What is this?

Su Duan's sniffing motion paused for a moment as he stared blankly at the small box in front of him that seemed to have some age to it.

Seeing that he had no reaction, Audrose's spiritual body moved its mouth again, pushing the small box all the way to Su Duan's hand.

The cool metallic touch bumped against the back of his hand, carrying a bit of the damp earthy scent of having just been dug up.

Su Duan obediently picked up the box from the ground. First, he took out a tissue from his spatial ring and wiped the dirt on it until it was spotlessly clean, before rolling it on his leg.

It was just a plain square black box, about the size of his two palms, without any fancy patterns on it, the kind that could be seen everywhere in shops, looking nothing special.

As he held the box, the dragon kept sniffing noisily beside his hand, its ice-blue beast pupils that were like cracked ice occasionally constricting, its moist nose tip brushing over Su Duan's hand, nudging somewhat impatiently.

Seeing it looking like its tail was about to stick up, Su Duan reached out to soothingly stroke its nose tip, then started studying how to open this box.

The lock on the box was not a spiritual power or iris encrypted type, but a very retro mechanical one. Su Duan probed around the clasp a few times, not knowing what switch he pressed, and with a click, the top of the box popped open.

Seeing the things inside, Su Duan couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

The contents were quite unexpected, not because they were too strange, but because they were so ordinary that it was surprising, filled with a simple homely feel.

Dragons like shiny, expensive-looking things. Based on this habit, the things they would cherish and hide away are usually glittering diamonds and jewels, so Su Duan had also prepared himself to see a box full of sparkly things.

However, he did not expect that after opening it, the things inside were not shiny at all, but rather all looked very ordinary and fragmented.

There were stones of unknown material that, despite being buried for so many years, still felt clear and honest when held in the hand; there was a small square of cloth, like a handkerchief style, rolled into a ball and stuffed in there, very small, only the size of his palm when unfolded, pink and puffy like it was for a little girl, with a small iris flower printed on one corner...

Su Duan carefully rummaged through, gradually realizing that the box likely contained Audrose's childhood toys and used items.

They had just been hidden here.

This is...

When he got close to the bottom, Su Duan picked up a—

...Ugly black dragon doll?

At first glance, this was the only adjective Su Duan could find to describe it.

Because this doll really did look aesthetically unpleasing.

The reason for calling it "ugly" was not because the dragon itself was ugly, but the craftsmanship was too poor. The dragon's wings and hind legs were uneven and twisted, even the dragon's mouth was crooked, with two distinctly blue eyeballs.

Su Duan held up this misshapen doll and compared it with Audrose's spiritual body for a long time before reluctantly confirming that the big black dragon in front of him should be the original form.

Just as Su Duan was about to put the doll back in the box, the dragon, which had been showing some unusual excitement, suddenly extended its mouth, and with practiced ease, like how it had grabbed his nutrient solution in the kitchen today, it snatched away the doll.

Su Duan froze for a moment, watching helplessly as the doll, which was not even as big as his hand, instantly disappeared into the dragon's mouth. He patted its bony wings in a fluster, urging, "You can't eat that, spit it out quickly..."

The dragon blinked at him. Only after Su Duan patted it again did it lower its head and reluctantly spit the doll out onto Su Duan's palm.

Su Duan breathed a sigh of relief and placed the black dragon doll between his legs, taking out the last item from the box.

It was a pale purple gemstone, lying at the very bottom and corner of the box.

Finally, something that looks like a giant dragon's collection, Su Duan thought.

He took out the gemstone and found that there was a small flower bud inside, the same shape as the ring on his hand.

"Iris..." Su Duan looked at the simple ring on his hand and confirmed with the system, "This was Audrose's mother's favorite flower when she was alive, right?"

The system said, "That's right, host."

So many of these things must have been gifts from his mother, like the handkerchief just now, and the gemstone in his hand now.

The system suddenly said, "Host, what you are holding is not a gemstone."

Su Duan: "Hm? Then what is it?"

The system said, "This is a kind of artificially synthesized memory storage device, simply called an imprint recorder, which can store images or videos input from memories, similar to a combination of a camera and video recorder from your previous world."

The pale gemstone in his palm emitted a glimmer of light under the sun's rays, the flower bud inside still lifelike despite being shyly hidden for many years.

Su Duan blinked and asked, "So there are photos or videos inside?"

The system said, "Yes."

Could it be Audrose as a child... Su Duan couldn't help but imagine, not knowing what it would be like, feeling a bit curious to see.

He thought for a moment and looked up to ask the owner of this imprint recorder, "May I take a look?"

