BATTLE FOR STARS

“I thought it over,” Belina said. “Little Chubby is the youngest. He still looks like a kid and stayed quietly at the side the whole time, so Balk probably won’t pay much attention to him. But you and Mor are adults. You’re too noticeable.”

She paused for a moment, then looked at Lina seriously.

“To avoid any accidents, I’ll help you buy back your freedom as soon as possible. After that, you’ll leave the Resk Empire with me.”

Lina looked back at Belina. There was a lot hidden in those eyes.

“Alright. But because of the contract, I still have to finish the finals of the Mech Fighter Tournament first. Once it’s over, we’ll leave with you.”

“Fine. Don’t worry about the money.”

Belina took a small ornament-like object out of her bag and held it in front of Lina so she could examine it carefully. Then she placed it onto Lina’s head.

Lina looked at her in confusion, waiting for an explanation.

“This is a miniature communicator. It can contact me directly,” Belina explained. “I already entered your biological signature into the system just now. Only you can activate it. As for how to use it, go study it somewhere private after you get back.”

She knew the Resk Empire maintained extremely strict control over slaves. Normally, only servant slaves were allowed to establish direct contact with guests. Everyone else had to apply through official channels.

And after what happened with Balk today, Belina no longer trusted those official communication systems.

This was the fastest way to stay in contact with Lina.

“Okay. Thank you,” Lina said softly.

Even though the incident with Balk had only just happened, it was obvious Belina was already making arrangements for her friends’ future.

Belina glanced toward Mor and Little Chubby in the distance.

“Keep this secret for now. Don’t tell anyone. I’m worried it could become a problem if people find out.”

“Got it.”

“Oh, and be careful around Little Chubby,” Belina added at the end.

“Why?”

Belina smiled faintly.

“Just be careful. I’ll explain the reason later.”

After finishing her conversation with Lina, Belina returned to the group. They said their goodbyes one by one before she and Ding Yufei took a flying car back to the hotel.

By the time they returned, Sade was already waiting for them with an unhappy expression.

Sneaking out during the day was one thing.

Almost causing a disaster afterward was another.

Sade had long been warned that this princess was extremely mischievous, so as long as the situation wasn’t too serious, everyone usually let her do whatever she wanted. That was why he hadn’t paid much attention when he discovered she was gone earlier.

After all, Boman was the largest entertainment planet in the Resk Empire. Security for guests there was famously excellent. Incidents involving visitors were almost unheard of.

Besides, over the past few days, he had been getting along extremely well with the female intimate partner slave Heidi, so his attention had drifted a little.

Then, by evening, Belina had directly activated communications with the Fleet and issued orders.

Even though nothing catastrophic actually happened, the entire situation still frightened countless people.

Belina’s cousin, Claudia, had even personally questioned him about it afterward.

That left Sade extremely embarrassed.

As a bodyguard, he had known absolutely nothing and had to learn what happened from other people. It was a complete failure on his part.

“Sade, this has nothing to do with you. I caused it myself, so stop looking like the sky’s about to collapse,” Belina said first when she noticed his expression.

“Princess, you could at least tell me beforehand,” Sade complained unhappily. “You disappeared, and I couldn’t even contact you. When Major Claudia questioned me, I was completely caught off guard.”

Because of this incident, the Major had arranged for several more special operations soldiers to assist with security.

Ding Yufei also looked a little awkward.

He knew the Kramic kingdom used a military ranking system somewhat similar to Earth’s. Their promotions were divided into four major officer classes, each represented by a type of plant.

A single leaf represented non-commissioned officers.

Grass represented Junior Officers.

Flowers represented Field Officers.

Trees represented generals.

To make things easier to understand, his automatic translation system had translated Claudia’s “One-Flower” rank into “Major.”

“Alright, stop talking about it already. I’ll notify you next time,” Belina said casually, clearly not treating the matter seriously.

Honestly, if they hadn’t run into Balk at the end, the whole day would have gone perfectly.

Besides, she wasn’t used to a bodyguard criticizing her decisions anymore. A few years ago, when she was younger, she could tolerate occasional lectures. But now she was already nineteen.

She had no interest in listening to people nag her all day.

“Princess, you don’t even need to notify me. Just take me with you instead,” Sade quickly changed his wording after noticing Belina’s impatience.

He truly couldn’t relax while letting the princess wander around alone.

“We’ll see how I feel.” Belina still didn’t want a tail following her everywhere. Though after today’s incident, bringing Sade along might actually be useful.

Still, she couldn’t agree too easily.

Otherwise it would make it seem like she had no temper at all.

“Princess, the servant slave you purchased has already arrived. Should I bring her over now?” Seeing that Belina hadn’t refused outright, Sade knew he just needed to stay closer to her in the future. He wisely changed the subject.

“Oh right, I almost forgot.”

Belina turned toward Ding Yufei.

“It’s that female servant slave you named Dong Jiaqi. Since you’re technically her master now, shouldn’t you at least give her a little speech or something?”

Ding Yufei immediately looked embarrassed.

The whole naming thing had been Belina’s idea in the first place. How was he supposed to know only masters could assign names?

And now she wanted him to lecture a servant slave too?

He had absolutely no idea how to do something like that. Wasn’t she just trying to make him embarrass himself?

“I don’t know how to give speeches,” Ding Yufei said helplessly.

But Belina ignored him completely.

“Since she’s already here, bring her in.”

“Alright.”

Sade pressed a switch, and a side door slid open.

Dong Jiaqi had been waiting outside. The moment the door opened, she carefully walked in.

This was the first official meeting with her new master.

Seeing her nervous, trembling appearance, Ding Yufei couldn’t help finding it a little amusing inside.

Neither he nor Belina looked like vicious criminals.

So why was she this frightened?

“Master, you’ve returned.”

Dong Jiaqi hurried over beside Belina and Ding Yufei. Facing Ding Yufei directly, she immediately knelt down.

“Do you have any orders for me?”

“Why are you kneeling again? Get up.” Ding Yufei had already seen servant slaves kneeling while serving their masters on many occasions over the past few days, but seeing it happen inside his own room still felt strange to him.

What he didn’t know was that this was considered the most basic etiquette taught during servant slave training.

“Stop kneeling. Just stand over there,” Belina ordered directly, clearly feeling the gesture was unnecessary as well.

“O-Okay... Master.”

Dong Jiaqi quickly stood up and moved to the side, though her head remained slightly lowered, not daring to look directly at anyone.