CH 77.4

Dawn.

Sparse starlight scattered among the misty clouds.

Bai Huaiyu adjusted his clothes and walked out of the prison, his cheeks flushed, and his tear streaks wiped away.

The guards merely assumed that the Queen Bai was punishing the culprit who killed their king and didn’t think much of it.

It was the third day.

Consort Katie still couldn’t uncover who sent the assassin to kill her son. Filled with anger, she ordered the execution of the culprit by firing squad.

Execution.

The sudden gunshot startled the flock of birds, causing them to fly away.

Bai Huaiyu’s hand, gripping the teacup, trembled with a pale, tense grip.

Because their only son, Kyle, had died, the elders of the Odyssean royal family declared that in the absence of a King, the king would be chosen from among the third prince and other branches of the royal family.

How could Consort Katie tolerate this? Her aspirations to revive and strengthen the Basalom family were shattered.

If Bai Huaiyu had not become pregnant by now, she should consider rebelling and directly place her brother, the Grand Duke Basalom, on the throne. However, this would not gain the support of the Odyssean royal elders, nor would the imperial army recognize the rule of the Basalom family.

Fortunately… after Kyle’s death, Bai Huaiyu finally became pregnant.

Things didn’t have to reach the worst possible outcome.

Consort Katie eagerly awaited the birth of a child from Bai Huaiyu’s ten-month pregnancy, a child who would inherit both the bloodlines of Odysseus and Basalom. That child would become the future king or queen of the Odyssean Empire.

Bai Huaiyu caressed her pregnant belly, her eyes filled with deep determination.

He had to escape, for the sake of Ying Yao, for the sake of their child.

— It was the final gift left to him by Ying Yao.

As the tenth month of pregnancy approached, Consort Katie kept a close eye on Bai Huaiyu. He couldn’t find an opportunity to leave the palace until…

The Federal army tore through the defenses of the imperial army, and an elite assault force had arrived in the first star system closest to the capital.

Consort Katie finally stopped paying attention to Bai Huaiyu’s belly because once the Federation’s army arrived, it meant the complete collapse of the Odyssean Empire. The position of the king would be worthless, and even the distinguished ones would be taken as humiliating hostages by the Federal army.

Consort Katie wanted to escape from the capital of the main star with the private army raised by the Basalom family before the Federation and Zerg armies captured the palace. But she couldn’t escape.

King Edmund regained consciousness and immediately ordered the arrest of Consort Katie and everyone from the Basalom family.

The charges – plotting to murder the king.

Consort Katie didn’t know how King Edmund regained his clarity. After all, that poisonous rose was the only one in the world, and she had personally nurtured it from an ancient dormant seed, a growth that no doctor could detect!

And then… she saw her good daughter-in-law, Bai Huaiyu, standing beside King Edmund and Queen Vanessa, cradling his belly. He watched as the Consort was caught by the guards, his gentle eyes revealing a smile of resentment.

Consort Katie also smiled. She never expected to be defeated by Bai Huaiyu in the end. Her alluring eyes curved slightly as she silently spoke to Bai Huaiyu.

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

Meanwhile…

King Edmund discovered evidence against Bai Huaiyu from Consort Katie, not only about his actions before becoming the second prince’s consort, but also about how Consort Katie used Bai Huaiyu’s pheromones to frame numerous innocent people. It was a series of bloody crimes.

Bai Huaiyu was sentenced to life imprisonment, but due to his status as a pregnant husband, he was allowed to give birth before being sent to prison.

To the surprise and regret of King Edmund and Queen Vanessa, the baby born to Bai Huaiyu did not have the royal family’s distinctive azure eyes. Instead, the baby had clear and bright hazel eyes, with a tender and adorable round face. The facial features didn’t resemble Bai Huaiyu much.

The newborn baby cried twice upon entering the world but soon burst into joyful laughter, appearing to be a naive and easily deceived little baby.

So much like Ying Yao, always looking silly and innocent, easily fooled by others.

Bai Huaiyu’s eyes felt dry, his eye sockets turning red, but he held back his tears. Ying Yao wouldn’t want to see him sad.

