Morning. The forge in the Royal Wilderness still held the dying embers of its furnace.
Su Li placed two polished silver badges on the table. As Elena had requested, he had rounded off the edges by an extra half millimeter.
The ginkgo leaf pattern on the backs of the badges gleamed in the morning light.
"Breakfast!"
Saina's booming voice carried in from the courtyard, accompanied by the crisp clanging of a spatula against an iron wok.
Su Li pocketed the silver badges and pushed the door open.
The courtyard was already a complete mess.
Little Stone was tugging the fat cat Silver by the tail, dragging it across the ground.
Silver lay belly-up, its pale stomach exposed, rolling its eyes in utter despair. It could not even be bothered to struggle, letting the little demon king use it as a mop.
"Stone! Let go!" Saina came out of the kitchen carrying a huge basin of pork ribs stewed with green beans. She kicked aside a piece of firewood in her path. "If you pull out any more of its fur, there'll be no meat for you at lunch!"
Little Stone turned a deaf ear, giggling as he crawled forward on all fours.
Su Li walked over, bent down, and lifted Little Stone up. Then he casually hung one of the silver badges around the boy's neck.
"What's this?" Saina set the basin on the stone table and leaned in to look.
"A protective charm." Su Li pressed Little Stone into his special high wooden chair. "I made it yesterday afternoon. There's no aether sealed inside—just something to remember."
Little Stone lowered his head to look at the silver badge on his chest, grabbed it with his chubby little hand, and immediately shoved it into his mouth.
"Hey! You can't eat