Healing the Omega, I Became the Whole Clan's Darling

—Friend?

Following Wen Yuzhi’s word “friend,” every Saint Clan member in the dining room instantly turned their gazes toward Xi Heyan in perfect unison.

Pairs of vertical pupils in varying colors stared coldly at him. The probing scrutiny in their eyes seemed as if they wanted to carefully cut this human open and examine him.

As the first friend little highness had personally acknowledged and brought before them, Xi Heyan’s existence was enough to make every Saint Clan member present curious about him.

And this probing scrutiny was more like the instinctive caution of elders toward every living creature that appeared beside their cub, born from a mentality of protection.

Because the cub was exceptionally precious to them, this scrutiny also became an even harsher inspection.

If another person were standing here right now, suddenly having to face the gazes of so many Saint Clan members, they would probably have been frightened speechless by this overwhelmingly oppressive formation.

But Xi Heyan held steady. Even facing these not particularly friendly looks from the Saint Clan, his back remained perfectly straight, and not the slightest trace of panic or fear appeared on his face.

He could even withstand this immense pressure and, with perfect etiquette, bow to Mansendis according to interstellar standards.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

Xi Heyan did not know how he should address this Saint Clan sovereign. A title like “king,” which sounded somewhat closer, was not suitable for an outsider like him to use.

After thinking it over, Xi Heyan chose a form of address that would not be wrong.

Just like his current words and behavior, not a single fault could be picked out.

Only, beneath that steady and composed exterior, Xi Heyan was still somewhat uneasy and nervous.

But that was also very normal.

One had to ask—was there anyone in the Starverse who could stand before this Saint Clan sovereign and not be nervous?

Even Raymond An and the president of the Patch race were trembling with fear before Mansendis. With Xi Heyan’s age and identity, his performance could already be considered quite outstanding.

Mond, who was familiar with all sorts of etiquette and had lived in the palace for many years, looked rather satisfied when he saw this scene.

He understood manners, was neither servile nor arrogant, and had not exposed fear or disgust toward the Saint Clan the moment he appeared. That alone already made him far better than those outsiders who kept calling the Saint Clan monsters.

Combined with the way Xi Heyan had taken care of Wen Yuzhi throughout the livestream, Mond’s overall impression of this human was relatively pleasing.

After all, in Mond’s eyes, Xi Heyan was also only a not particularly old cub.

Elders were naturally more tolerant toward children.

However, Xi Heyan did not become presumptuous because of Mond’s attitude toward him. He still maintained that polite, respectful manner from before.

Because the highest-ranking person present, who was also the young man’s father, still had not spoken.

Mansendis’s gaze had not moved toward Xi Heyan the moment the cub finished speaking, unlike the other Saint Clan members.

Or perhaps it should be said that, even with the identity of “friend,” Xi Heyan still was not very important in Mansendis’s eyes.

Only after Wen Yuzhi leaned close to his ear and told him everything about himself and Xi Heyan from beginning to end did Mansendis finally look directly at this human.

Xi Heyan’s body instantly tensed. He could feel Mansendis looking at him.

Those eyes, extremely similar to the young man’s, held no emotion at all.

Beneath that brilliant gold was pure coldness and indifference.

For a moment, Xi Heyan had the illusion that he was being watched by a large predator.

And with only one look, the blood in his body seemed to freeze, every cell in him reminding him—

Danger.

What he was facing right now was an existence praised by the outside world as a tyrant, and the feeling the other party gave him was clearly even more unfathomable than the other Saint Clan members.

The other party had not even released his mental energy yet.

“You are Zhizhi’s friend?”

Xi Heyan heard Mansendis ask him.

His heart tightened, and he immediately answered, “Yes.”

“When did you meet?”

Xi Heyan still replied cautiously, “Two years ago.”

Two years ago, Wen Yuzhi had not yet come here, much less returned to the Saint Clan.

At that time, he had still been trapped in the Wen family, carefully playing the role of an invisible person every day while waiting for a chance to escape.

And Xi Heyan’s appearance had happened to give Wen Yuzhi, the little prince trapped in the tower, a channel through which he could speak to the outside world.

He vented to this distant online friend about all the things he could not tell anyone else.

Xi Heyan would comfort him too.

Through countless lonely nights, they relied on one chat window and talked about almost everything.

To Wen Yuzhi, Xi Heyan’s existence had crossed a certain boundary.

Before Xi Heyan appeared, he had no one to talk to. After Xi Heyan appeared, he finally had a friend of his own.

A living, breathing friend he could speak with and communicate with.

He no longer had to hold a stuffed toy all alone every night and talk to himself while staring at the stars outside the window.

In truth, this point in time had always been a rather sensitive topic for the Saint Clan. What little highness had experienced before returning to the Saint Clan was something the Saint Clan avoided discussing internally.

Only Mansendis and Mond knew that Wen Yuzhi had not lived well before returning to the Saint Clan.

The little prince who should have been held in their palms and cherished had suffered many hardships because he had been lost outside.

When he had first returned, the cub had been cautious in everything he did, so obedient and sensible that it made one’s heart ache.

Only now had they finally managed to raise him into someone a little brighter and more lively.

And Wen Yuzhi brought up those old matters to Mansendis again because he wanted to tell Dad that Xi Heyan was a very important friend to him.

