There haven't been any children in the Duke's Mansion for many years, so naturally there are no corresponding pajamas prepared.

Or to be more precise, there are no clothes prepared for anyone other than the owner.

All that remains today are the two deceased sons of Duke Wei and Zhou Huaiyan's childhood clothes.

"Then find out my old pajamas and give them to him to wear."

Zhou Huaiyan didn't think there was anything difficult about this.

Duke Wei doted on him so much that he could not wear all the new clothes he made every year. However, the master's clothes could not be thrown away casually, so they were all carefully preserved. Many of them were even brand new.

Hongdou had a new understanding of the extent to which this alien slave was favored, but she still couldn't help but persuade him.

"Your Highness, how can this be possible? You..."

Without waiting for her to finish, Zhou Huaiyan suddenly put the silver chopsticks in his hand on the table.

despair.

The sound was not loud, but very clear.

It was so clear that Ah Fei, who had been coughing continuously, immediately stopped coughing. He covered his mouth tightly, his face flushed red. A helpless and panicked expression appeared in his eyes.

——He thought that his master was displeased by his own impoliteness.

That's right, people like him should eat on their knees. The host was kind and generous and allowed him to sit at the table, but he did such a vulgar thing...

The kitten was so frightened by his own guess that he trembled. He quickly got down from the stool and knelt carefully on the ground.

However, Zhou Huaiyan did not look at him, but instead glanced casually at the palace maid standing beside him.

"Hongdou, you seem to... always like to contradict me today?"

The boy's tone was light and it was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry, but it made the maid of honor fall silent.

Hongdou's face turned pale, and in the blink of an eye, she knelt down heavily. Without even a hint of strength, her entire body weight was pressed on her knees, which made a startling thud when they hit the floor.

"Your Highness, I was the one who spoke too much. I deserve to die."

The maid of honor prostrated herself at the boy's feet, her forehead pressed against the floor, her back dripping with sweat.

"Hongdou, you should know best that I dislike people who talk too much."

Zhou Huaiyan drank a mouthful of Tremella fuciformis soup nonchalantly. His voice, which was usually as pleasant as mountain spring jade, had a hint of coldness.

"Although you come from the Duke's Mansion, you must recognize who your master is now."

It was not until she heard this that the maid understood. The young prince was not angry because she had repeatedly dissuaded him, but because she had told the Duke about the foreign slave without his permission.

On weekdays, His Highness was always kind to his servants and rarely punished them. He was even more intimate with me, a senior maid. But in the end, His Highness was the master, and she was just a maid serving His Highness.

There is a difference between the superior and the inferior. She was so confused that she even wanted to give orders to her master.

I regretted buying red beans so much.

"Yes... yes, I was blinded by greed today, so I did such a ridiculous and treasonous thing."

She kowtowed again, and her smooth forehead instantly turned purple.

"I am willing to go to the ordination hall to accept the punishment."

The Discipline Hall was a place specifically for dealing with guilty secret guards. The punishments there were different from those for domestic slaves, and were even a hundred times more severe.

Hongdou had been there once when he was still a secret guard in his early years. When he came out, there was not a single piece of good flesh on his body.

Hearing this, Zhou Huaiyan didn't even raise his eyelids, but just said,

"It's up to you, but don't make the mistake."

After all, the Chief Palace Maid had been by his side for so many years, he had gotten used to it, and didn't want to replace her with a new one for the time being.

Hearing this, Hongdou finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

She bowed respectfully.

"I will prepare the pajamas now."

"Um."

Zhou Huaiyan nodded slightly.

This little episode finally passed, and the boy felt much better. However, when he turned around, he found that the kitten had kneeled on the ground at some point, its thin body curled up, and its curly hair trembling slightly.

"......A Fei?"

Zhou Huaiyan was somewhat bewildered.

"Why are you kneeling?"

——Of course, you are kneeling because you have done something wrong.

Ah Fei heard the whole process and thought that Hong Dou just asked one extra question, so she was going to be severely punished.

In this case, if I, who am even more despicable, do such a crude and vulgar thing, I will probably only anger and disgust my master even more.

"Slave...Master..."

Ah Fei opened her mouth and wanted to say

[I was disrespectful before the meal and polluted the master's eyes. Please punish me.]

But his injured throat was not strong enough to support him to express such a complex sentence. Zhou Huaiyan only heard one master,

——This is a name only used by foreigners.

"Be good, I'm not talking about you."

Ah Fei was stunned for a moment and responded in a low voice.

It's just that his voice was very hoarse, and to Zhou Huaiyan's ears it sounded like a kitten whining and being coquettish.

"Are you scared?"

Zhou Huaiyan found it funny. He didn't scold or beat the kitten, but just gave it a few casual admonitions and scared the kitten like this.

[You are too timid. ]

He stretched out his hand and pulled the kitten up from the ground. Ah Fei now absolutely dared not resist his orders at all. Although she still wanted to kneel, she had to stand up according to the boy's wishes.

"Hongdou made a mistake and deserves to be punished. Ah Fei, be a good boy and stay by my side and work for me from now on."

