This palace had been built back when the cub was still a demon egg, but it had never welcomed its master until now.

When the cub’s movements were detected in the Forest of Calamity, Baph had already sent subordinates back to prepare. So, when the cub entered for the first time, everything was fully stocked and ready.

The little demon didn’t even know where to look first.

Placed onto the new crib, the little demon tilted his head back curiously, looking left and right, his little tail swaying back and forth, clearly very happy.

Baph brought over a new baby outfit, preparing to take off the cub’s dirty little clothes, but suddenly retracted his hand and looked towards the Demon King. “Your Majesty, would you like to try changing the Little Prince’s clothes?”

Bode was still faded and hadn’t recovered his senses yet. The other demons looked at the extremely thoughtful decorations and various baby items in the palace, having to admit it was far better than the underground palace.

Eris stepped forward towards the cub sitting in the crib and reached out to undo the buttons on his clothes.

The little demon watched him approach. He actually quite liked the aura of this demon, but he had been furious earlier because this demon had carried him far away from the four demons he knew.

Now, although in an unfamiliar place, everyone was here, so the little demon wasn’t angry anymore. His big golden eyes watched the demon awkwardly fumbling with the buttons, slowly pressing his cheek against the back of the other’s hand.

The chubby cheek, still holding its baby fat, felt soft and yielding. Eris’s fingers paused for a moment, then he carefully supported the small face while continuing to undo the buttons.

Lance looked at the seemingly gratified Baph nearby and sighed internally. That guy really was quick-witted. Then he looked at their side: Nick and Bazel were squatting there, poking the discolored slime with their fingers, letting out malicious, gloating chuckles.

Lance: “…”

No wonder they could only end up being hunted down while the other had already reached the peak of demon life. Their IQ and EQ were just too far apart.

The little one was stripped bare. He had been quite thin at birth and had only gained a little weight since, so he still looked like a tiny bundle.

Baph frowned, suddenly looking towards Lance nearby. “What does the Little Prince usually eat? How much does he eat in one sitting? How many times a day? Why does he look so thin?”

His words sounded as if they had been mistreating the cub.

Lance replied irritably, “Baobao was already very thin when he was born. We’ve already fattened him up a bit. He mainly drinks Hellhound milk, probably three or four times a day.”

Three or four times a day?

Baph: “Don’t tell me you only feed the Little Prince when he’s hungry? Normal demon cubs need to eat milk eight times a day, once every three hours! No wonder His Highness is so thin.”

Lance and the others had been figuring out how to raise the cub by trial and error, completely unaware of these things. But hearing the underlying blame in Baph’s tone, Lance also felt displeased. “Although we only feed him three or four times, Baobao drinks a lot each time.”

“How could he not drink a lot? He’s starving!”

Lance: “…”

The Demon King focused on dressing the stripped-bare cub. The pale-yellow baby outfit looked fresh and cute, and the size was just right. The little wings and tail were let out through the back.

The little one looked down and touched the clothes on his body. The smooth, soft fabric felt very comfortable. He let out happy ‘ah-ah’ sounds, seeming to know this outfit was given to him by the demon before him, so he smiled brightly at him.

“Why is he so happy? When we dressed him before, he didn’t seem to like it much,” Lance muttered to himself.

“All of the Little Prince’s clothes are made from Demon Spider silk,” Baph emphasized. “All of them.”

Demon Spiders were demonic beasts living on the very edge of the Dark Abyss, some even rivaling Greater Demons in power. The silk generally used for clothing was spun by female Demon Spiders for laying eggs.

This silk material helped young spiders better absorb magic elements from the air. If stolen or damaged, one would face the spider’s frenzied pursuit.

It was extremely difficult to obtain, making it a rare and excellent material for cub clothing.

Even the nobles of the past would have found it extremely difficult to acquire this silk, even at exorbitant prices.

“His Majesty the Demon King accumulated all this for the Little Prince previously. There’s much more that hasn’t even been made into clothes yet.” Baph looked at the astonished Lance, lifting his chin slightly.

The Little Prince didn’t know what they were talking about. Now dressed, he also felt hungry. Having cried for so long earlier and then being grabbed by Gorgon for various strange poses, the little guy was starving. But he was used to it now, obediently picking up his tail and sucking on the tip.

“Baobao’s hungry. He usually sucks his tail when he’s hungry,” Lance explained, looking towards Nick, about to ask him to release the Hellhound family.

Just then, Baph timely produced a baby bottle filled with milk at the perfect temperature and handed it to the Demon King.

Lance: …

Wait, where did that guy get that from?

Previously, the demons couldn’t afford proper things out in the open and hadn’t prepared many suitable items for the cub. Every meal was served in a bowl and fed with a small spoon.

Now, looking at this strange bottle, the cub’s nose twitched. Smelling the sweet aroma of food, he immediately dropped his tail, staring longingly at the bottle.

The Demon King carefully supported the cub’s neck, then placed the nipple against the cub’s mouth. He instantly knew how to eat, grabbing the bottle and drinking eagerly, glug-glug-glug.

