CH 52.2

Within this lush and vibrant rose garden, various animal specimens were concealed, their eyes empty and lifeless.

Right behind Princess Katie, there was a rare white deer specimen.

Surrounded by numerous animals and roses, Princess Katie resembled a princess from a fairy tale, rather than a Queen who dyed her delicate nails, sliced open the bellies of those animals, removed their entrails, filled them with preservative-soaked cotton, and casually sewed the incisions back together, turning the animals into silent specimens.

Second Prince Kyle lowered his gaze, his face cold, and asked, “Mother, what brings you to me?”

Princess Katie set down the scissors, her narrow and alluring eyes half-closed, as she softly spoke, “I’ve found a beautiful child whom I’m sure you will love just as much as I do.”

Second Prince Kyle let out a cold sneer in his heart.

Princess Katie lamented, “Unfortunately, that beautiful child lacks a prestigious background. Otherwise, I would have made them my daughter-in-law directly.”

Second Prince Kyle, with lowered eyes, couldn’t help but tighten his grip on his hand, forcing a stiff smile as he said, “Which noble family’s young master or miss has caught the eye of Mother?”

Princess Katie’s eyes flickered with satisfaction. She wore a more joyful expression than when she gazed upon her beloved roses as she said, “It’s the youngest son of the Bai family, named Bai Huaiyu.”

Bai Huaiyu?

Second Prince Kyle furrowed his brows in secret.

He knew that Bai Huaiyu, the youngest son of the Bai family, was a celebrity in the entertainment industry. The Bai family was considered an unique noble family, primarily involved in the sale of pharmaceuticals.

Bai Huaiyu, this acknowledged illegitimate child, had unexpectedly become the legitimate heir of the main branch of the Bai family. Rumors and controversies had arisen in the imperial aristocracy due to this, as Bai Huaiyu, an Omega, had peculiar qualities that attracted the attention and pursuit of numerous outstanding Alphas.

However, he was just a weak Omega, without any value that would make him worth aligning with. Therefore, Second Prince Kyle’s knowledge of Bai Huaiyu remained shallow.

“Mother, do you think this frivolous and attention-seeking Omega is suitable to become my princess consort?” Second Prince Kyle’s eyes revealed a hint of arrogance.

“Where did you learn about this Omega? I remember the Bai family being a small noble family that had recently been promoted to Earl by contributing pharmaceuticals. The prospective fiancee chosen by King Edward for the Crown Prince was at least of the rank of Duke or Marquess, belonging to the high-ranking nobility.”

Implicit in his words was his dissatisfaction with Princess Katie.

Second Prince Kyle could accept a princess consort arranged by his mother, but the condition was that the princess consort’s status and position had to be prominent, becoming a capable assistant to him.

However, Princess Katie seemed particularly protective of Bai Huaiyu, someone they hadn’t even met yet. Her alluring and excited gaze overflowed with favoritism towards this Omega, causing a slight anger to well up within Second Prince Kyle.

“How can you speak about such an innocent and beautiful child like that? If the Omega chosen for you as a fiance were as lovely as him, then I would be completely satisfied.” Princess Katie’s rosy lips curved up in delight, her alluring gaze flickering with a strange and excited light.

The Second Prince, Kyle, sneered with contempt, “Is that so? Then, Mother, show me this Omega you claim to be innocent and beautiful.”

If it weren’t for Bai Huaiyu being an Omega, he would have suspected that Mother intended to find an Alpha or Beta lover. After all, Father never set foot in Mother’s quarters. The way Father looked at Mother was indifferent, rejecting, and disgusted. He had felt it since he was young. Even as his own son, Father’s gaze towards him was like that of a stranger.

Sometimes, he really wanted to ask Mother why she married into the palace when Father, as the Emperor of the Odysseus Empire, could maintain his authority and power without marrying a daughter of a noble family.

Princess Katie laughed mysteriously and seductively, saying, “I can show you, but after seeing him, if you don’t treat him as the Prince Consort, Mother will want to bring him into the palace.”

