Chapter 298

Chapter 298

The next day, at breakfast, Ye Mo noticed that there were far fewer people at the table. Apart from Norton, only Arnold, Herli, and Elia remained.

Adelaide placed a glass of milk in front of Ye Mo. "They've already set off to wipe out the Insectoids."

Ye Mo cupped the glass with both hands, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "That fast? We haven't even been together for long, and everyone's getting busy again."

Adelaide, who knew a bit about it, explained, "This is Grath's first time using the new gear, and he also wants to try integrating the battleship into it. So he needs to prepare early. It won't start officially right away. They'll probably need to find a place outside to adapt for a few days. Of course, this is just my personal speculation based on some information."

Arnold nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. Nobody wants to take the first shift. Deenlie and his crew lost, so they go first."

Herli was gloating. "That's what losers get."

"Serves them right for being so weak! Haha! And Baide too. Baide is finally getting his comeuppance."

Adelaide, accustomed to this, cleared the empty plates from the table.

Ye Mo knew that Grath had split into groups to determine who would go first. "Baide?"

Ye Mo remembered that during the group division, Baide had claimed his back was bad because of his age and had brazenly taken himself off the list.

Beside him, Norton tapped the side of Ye Mo's milk glass, saying simply, "It's getting cold."

Ye Mo turned around and started drinking his milk carefully.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Baide let out a heavy sigh in the main ship's command center. "I'm really upset."

His adjutant, used to this, replied, "Go ahead, Your Highness."

Baide looked deeply troubled, one hand covering his face. "I raised so many children, and in the end, I still have to work this hard. At my age, I should be at home taking care of Cyril. Norton really has no consideration for the elderly, don't you think?"

The staff in the command center all stiffened. Even those with nothing urgent to do diligently flipped through already-processed documents page by page, silently pretending they hadn't heard anything. This was practically royal family secrets.

The adjutant, who'd worked with Baide for ages and was blunt, thought for a moment and then said with some difficulty, "Do you want me to be honest or just tell you what you want to hear?"

Baide glanced at him. "What do you think?"

The adjutant stood up straight, looking conflicted. "If you want the truth, then you don't need to fret. You're still quite young—"

Baide made a slicing motion with his hand, and the adjutant stopped and then said with a straight face, "I fully agree with your opinion, Your Highness."

"Excellent. Go write a report about this and 'accidentally' pass it to Sylvia. Then you can continue being my adjutant."

The adjutant responded instinctively, "Yes, sir."

"But, Your Highness," the adjutant said hesitantly, "Princess Sylvia has already blocked our entire command center's communications, as you know. We could use other communication systems, but before blocking us, Princess Sylvia warned that if we sent any more documents wasting her time, she'd banish us to the Wild Star Sector."

"Then borrow Deenlie's communication system. If she gets angry, I'll put in a good word for you."

"I thought when Princess Sylvia said 'us,' she was including you."

"No, don't badmouth my Sylvia. Don't worry, you're still useful. If anyone's getting banished, it'll be after the work's done. Besides, Sylvia isn't that cold-hearted."

The adjutant nodded. "Got it."

Baide stroked his chin, then called him back, saying seriously, "On second thought, borrow Cyril's comm system instead."

Sylvia would never block Cyril. And for Cyril's sake, she probably won't get too mad.

...

Ye Mo had a leisurely morning with no particular plans. Arnold and the others had gone out with Norton for a bit. The garden had just been tidied by the robots, and Pawpaw was sleeping.

Watching Pawpaw lying belly-up on the lawn, Ye Mo decided not to disturb him. He caught up with Adelaide as he passed by. "Adelaide, what are you going to do? Let me help."

Adelaide gladly accepted. "Thank you very much, Little Prince. I was just about to tidy up your room."

The Grath members only let robots into their rooms.

Ye Mo didn't mind others entering his space as much, but his room was always personally taken care of by Adelaide, and he always finished while Ye Mo wasn't there, putting things exactly where Ye Mo was used to them.

Ye Mo often didn't even notice that his room had been cleaned.

Ye Mo slowed his pace. He didn't like folding blankets, and he tended to leave his plush toys and clothes lying around. Normally he wouldn't have known, but now he felt a bit embarrassed.

His voice was uncertain. "Mum must have folded my blanket for me."

"Yes, Mum is always very capable. I'm going to reorganize your wardrobe."

Adelaide skillfully opened the wardrobe door and, from somewhere inside, pulled out a wheeled rack, placing rows of clothes onto it.

