"No need for formalities," Raiden raised her hand.
The young man stood up straight, and only now could Yae catch a glimpse of his true appearance.
"Thank you, General."
Yae found it difficult to describe the young man in words.
He had fair skin and a head of blue-purple ear-length hair. On top of that incredibly beautiful face, his light purple eyes were clear and gentle.
As he stood up, the white hunting attire's hem fluttered slightly, complementing the light purple undergarment, pure and serene. On his delicate and fair neck, the red cord stood out, and the golden feathers strung by the cord, seen at a glance, were clearly not ordinary.
"Your manners are not good enough."
As Raiden's pensive voice rang out, the young man's movements visibly stiffened.
"If we were in an uninhabited place, you wouldn't need to worry about elaborate etiquette. But if we're outside, you can't greet me like this." Raiden said, "But there's no need to go through the procedure for such a small matter... In terms of etiquette, you need to grasp it better in the future."
"Yes, Lord Bal," the young man nodded somewhat flustered, "I will study hard later, please rest assured."
"Lord Bal?" Raiden raised an eyebrow.
"I asked him to call me that," seeing her sister's confusion, Raiden walked up and naturally patted Yae's head, saying, "I am the shadow warrior of the Shogunate's highest authority. As long as the puppet calls me 'Bal', others will recognize me as you, saving the trouble of arousing suspicion among the subjects."
Realizing that her sister had shown rare thoughtfulness this time, Raiden couldn't help but laugh, "You've thought it through very well."
"Of course," Raiden calmly accepted the praise.
While the twin Archons chatted enthusiastically at the table, Yae just lay on the table, staring at the young man on the other side without blinking. Perhaps her gaze was too intense, the young man, who had been slightly lowering his head, raised it again, his clear purple eyes reflecting her figure, seemingly a little curious.
"Is this the puppet made by the puppetry expert, Balzéb? "
To be honest, Yae was truly shocked. If she hadn't heard Raiden say the words "puppetry," Yae would never have connected the young man with a puppet.
But it made sense. Yae looked at the young man's exquisite face and thought to herself.
"Perhaps only the creations of the divine would be so flawless."
When mortals speculate about the power of the divine, they often think too shallowly. It was only at this moment that Yae realized that her concept of creation and the divine's concept of creation were not on the same level.
Perhaps the young man would be praised by people and regarded as a miracle, just like the creations of the divine.
"You asked him to call you 'Lord Bal' to avoid suspicion. But you won't just call him 'puppet' right?" Raiden said, "In doing so, the subjects will all know his identity."
Hearing Raiden's words, Raiden Tsukinogi was somewhat puzzled. "This puppet was painstakingly created by me, although it is still in the observation period... Oh, I understand."
When Raiden Shogun completely didn't understand what Raiden Mei understood, she heard Raiden Mei pondering, "It is still in the observation phase. I cannot define it as the masterpiece of the Raiden Shogun yet. If something goes wrong, it would instead disgrace the grandeur of the Shogun..."
"Stop, hold on!"
Just as Raiden Mei said this, she also noticed that her sleeve was being held. She looked down and saw that the little fox had already let go of her mouth and patted her hand on the table with its paw.
'The little puppet over there is almost bowing down to the ground.'
Yingjian sighed, Yingjian shook her head.
She had been staring at the youth and naturally noticed that as Raiden Mei continued speaking, the youth also lowered his gaze, his long eyelashes casting shadows, and his hands at his waist nervously squeezing the hem of his clothes.
"You see, even little Yingjian can't bear to listen anymore." Raiden Shogun sighed helplessly, "You want him to learn in order to get closer to being human, right? But if the subjects were to hear that he is a puppet created by 'me', I'm afraid they wouldn't treat him with a normal attitude."
There was still some confusion in Raiden Mei's eyes, but under the dual gaze of Raiden Shogun and Yingjian, she eventually nodded.
"I'll think about it later." She remained at the doorway and raised her hand to the puppet waiting for orders, "Come here."
Yingjian breathed a sigh of relief and very keenly raised her head to nudge Raiden Mei's hand. Fortunately, the hand quickly covered her again. Yingjian glanced at her adoptive mother and confirmed that her mood had brightened a bit, which relieved her.
Even though she had only seen her nominal mother a few times, Yingjian was able to tell that she was taciturn. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that she was "innocent".
Being a shadow warrior had always been an extremely dangerous job, whether it was leading troops in place of the shogun to go to war, or being prepared to die at any moment as a substitute during an assassination, or after the shogun's death, concealing the news of the shogun's death in order to stabilize the hearts of the people and continue to govern as the shogun's identity—these things were difficult to associate with Raiden Mei.
As a shadow warrior, Raiden Mei had the same appearance as the ruler, but her habits, style, and preferences were completely different from Raiden Shogun. In Yingjian's original world, shadow warriors existed to protect the ruler, but in this world, the shadow warriors were more like the ones being protected.
