The trace of anger Xu Yi had felt toward the noble lords in the Stantin Duchy who refused to recognize the situation vanished the moment he landed.
As soon as Freya saw Xu Yi, she flung out her arms and rushed toward him.
Xu Yi scooped Freya up, and her clear, bubbling laughter filled his heart with happiness. How could he spare a thought for what those noble lords were plotting?
"Daddy, let's go play up on the tower, okay?" Freya pointed toward the top of the tall Signal Tower, her face full of anticipation.
"Hmm... all right, but we need to wait a little. We'll go up once Auntie Akali and the others finish their work."
"Oh, okay. I'll wait, then," Freya replied obediently.
Xu Yi kissed her little cheek in approval, then looked around. Seeing Linda watching them with a warm smile, he asked her, "Was it your turn to have Freya latch on to you today? Where's Liss? And where are those two little fellows?"
The "two little fellows" Xu Yi mentioned were the two sons Liss and Linda had borne him.
Liss's son was named Sandy, while Linda's was named Harvey. Both were fairly ordinary names.
As with Freya, Xu Yi had followed one principle when naming the two boys: he left their Sains Continent-style names to their mothers, while he would give them additional names using his own surname, in the style of Earth, once they turned ten.
For now, all three children's names were merely childhood names, used for convenience.
When Xu Yi let Liss and Linda choose childhood names for the sons they had borne him, both women had been deeply moved, because it showed how fully he respected them.
Although Liss and Linda had long since been freed from slavery, they had