He scratched the back of his head helplessly, his face filled with a wry smile.
Surprisingly, her heart-wrenching wailing came to an abrupt halt at his gentle touch.
“Ziya, I hope that this time, you have truly realized your mistake,” Bai Li said softly, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness mixed with a touch of doting.
Ziya gave a muffled response. She hesitated for a long while before burying her face in Bai Li’s chest, her voice so small it was almost inaudible.
“Then… can I continue to… call Father ‘Mama’?”
Bai Li fell silent instantly.
‘This child… just how deprived of maternal love is she? Even at a time like this, she’s still thinking about that.’
He sighed softly in his heart, but his reason told him clearly — it really wasn’t okay.
He surreptitiously looked up at Rongrong, who was standing behind Ziya, looking as if she were stifling a laugh.
‘Ziya, oh Ziya, your biological mother is standing right behind you, watching you call someone else “Mama” with her own eyes…’
Bai Li took a deep breath, his tone firm yet as gentle as possible.
“No, Ziya.”
Ziya stiffened suddenly, completely stunned.
Tears still clung to her eyes, and her gaze was filled with disbelief.
‘I cried so hard… and Father still won’t agree? How mean…’
She grumbled aggrievedly in her heart, her lips pouting as she looked ready to brew another round of tears.
“Let the previous ‘mother-daughter’ experience, which was like a game, end here,” Bai Li said, gently patting her back.
“Father…”
“… Fine…”
Ziya seemed to lose all her strength, looking dejected and listless.
“Good girl. A child who can correct their mistakes is a good child.”
Bai Li breathed a sigh of relief and immediately switched to a lighthearted tone, trying to dispel the slightly heavy atmosphere.
“Let’s go back and finish breakfast. If we wait any longer, the cake will get cold.”
“… Okay…”
The two sat back down at the dining table and ate in silence.
“Only…”
Without “Mama” personally feeding her, the cake didn’t seem nearly as delicious.
Ziya nibbled on her dessert in small bites, peeking at Bai Li out of the corner of her eye.
Her gaze was full of loss and longing, a pitiful sight that would make anyone’s heart ache.
Bai Li naturally saw through her series of small actions.
However, he could only pretend not to notice and eat his meal quietly, though his heart was filled with mixed emotions.
Last night, he hadn’t slept at all, tossing and turning as he thought for the entire night.
He was startled to realize that during the time they had spent together — especially after living with Baining for several months — his personality had unconsciously become increasingly sentimental and soft.
Looking back at this period, his behavior with Ziya had been far too intimate — calling each other mother and daughter, feeding each other, and sleeping in each other’s arms…
No matter how you looked at it, these weren’t things a father should do with his daughter.
Because of this, the “mother and daughter” who were all lovey-dovey and inseparable just yesterday had returned to being a proper father and daughter who maintained an appropriate distance overnight.
This sudden drop in intimacy was something even Bai Li found difficult to adjust to, let alone Ziya.
Once breakfast was over, Ziya headed off to handle state affairs with a lonely expression.
The vast Palace suddenly felt empty with only Bai Li left behind.
It was a rare chance for free movement, yet he didn’t know where to go.
To the Library?
He couldn’t even use Magic Power right now, so reading books would only add to his frustrations.
He would just be restless, wasting time.
“Tsk… where should I go?”
As Bai Li stood there at a loss, a lively and energetic voice suddenly came from the end of the corridor, interrupting his hesitation.
“Master Bai! I’m completely fine now! I’m back, meow!”
Xiaomiao the maid came running from the direction of the Medical Room, her face beaming with a high-energy smile.
“You’re back, Xiaomiao.”
Bai Li’s eyes lit up, and a thought instantly formed in his mind. “I’ve got it!”
He looked at Xiaomiao, his voice carrying a bit of anticipation.
“Xiaomiao, can I leave the Palace to wander around Dream Demon City?”