This milk seemed delicious. The little demon drank so happily that his little feet curled up, and his ten little toes wiggled.

After finishing, the little demon looked at the empty bottle, then looked pleadingly at the Demon King again, blinking his eyes cutely. His appetite was large; he was only half full now and wanted more!

The Demon King couldn’t resist that pleading gaze and immediately looked at Baph, about to ask him for another bottle.

But this time, Baph didn’t provide one. “Your Majesty, the Little Prince only drinks milk right now; the nutrition isn’t sufficient. I have prepared other foods.”

He brought over a plate of fruit from the table. The Demon King seemed to recognize what it was, picked one up, and placed it in the cub’s hand.

A fruit that was very small for an adult demon became enlarged in the cub’s hand. The little one held the red fruit with both hands, staring down at it blankly.

“Heeey~ You wanna eat me?”

The fruit actually had a face, and the face could talk, greeting the cub.

The little demon was startled; he had never seen such a thing before. With a squeeze of his hand, the red fruit burst.

Red juice from the berry splattered onto the cub’s face. He instinctively licked his lips and tasted a sweet flavor. The cub’s eyes lit up instantly, and he immediately looked pleadingly at the Demon King.

Getting the hint, the Demon King gave him another one. The fruit he received this time also had a simple line-drawn face, currently sniffling and saying, “Don’t eat me.”

The little demon really liked that sweet taste, but this fruit could talk!

Little demon: Stare~

He looked up at the demons, seeming hesitant.

“Go on, Baobao, eat it! This kind of fruit is very expensive, and tastes great too.”

“Yeah, I barely ate any when I was young.”

“Don’t be afraid. That face and voice are just mimicry this berry uses to avoid being eaten. It disappears after one bite.”

Nick and Bazel, seeing the cub eating, immediately abandoned Bode and crowded around the crib.

The little demon bravely looked at the fruit in his hand. The red berry was streaming with tears. “Don’t eat me~”

The words had barely faded when the toothless little demon bit down hard. The fruit’s skin was very soft; it broke with slight pressure, and juice bursting with fruity aroma flowed into his mouth.

Super delicious!

The little guy ate several in one go, his mouth and hands stained red. The Demon King gently wiped his hands and mouth, his gaze soft.

Bazel secretly glanced at him several times. During the times he was hunted down by Eris before, he never imagined that the cold and terrifying Demon King would one day wear such an expression. It felt like he himself was dreaming.

With the noisy, simultaneous coaching from Lance and the other demons, the Demon King, somewhat awkwardly, managed to soothe the cub to sleep and placed him in the crib.

The little guy still slept on his stomach with his bottom sticking up, the two small wings behind him opening and closing with his breaths. His tail lay motionless beside him, curled into a small circle.

Although the place had changed, he was full, and the bed was very comfortable; the little demon even had upturned corners on his lips as he slept.

Bode, still recovering, was left inside. Lance also stayed by the crib watching the cub. The other demons had more to discuss and came outside.

Eris seemed reluctant to be too far from the cub, so their discussion took place just outside the palace.

The main topic was whether Nick had noticed anything unusual when he stole the cub. After all, if they could find clues about the demon who broke the seals, they could prepare defenses in advance.

Nick hadn’t paid attention at the time. Logically, the cave didn’t have many hiding places; if another demon had been there, he surely would have seen them at a glance. He hadn’t observed carefully upon entering and had just quickly stuffed the box into his shadow.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he started rummaging through his shadow.

Who knew how much stuff was packed in there? After searching for a long time, Nick finally pulled out a potion bottle. “I found this next to the box at the time. Didn’t think much of it and just put it together with the box. Later, because of everything with Baobao, I completely forgot about this thing.”

Baph took the bottle. Only a tiny bit of potion remained at the bottom. The blue liquid looked thick and dense; impossible to know its purpose, but it was definitely related to the demon who broke the seals. Perhaps it was left behind by that party.

If that party truly had ill intentions towards the Little Prince, then Nick’s appearance might have coincidentally disrupted their plan. After all, Nick was Greater Demon level; ordinary demons couldn’t possibly defeat him.

Perhaps that’s why the other party retreated. And then Nick took the Little Prince away, possibly saving His Highness’s life.

It seemed that being foolish had its blessings. These demons might be idiots, but their luck was genuinely good.

Eris glanced at the potion bottle. Although taciturn, he was extremely concerned about matters involving the little demon. “Give it to Gorgon to study.”

Gorgon wasn’t just skilled in medicine; he also loved researching strange and peculiar things. Giving it to him was most appropriate.

Just as the Demon King was about to return to watch the sleeping cub, Baph suddenly asked, “Your Majesty, should we announce the Little Prince’s existence to the entire Demon Realm?”

Although it hadn’t been explicitly stated before, while searching for the Little Prince’s whereabouts, many demons had already figured out the general situation—that the Demon King was searching for his kidnapped cub. Now that the Little Prince had been found, safe and sound, it was time to let everyone know of his existence.

Eris pondered for a moment, then agreed. Although announcing Hilaire’s identity would attract a lot of attention, hiding the news about the demon egg hadn’t prevented unknown forces from discovering him anyway. So, continuing to hide it seemed pointless now.

