After saying those words, Audrose almost immediately realized his mistake.

The disease that Queen Sefir suffered from was a very rare genetic disorder called gene chain collapse syndrome. This disease is unique to evolved humans and is a remnant of the evolutionary process. It has plagued scientists for thousands of years, and even with the development of technology, no effective treatment has been found.

Without exception, all those who suffer from this disease will die, and the speed of death is determined by the rate of gene chain collapse. The lucky ones can linger on for five or six years, while the unfortunate ones will lose their breath within a few short hours of onset.

Queen Sefir was the latter. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, and almost everyone, including the Queen herself, did not have time to react before the situation became irreversible.

At that time, there was a major problem with the annual finances of the parliament, and the Emperor was so busy that he did not return to the bedchamber to rest for two whole days. When he finally took a break from his busy affairs to reunite with his wife, Queen Sefir suddenly fell into a coma that night.

Then there was the frantic rush to the hospital, examinations, treatments... The Emperor gathered all the top doctors in the field of genetics, working tirelessly to formulate plans and perform emergency treatment, but in the end, they were unable to stop the collapse of Queen Sefir's gene chain.

Even with the greatest efforts, they could only slow down the rate of gene chain disintegration a little, allowing her to linger on her sickbed for half a month before leaving this world.

Although it was true that the Emperor was not by the Queen's side before she fell ill, the blame could not actually be placed on the Emperor. The early symptoms of that disease are very subtle, and even someone as attentive as Queen Sefir did not notice anything amiss with herself.

...He shouldn't have used this to attack the Emperor.

Audrose calmed down a little, and just as he was about to apologize, the Emperor's angry rebuke came through again, "If you insist on doing such an absurd thing and getting involved with that slave of unknown origin, you can immediately get lost and continue your vacation!"

Audrose immediately swallowed back the apology he hadn't spoken.

He hadn't forgotten that it was the Emperor who had unreasonably attacked him first!

Yes, the words he had just spoken in anger had indeed pierced the Emperor's most hidden scars, but didn't the Emperor's words also hurt the thing he cherished most?

So he gave a cold laugh, his expression quickly calming down, almost indifferently questioning, "You really are willing to do anything for your own selfish desires. There could be a war beyond expectations at the border at any time, and you mean to remove a military commander from his post at this time?"

"Why don't you inform the parliament of your decision and ask if they agree to let you vent your anger at the expense of the lives and safety of hundreds of thousands of soldiers at the border!"

"You..." Faced with his eldest son who had suddenly become eloquent, the Emperor opened his mouth but couldn't say anything.

There was no doubt that this was a threat.

But he could not refute it.

His eldest son had been a marshal for more than a decade, and his prestige in the military had long been deeply rooted in people's hearts. His popularity among the imperial citizens was not much worse than his own, and almost everyone took it for granted that Audrose would become the next emperor sooner or later.

The accusation of "mixing with slaves", which was just tabloid news, was far from enough to remove Audrose from his post.

As Audrose said, if he stubbornly insisted, he would probably face fierce backlash from the parliament and the public.

Of course, he had no such intention. The threat just now was just a threat made in a fit of anger. Unless he intended to destroy the entire empire, he would not remove Audrose from his post at this time.

But Audrose's words did remind him:

Now was wartime, and the entire imperial border defense army was under Audrose's control. Even if he really lost his mind and wanted to remove him from his post regardless of border security, he wouldn't be able to touch his eldest son from such a long distance.

...He must have planned this, the Emperor almost instantly understood his eldest son's intentions.

When in the capital star, Audrose kept the slave hidden at home without letting him hear a word about it. But after arriving at the border, knowing that he had spies there, he did not hide it at all, clearly deliberately choosing this time when he had the absolute advantage to confront him about the slave's existence.

He really had put a lot of thought into it... The Emperor closed his eyes, unable to tell what he was feeling in his heart for a moment.

Neither of them spoke again, and the atmosphere remained very tense.

Audrose looked at him for a few seconds and finally said in a flat voice, "It's getting late, I hope you get some rest soon, Your Majesty."

Then he hung up the communication.

After the communication was cut off, the Emperor stood there alone for a long time.

In just a few short minutes, his face had rapidly aged several years, going from the domineering attitude he had when arguing with his son to a kind of weariness mixed with bewilderment. When those slightly turbid blue eyes lowered, the fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were particularly noticeable.

His dragon lowered its head, gently flapping its bony wings that were no longer young and strong but still had tremendous lethality, letting out a low panting sound from its throat.

It was unclear whether it was reminiscing about the irretrievable years, lamenting its current incompetence, or expressing a deeply hidden gratification.

He thought.

Audrose had grown up—

He had learned to get angry like a real dragon, to protect someone with all his might, even baring his fangs and viciously threatening his own father for it!

—He was indeed different from the person he used to be, who would not have any reaction even when scolded bloody by him.

If his mother were still here, she would probably be very happy.

......

Audrose had just turned off his personal terminal, his heart still smoldering with anger, his face so gloomy that it was frightening. As soon as he looked up, he saw a little head poking out from the crack of the bedroom door that had been opened a little, revealing half of a cheek.

Those eyes, as dark as black agate, were staring at him unblinkingly.

He had made quite a loud noise arguing with the Emperor just now, and the little slave must have heard some of it.

The anger in his body instantly dissipated like a punctured balloon. Afraid of scaring his little slave, Audrose hurriedly removed the remaining gloom from his face and asked softly, "Are you done washing?"

