Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Dean Atchison told his mother about the major revelation, but he noticed that her expression was quite calm, showing no surprise. He naturally began to suspect whether she had known about this in advance and asked quietly, “Mother, did you know about this beforehand?”

Hua Defei just glanced at him without saying a word. However, Dean Atchison could tell from her reaction that she indeed had known in advance.

“Mother, am I no longer your son?” Dean Atchison looked at his mother with a trace of resentment. After all, Ruo Manni was his friend. How could she not tell him such an important thing?

“No,” Hua Defei replied decisively, ignoring her son’s resentful gaze. She had only recently learned of it herself. Hua De’s family hadn’t made any public announcement yet, and she didn’t know if they wanted to recognize Ruo Manni. If she told him, he might run off to recognize his cousin, which would be awkward.

But it seemed that the second brother and sister-in-law did want to recognize her, otherwise, they wouldn’t have shown such a reaction in this situation. They likely hadn’t found an opportunity because the children had been confined to the school for the past two months without any contact with the outside world.

Seeing that the second sister-in-law had calmed down, Hua Defei approached with a hint of surprise and said, “During the initial training, when Dean showed me their photos, I thought Manni and Xiao Li looked like twin siblings. At that time, I even lamented that such an outstanding girl not being a member of our Hua De family was a real pity. It turns out my intuition was right.”

Hua Defei’s intervention helped reduce Lixi Amber’s overwhelming sadness. Hearing Hua Defei’s words, Lixi Amber looked at Ruo Manni with pride, seeing her daughter as the best and most outstanding child in the world.

Hua Defei had noticed Ruo Manni early on because of her son and recognized how exceptional she was. Seeing the resemblance between Manni and herself, Hua Defei, who had no daughter of her own, felt a strong fondness for her.

At this moment, King Adam, Queen Amber, and Hebrew Adam came out from the back hall, signaling the official start of the banquet. All attention shifted back to the hosts, including the family engaged in the recognition.

Hua Defei helped Lixi Amber adjust her appearance. Fortunately, as a soldier, Lixi Amber was not used to heavy makeup. After wiping her face, she looked clean, with only her slightly red eyes showing any sign of emotional distress.

Ruo Manni breathed a sigh of relief. Although Lixi Amber still held her hand tightly, she was finally able to catch her breath.

Under the arrangement of the palace robots, the guests took their places around the long tables in the hall. The robots then served each guest a large portion of food. Ruo Manni had no idea what the food was made of and could only think of it as exquisite.

Ruo Manni originally looked forward to expanding her horizons and indeed spent the entire evening at the banquet. However, she didn’t gain much insight because she was mostly absent-minded during most of the time.

Of course, it wasn’t just Ruo Manni who was absent-minded; the Hua De family and her friends were as well.

Even though Ruo Manni was distracted, she noticed that Queen Amber was also absent-minded, as was Hebrew Adam.

Only King Adam appeared clear-headed. He gave a brief opening speech, expressing gratitude to the guests, congratulating Queen Amber, presenting her with a birthday gift, and then announcing the start of the banquet.

King Adam looked much like his image on the screen. Hebrew Adam resembled his father to at least 60%, but to be honest, Hebrew Adam was much taller and more handsome than his father.

In the novel, the Second Prince and King Adam had a strained father-son relationship, but Ruo Manni felt that it was different in the real world.

Hebrew Adam’s attitude towards his father was very natural, the kind of natural closeness a son has with his father. King Adam’s affection and pride for his son were evident, and seeing their interactions made Ruo Manni think of the phrase “a loving father and a filial son.”

However, Queen Amber, who was maintaining her queenly demeanor on the side, seemed to be like a stranger to the father and son in terms of attitude.

Of course, even though Ruo Manni was absent-minded, she immediately regained her composure when it came time to eat. Ah, indeed, it was a high-level banquet. Most of the food was unfamiliar to her, but it was delicious.

Due to the attention she received because of the events before the banquet, Ruo Manni had to recall the etiquette tips given by the hostess and pretend to be very polite and refined while eating.

However, the Hua De couple on either side of her were entirely focused on her, naturally noticing the small gleams of pleasure in her eyes whenever she tasted the delicious food.

Their daughter was truly adorable, and the couple shared a knowing look of agreement.

After the banquet, Ruo Manni was surprised to find that such a high-end birthday party had no follow-up events. After the eating and drinking, the guests simply engaged in casual conversation.

The Hua De couple quickly became the second most popular couple, after the king and queen. Many of the conversations among the guests revolved around inquiring about the earlier events.

As a result, every time Hua Deyu and Lixi Amber spoke to someone, they inevitably brought up Manni: “Manni, this is your ×××××……”

In such a setting, there was little Manni could do. She couldn’t just show no reaction; she was also feeling quite desperate. Unable to escape, she had no choice but to politely greet those who came up to her.

The only benefit was that Manni received many gifts, so many that she felt a bit numb.

Finally, King Adam came over, accompanied only by Hebrew Adam. With a satisfied look, he said to Manni, “This child is outstanding in every way. Truly deserving of being from the Hua De family. With such a pair of children, I believe the entire Gus Empire envies you.”

Hua Deyu smiled and thanked him. Although Lixi Amber was upset, she maintained her composure in such a setting and managed a polite smile, though it was quite faint.

After exchanging a few words with Hua Deyu, King Adam presented Manni with a gift, a spatial token, and then left with Hebrew Adam.

As a king, King Adam personally came over to speak with Hua Deyu and the others and gave Ruo Manni a gift, which was highly significant. The most obvious implication was official recognition.

King Adam’s personal acknowledgment and admiration for the recently found Hua De family girl would soon spread among the aristocracy.

While King Adam was conversing with Hua Deyu and his party, Hebrew Adam greeted them but appeared somewhat dispirited and distracted.

At Lixi Amber’s signal, Ruo Manni had to accept the gift personally handed to her by the king. Once the king left, Ruo Manni couldn’t help but check what the gift was and was startled.

To her amazement, it was a private interstellar spacecraft capable of carrying military-grade weapons.

As far as Ruo Manni knew, private interstellar spacecraft required military approval and registration to be purchased, with even the cheapest ones costing around eighty million credit coins. Given that it was a gift from the king, it was likely worth more than a hundred million, not including the weaponry.