The three of them: “……”
Did they just mishear something, or did their ears malfunction?
Rong Jun pointed at the curious little cat in His Majesty’s pocket, looking utterly shocked. “Is… is that yours?”
Ruan Ling’an’s face darkened, his gaze practically blazing with fire.
“What? Is there a problem?”
The three quickly waved their hands defensively. “No, no, it’s just… surprising, that’s all.”
An Lan asked, “Wait, what did you say his name is?”
The other two immediately caught on. Shushu? Shushu!!!
Rong Jun burst out laughing, “Really? The same name as little Ruan Shu? Your family has some unique taste in names, I’ll give you that… haha…”
As he went on, Rong Jun found himself trailing off, taking a deep breath as he looked at Ruan Ling’an’s gritted-teeth expression, as though his precious treasure had been stolen by a con artist.
The three of them looked from the cat to Ruan Ling’an.
“This… this couldn’t possibly be…”
Ruan Ling’an said nothing but didn’t deny it either.
Rong Jun: “AAAAHH!!!”
The sudden yell drew the attention of the students in the room, who turned to see Rong Jun grabbing Ruan Ling’an’s shoulders and shaking him wildly.
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?! Why didn’t you say something earlier? You could’ve told us right away that it was Shushu!”
The other students: “???”
What’s with these people starting an internal quarrel before they even arrive at their destination?
He Qi grumbled, “Unbelievable. We’ve been sending all those meme reactions, and you never mentioned a word to us!”
An Lan murmured, “No wonder you always had a strange look on your face whenever we sent those memes. So that’s why.”
Three pairs of resentful eyes glared at him. Some friend he was! How could he keep such a huge secret from them?
Feeling a bit guilty, Ruan Ling’an scratched his nose, but then he justified himself, “Well, none of you asked.”
The three: …How on earth were we supposed to ask?
Ruan Ling’an cleared his throat. “Watch the livestream.”
His eyes were fixed on His Majesty’s pocket, his teeth grinding.
The three: Heh… Serves you right!
Meanwhile, the other members of the Ruan family, just as indignant, stared at the livestream. Seeing comments about “His Majesty’s adorable pet” left them simmering with frustration.
Ruan He, puffing his cheeks and fuming, ranted to his friends, “She’s ours, that’s clearly our Shushu, my sweet granddaughter! What’s with people online? Can’t they refrain from making these random claims?”
His friends quickly tried to calm him down, “Yes, yes, she’s yours, your little Shushu; we all know that.”
Ruan He fumed, “What good does it do for you few to know? The people online—all of them—are saying Shushu belongs to His Majesty. Does he really think he’s that important? Could he be any more shameless?”
“Take it easy, give His Majesty a bit of face,” his friend said, trying to calm him down. “After all, the former emperor passed away young. Our current emperor is still young himself, with a playful spirit.”
Ruan He huffed, “That still doesn’t mean he can just steal our Shushu—she’s my precious granddaughter!”
“Achoo…”
Just as the military parade ended, Almer stepped off the aircraft and sneezed. From his pocket, Ruan Shu’s little head popped out, her big blue eyes watching him curiously, as if wondering if he’d caught a cold.
Almer rubbed his nose, scratching the little cat’s chin with a smile. “No, I’m not catching a cold.”
Most likely, someone’s talking about him.
“Shushu, your cousin just sent a message.”
Curious, Ruan Shu tried to wriggle out of Almer’s clothes to jump over to Yu Sheng, but a hand swiftly caught her by the scruff, while the other hand supported her fluffy little bottom, keeping her paws curled up and immobilized.
Ruan Shu: “…”
Yu Sheng shot a look at Almer. “Just to remind you, Shushu’s surname is Ruan.”
Almer replied smugly, “You’re not a Ruan either, so why do you care?”
Yu Sheng nearly rolled his eyes. This guy really had no shame, did he?
However, Ruan Shu did rely on Almer quite a bit. Otherwise, Yu Sheng might have taken Shushu back himself.
Meanwhile, Fuyao and Kongtong came over. As Ruan Shu looked at her cousin’s message, she suddenly felt her soft, pink paw pads being gently pinched.
It wasn’t just one paw, either.
The cat and the little dragon both looked down to see Fuyao pinching her tiny white paw pads with two fingers, while Kongtong had a grip on her other little paw. They seemed to get a bit addicted to the sensation, giving them each another squeeze or two, and then a few more, until they really didn’t want to let go.
Almer’s face darkened.
“Let go.”
Ruan Shu also tried to pull her paws back, but with her small strength, she couldn’t manage it.
Finally, under Almer’s fiery gaze, the two released their hold.
Fuyao raised his chin slightly. “So stingy—won’t even let us pinch her paws a little. And besides, she isn’t yours.”
Kongtong, though silent, nodded in agreement. His hand, as if on impulse, reached out to pinch again but was swiftly smacked away by Almer.
Almer, holding the cat close, tucked her back into his coat pocket, leaving only her cute little head sticking out.
Ruan Shu mewed softly, wanting to get out—her cousin and grandfathers were all looking for her.
But as soon as she started to crawl out, Almer gently pushed her back in.
In a low voice, Almer murmured, “Don’t move around. Your grandfather and father will be coming up soon.”
Ruan Shu: “???”
The next moment, the door to the presidential suite opened, and in strode Ruan He, Ruan Xiao, and even Ruan Fengsi, all of them practically radiating an aura of darkness.
“Your Majesty, you’ve really gone too far this time.”
Seeing her family, Ruan Shu immediately meowed excitedly, wriggling out of Almer’s coat and gracefully jumping to the ground. With joyful little steps, she trotted over to them, her tail swaying as she let out soft meows along the way.
Though her meows were soft, in the silence of the room, everyone could hear them clearly, like sweet, milky murmurs that captured everyone’s attention as they watched her run.
Just a few more meows, please—the little voice was surprisingly adorable.
Her soft, white little paws pattered across the floor, her small, bouncy steps making her cuteness almost too much to bear.
She made her way straight to her long-unseen father, Ruan Xiao, who squatted down and held out his hand. The little cat stepped right onto it and was promptly scooped up.
This tiny white fluffball wrapped her little paws around her dad’s fingers, rubbing her round, furry cheeks against him, then licking his hand affectionately. Finally, she nestled her entire self against his neck, using her cat-like flexibility to wrap around him, forming a warm, fluffy live “cat scarf.”
Everyone in the room couldn’t help but glance at the Marshal’s neck—and then take another look.
Fuyao even touched his own neck, thinking about how perfect his long, graceful neck would look with such a beautiful cat scarf wrapped around it.
Could he steal this little cutie somehow?
At this moment, Fuyao shared the same thought as Almer.
He had already tried all the younglings of his feather clan, but none of them were small enough to fit in his pocket, meowed so softly, or could wrap around his neck as perfectly as this one could.
It just… made him want to steal her even more.