Kyle, the Second Prince, darkened his eyes. The neurotic smile on Mother’s face made him increasingly suspicious. What kind of aphrodisiac had Bai Huaiyu given her?

However, Princess Katie showed him a video.

In the video, two people suddenly rushed into the room. He recognized one of them— it was Ke Yan, the Star Pirate King. The other person, an unfortunate Omega, seemed to be dragged in by a tall and strong Alpha. Their faces were not clear.

The next scene confirmed his suspicions.

Ke Yan, the Star Pirate King, was nothing but a crude and impulsive beast, eagerly indulging his carnal desires on the vulnerable Omega, biting the sexual gland on the Omega’s neck.

Prince Kyle averted his gaze with disgust.

But Princess Katie beside him became excited, her face turning red. Her seductive eyes sparkled with an eerie light. She patted Prince Kyle’s shoulder and said, “Come on, soon you’ll see the beautiful and captivating moment of this child!”

Reluctantly, Prince Kyle continued watching, feeling increasingly awkward.

But soon, a scene before his eyes shocked him.

Somehow, the soft and delicate Omega had come to possess a dagger. The sharp blade was held in his fair and slender hand.

The rough Alpha was lying on top of him, unaware that in the camera frame, the dagger was suspended in mid-air, its pointed tip aimed at the Alpha’s heart.

Finally, the exquisite face of the beautiful person became clear. He smiled gracefully, his dark eyes revealing a sinister and dark allure, like a patient black widow spider hunting, just moments away from capturing its prey. The smile twisted and captivating, as blood sprayed like blossoming flowers from the heart, creating a mesmerizing and thrilling scene.

Prince Kyle’s heart skipped a few beats, and the tingling sensation that spread from his fingertips reached his scalp.

Subconsciously, he dug into the flesh of his palm, the pain-induced pleasure unable to compare to the twisted, astonished, and endlessly memorable smile of the Omega before him.

His gaze couldn’t tear away from this Omega, watching as he skillfully and decisively ended a powerful and towering Alpha, then escaped with a bloodstained, free-spirited posture…

It was as stunning as a bird breaking free from all restraints, reborn in the face of death.

Unconsciously, his eyes revealed a hint of obsession.

“How beautiful, right? Mother absolutely must bring him to appreciate my rose garden!” Princess Katie exclaimed with excitement.

Prince Kyle, the second prince, glanced at the infatuated expression on the face of his mother, the consort, with a melancholic and cold look in his eyes that couldn’t express his profound sadness.

So, it turns out that I really have the same blood as the consort. But he looks so beautiful, so free…

His name is Bai Huaiyu.

A hint of agitation flickered in Prince Kyle’s eyes, as he wished that his Little White Sparrow could have been as fortunate as Bai Huaiyu.

Late at night, back in the palace.

The nightmares that plagued him came as expected.

A path drenched in blood, where he searched for his beloved companion, Little White Sparrow.

It was so obedient and clingy, always perching on his palm to peck at grains of rice. Its small white beak tickled his palm, causing no pain at all.

But he had to hide Little White Sparrow, or the consort would be angry.

The consort disliked his interaction with Queen Vanessa, let alone the fact that the little sparrow was a gift from Queen Vanessa.

This little sparrow was from Queen Vanessa’s garden, fallen from a tree and discovered by him in the grass. Its feathers hadn’t fully grown yet, probably mischievously fallen out of the nest.

He wanted to put it back, but he wasn’t tall enough.

Little White Sparrow seemed to sense his goodwill. When it looked at him with its round, shiny black eyes, it made a pitiful chirping sound.

He found it so adorable that he held Little White Sparrow in his hands and didn’t want to let go.

Later, he consulted Queen Vanessa for her opinion and decided to keep the little sparrow as a pet. He fed it small insects, grains of rice, and corn, slowly raising it and making it rounder, like a plump little rice ball.

And then?

And then?

Where did his Little White Sparrow go?

The nightmares approached, forcing him onto a path.