Zhou Huaiyan seemed to be particularly tolerant towards Ah Fei, who had a pair of cat eyes, just like a long time ago when he was scratched on the arm by Cuicui and the palace servants were scared half to death, thinking that the cat would be executed immediately.

But in the end, the person concerned still spoke in a good tone and smiled as he used the dried fish to coax it.

Ah Fei didn't take it seriously. She just thought that these words were from her master...a warning from her master: If she is not obedient, she will be punished more severely!

The kitten nodded immediately, trying to show that he would be obedient. After all, the person who raised the servants might look gentle and elegant on weekdays, but he might be extremely violent behind the scenes.

Ah Fei didn't know if his new master was like this. But if that was the case, he could only endure it. Ah Fei unconsciously clenched his fingertips. His appearance no longer met his master's expectations and preferences. He could only work harder in other areas to please his master.

Zhou Huaiyan had no idea that the kitten had started to think about all sorts of random things. He was just wondering why the kitten suddenly stopped eating rice and meat and only cared about drinking soup.

However, what he didn't know was that among the alien races, the diet of servants was strictly restricted. They needed to work hard to adjust their bodies according to the preferences of their masters. For example, some people like plump colors, so servants will work hard to grow flesh, while some people prefer slim beauty, so servants can only diet to maintain their slim figures. Male servants also have a special rule, which is that they can only use liquid food that is easy to digest, because they need to keep it clean so that they are always ready to be used by their masters.

The reason for this strictness is that in foreign tribes, the status of servants is even lower than that of livestock, and is no different from that of tools. Once abandoned by their masters, their fate will be extremely miserable without exception.

Even though Zhou Huaiyan once said that he kept Ah Fei only to do things by his side, not as a servant. Even the concept of servants was only used by foreign races, he had never thought about it that way.

But for the latter, there is no essential difference.

Zhou Huaiyan had no idea that the little cat's train of thought had gone astray. He was watching the little cat eating with great interest.

Ah Fei's eating style is very unique, like a little animal. Taking small bites, her originally thin cheeks puffed up and became round and adorable.

He ate with relish, his beautiful emerald eyes sparkled, and he couldn't help but squint them in happiness. Even the simplest vegetarian soup could be drunk by him as if it were delicacies from land and sea.

The more Zhou Huaiyan looked at him, the more interesting he found him. Well, this little cat is very delicious.

——So he ate at night for the first time.

Hearing that the little prince had eaten a little more at night, the kitchen sent some sweet hawthorn soup to help digestion. It was very sweet, so Zhou Huaiyan drank two more sips and gave the rest to Ah Fei.

The kitten was not picky at all. He drank it in small sips and then cleaned his teeth obediently.

——Much more obedient than Cuicui

Zhou Huaiyan stepped on his own cat without any guilt.

People in ancient times went to bed early at night. After washing up, Zhou Huaiyan lazily lay on the couch, flipping through a book about the legends of foreign races. As for Hongdou, she sent someone to deliver her pajamas and then went to the ordination hall to receive her punishment.

Zhou Huaiyan soon felt sleepy after eating. He suddenly remembered a popular science article he had read about drowsiness after a meal: after a person is full, blood flows to the stomach, so the brain feels sleepy.

Thinking of this, he looked up and looked at his cat in the mirror.

Huh, you're so energetic?

—Or rather, seemed a little overexcited.

At this moment, Ah Fei had already washed up and changed into her pajamas, and was kneeling respectfully beside the bed. Her hands were placed on her knees, clenched into fists, and the fabric was wrinkled, looking like she was extremely nervous.

Ah Fei was not sure what kind of service her master liked, and she felt conflicted, so she secretly glanced at Zhou Huaiyan's profile.

The boy leaned lazily, his beautiful peach blossom eyes slightly narrowed, the curve of which was so beautiful that it was impossible to describe it with words. The candlelight flickered, swaying in the dark pupils.

Ah Fei was stunned.

His master... is so handsome.

The kitten was stunned for a moment, and suddenly heard the boy chuckle. He came back to his senses in a daze, and unexpectedly met his owner's gaze in the small mirror next to him.

The boy's interested eyes looked like a dignified and elegant fox fairy in a painting taking a liking to a satisfactory tribute.

【tribute...tribute...】

The absurd metaphor was like a ball of fire that fell on Ah Fei's heart and burned his entire chest.

But the next second, he suddenly realized——

The master actually saw clearly his peeping and misconduct just now!

"Woo..."

The kitten let out a tiny cry, then suddenly lowered its head, covering its face and curling up into a ball.

The skin was congested and red from the tips of the ears all the way to the neck.

For a moment, Zhou Huaiyan seemed to see a ball of superheated steam rising above his head with a "bang".

"......puff"

The boy couldn't help laughing.

How interesting! It was the first time he had seen such a shy cat.

At this time, the maid Zhima came up to him.

"Your Highness, I will add another lamp for you."

Zhou Huaiyan waved his hands.

"No need, clean up and get ready for bed."

The moment the words fell, Ah Fei, who was curled up in a ball, suddenly seemed to be greatly frightened, and her pupils dilated.

【Ah...Ah...Ah...Sleep well? ! !】