249 I Have Something to Say (1/2)

”Come closer,” the child-like voice urged.

Ye Qingxuan stepped within and half-knelt in greeting. ”Your Highness, crown prince.”

”You, look up. Let me see,” the child-like voice commanded.

Ye Qingxuan looked up and could not believe his eyes. In the seat before him was a little boy wrapped in white clothing. Was this the legendary retard crown prince? He must be twenty-four years old now. But why did he look like a seven or eight-year-old?

The boy sat on the chair with a youthful face and curious eyes. The quiet girl beside him saw that Ye Qingxuan dared to look up and furrowed her brows, her eyes growing upset.

”Come closer,” the prince said.

Ye Qingxuan took another step forward. He felt the boy’s eyes on him, doubtful yet focused. Then the boy reached out and touched his face, finally carefully touching his eyes.

”So pretty, like Auntie. Too bad it’s white hair.” He sounded disappointed. Suddenly, he asked, ”People with white hair are always bad. Are you bad?”

Ye Qingxuan froze. He did not know what to say and could only chuckle wryly. ”I was born with kindness in my heart.”

The boy’s eyes grew more curious but the girl beside him wrinkled her brows and said quietly, ”James.”

The boy instantly became dejected and waved his hand. ”I know, I…go away. I shouldn’t talk with people I don’t know.”

Ye Qingxuan lowered his head, turned, and left. The boy watched his silhouette from behind the curtain.

”Mary, I like his eyes,” James said quietly. ”His eyes are like Auntie’s. When I saw him, I remembered that Auntie hugged me before.”

Mary was silent for a moment. She petted his hair and said gently, ”James, did you forget again? Auntie has already left Avalon.”

”She…will never come back?” James looked hesitantly at the steel knight outside the curtain. ”Christine, will Auntie never come back? Can you make her come back? They all say I’m going to be King. I can forgive whatever crime she committed.”

”My apologies, Your Highness.” The girl’s reply under Galahad’s armor was hesitant and troubled. ”She—she went somewhere far, far away. We can’t catch up to her.”

James looked at her blankly. ”She’s Uncle Lancelot’s sister. Can Uncle Lancelot not catch up to her either?”

”Your Highness, even Fa—Lord Lancelot has things he cannot do,” Christine replied quietly, lowering her head. ”Your Highness, please do not be sad. If she knows that you still remember her, she must be happy.”

James’s expression darkened and did not reply.

-

Ten minutes later, the final break was over. The appraisal council began once again.

The doors opened in the silence. The council members returned to their seats emotionlessly. The gavel pounded, lifting heavy echoes as if it had fallen onto each person’s heart. This was the final voting session, but no one wanted to be the first to speak. They stared at each other. Finally, they turned toward the royal seat as if waiting for something.

After a long while, a cold feminine voice sounded. ”The verification of theories will be analyzed by scholars. The academic disputes will also be managed by the academic world. Here, the Anglo Royalty has no reign and does not wish to be involved in academia.” Mary’s cold voice seemed to travel from a great distance. ”The result of this appraisal should be decided by the grandmasters.”

The royal reply was as many had expected—they would not express their opinion easily. The royalty had a detached status here and had not participated in the appraisal. They were only here as a witness and to ensure the effectiveness of the result.

Seeing that the royalty was set on not getting into this mess, the grandmasters instantly felt a slight headache. The hot potato was once again in their hands.

Who would catch it?

It did not feel right for anyone to speak first. This was not just a simple appraisal—it held the weight of the academic world and involved the lifelong reputation and career of two scholars. A careless mistake could drag them into this as well. Even the hot-tempered Sergey who hated hypocrisy had fallen silent.

In the silence, Ye Qingxuan could not help but feel annoyed. He glared at Lola who was pretending to contemplate. Where was the support that they had agreed on? What was she waiting for? Waiting for midnight snacks?

As if perceiving his annoyance, Lola subtly raised an eyebrow toward the youth. There seemed to be ineffable resentment as they exchanged gazes. Ye Qingxuan felt his blood chill. Her eyes clearly said that she had been starved for too many days and was about to feast soon!

Ye Qingxuan subconsciously touched the base of his neck, feeling a bit pained.

”Lola, you bad woman, I’ve finally managed to recover, but all that meat I ate will go to waste if you bite my neck!”

Clenching his teeth and stomping, he quietly made a hand gesture. ”Fine! You can suck as much blood as you want!”