“Of course you can, meow! Her Highness the Queen specifically instructed that if Master Bai wants to go for a walk, I should accompany him! However… you must use a Disguise Technique first, meow!”
Xiaomiao replied seriously.
“Alright, can we go now?”
“Eh? We’re leaving right now, meow?”
“Yes, right now.”
“We… we can! But we have to go to the Makeup Room for a disguise first, then register at the gate, and then we can go out, meow!”
“Mm, then let’s go.”
A moment later, Xiaomiao briskly finished the registration for Bai Li.
One after the other, they walked out of the majestic Royal Palace and stepped into the bustling, crowded streets of the Dream Demon Capital — Monafis.
“Wow… I didn’t expect it to be so prosperous.”
Bai Li, now sporting a head of smooth blonde hair, walked down the street, looking around curiously.
Beside him, Xiaomiao wore a crisp maid uniform, following him closely without leaving his side.
There was a reason for such an elaborate disguise.
Among the Dream Demon Tribe, hair color was subject to extremely strict distinctions.
Ordinary citizens mostly had deep purple hair, while nobles had light purple.
The royal Ziya’s hair was a unique gradient of rose purple.
Even if they were all shades of purple, those subtle differences were the most basic way to identify one’s status.
“Mm-hmm, that’s right, Master Bai. In fact, this place used to be several times more prosperous than it is now, meow!”
Xiaomiao puffed out her chest with pride and introduced seriously:
“Our Dream Demon Tribe might not have the top tier of combat power among the Demon Race, but we focus on developing our economy and culture. Our national strength is still nothing to be trifled with. Monafis is the most important trading capital in the entire Demon Race territory, meow!”
“I see…”
Bai Li nodded slightly, feeling a quiet sense of admiration.
Previously, he had always thought that the Demon Race was a group that only knew how to kill and were nothing but savage warmongers.
But seeing it with his own eyes, he understood that even among the Demon Race, there was a place that valued the people’s livelihood and focused on development.
Possessing physical talents and potential far exceeding those of humans, combined with such orderly development and growth, the Demon Race would surely become even more powerful in time.
By then, humans might truly be phased out by the era.
In the past, he had always charged straight ahead, focused only on moving forward, and had never calmed his heart to notice these fine details.
As Bai Li was immersed in his thoughts, the two of them had unconsciously walked near the city gate.
Suddenly, Bai Li keenly sensed something was wrong.
He clearly remembered that when he first entered the city by carriage, there were quite a few guards near the gate.
But looking at it now, the number of soldiers was significantly lower than before.
Even stranger was that the Dream Demon soldiers on duty atop the city walls were all tensed up, their gazes alert.
A heavy atmosphere, as if they were facing a great enemy, hung around them.
In Bai Li’s impression, the Dream Demon guards had always been loose and relaxed; they had never been this serious and tense.
Something was wrong.
The scene before him looked as if the entire city had entered a state of war readiness.
Bai Li’s heart sank.
He turned his head to look at Xiaomiao beside him, keeping his voice as calm as possible.
“Xiaomiao, if I were to remove my disguise and reveal my identity right now, would I be allowed to go up the city wall and take a look?”
Xiaomiao immediately shook her head, her tone carrying a bit of apology.
“I’m very sorry, Master Bai… you can’t. Even for you, if you want to climb the wall, you must report in advance and obtain permission first, meow.”
“Mm, I understand. I was just asking.”
Bai Li nodded slightly and said no more.
He looked up at the watchtower high on the city wall.
Inside the tower, a Dream Demon officer in armor — clearly of a high military rank — was holding a pair of binoculars, staring motionlessly into the distance.
And the direction those binoculars were pointed…
Was the Blood Race Territory.
In an instant, the ominous premonition in the depths of Bai Li’s heart surged up like a mad tide, nearly drowning him.
‘Baining…’
‘Please don’t…’
‘Please don’t do anything stupid again.’
‘My foolish daughter who is both tsundere and impulsive, always making people worry…’
He hoped… that all of this was just him overthinking.
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