It was precisely because they were not involved in worldly affairs and didn't bother with human entanglements that they could express their thoughts more freely according to their own hearts, making it difficult to imagine the twists and turns within.
'It's like being cherished by a god.' Yingjian thought.
The youth heard this and walked over. Although it was an ordinary action, it was easy to see the uneasiness in it, not as open as when he first arrived.
"Come closer."
Seeing the youth stop about a meter away from her and nod slightly, Raiden Mei looked puzzled.
"Why are you standing so far away from me?"
"In terms of etiquette, Baron-sama is a noble person. If I stand too close, it would be disrespectful... isn't that so?" The youth sounded uncertain.
Raiden Mei was surprised by the puppet's clever thinking, and at this time, her own sister spoke up:
"You didn't care about this before, but now you're talking about etiquette." Raiden Mei rubbed her forehead and shifted her gaze slightly, "I have already told you the purpose of bringing you here before. I have many tasks to attend to in my daily life, but Yingjian's body is afflicted with an impurity and needs the power of the deity to calm it down. I will grant you the same power so that you can fulfill this duty."
"Yes, I understand." The youth listened attentively to Raiden Mei's words and responded.
"Now that you understand, then Yingjian, you... hmm?"
When she turned back to speak to Yingjian after finishing her instructions to the youth, she found that the white fur on the little fox that was leaning on the table had all fluffed up. If it was still a fluffy cub before, it was now a fluffy ball.
The fox in question was also confused, completely unaware of what had happened. She only felt that as the youth approached, there was a crackling sound in her ears, and then her long fur stood on end.
She tilted her head in confusion, blinked her red eyes, and finally couldn't stand the silence any longer. She patted Raiden Mei's hand with her paw.
"What's going on, Mama? She's not scared, don't think she doesn't like it, qwq."
Even if this handsome young boy didn't do anything, just staying by her side was pleasing to the eye. It wouldn't be right to reject him just because she couldn't speak. Yingjian wanted to cry but had no tears, so she could only exchange a wide-eyed stare with Raiden Mei.
It was Raiden Mei's laughter that broke the mysterious silence, which was obviously forced out because she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"You must have just created him and brought him here." Raiden Shogun raised his hand and smoothed Mao's fur. But as soon as he pressed it down, it bounced back and Raiden Shogun laughed again.
"Well, what's wrong?"
Raiden Shogun didn't directly answer Raiden Ei's question. Instead, he looked at the young boy with gentle eyes. "Come closer, little one."
"Obeying the orders of the General is his most fundamental belief." So after Raiden Shogun said that, he took another step forward.
Mao felt his fur explode even more. With the wind blowing, she even doubted if she had turned into a dandelion.
The boy hadn't seen Mao's appearance while she was blocked by Raiden Ei earlier, but now he was curious.
"Princess Mao...you look really fluffy."
Mao: "..." Thank you, I'll take it as a sincere compliment from the handsome young boy.
A shadow fell before their eyes, and Raiden Shogun reached out his hand. The meticulously patterned vibrasleeve fell to his side, and he looked at his wrist. Mao saw Raiden Shogun's fingertips pause on the boy's forehead. A purple light flashed, and Mao felt her fur fall down.
She shook her fur and looked back at her big tail. She found that it had indeed returned to its original state.
"The power you used to create him still lingers on him. We are incarnations of thunder, so we wouldn't notice. But Mao's reaction was quite genuine~"
Raiden Ei pondered.
The reason was finally revealed, and the boy was a little unsure if it was his own fault. While he was in a dilemma, he suddenly felt pressure on his arm, and in an instant, the pressure moved to his shoulder. In his daze, he felt a slight itch on his cheek and a warm touch.
"Huh?"
The boy turned his head and saw the small fox that had just been sitting obediently on the table. The white fur ball was now rubbing against his face. The boy felt a little bewildered by the sudden situation and instinctively raised his hand, as if he was afraid the little one would lose balance and fall off his shoulder, protecting him.
"Little...little prince?" The boy's purple eyes widened slightly as he looked at the small fox that had approached him, "It's not safe..."
"I'm standing pretty steadily!" Mao thought.
"It's okay even if you can't stand steady, my duty now is to protect you," the boy said seriously, "Even if you do fall, I'll catch you."
"Yeah, that's right." Mao nodded in satisfaction, but before she could finish nodding, her movements froze.
"...?"
"What? Isn't this normal?" Raiden Shogun seemed puzzled after hearing what Mama said.
Raiden Ei listened and felt a little confused.
"Mao is wearing a device made with my power, and the puppet is my creation, so they have the same source of power as me," she said, "Since I can know Mao's thoughts through the device, why can't my creation?"
After listening to what Mama and Raiden Shogun said, Mao suddenly became clear.
"Oh, I see now!"
"..."
Wait.
"Something doesn't seem right..."