Kyle’s eyes were filled with melancholy as he, like an outsider, watched the little boy walking ahead of him. The boy had similar ocean-blue eyes and anxiously called out for his beloved Little White Sparrow.

Countless times, he had experienced the same scene.

The boy had found Little White Sparrow, but it was in the consort’s rose garden. The adorable little sparrow was clutched by her elegant and captivating nails, as if holding the boy’s heart.

The timid little boy asked softly, “Mother, can you give me this little bird back?”

The beautiful woman in his nightmare, her eyes obscured, with vivid red lips, opened a massive mouth resembling a black hole and said, “No, dear.”

Then, those captivating nails gently squeezed the head of Little White Sparrow, and it burst open.

Its round little head exploded, piercing through its adorable eyes, staining her beautiful hand with brain matter and shattered bones.

He hadn’t even had time to hear the brief cry of the little white sparrow when that fragile life was effortlessly destroyed by his Mother, as easily as crushing a sesame seed.

Kyle looked at the young boy in his dream, still searching for the little white sparrow.

It felt like waiting, wearily awaiting the boy’s scream, which would awaken him from the nightmare.

He found himself in the Rose Garden again.

He saw the small white sparrow in the woman’s hand once more.

The boy timidly asked, as always, hoping that Mother would return his little white sparrow.

Kyle knew what would happen next, without expectation or hope.

But this time…

The little white sparrow leaped out of that delicate hand, flapping its wings, revealing a sharp bird beak that pierced through the beautiful woman’s eye.

Ah, ah, ah…

This time, it was the woman’s scream.

And his little white sparrow flew away freely, soaring toward an undying freedom.

The nightmare shattered with that scream, consciousness returning to reality.

Kyle covered his face with both hands, recalling the scene just now. His throat felt like it had torn through some barrier, and a faint smile formed at the corners of his mouth, the curve gradually rising.

Suddenly, a short burst of laughter erupted, completely cathartic.

In the empty and silent palace chamber, there was only his laughter, emanating from deep within, and his ocean-blue eyes shone brightly.

“Bai Huaiyu… Bai Huaiyu…”

Kyle repeated the name suddenly, his eyes shimmering with a certain hopeful light.

— He wasn’t like his Mother.

He wanted to take Bai Huaiyu away from his Mother’s side. He didn’t want his ‘Little White Sparrow’ to be trapped in the palace but to fly freely and beautifully outside.

“Commander Pei, the space jump was successful. Where should we go next to search for the missing K108 spacecraft?”

Pei Zhaozhou’s frozen gaze suddenly cleared, and he looked at the young soldier who admired him, giving orders, “Divide into three teams and conduct a grid-like search. Focus on investigating the nearby planets, as the star pirates are likely to flee into the planets.”

The young soldier replied, “Yes! Commander Pei, should Lieutenant Si also participate in this operation?”

Pei Zhaozhou furrowed his brow slightly and asked, “Why are you asking that?”

The young soldier scratched his head and said, “It’s just that Lieutenant Si is really powerful. To be honest, at first, we thought Lieutenant Si was your personal lover that you brought with you. Some of the older soldiers privately resent Lieutenant Si, a pretty boy, and one of them even dared to provoke Lieutenant Si… But Lieutenant Si didn’t waste any time, and he subdued all of us imperial soldiers who had been reassigned, and there hasn’t been any more insolence since.”

“If Lieutenant Si joins the search, with his abilities, he’ll surely take care of any star pirates in a flash. Everyone wants Lieutenant Si to lend a hand.” The young soldier blushed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Pei Zhaozhou was slightly surprised. He hadn’t expected that Si Huaixi would have grown so close to the soldiers on the spacecraft in just a few days.

On the contrary…

Si Huaixi had been silent and reserved towards him during these days.

Pei Zhaozhou lowered his gaze, feeling a bittersweet confusion in his heart. He had hurt Si Huaixi’s feelings, and for now, he didn’t want to see him.

“Very well, let Lieutenant Si lead you.”

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