Precisely because the other party was very important, he wanted to introduce Xi Heyan to Dad.

Look... Dad, this is my most important best friend.

Although Wen Yuzhi did not say those words aloud, the way he hugged Dad’s arm and looked at him with those sparkling eyes seemed to be saying exactly that.

Like a child who had been lonely for too long, and after finally gaining a friend, wanted to present him like a treasure to his family.

Mansendis had never been willing to disappoint his child.

This time was no different.

After a moment of silence, the silver-haired sovereign raised his hand and rubbed the cub’s hair. Then he said to Xi Heyan, “Zhizhi likes you. I hope you will not disappoint Zhizhi in the future either.”

Xi Heyan froze for a moment, but he quickly reacted.

“I will never do anything to hurt him.”

Mansendis neither confirmed nor denied this. Perhaps in his eyes, a mere human’s guarantee held no value at all.

And he would not give Xi Heyan any chance to hurt his child either.

Mansendis did these things only to coax his child into happiness.

Whether it was Bai Yi before or Xi Heyan now, in Mansendis’s view, there was actually no difference between them, because to him, they were only “toys” the cub liked.

As long as the cub liked them, whether they were human, merfolk, or some other race did not matter.

If Wen Yuzhi said he liked merfolk and wanted to be friends with merfolk, Mansendis would immediately have Selet go into the sea and catch a few good-looking merfolk for the cub to choose from.

To Mansendis, Xi Heyan was no different from those little bear, little rabbit, and little lamb plushies Wen Yuzhi liked.

Only, the cub had grown up and no longer liked carrying plush toys everywhere. Instead, he held his best friend’s hand and sat down beside the dining table.

When Mond brought dinner over, Wen Yuzhi first divided out the largest piece of his favorite lulu meat for Mansendis.

“This is for Dad.”

Only afterward did he divide part of the remaining portion for Xi Heyan.

“Try this. Gumu’s cooking is amazing. The lulu meat he makes is really delicious.”

Xi Heyan had not even eaten yet when he already sensed the gazes of the Saint Clan members around him change instantly.

This was meat personally divided by little highness.

Somehow, Xi Heyan saw an emotion resembling envy on those expressionless Saint Clan faces.

And that emotion reached its peak when Wen Yuzhi shared his favorite thornberries with him too.

If gazes could materialize, Xi Heyan felt that he would already have been pierced through by the eyes of these Saint Clan members.

After all, the looks they gave him had become a little less friendly.

On one side, Wen Yuzhi was continuously feeding him and sharing delicious things with him. On the other side, one gaze after another landed on his body like needles in his back. Xi Heyan finished this meal with great “difficulty” in a process that was half heaven and half hell.

By now, it was already late.

Wen Yuzhi looked at the dim sky outside and said to Xi Heyan, “Why don’t you stay for the night and leave tomorrow?”

After saying that, Wen Yuzhi looked in Mansendis’s direction again, blinking as he asked, “Dad, can he?”

Mansendis spoke in an indifferent voice. “Mond, arrange a guest room.”

“No need to go through so much trouble,” Wen Yuzhi said. “There are still other beds in my room...”

Before the cub could finish speaking, Mond interrupted, “I apologize, little highness. Those beds were put away not long ago.”

“Really?”

Why did Wen Yuzhi feel as though he had no impression of this matter?

But he did know that the furnishings in his room were replaced from time to time.

After all, in Ursoris, there was an entire design team dedicated to serving him. From clothes to furniture to every daily necessity, what Wen Yuzhi used was always the newest and the best.

Because of that, aside from the things in his bedroom, Wen Yuzhi could not really remember whether items in the other functional rooms had been changed.

Mond was therefore able to lie to the cub very calmly.

“Yes. Because you had no use for them, I took the liberty of putting them away. Though...”

Mond paused here and glanced at Xi Heyan. The old chief affairs officer smiled kindly and said, “There is still some space in your room, but having a guest sleep on the floor would seem somewhat impolite...”

Sure enough, the moment he heard that Xi Heyan would have to sleep on the floor, Wen Yuzhi hurriedly shook his head.

“No, no. Then I’ll have to trouble you to arrange a room, Mond.”

Wen Yuzhi was currently feeling guilty toward Xi Heyan. How could he possibly be willing to wrong him by making him sleep on the floor?

Xi Heyan, on the other hand, felt that there was something indescribably strange about Mond’s words.

Would the Saint Clan... be short one or two beds?

He raised his head and looked at the other party, only to see that the old chief affairs officer was also smiling at him.

In that instant, Xi Heyan felt as if he had seen a smiling old fox.

In the end, Xi Heyan still obtained the right to stay overnight in the Saint Clan’s temporary palace.

And he was given a guest room very far away from Wen Yuzhi’s room.

He sent King of Spades a message telling him he would not be returning tonight.

The other party replied very quickly.

[???]

The screen full of question marks was enough to show just how shocked King of Spades was by the fact that Xi Heyan could spend the night with the Saint Clan.

However, Xi Heyan had no intention of explaining anything to him.

Knock, knock, knock—

At this moment, a series of knocks came from outside the door.

Xi Heyan opened it and discovered that the person standing outside was actually Wen Yuzhi.