But before I could start to untie it, tears as big as beans fell down.

Snap, snap!

The little slave cried, as if he had encountered the most embarrassing and sad thing in the world, and his sobs overflowed like those of a helpless young beast.

【I cried.】

Zhou Huaiyan was somewhat bewildered. After a moment, he sighed.

"Since you are unwilling, then forget it."

Cuicui didn't like taking a bath either, and she pushed him away when she first touched the water. But she got used to it slowly. Zhou Huaiyan looked at the little boy's wet curly hair and felt a little sorry.

Upon hearing this, the little slave raised his head suddenly, and his originally sad expression turned into fear.

"Ah, no..."

No!

It's not that he doesn't want to, but he's afraid that the nobleman will see his body and dislike him, and abandon him. Or even throw him to that kind of place to be a tool for any man... If... if the nobleman doesn't dislike him and wants to use him, he can, he can!

The little slave had tears on his face and tried to explain, but his throat was injured and he could only make a hoarse sob. Before Zhou Huaiyan could figure out what the little slave wanted to say, Hongdou's voice came from outside the door.

"Your Highness, the Duke has returned and is looking for you."

[How come uncle came back so soon?! ]

Zhou Huaiyan frowned.

"knew."

The young man looked down at the little slave who was still crying, and wiped the tears from its little face.

"Wait until I come back."

The little slave stared at him blankly, then suddenly became quiet. He lowered his head and uttered a very soft sigh.

"Um......"

Zhou Huaiyan went out and changed into a clean set of clothes. He casually played with the jade pendant around his waist.

"Uncle came back really early today."

The eldest palace maid froze.

Zhou Huaiyan glanced at her with a half-smile. He had just caught a little wild cat when his uncle suddenly came back. It would be strange if he couldn't guess what the cat was doing.

"Let's go, don't keep your uncle waiting."

Anko breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes, Your Highness."

As soon as he entered the study, Zhou Huaiyan saw his uncle sitting at the desk.

Well, the expected dark face.

Zhou Huaiyan walked over with a smile.

"Why did uncle come back so early today? Huai Yan was worried that uncle was busy with official duties and had a bad health."

Duke Wei raised his eyelids.

"Oh? It's rare for you to be so filial."

Even though I knew that the boy was talking nonsense, his smiling face and coquettish demeanor were very much like my younger sister when she was young.

Duke Wei could no longer hold back his ferocious expression. He was a straightforward person and didn't want to beat around the bush with his nephew, so he got straight to the point.

"Where's your cat? Hand it over."

"Hmm? What cat?"

Zhou Huaiyan started to play dumb.

"Is uncle too busy and has a bad memory? After I was five years old, uncle did not allow Huai Yan to keep a cat. He also said that no beasts were allowed to appear within a hundred meters of the Ninth Prince!"

Hongdou suddenly exchanged glances with the guard behind Duke Wei. The guard immediately whispered a reminder,

"My Lord, maybe some gossiper spread the wrong message. The little prince is very well-behaved and obedient, so he must not have a cat. Today, he just asked for a little slave from a foreign race to play with."

——So she was waiting for him here!

His uncle wouldn't even let him keep a cat, let alone keep a foreign slave after he was assassinated by a spy.

As expected, Jiang Yi was furious.

Bang!

He slammed the table, extremely angry.

"Zhou Huaiyan!"

"Please calm down, my lord. I am here!"

The young man pretended to do a curtsy and clasped his hands and kneeled down, looking crooked and untidy. His funny and cute look actually relieved most of the Duke Wei's anger.

"Ridiculous! Do you know that I have been unable to sleep day and night for the past half month and have searched the entire capital city, all because of that foreign spy?!"

The little prince immediately stopped laughing.

"Huai Yan knew his uncle's painstaking efforts. But Huai Yan thought that this was not the work of foreigners. This assassination seemed dangerous, but in fact it was vulnerable. It was a fantasy for just a few spies to take the life of Duke Wei in the capital.

Foreigners may be barbaric, but they are not brainless. The assassins may not be from our tribe, but the people behind them may not be. My uncle has been catching spies in the capital for the past half month, which has made a great impact, but he has also been at the center of controversy.

The boy was calm and rational, and his words were sharp and earnest.

"Uncle, please think carefully. There have been several impeachment memorials in the court. There are rumors among the people that uncle is more powerful than the master and has great ambitions. Do you know this?"

Duke Wei was so stunned by what he heard that he even forgot to be angry.

"you......"

How could a dissolute prince who spent all his time eating, drinking and having fun suddenly say such words?

Zhou Huaiyan sighed. He originally wanted to maintain the image of a stupid shrimp in his uncle's mind, but now someone had murderous intentions, so he had to remind him.

"Uncle, you should probably ask our father what he thinks about this matter."

"......"

Duke Wei was stunned for a moment.

At that time, because Zhou Huaiyan was poisoned, he was anxious and did not think about it carefully. Now, after a brief thought, he found that there were many strange things about this matter.

Duke Wei’s eyes darkened.

——Someone in the capital city is plotting against him through the hands of foreigners.

Zhou Huaiyan stopped there.

Duke Wei was still immersed in the emotion of "someone actually dared to plot against me", the young man hurried to strike while the iron was hot.

"Huai Yan suffered a lot for his uncle this time, and he was so smart to see through the evildoers' intentions. Uncle, please love me well."

Duke Wei came back to his senses and looked at him with a relieved and complicated look.

"Good, good, good! You are worthy of being brought up by me."

The man stroked his beard and laughed.

"Tell me what you want today, I will give it to you!"

As soon as these words came out, Hongdou immediately understood the little prince's intention and hurriedly wanted to remind the Duke——

"Huai Yan wants that little slave to stay with him."