Striving to maintain a slight frown in front of the little baby, Bai Huaiyu pretended to be serious as he held the baby and fed him a bottle.

“Don’t trust anyone easily in the future, especially good-looking omegas. Even if you stay single your whole life, I won’t blame you. I just want you, my naive little fool, to grow up healthy…” 

The baby didn’t understand anything, only sensing the sweet scent of the milk bottle and the person holding him, smiling happily with tiny milk teeth.

Bai Huaiyu entered the prison.

The baby was sent to Ying Yao’s wealthy and rough father.

Ying’s father, who had lost his only daughter, never expected that his timid daughter, who couldn’t even hold an omega’s hand, would give him a child after her death.

Ying’s father cried and cursed his ill-fated daughter, then left the main planet with the remaining bloodline and all the family belongings, just before the Federation and the Zerg army arrived.

The once bustling streets of the imperial capital became deserted as the flames of war spread across the planet, enveloped in tension.

King Edmund remained in the Odysseus Imperial Palace. He was unwilling to let the empire that had stood for thousands of years crumble under his watch, but the toxins administered by Consort Katie had penetrated his body. Even if he managed to wake up with great difficulty, it was nothing more than a fleeting recovery.

Even sitting on the king’s throne now required the support of Queen Vanessa.

“Vanessa, leave. You don’t need to accompany me in burying the Odysseus Empire.”

Perhaps facing imminent death, King Edmund finally let go of his paranoid and possessive desires, releasing Vanessa’s hand, wanting to grant her freedom in his final moments of life.

Perhaps also because death was near, Vanessa boldly glared at King Edmund and angrily retorted, “Why didn’t you say it sooner?”

Then she smiled slowly, her lake-green eyes revealing a touch of sentiment and complex emotions.

“This is the destiny we deserve. At least my child, Si Huaixi, is kept away from this turmoil… It’s our incompetence and foolishness that led to the hostile rivalry between Edward and Kyle, and it’s our fault that Katie has always hated us. It’s our negligence of the suffering of the common people at the bottom, favoring the nobility for the stability of the empire without uncovering the truth, which has left numerous innocent imperial citizens disappointed in us…”

“It’s just that the unfortunate people of the Odysseus Empire had to endure the flames of war because of our actions…”

“My child, I dare not ask you as a mother, but I know you have been watching the Odysseus royal family walking the path of self-destruction. It is our fault that we have become the catalyst for the crumbling empire…”

“However… I beg you, for the sake of the innocent people of the Odysseus Empire, for the sake of the country that General Pei once cherished so deeply, for all the traces of his life in the Odysseus Empire and the comrades he once had – soldiers, friends, and companions…”

“I beg you, spare the Odysseus Empire from the flames of war. The Odyssean royal family has reached its end, and it is up to you to forge a new empire, a new world!”

Queen Vanessa lowered herself, repenting and shedding tears that streamed down her face.

All she pleaded for was for Si Huaixi, that child, to be willing to save this country one more time, to save the innocent people of this country. He was their only hope.

“Leave this place.”

A cold and solemn male voice suddenly echoed.

However, Queen Vanessa’s eyes sparkled with hope.

A grand and magnificent palace.

The Federal and Zerg armies forcefully stormed into the imperial palace, looting and setting fires along the way, until…

They gazed in terror.

A solitary figure sat on the throne, wearing a black mask, shrouded in mystery.

The Zerg allies became mere puppets in the hands of this mysterious masked man, betraying the Federal soldiers and attacking them without warning. The Federal soldiers, caught off guard, suffered heavy casualties.

The Federal commanders realized that the masked man was behind all this and shouted for the soldiers to charge towards the man on the throne.

In the end, despair filled the air as the last drop of blood was shed from the Federal soldiers. The remnants of bodies covered the area beneath the throne, staining ancient bricks red. Yet, not a single person could take a single step onto the stairs leading to the throne.

Beneath the silent throne.

Rows of crouching Zergs awaited the commands of their king.

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