The dragon lowered its huge head, gently nuzzling his cheek with its muzzle, then lowered its head even more, touching the gemstone in Su Duan's palm with the tip of its nose.

It had hidden its most precious things, and now wanted to show them to the person it liked the most.

The flower bud in the center of the gemstone popped open, and an image clearly projected into the air in front of him, starting from Su Duan's palm.

It was a light-colored beach, and sure enough, there was a young Audrose on it.

At that time, he looked to be not even ten years old, almost identical to how he looks now, but with a bit of lingering baby fat on his cheeks, eyes big and clear, eyelashes long and curled, like an exquisite little prince. Even with a straight face, he didn't look as awe-inspiring as he does now, but rather had a strange contrasting cuteness that made Su Duan want to pinch his cheeks.

He stared at the mini version of Audrose for a good half minute, inexplicably smacking his lips, before going to look at the other people in the photo. Standing next to Audrose was Avid, a head shorter than him, looking not much different from now. Behind the two children were two adults, a man and a woman, who should be the parents of Audrose and Avid, the Emperor and Empress of the Empire.

Su Duan's gaze briefly passed over the adult man who looked almost identical to Audrose, and then lingered for a long time on the woman with a pair of emerald green eyes.

Her features were not gentle, nor could they be described as beautiful enough to make one lose their soul, but those emerald green eyes were like gems left behind by God in the mortal world, making people feel that everything could be embraced and forgiven within them.

She had her arms around the shoulders of her two sons, her long hair cascading over them like seaweed.

The four of them were all wearing very casual clothes, looking like an ordinary family going on a beach vacation. Behind them, the blue-green sea shimmered, presenting an indescribable depth in the rising morning light.

The dragon had stretched its head over at some point, suspended above Su Duan's head, quietly watching this moment that had been treasured for who knows how long.

[Ding, the healing value for the healing target Audrose has increased by 10. The current total healing value for the target is 50. Please keep up the good work, host!]

Su Duan raised his head and stretched his arms as far as he could, patting its hard and cold chin.

......

On the return starship, Audrose opened the image recorder that was three years late.

Empress Sefir's face appeared in front of him. After a moment of stunned silence, Audrose suddenly lowered his eyes, avoiding eye contact with his mother.

This video should have been recorded when she was seriously ill. Her face showed undeniable fatigue and signs of illness, already very thin, with clearly visible cheekbones protruding on her face.

Empress Sefir passed away due to a genetic disease. The illness came on very suddenly, and the speed from deterioration to death was also very fast. But at that time, the war with the aliens was at a critical juncture, and Audrose could not return, unable to see her one last time.

Her voice also carried a hint of hoarseness due to the treatment, but it was still very pleasant to hear.

She talked about various trivial matters, such as how he calmly received the pink handkerchief that was usually used by little girls when he was young, and how he used his coldness to anger the glass-hearted Avid to tears... Even many things from his growing up that he himself could not remember clearly were mentioned one by one.

These stories were originally very boring in Audrose's memory, but being retold like this, it was as if they were re-dyed with some color, the dust was brushed off, and they became a little more vivid.

Audrose listened silently, occasionally shifting his posture slightly.

The starship sailed quietly through the universe.

Finally, Empress Sefir softly called out to him, "Audro."

Audrose raised his head and met those eyes that were as translucent as agate.

"I'm very sorry," the owner of those eyes said. "My genetic disease should have been partially inherited by you, causing you to be unable to experience normal human emotions."

Audrose shook his head, wanting to refute her words, but then realized that this was just a remnant image, and the person in it would not respond to his answer. So he paused and ultimately said nothing, continuing to listen quietly.

Empress Sefir patiently advised him, "...I know you may never understand love... but living alone is a very lonely thing. If you meet someone in the future who makes you feel very comfortable, even if you only want to keep them by your side a little bit, you must not hesitate."

"The marriage registration office is on the street to the right of the palace, the fourth one down on the south side." At this point, the person in the video curved her eyes and smiled.

Audrose's eyelashes trembled.

Avid had emphasized to him not long ago that slaves could not marry nobles.

So his brows furrowed slightly.

......

Because the Emperor rushed them to leave earlier than expected, Audrose had already returned home early in the afternoon at two o'clock.

As if wanting to confirm something, he really wanted to see his little slave now, to hold him in his arms and give him a good rub. So he quickened his pace.

But his little slave seemed to have a telepathic connection with him, and was already waiting not far from the door early on. He had only taken a few steps when the little slave came running over with his dragon, opening his thin arms and throwing himself into his embrace.

Under his somewhat startled gaze, the little slave, smiling so much that his eyes curved into crescents, reached out, pinched one of his cheeks, and pulled it to the side.