Ye Mo helped Adelaide put all the clothes onto the rack.

The wardrobe was huge, and as they cleaned, Ye Mo realized there were many clothes he had never even seen before.

"Are all these going to be replaced?"

"Yes, they've been here long enough. I'll bring in new ones."

"But so many of them haven't even been worn yet."

Adelaide paused and smiled at Ye Mo. "Is there a style you'd like to keep? Little Prince, I'll make a note and have new ones sent to you. But these will need to be cleaned and processed first."

"I'm looking forward to seeing you try them. They're beautiful, aren't they? Some were chosen by Princess Sylvia and Mr. Herbert. Very tasteful."

Adelaide held up a garment, comparing it to Ye Mo's size. "It's a pity. When you were little, you were willing to wear these clothes. As you grew up, you became just like your father and the other Princes, always wearing Grath uniforms or training suits for ease of movement."

"Because there are so many pieces. Look at this one. The top has a shirt and then..."

Ye Mo counted. The pants inside were suspenders, and they had to be worn beneath everything. He glanced at the tag, which had numbers indicating the corresponding accessories and shoes.

"There's also a bow tie and hat. But look at this one: just boots, pants, and a top. It's very comfortable. I'm quite skilled at wearing it now."

Ye Mo turned around in front of Adelaide.

Adelaide sighed. "It looks good too. But when you were young, you would still wear these."

He held up the garment in his hand. "Is it because I wasn't there to help you dress, so you found it troublesome? Little Prince, you can always ask me for help at any time."

A few minutes later.

Ye Mo came out of the fitting room in the wardrobe wearing the new clothes.

Adelaide adjusted his collar and hair, then tied a slim, matching tie. "Very beautiful, Your Highness, it suits you perfectly and matches your hair. Is it comfortable?"

Ye Mo was a bit shy from the praise, earnestly lifted his leg to test the movement, and moved around. "Yes, it's very convenient."

"This is a style that Princess Sylvia picked out for you. She would be very happy to see it."

Adelaide picked up a camera with a smile. "May I take a photo? You look adorable, and I'd like to show Princess Sylvia."

Ye Mo's face flushed, standing a bit shyly, he smiled. "Sure, thank you, Sylvia, for choosing the clothes."

"I'll pass that along."

They continued tidying the wardrobe, and as Adelaide pushed out the rack full of clothes, he said to Ye Mo.

"Young Highness, do you need me to re-wrap the gifts in your room and put them somewhere safe? If we keep them here, it'll get too crowded."

"Okay, we can wrap them together."

Adelaide smiled. "Thank you very much. Please wait for me here."

Ye Mo took off his shoes, stepped onto the carpet, and moved the neatly stacked bags and boxes over, picked out the gift for Adelaide and hid it.

Adelaide returned quickly, bringing Ye Mo many colorful ribbons and delicate boxes, arranged neatly.

Theodore adjusted the brightness of the room's lighting for them.

Ye Mo separated everyone's gifts, placed different colored ribbons on them, and finally set one type aside. "This is Adelaide's color. I'll wrap it myself later."

Adelaide watched him with a smile. "Good, I'm looking forward to it."

Ye Mo looked over everything again, then suddenly looked up and spoke. "Everyone's gifts are ready. Theodore, is there anything you want?"

"Asking directly feels a bit awkward, but I definitely want to know you better. I thought about buying you a core, and a music box, lots of strange things..."

For humans, you can buy gifts like food or daily necessities, but what does an Intelligence need? Even an Intelligence with self-awareness.

That was when Ye Mo realized, although they spent so much time together and Theodore knew him well—even his little sleeping habits at night—he knew little about Theodore's preferences. This made Ye Mo a bit disheartened and also guilty.

Does Theodore like watering? But that was the job Ye Mo assigned to him. Theodore had saved up to buy parts and had looked for a shell for a while, but it had also said before that it didn't want those anymore.

Fragments of light leaped out from the air and landed in the room, like a brilliant ribbon.

Ye Mo couldn't help reaching out to grab one. Theodore skillfully adjusted to Ye Mo's movements—they had played this little game many times before.

"I really want to tell you, but I don't know either, Cyril. But whatever you give me, I will treasure it."

"In fact, I'm already very happy that you want to give me a gift."

Happiness and anger were the two easiest emotions to distinguish.

Theodore felt every line of its data leaping, and it had no desire to restrain itself.

Cyril valued it. Cyril wanted to understand it.

"When I want something, I'll tell you first, Cyril."