Aaron was a rather small and thin man, with dry yellow hair, looking as if he had been malnourished for a long time.
When he was dragged in by the soldiers, he looked terrified and was still struggling.
"Bang!"
He was thrown to the ground, making a loud noise.
Seeing this, the General kicked the shoulder of this soldier who was said to be called Aaron:
"How careless! What if you disturb His Majesty!"
A clear sound of bone cracking came from Aaron's kicked shoulder.
He prostrated himself on the ground, his fingers thin and long, then slowly clenched his fists, his voice hoarse:
"General, I... I didn't..."
The General angrily interrupted him:
"If not you, then who?! You've been distracted these days, even when standing guard you're always out of it, and you're dressed in rags... Didn't our camp issue you armor?!"
Aaron hung his head low, his face pale, unable to utter a word.
After scolding, the General immediately turned to Xavier:
"Your Majesty, it must be this person! When we were recruiting, I thought this guy was light-fingered. It's one thing that his family isn't well-off, but in the camp he's always alone, and I've caught him trying to desert several times!"
Hearing this, Aaron's fingers trembled slightly.
He seemed to want to defend himself, but before he could speak, the General kicked him in the chest:
"His Majesty hasn't spoken yet, what are you making a fuss about?"
Then, the General looked at Xavier fawningly, rubbing his hands together, and said:
"Your Majesty, how do you think we should deal with this person?"
Xavier's eyes were indifferent, his cold gaze moving from the General's face to Aaron's.
His expression was inscrutable.
Meeting his gaze, despair flashed in Aaron's eyes, and he finally lowered his head silently.
Seeing this, the General seemed even more satisfied and looked at Xavier:
"I request Your Majesty to make a decision soon."
Xavier didn't speak, his long, pale fingers tapping on the armrest of the chair, his posture relaxed and at ease.
As he didn't speak, the General didn't dare say anything more, holding his breath and waiting for Xavier's judgment.
In the silence, there was suddenly a sound from the sand table.
A girl's crisp voice was heard:
"Look up."
Hearing this, the General raised his head in bewilderment.
He saw Chloe standing beside Aaron, arms folded, looking down at him.
Hearing her voice, Aaron hesitated.
It wasn't until Chloe urged him again that Aaron tremblingly raised his head as told.
This Aaron didn't seem very old, judging by his face, he looked about seventeen or eighteen, not yet an adult.
Surprisingly, there wasn't much cowardice in his eyes, but more of a hopeless despair.
Seeing Chloe staring at him, Aaron was a bit surprised, but didn't say much, and soon lowered his head again.
Scapegoat.
This thought crawled into Chloe's mind.
Aaron's image was very typical.
Poor, taciturn, seemingly bullied for a long time, his clothes had many patches and holes, unlike the other well-fed soldiers, he was so thin he was almost unrecognizable.
He was skin and bones.
A typical image of someone unpopular, who would be pushed out to take the blame when problems arose.
Even she could see it, there was no reason Xavier couldn't.
Chloe looked at the soldier before her, her mind already made up.
She looked at Xavier:
"Father, I want him."
As her words fell, silence once again filled the tent.
The General's face changed dramatically, and he said with a forced smile: "What are you saying, young miss? This soldier is a bad person, he accepted bribes from the Werewolf Race, what does the young miss want him for?"
"If the young miss is bored, we have many soldiers in our camp who can play with you."
Chloe pouted, completely ignoring the General, and asked Xavier directly:
"Father, I want to play with him."
Xavier's gaze gradually warmed, and he lowered his voice:
"If that's what you want, then play with him."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chloe immediately broke into a smile: "Thank you, Daddy!"
Without even glancing at the General, whose face had turned sour, she grabbed Aaron's hand and walked out of the tent.
The General wanted to stop them, but they were too fast. Before he could speak, Chloe and Aaron were gone from the tent.
He gritted his teeth and cursed in his heart — Little brat, ruining my plans.
Just then, Xavier's voice came from across:
"What's the matter, General? Are you dissatisfied with my daughter?"
The General suddenly came to his senses and immediately answered nervously:
"I wouldn't dare, not at all!"
"...The young miss is lively and innocent, truly a blessing to our vampire race."
Hearing this, a smile of indiscernible sincerity appeared on Xavier's lips:
"Is that so?"
...
Inside the military camp, Chloe held Aaron's hand, wandering around the camp, successfully attracting quite a few gazes.
It was because these two were too eye-catching. Chloe needn't be mentioned, she was His Majesty's only daughter, the apple of his eye raised with the entire clan's efforts; as for Aaron...
He was at the bottom of the food chain in the military camp. How could such a person be walking together with the young miss?
As gazes kept coming their way, Chloe glared at them fiercely, threatening:
"What are you looking at? I'll gouge out your eyeballs later!"
Everyone immediately scattered, no longer daring to look their way even once.
Seeing them all avert their gazes, Chloe felt much better and led the silent Aaron to a secluded part of the camp:
"Don't you have anything to say?"
After a moment of silence, Aaron raised his head, his voice hoarse, like the sound of cat claws scratching on glass, very grating:
"What does the young miss want to hear?"
Chloe didn't speak, instead taking out a bottle of water from her mustard ring and offering it to him.
Aaron's eyes were wary, and he didn't take it.
Seeing this, Chloe clicked her tongue, directly pulled Aaron to half-squat, then grabbed his chin, opened his mouth, and poured the water in.
As his parched throat was moistened by the sweet liquid, Aaron resisted at first but then instinctively began to swallow.
After being moistened, his throat felt much better immediately, and even his speech was no longer hoarse.
Aaron's eyes were a bit red as he stared directly at Chloe in front of him.
The water bottle quickly emptied. Chloe released her grip on Aaron's chin and tossed the plastic bottle into a distant trash can. She lifted her chin slightly and asked:
"Can you talk now?"
Aaron: "..."
He remained silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice had less hostility:
"The young miss should at least tell me what she wants to hear."
Hearing this, Chloe looked directly into his eyes: "Was it you who let the Werewolf Race in?"
Aaron's eyelashes trembled slightly, but his gaze remained steadfast as he looked at Chloe and said with certainty:
"No, it wasn't."
