Chapter 20: Two Billion Yuan in Emotional Damages for Birthday.

According to regulations, undeveloped star systems belong to the state, but citizens of Manra can purchase permanent usage rights.

After all, there are so many planets of all sizes in a star system that even an empire cannot fully explore and mine them all. Therefore, many planets are sold to the outside world after being explored.

On Shi Wei's sixtieth birthday, His Majesty threw her a small birthday banquet. Although only seven or eight people were invited, at a glance—

The head of the secret service, the finance minister, the defense minister, the first secretary, the captain of the guard... Although she didn't recognize the rest, these were the core of the empire.

They even cut the cake with her.

"This year can only be spent quietly like this." His Majesty seemed quite regretful.

Shi Wei was already numb; there really was no need for such a grand spectacle.

However, she soon found out why so many big shots were there: Finance Minister Lian An had produced a contract for the purchase of planetary usage rights.

"Happy birthday." Lian An, who was over a hundred years old, looked very approachable. He handed her the contract and said, "Although His Majesty chose this gift for you, we also contributed a little, so we're just taking advantage of His Majesty's gift."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Lu Qi with a smile—

It was this bad thing that made him haggle with the people from the Resources Bureau for half a month, managing to negotiate a price of two billion star coins for this planet, which contained a large amount of star resources and was valued at tens of billions of star coins.

It's not that His Majesty lacks money; it's just that planets worth tens of billions are only available to the most powerful nobles.

The Emperor had to drastically reduce the price to give it to Shi Wei.

The Resources Bureau wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.

As for the others, they weren't just freeloaders. After buying the planet, it needs to be managed and developed, right? These things definitely require people to arrange, such as the head of the secret service and the first secretary.

A planet with such abundant resources must have a military presence, right? Defense Minister Aker could certainly contribute.

...

Although it was a small matter for them, His Majesty's instruction was clear: it was to confirm Shiwei's status to them.

Everyone looked at the lucky Omega.

"Two billion?" Shi Wei was shocked. Although she couldn't afford a planet, she knew that an ordinary small planet would cost at most a few hundred million. What was hidden in this?

"...Earth's core...stellar source material...content 36.12%..."

Shi Wei gasped slightly.

Although this planet is not large, the amount of it is incredibly high.

A pen was handed to her, and everyone was watching her, waiting for her to sign it.

Shi Wei glanced at His Majesty and scratched her head: "But I can't afford it."

Two billion is probably still a significant loss; she doesn't want something so valuable.

The bigwigs: "..."

Please, young lady, this is for you.

Lian An smiled and said, "All you need to do is sign."

Sign it, girl! If he looked at it any longer, he'd want to snatch the pen and write his own name on it.

Shi Wei filled in a few lines, then looked at the payer section. She had never bought a planet before and didn't quite understand, so she asked, "Whose name should I sign here?"

She only has a little over 100,000 yuan in salary in her account.

Lian An sighed, wanting to say, "Of course we should write His Majesty's name, the one who got the short end of the stick!"

"We can sign anyone we want," the man in the main seat said, seemingly somewhat displeased.

Shi Wei was even more confused. The payer is the one who pays the money, right?

Lian An sighed. His Majesty is really arrogant. Would it kill him to say something like, "Sign my name if you want?" He said to Shi Wei, "Sign whatever you want."

It seemed that no matter how much she pretended to be stupid, she couldn't refuse. Shi Wei sighed inwardly and jokingly said to Lian An, "Then I'll sign your name?"

The finance minister paused, glanced at His Majesty's expression, and finally realized that the young girl did not want this expensive gift.

He raised an eyebrow: "But I can't afford it either."

That's too modest. The Imperial Finance Minister, a man of such stature, saying he can't afford it—

Even the others wore a smirk.

Shi Wei turned her gaze to Lu Qi. If she wrote Lu Qi's name, would he tear up the contract on the spot?

Lu Qi realized her thoughts and gave her a "you're dead if you dare write my name" look.

He felt that this girl had been spoiled a bit lately. She knew that this was a gift from His Majesty, so of course His Majesty paid for it. Even if he could afford it, he couldn't steal His Majesty's thunder, could he?

Girl, stop causing trouble and just accept it obediently.

Shi Wei stared at his expression for a while and found it quite amusing.

She suddenly remembered something, turned to Sklag II and said, "Your Majesty, does it mean that whoever I write down has to pay this money?"

Her eyes sparkled, as if she was willing to accept the gift. The Emperor's expression softened considerably, and he nodded: "Yes, you can have whoever you want pay for it."

Although two billion was not much to the people present, they were happy to spend the money to make Shi Wei happy.

But flattery has its timing; if they pay for it, they'll really be slapping the horse's leg in the face.

Shi Wei was overjoyed and quickly signed the name of the esteemed Second Prince.

Ha ha.

A group of people, including the Emperor: ...

It seems like he's settling a personal score.

After she finished signing, she asked His Majesty, "He can afford it, right?"