The boy smiled and happened to speak before Hongdou.

"My uncle was conferred the title of Duke, and he is also a great iron-blooded general. He must know that military orders are as heavy as a mountain, and they cannot be changed overnight."

With just a few words, all of Duke Wei's escape routes were blocked.

Duke Wei: "......"

He was so surprised that he forgot that he was questioning the boy about raising a foreign slave. After a pause, Duke Wei tried to make a final effort.

"If you really like it, I will personally change it for you with a clean one."

Since you can't argue with him, just choose someone selected by your own people. At least you know the person well and he is clean.

"No, I want mine!"

Zhou Huaiyan remained unmoved.

"You! You are really going to piss me off to death!!!"

Duke Wei was very angry! Just when the two were at a stalemate, the butler hurriedly appeared in the study and whispered a few words to Duke Wei.

Jiang Yi's face froze.

"I have something important to do now, I'll talk to you when I get back!"

Zhou Huaiyan breathed a sigh of relief.

It gets dark early in winter. When Zhou Huaiyan came back from Duke Wei's study, it was already a little dark. As soon as he came back, he went straight to the bathroom. There was no light in it, it was pitch black. The young man squatted at the door, holding a candle, and called softly,

"Little guy, I'm back, come out quickly."

After a while, a tiny sound came from the empty bathroom, as if some small animal was cautiously reaching out its claws from its nest.

Zhou Huaiyan heard footsteps. The sound of bare feet stepping on wooden boards.

It was slow and hesitant at first, then became rapid and chaotic, and finally, it stopped just in front of Zhou Huaiyan. The little slave's thin chest kept rising and falling under the tent, and a beast-like panting came out of his throat, so soft that people couldn't help but feel pity.

The slightly warm candlelight flickered, overlapping in the cyan cat's pupils to form a gorgeous and even psychedelic light and shadow, like a peerless emerald.

Zhou Huaiyan saw Cuicui's shadow inside, and after concentrating, he saw clearly that it was his own face inside.

The boy heard his heart pounding

"Does it have... a name?"

The little slave froze, hesitated for a moment, and shook his head lightly.

The next second, the young man's slender fingertips landed on the corner of his eye and gently stroked it.

"From now on, can you just call me Ah Fei?"

Little Ah Fei lowered her head and responded very softly.

"......Um."

Zhou Huaiyan stared into his eyes blankly.

"It really looks like...my little cat..."

【cat?】

The little servant's face turned pale. He raised his head and secretly glanced at Zhou Huaiyan, only to see the boy's eyes sparkling, filled with indescribable nostalgia.

"......"

Ah Fei closed her eyes, and finally accepted her new identity.

——A cat for its owner to play with.

The fear and panic of the unknown spread in my heart.

"Yes... Master..."

Ah Fei tried hard to please him, but her injured throat made the three words become meaningless sobs.

Zhou Huaiyan didn't notice. He stretched out his hand, wanting to take the boy out for dinner. However, when he opened the hood, his fingertips felt an unexpected touch.

Cool, soft, shivering, bare/naked...

Zhou Huaiyan showed some surprise in his eyes, and looked down again, and found that the trousers that the other party had held tightly before were no longer on. The muscles under the skin were very tight, and they kept trembling because of the strange touch.

[——Maybe he got cold.]

Zhou Huaiyan immediately came up with this guess. He withdrew his hand, frowned, and wrapped the kitten's hood tightly.

"Why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

——Of course, it is to make it easier for the master to use him.

Ah Fei's body was stiff, and his shoulders were shaking. He lowered his head, wanting to bury it in his chest. Zhou Huaiyan thought for a moment,

"Did you take a bath?"

After hearing this, Ah Fei finally had some reaction. He tightly grasped the cloak and replied softly,

"Um."

Among the foreign races, the slaves bought back would only have two uses, one was to do hard labor that required strength, and the other was to be kept at home as servants. Therefore, Ah Fei naturally thought that Zhou Huaiyan took him to the room to take a bath, and he must be planning to use him as a servant at night. So he washed himself carefully.

Very clean, very clean...

"So good."

Zhou Huaiyan rubbed his fluffy and soft curly hair and praised the kitten generously. The candlelight was too weak, and he did not notice that the little slave's face had already been burned red.

"Then put on your clothes quickly, and I'll take you to dinner."

As he spoke, the young man stood up, took down the clothes on the screen next to him and passed them over.

【Eat...?】

Ah Fei raised his head suddenly - the master doesn't need him now?

Seeing that the kitten was not moving, Zhou Huaiyan was puzzled.

"What's wrong? Don't you know how to wear it?"

This is a real headache. The Ninth Prince, who was born to be served by palace servants, doesn't really know how to dress.

"How about I ask Hongdou to help you put it on?"

Ah Fei immediately shook his head. He had a red hood on his head, which made him look like a small rattle. Zhou Huaiyan couldn't help laughing. He stood up and put the candle on the table.

"Then you can dress yourself and come out."

Before Ah Fei could come to his senses, his arms were stuffed with clothes. He stared blankly at the boy's back and opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

My throat felt like it was blocked by a ball of wet cotton, and it felt stuffy and astringent.

The little slave lowered his head to look at the clothes in his arms, stroking them gently with his slender fingers.

Clean, warm, soft, delicate

He had never... worn such fine material...

Ah Fei's eyes gradually turned red, he buried his face in them and took a deep breath. In a trance, he felt that the breath of the young man still remained on it, very faint, but very fragrant.

"......"

A moment later——

In the dark bathroom, the sobbing sounds like that of a young animal were heard.

The author has something to say:

Compliment me on my new cover!

It’s the beautiful little prince!