“Do not announce Hilaire’s appearance or racial characteristics.”

Just knowing the Demon King had an heir was sufficient.

Baph worked efficiently. That very night, the entire Demon Realm learned the Demon King had an heir named Hilaire, a male demon. Beyond that, nothing else was known.

Demons love gossip. The less they were told, the more curious they became. Discussions erupted everywhere, with everyone speculating about the Prince’s various details.

Constans happened to return to the city. The capital city where the Demon King’s Palace was located was very prosperous.

Many demons were discussing Prince Hilaire. Seeing Constans walking down the street, they immediately shouted for him to provide some information about the Prince.

Although this Greater Demon under the Demon King was powerful and held high status, Constans was generally a good-tempered, honest demon, so people weren’t afraid of him. They rowdily egged him on to share more details.

Constans tilted his skull thoughtfully. His Majesty only said not to reveal the Little Prince’s appearance and characteristics, nothing else. That meant other things could be revealed, right? That should be the meaning.

“Click clack.”

“What? The Prince really was kidnapped? And only found today? Oh heavens, I thought it was just a rumor! Who would dare kidnap the Demon King’s child?”

“Clack.”

“Who? You mean the four Greater Demons under the previous King? So it was them! No wonder then. The Demon King has been hunting them, so it’s normal for them to retaliate. Is the Prince okay? Was he injured?”

“Not injured, and he even signed a slave contract with the four Greater Demons, making them his servants?!”

Demon ranks were simple: low, mid, high, and then Greater Demon above that. The strongest among the Greater Demons became the Demon King.

There weren’t many Greater Demons in the Demon Realm currently; most had ended up as collectibles for the previous King.

Thus, most demons lingered between low and high rank; becoming a Greater Demon was very difficult. Many races didn’t even have a single Greater Demon.

So, learning the Prince had actually subdued four Greater Demons left these demons understandably astonished.

Constans thought about it. Although the process was rather complicated, the outcome was indeed like that. So he nodded his skull.

“How old is His Highness to be so powerful?”

The Prince’s age? Although the Prince looked very young, demons calculated age from the time they left the mother’s body, not from hatching. So, the Prince was exactly one thousand years old this year.

“One thousand years old?! So the Demon King already had the Prince when he took the throne? He kept it secret so well; none of us knew!”

Among demon races, dragons had the longest childhood, a full thousand years. Other races had varying childhood lengths—Slimes reached adulthood in a year, Succubi/Incubi in twenty years, others took decades or centuries.

But a thousand-year-old demon, even a dragon, should be an adult.

Although the demons didn’t know the Prince’s race, they all assumed he must have reached adulthood long ago.

“Maybe it was to protect the Prince. After all, His Majesty is very low-key. Look at those demons who wished they could become invisible before the previous Demon King—how much trouble have they caused this past millennium? Wanting to be Demon King themselves but not daring to challenge the previous one, only plotting secretly behind the scenes.”

Having new gossip fodder, the demons immediately abandoned Constans and returned to the taverns to drink and chat, spreading the news they had just received.

Mentally reviewing that he hadn’t said anything he shouldn’t have, Constans slowly headed towards the Demon King’s Palace. He also wanted to see the Little Prince; things had been too rushed in the Forest of Calamity, and he hadn’t gotten a proper look. Might as well prepare some gifts for His Highness, too.

After fermenting overnight, news about the Demon King’s son spread throughout the Demon Realm. Along with it flowed stories about the Prince subjugating four Greater Demons through force, making them his slaves, as well as rumors about various good and bad deeds attributed to the Prince.

In the territory bordering the very edge of the Demon Realm, a white bird, pursued by crows, flew rapidly. After passing through a transparent barrier, the white bird could finally catch its breath.

Behind the barrier lay a world completely different from the Demon Realm.

Silent, peaceful.

This was the Celestial Realm, the place where angels resided.

Although called the Celestial Realm, the entire world was actually covered by tranquil waters. High above this world, the only race living was angels. Amidst layers of white clouds were various flowers, stone sculptures, and dwellings.

The little white bird flew high up, reaching the angels’ abode, and flew directly into a particular building.

The oldest angel in the Celestial Realm, the Archangel himself, reached out and caught the little white bird. Though old, his appearance wasn’t aged, with only a few fine lines around the corners of his eyes.

As he listened to the little white bird urgently relay the news gathered from the Demon Realm, his brow furrowed deeply.

A one-thousand-year-old son of the Demon King, extremely cruel, very powerful, having subdued four Greater Demons as slaves—this was hardly good news for the Archangel.

The previous Demon King had favored powerful and beautiful appearances; the angel race perfectly met his requirements. To protect themselves and their kin, angels and demons had fought for many years. Only in the last thousand years, after the new Demon King ascended, had peace settled.

Now, the Demon King’s son seemed to be another unruly troublemaker. When he eventually took power, war might break out all over again.

Thinking of this, the Archangel looked worriedly towards the direction of the Demon Realm.