Xiao Bai stood there, looking bewildered.
Xiao Zi, on the other hand, began whining impatiently because he was hungry.
Xiao Bai sighed.
There was no other choice.
Perhaps they could go to the farm and find something to eat there.
The two cubs left the mansion together.
However, the moment they stepped outside, they happened to meet Xiao Baobao, who had come to look for Yu Weiwei.
Because the food Yu Weiwei cooked was so delicious, Xiao Baobao mostly used his physical body whenever he visited. After all, when he was merely a pile of data, he couldn't taste anything.
"Hm? What are you two doing outside? Where is Weiwei?" Xiao Baobao asked, slightly surprised to see only the two cubs.
Xiao Bai explained their predicament.
Xiao Baobao listened, then sighed before sharing the stash of food stored in the spatial storage Yu Weiwei had created for him.
The pained expression on his face made it obvious that he wasn't particularly happy about having to share his precious food.
Soon, the three cubs sat in front of the mansion, eating while watching people come and go around them.
They hadn't been sitting there for long when Xiao Baobao received a message from Ryan.
Apparently, since Caspian and Elara were currently unavailable to oversee the empire, the responsibility had originally fallen to Evander.
However, Evander was stationed at the border, so he couldn't leave his post.
The next people who could take over were the three Guardians.
Unfortunately, Ryan and Louise were both too busy dealing with the affairs of the Red Dragon Association to take on the responsibility themselves.
That left Xiao Baobao.
Xiao Baobao stared at the message in silence.
He was speechless.
Of all times, they had chosen now to hand him the responsibility of overseeing the empire.
He glanced at Xiao Bai and Xiao Zi, who were still eating beside him.
There was no way he could simply leave them here.
If he left them alone, they would probably starve themselves again or wander off somewhere they shouldn't.
With no other choice, Xiao Baobao sighed and stood up.
"Come on. You're coming with me."
Xiao Bai looked up at him.
Xiao Zi continued eating as though he hadn't heard anything.
Xiao Baobao laughed and picked him up.
"I can't leave you two behind."
And so, completely unaware of what was about to happen, the three Xiao headed toward the imperial palace together.
A day passed.
By then, Xiao Baobao had reached his limit.
He was programmed to be a lively and energetic personality, so spending an entire day sitting in the same place, reading documents and signing papers, was slowly driving him insane.
If he only had to read and sign documents, perhaps he could have endured it.
The problem was that most of the documents required the approval and oversight of the ministers. Xiao Baobao couldn't simply make every decision himself, especially when many of the matters involved the administration of the empire.
It would have been much easier if he had been allowed to use his own judgment.
Unfortunately, the ministers kept complaining whenever he did.
According to them, his decisions were too inhuman. They lacked the subtle touch of human judgment and emotion that was necessary when dealing with certain matters.
At first, Xiao Baobao had tried to understand what they meant.
After hearing the same complaint for the hundredth time, however, he had stopped trying.
His CPU was practically overheating from all the nagging.
"Human judgment..." Xiao Baobao muttered as he stared blankly at the mountain of documents in front of him. "Do humans really need this much judgment just to decide whether something should be approved or rejected?"
The ministers standing nearby fell silent.
One of them coughed awkwardly.
"Your Highness, there are many factors that must be considered..."
Xiao Baobao slowly turned his head toward him.
The minister immediately stopped talking.
For a moment, the room was completely silent.
Then Xiao Baobao lowered his head and continued signing.
He decided that pretending to be dead inside was probably the best way to survive.
Unfortunately, the paperwork wasn't the only problem.
There was also Xiao Zi.
Normally, Xiao Zi was quite well-behaved around Yu Weiwei. At the very least, he understood that when Yu Weiwei was around, causing too much trouble would earn him a beating that would turn his purple but red.
He was also somewhat obedient around Lin Zhile, who could usually grab him by the tail and discipline him before he caused any real trouble.
And when Elara was around, Xiao Zi practically melted under her gentle touch.
But none of them were here.
Yu Weiwei was still cultivating.
Elara was cultivating with him.
