Seeing Papa Ruan with a cozy cat scarf around his neck made both her biological grandfather and brother jealous.
But now wasn’t the time for internal disputes; it was time to stand united against the outside.
Thinking about what had happened on the live stream, Ruan He couldn’t help but feel exasperated. “Your Majesty, do you realize that now Shushu has gone viral with you? How could you bring her into such an important event like that?”
Hearing that she had gone viral, the little cat who was languidly draped around her father’s neck suddenly sprang up as if jolted awake from a coma. She looked at Almer with her big round eyes, wide with shock—why had she gone viral again?
So, she had been caught on camera after all?
Ruan Shu couldn’t resist raising her little paws to cover her face. This was a live broadcast to the entire Star Beast Empire! That meant she had been seen by an enormous crowd. She’d even taken precautions to only come out when there weren’t so many cameras around.
Just imagining herself squirming around in the Emperor’s coat pocket while everyone watched made her feel mortified; her paws curled up in embarrassment.
Whimpering… the little cat felt like she’d lost face completely.
Could they, maybe… take her off the trending list?
However, her father’s next words shattered her hope.
“Today’s trending topics are impossible to remove.”
Ruan Shu: “…”
The cat lay down flat, resigned. If she just ignored the trending list… maybe she could pretend nothing had happened?
Ruan Shu gnawed at her little paw in a troubled daze.
Almer sighed, “I didn’t expect such an accident to happen, either.”
His tone was sincere. “But now that it’s happened, we do need to find a way to handle it. So… why not make it public?”
The three members of the Ruan family instantly shot daggers at Almer with their eyes.
What did he mean? Not suppress it but make it public?
Almer, with sound reasoning, analyzed the situation for them. “There were too many people watching the live broadcast today. Trying to hide her now would be impossible; the more you try to cover it up, the more people will dig into it. That would only keep Shushu on the trending lists longer. Why not openly acknowledge it? I’ll explain her identity clearly, and once people’s curiosity dies down, they won’t pay as much attention. Besides…”
He looked over at Grandpa Ruan. “Marshal Ruan, now that you’ve got such a cute granddaughter, don’t you want to show her off to the world?”
Eager as he already was to show off his beloved granddaughter, Ruan He had to admit that he was indeed tempted by the idea.
He was no longer satisfied with only showing her off in his friend circles.
Ruan Xiao, who had been gently petting his little cat-daughter’s head, paused for a moment. Actually… he, too, felt a bit of a desire to show her off. But since he had never done something like this before, he kept restraining himself to maintain his composed image.
Almer continued, “Besides, Marshal, you can’t keep hiding Shushu forever. It’s time to give her an official recognition, a legitimate identity. Perhaps you aren’t aware, but while many people in the circles know you have a daughter, their attitudes toward her aren’t entirely positive.”
At this point, Almer’s expression turned steely, and a cold glint flashed through his golden eyes—a flicker so fast that it almost felt like an illusion.
“They don’t realize how much you care for Shushu, so it’s inevitable for them to make groundless accusations in private.”
On his way over today, he overheard people gossiping about Shushu, speaking poorly of her. They assumed she wasn’t favored in the Ruan family and had no one to back her up.
He’d dealt with those people as soon as he’d heard, but who knew how many others whispered the same behind closed doors?
Though Almer didn’t share exactly what people were saying, his expression revealed enough—it was clearly unpleasant.
This soured the faces of Ruan Xiao and the others, especially Ruan Fengsi, whose quick temper flared as he demanded to know who they were so he could shut them up for good. If they couldn’t talk properly, they shouldn’t talk at all.
Almer calmly replied, “I already handled the ones I heard, but those were only the ones I happened to catch.”
He chose not to elaborate on what was said; he didn’t want Shushu to hear those hurtful words filled with malice.
Ruan Fengsi, brimming with fury, growled, “Don’t let me find out who else has been talking behind our backs!”
Ruan Shu, sensing the tension, let out a few worried meows, trying to comfort her brother. She was fine; there was no need for him to be angry.
The little cat tried her best to console everyone, but with just one set of paws, she struggled to keep up.
Then, her father gently picked her up and gave her tiny paws a comforting squeeze. “Alright, let’s make it public then.”
Shushu looked around in confusion—was the decision really made just like that? Did her opinion matter?
“Shushu, would you like everyone to know you’re my daughter?” Ruan Xiao’s usually cool voice softened, and his ice-blue eyes gazed at her with affection.
Ruan Shu placed her little paw on the back of his hand and let out a small, warm meow.
Of course the little cat agreed—she wanted everyone to know she was her father’s daughter! She raised all four paws and even her tail in approval!
However, this wasn’t a matter to rush. After all, today was the Beast God Festival, not a day for public announcements.
As the parade concluded, the entire Star Beast Empire plunged into celebration. Well into the evening, the sky was dominated by fireworks in beautiful shapes, and people gathered around statues of the Beast God, singing and dancing together. Friends and strangers alike joined hands, moving in graceful dances and singing the national anthem loudly.
“Endless abyss greeted by light,
Endless abyss where the Beast God was born.
Star Beasts,
Forever advancing with strength.
And we,
Forever fueled by battle spirit.
Fight, fight, fight…
Heroes who never retreat…”
Under the starry lights, their powerful singing echoed across the world, resonating across the planet.
Ruan Shu didn’t join in, but she lay on her father’s shoulder, her eyes shining as she watched the people below.
There were soldiers in uniform and civilians in regular clothes. The statue of the Beast God was a massive sword, rather than a representation of any specific Star Beast. According to legend, no one knew what the Beast God looked like; they only knew his weapon was a sword capable of slicing through the void and cleaving the cosmos.
Therefore, during the military parade, even though everyone now uses firearms and cold weapons have mostly been phased out, they still carry swords.
This is because the sword is a symbol of the Beast God.
As a member of the royal family, Almer naturally has his own personal sword as well.
Standing in the presidential suite on the ninth floor, they could take in everything below through the floor-to-ceiling windows, even hearing the songs from the crowd.
Ruan Shu’s tail couldn’t help but sway in time with the stirring music, her fluffy ears perked up in high spirits, and her little head bobbed along to the rhythm—she was only a whisker away from joining in with a few meows.
Ruan Xiao turned his head slightly to look at her, once again utterly charmed by his daughter’s cuteness. This hardened warrior, honed by years in the military, felt his heart melt.