King Slag II was silent for a moment, then nodded: "If you can't afford it, you can take out a loan."

Shi Wei was even happier.

The group of bigwigs looked at each other in bewilderment, none of them expecting that the Second Prince would end up paying the bill.

It's alright, His Majesty sent the gift to make her happy, and now that the effect has been achieved, it doesn't matter who pays for it, since it's a family matter anyway.

After the cake was cut and the gifts were given, they all tactfully took their leave.

King Sklag II took her hand, and the two strolled through the garden. Suddenly, the man asked her, "Don't you like this gift?"

Having high value doesn't necessarily win a girl's heart.

Just like him.

Shi Wei was still thinking about that planet, a planet worth two billion, which was incredibly expensive.

Hearing this, he hesitated for a moment before saying, "I think it's too expensive, and things like Star Source Material shouldn't be something a commoner like me can possess."

The Emperor remained calm: "It's normal for the Earth's core to contain stellar matter; you were just lucky to have bought one."

This way of giving her a pre-opened blind box is really unique.

But that's two billion!

“I gave you this gift to give you a sense of security.” He could see through the girl’s thoughts at a glance, and Shi Wei heard his calm voice: “If something happens to me, you will live a good life.”

“I’m not the kind of person who does things impulsively on a whim. If I were as impulsive as Similan at my age, I wouldn’t have enough lives to live.” He walked to the edge of the rose bush, picked a blooming rose, and carefully tucked it behind her ear.

"I don't want anything from you."

He simply wanted to give her a flower, or a planet; to him, they were all the same.

Shi Wei stroked the flower by her ear, unable to utter a word of refusal.

King Sklag II looked at her. He was actually very handsome, and his physique was the type she liked. Although he was cold to outsiders, he was always very gentle to her.

Finally, she managed to say, "Your Majesty, picking flowers from the garden without permission will result in a fine."

The man sighed softly, feeling helpless about her escapist mentality, and said casually, "Let her be punished then."

Who would dare to give him a ticket?

So, the Second Prince, who had just replaced a batch of equipment for his fleet, discovered that his account had inexplicably lost two billion, turning into a negative balance.

Huh? Who the hell dares to steal money from the Imperial Prince's card?

Upon investigation, Similan discovered that he had purchased a planet?

He's busy arming the mechanical army, where would he get the money to buy a planet? Who the hell did that?

I called the financial manager, and they said they hadn't found any multiple planets under the Second Prince's name.

He called the Resources Bureau directly, and was stunned by what he found.

Why should he pay for the gifts his own father gives to please his little sweetheart?

A full two billion!

His dad doesn't lack this money, but he desperately needs it!

This is the money he planned to use to buy an S-class mecha!

Similan ran to find Lu Qi; he really didn't want to see his father. Lu Qi shrugged: "Miss Shi said this money is compensation for the emotional distress she suffered after you arrested her—"

Second Prince: "..."

Two billion in compensation for emotional distress.

He left quietly, needing to find a way to make money. He's now penniless and even owes the bank a sum of money.

When Cyril heard Jiang Chuge gossiping about this, he chuckled and said, "Then my brother didn't get anything and even lost two billion star coins."

Jiang Chuge grinned mischievously: "I'm really curious, just how beautiful must that Omega be for His Majesty to disregard the bond between father and son and insist on snatching her away?"

Cyril recalled Shi Wei at the banquet that day. Actually, she wasn't very pretty, but she looked quite clean.

Black hair, black eyes, and a white skirt.

“Smirnani didn’t like this type before. I always felt he had ulterior motives, but looking at Father now, maybe that Omega really does have some special charm.” Cyril didn’t seem to care much.

"What if you and the Second Prince really have a stepmother?" Jiang Chuge asked. His uncle had said that His Majesty cared a lot about that Omega.

Cyril raised an eyebrow. Neither he nor Similan would object to their father remarrying. Similan objected because he also wanted that Omega, but he didn't like her. So what if their father really wanted to marry her?

“If Father is willing, no one dares to disobey him,” Cyril said calmly. “She has no background, and she’s not even a native of Manra. So what if she becomes Queen?”

Jiang Chuge understood what he meant. The two princes were already adults and had their own supporters. Even if she gave birth to His Majesty's offspring, it would be difficult for her to compete with them.

Cyril didn't pay much attention to it at first. His father had been single for many years, and it was a rare thing for him to meet someone he liked.

The royal family, who inherit the original bloodline, are extremely demanding of their partners.

Cyril was a few years older than Smirnani, but he had never felt any attraction to any Omega.

Long ago, their father told them that they might never find their destined one in their entire lives.

At that time, they could only choose the Omega with the highest compatibility, just like their father, to reproduce.

“I hope you can all find someone you like.” At that time, Cyril didn’t understand why his father’s expression was so lonely when he said this.

He noticed Shi Wei during a chance encounter in the royal library.

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Author's note: One of the advantages of writing ABO novels is that you don't have to think about why the male lead falls in love at first sight; he's already hooked just by smelling him.

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