Caspian had also entered cultivation after arriving at the mansion.
Lin Zhile was busy exploring the imperial palace.
Which left Xiao Zi completely unsupervised.
That was a disaster waiting to happen.
At first, Xiao Baobao had thought it would be fine.
Xiao Zi sat quietly in the corner playing with toys while he dealt with the documents.
Ten minutes later, there was a loud crash from the corridor.
Xiao Baobao's hand froze halfway through signing a document, and the ministers turned to look at the source.
Xiao Baobao slowly raised his head.
"...What was that?"
A palace servant hurried into the room, looking flustered.
"Your Highness, the purple cub knocked over one of the decorative pillars."
Xiao Baobao stared at him blankly, the pillars are something even he couldn't destroy with raw strength. If he remembers correctly Xiao Zi was a cub...right??
"The pillar?"
"Yes."
"How?"
The servant hesitated.
"He... climbed it, then he started chewing on it, the palace robots tried to get him down but he made too much of a fuss and ended up kicking down the pillar."
Xiao Baobao closed his eyes.
Of course he did.
Before he could say anything, another servant rushed in.
"Your Highness! The purple cub has entered the royal library!"
Xiao Baobao's eyes widened, and the ministers gasped in shock
"The library?" That's where all the physical books are, even ancient ones.
If that tiny thing could bring down a pillar then what about the books that are there. Though the important ones wouldn't really suffer much harm, the others definitely will.
"Yes! We tried to stop him, but..."
The servant's expression became complicated.
"We couldn't catch him."
Xiao Baobao's face went blank.
He looked toward the doorway.
Sure enough, a small purple blur flashed past the corridor.
"Xiao Zi!"
The cub paused for half a second.
He turned his head.
His round eyes met Xiao Baobao's.
Then he immediately ran away.
"Hey!"
Xiao Baobao shot out of his chair and chased after him.
The palace servants hurried after them.
Unfortunately, catching Xiao Zi was far easier said than done.
The little purple dragon cub was small, fast, and far too curious for his own good.
He squeezed beneath tables, climbed onto shelves, knocked things over, and occasionally stopped to stare at something interesting before suddenly darting away again.
The robots stationed throughout the palace were even less useful.
They could detect Xiao Zi's movements perfectly, but they couldn't restrain him.
Xiao Zi was a distinguished guest of the imperial family.
More importantly, he was still a young primordial dragon.
Any attempt to physically restrict him too forcefully could hurt him, and the palace's security systems had been programmed to avoid harming distinguished guests.
So the robots could only follow him helplessly.
"Please stop!"
One robot extended its mechanical arm.
Xiao Zi immediately twisted away and scurried beneath it.
"Target has evaded restraint."
Another robot moved to block his path.
Xiao Zi simply climbed onto its head.
"Target is currently standing on my head."
The robot paused.
"...Requesting instructions."
Xiao Baobao, who had just caught up, nearly short-circuited at the sight. Because Xiao Zi was chewing the robot head, and there are signs of the chewed part coming off.
"Get him down!"
"Unable to restrain target."
"Why?!"
"Target is a distinguished guest."
Xiao Baobao stared at the robot.
"He's standing on your head!"
"Correct."
"And he's about to jump onto that shelf!"
"Correct."
"Then stop him!"
"Unable to do so without potentially causing harm."
Xiao Baobao's eye twitched.
Meanwhile, Xiao Zi had already jumped onto the shelf.
He sat there proudly, his little tail swaying from side to side as he looked down at everyone.
Xiao Baobao stared at him.
Xiao Zi stared back.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Xiao Zi opened his mouth and let out a cheerful little hum.
Xiao Baobao's expression darkened.
"Don't you dare."
Xiao Zi tilted his head.
Then he reached toward a very expensive-looking artifact sitting on the edge of the shelf.
Xiao Baobao's soul nearly left his body.
"XIAO ZI, NO!"
Before the disaster could strike, Xiao Zi felt a familiar iron grip on his tail, and he shivered from the chill emanating from behind him.
Xiao Zi slowly turned his head backward and was terrified to see Xiao Bai's dark face.