It had only been a dozen minutes, and he remembered that the little slave shouldn't be able to wash that quickly.

Just as he was about to get up and walk towards the bedroom, the little slave suddenly pushed open the door and ran towards him with a pitter-patter.

Audrose stopped in place without moving, cooperatively opening his arms, and then was pounced on and embraced. He took the opportunity to sit back on the sofa while holding the soft body in his arms.

He reached out and touched the little slave's hair and body, not feeling any wetness. He couldn't help but ask doubtfully: "You didn't wash?"

"Mm," Su Duan hugged his chest and admitted in a small voice: "I was eavesdropping, I'm sorry."

Although he knew that eavesdropping was an impolite behavior, when he heard Audrose's angry voice coming from the living room, his feet couldn't help but walk to the door on their own.

Faced with the little slave's honest confession, Audrose was momentarily at a loss for words. He lowered his head and pressed his thin lips on the little slave's forehead, saying in a low voice: "It's okay... Don't take what my father said seriously, he was just trying to threaten me. In fact, he can't do much."

Su Duan blinked, his long eyelashes drooping down, not knowing what he was thinking. After hesitating for a while, he finally squeezed out a sentence: "...Mm, ignore him."

Seeing his seemingly somewhat confused appearance, Audrose suspected that he was still frightened by the earlier argument. So he lifted his chin and looked into his pure black eyes without a trace of impurities, earnestly promising: "Don't be afraid, I'll protect you."

Su Duan took the opportunity to loosen the hands circling his chest and pressed them on his shoulders that were who knows how many times wider than his own. After staring at him with pure black eyes for a full half minute, he seemed to make up his mind and said, "I... I will protect you too, don't be sad."

That emperor's way of speaking was really fierce. When he was far away, shrinking by the bedroom door, he was startled to hear it, let alone the pressure Audrose faced directly.

Moreover, that was his biological father. Even if the relationship was cold, arguing with family was never a pleasant thing.

It was like this in the previous world. The man took care of the company's affairs for him, running around in two places alone, and had to find ways to get his brother out of prison. From beginning to end, he was the one being protected. The man was so busy that he almost didn't belong to him. He could only watch foolishly as his lover ran around for him.

In this world, Audrose was still going to great lengths to protect him, and besides treating people's illnesses, it seemed he still couldn't do anything...

He didn't want it to be like this anymore. If possible, he also hoped to be able to protect his lover.

Audrose was stunned at first. After digesting the meaning of this sentence with some delay, a complex light flashed in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curve up. He tightened his arms around the person's waist and back, and said in a hoarse voice, "Okay, you protect me."

Even though he knew that with the difference in their strengths, "protecting him" sounded like an exaggerated boast, the fact that his cherished person also wanted to protect him was already beautiful enough in itself.

Audrose's Adam's apple rolled, and the hand on Su Duan's back slowly moved up along his thin spine, pressing on his neck, and tilted his head to bite those delicate pink lips.

Su Duan was quickly kissed until he was dizzy. He felt something hard pressing against his leg, and the heat on his cheeks became even higher.

He had to do something for Audrose... A bad idea flashed vaguely in Su Duan's mind.

The little slave in his arms was so obedient and soft, so sweet that he was reluctant to let go. His whole body exuded an aura of "won't resist even if bullied". Audrose's arms tightened more and more until the little slave's breathing obviously began to become rapid. Seeing that he was about to suffocate, only then did he let go.

He didn't plan to restrain himself anymore. The situation with the beast group was unclear, and the scouts they sent out didn't get any useful information. The war could break out at any time. When the war officially started, he might not have the time and energy to make the deepest mark on the little slave.

Just as Audrose was holding the person and slightly getting up from the sofa, preparing to go to the bedroom, he was held back by the neck by the little slave who was still panting in his arms. "Wait a minute."

"Hm?" Audrose asked hoarsely.

Su Duan took a few deep breaths, his eyes red from holding back, before bravely saying the bad idea: "I, I, I can help you kiss the flower..."

But Audrose didn't quite understand: "Hm? What flower?"

Could it be that the little slave wanted to ask him for flowers as a gift?

Su Duan: "..."

He was a bit nervous, so he accidentally used the way they said it in the plant world. He hemmed and hawed a few times, then leaned close to Audrose's ear and repeated it in a low voice using the human way of saying it.

Probably because it wasn't his native way of saying it, it didn't feel as embarrassing, so this time he repeated it very smoothly.

After hearing clearly the few words that drilled into his ears with heat, Audrose's blood suddenly froze.

After more than ten seconds, the blood began to flow again. He clearly heard the sound of himself swallowing.

He used the last bit of his self-control to dispel the images in his mind and said with difficulty, "Don't mess around... You'll get hurt."

Su Duan was also nervously swallowing, but he insisted, "No, no, no, I'll be careful - uh, no, you be careful, and it'll be fine..."

He had done it for Qin Zhi in the previous world and hadn't been injured.

...Although Audrose's flower was a bit bigger this time, as long as he was careful, he shouldn't get hurt... right?

Audrose took a deep breath, his tone a mix of torment and sweetness: "Baby, you really are..."

Su Duan nervously squeezed his neck with his arms and urged him with his chin raised, stammering, "You, you, you sit back down!"

Audrose lowered his head slightly as he was squeezed by him, his light golden hair scattered on his forehead. "...I haven't taken a bath yet."

Su Duan threw caution to the wind: "It, it doesn't matter! I haven't brushed my teeth either anyway!"

Audrose: "..."