In the gray room, Sora held Reiju tightly, her delicate, porcelain-like face filled with complex emotions.
Her brows were slightly furrowed, and her eyes flickered with a look of entanglement and struggle, as if she were going through a fierce internal battle.
"Your Highness, this is a Vinsmoke family matter…"
Sora finally breathed a sigh of relief and rejected Ross's idea.
She knew what Ross wanted.
She also knew that this might be the best choice for Reiju's sake, and Judge might even be extremely happy to accept it.
But she wasn't that kind of person; she wouldn't do something like that.
Moreover, there must be a better way.
Judge probably wouldn't be so heartless as to truly treat Reiju as a tool and weapon...
"Mrs. Sora, just pretend I never mentioned this."
Seeing Sora's resolute attitude, Ross smiled slightly and naturally chose to let the matter drop.
If you could catch fish as soon as you cast your line, fishing would lose much of its fun.
That's fine too.
The longer you wait, the sweeter it will taste.
While they were chatting, 2-year-old Reiju woke up and was looking at Ross with her big, round eyes full of curiosity.
"Reiju was really cute."
Ross smiled and took Reiju from Sora's arms, then hugged and teased her.
Sora was initially worried that Ross wouldn't be able to take care of the child, but watching Ross and Reiju's interactions, she discovered that Ross was not only very patient, but also very skilled at it.
Reiju was basically quiet and didn't make a fuss when Ross was with her.
"Has Your Highness ever taken care of children before?" Sora couldn't help but ask.
"I brought him here. He was a newborn boy, much more mischievous than Reiju."
The smile in Ross's eyes deepened as he thought of Rouge and Ace.
It was almost 1501, and he hadn't been back to the Holy Land for almost a month.
To be honest, he actually missed the two of them quite a bit.
"Your Highness is very patient."
Sora stared at Ross, who was interacting with Reiju with his fingers, her gaze slightly unfocused.
The scene before her eyes seemed like the most beautiful dream she had ever had.
Judge stayed by her and Reiju's side, making lighthearted jokes to her while teasing young Reiju.
"Mrs. Sora, what's wrong?"
Ross's gentle words whispered in Sora's ear, instantly pulling her back to reality from her beautiful dream.
In a daze, Sora looked again.
In the gray room, only Ross's tall figure gently held Reiju.
Unfortunately, it was just a dream.
In reality, there had never been a gentle Judge. There was only a gentler, taller, more powerful, and more prestigious Ross.
"I'm fine. It's rare to see Reiju like someone so much."
Sora gently shook her head, her words like a breeze across a lake, carrying a subtle hint of politeness and distance. A faint smile played on her lips, yet it couldn't conceal the deep bitterness in her heart.
Thoughts drifted like fallen leaves as Sora reminisced about the past.
After Reiju was born, she was breastfed and cared for by a dedicated person.
Everything was in perfect order, except that she, the biological mother, was excluded.
If she wanted to see Reiju, she needed Judge's permission and accompaniment.
Only when Judge was busy with experiments did she have a few opportunities to visit Reiju alone after making multiple requests.
If she came by herself, everything would be fine except for Mazo and Mayu watching her closely.
Reiju was very close to her, and seemed to know that she was her biological mother.
Sora's happiest times were always when she was alone with Reiju.
Unfortunately, most of her memories were from when she came here with Judge.
Every time Judge came, his gaze was always fixed on Reiju, watching her every emotional fluctuation.
However, that attention did not stem from a father's anxious care, but rather was like a cold winter wind, carrying a biting chill.
The moment Reiju showed the slightest sign of crying or fussing, Judge's face instantly darkened, and impatience and violence surged forth like a tidal wave.
At best, he would throw Reiju hard to the ground, her small body tracing a heartbreaking arc in the air.
In severe cases, Sora and others could become victims of his rage.
In Judge's eyes, a child's emotions seemed to be something extremely shameful and untouchable. He could neither understand nor accept Reiju's innocent tears and laughter.
Sora was incredibly grateful that Reiju had improved her bloodline, making her body more resilient than ordinary people, which allowed her to survive Judge's abuse.
Otherwise, an ordinary infant would have long since vanished into the endless darkness.
"Reiju is very approachable. She will definitely be a kind girl in the future."
Ross smiled, and his seemingly casual words always struck Sora's sore spots like sharp arrows.
No matter how you looked at it, Judge didn't seem like the kind of person who would let a child grow up normally.
But faced with Ross's blessing, Sora could only manage a forced smile:
"Yes, she will definitely be a kind girl."
This was her most beautiful blessing for Reiju, and she hoped that this scene could truly come true in the future.
Just as Ross and Sora were lost in their own thoughts, a series of hurried footsteps sounded outside the room.
Ross and Sora both looked outside and soon spotted Judge at the doorway.
"Your Highness, Mazo and Mayu have disturbed you, and I have personally dealt with them."
Judge spoke with a slight breathlessness, indicating that he must have done quite a lot in that short period of time.
After speaking, Judge glared at Sora with slightly angry eyes:
"Your Highness, the Princess Consort shouldn't have come to this dirty and chaotic place. It caused you distress. I was not thoughtful enough."
Sora trembled as Judge's angry gaze swept over her.
She had seen Judge when he was truly angry, and it looked exactly the same as it did now.
Judge had always been like this; he dared not vent his anger on the strong, but only on his own people.
Last time, a member state in the North Blue refused the deal with Judge, and dozens of slaves were lost on the snail ship that day, all of them dying in extremely tragic ways.
"This is my own idea, and it has nothing to do with Mrs. Sora."
Ross casually took a step forward, landing right between Judge and Sora.
With her view blocked, Sora could only see Ross's tall and broad back, and her panicked body unconsciously relaxed.
Seemingly sensing Sora's relaxation, Ross turned around and gave Sora a smile.
Sora instinctively lowered her face and dared not accept his kindness in front of Judge.
"Your Highness, I have overstepped my bounds."
Judge bowed his head deeply and apologized to Ross once again.
However, his lowered eyes reflected the scene of Ross and Sora interacting.
Seeing this, Judge was not angry at all; on the contrary, he felt genuinely happy.
The manifestations of lineage factors were diverse, and among these, genetic genes, as a special medium for bloodline connection, contained the most complete lineage factors.
If one could obtain Ross's bloodline factor through this method, Judge would be laughing in his sleep.