold turned back to look at Ye Mo. He wasn't entirely ignorant of the darker side of things. Growing up under Sylvia's influence, he had some understanding of politics, though not as adept as his mother.

But he understood one thing: he needed to stay close to Cyril. That could never be wrong.