Leon nodded silently, fully understanding his Father Emperor's meaning.
Though he himself was still uncertain whether he would join the fight for the throne, the urgency of the enemies inside the empire and lurking in the dark will not affect their involvement in training under the Emperor.
"If I may be permitted to ask… how about the interrogation of Hasta?" Joab politely raised his concern to the group, "Shall we continue our interrogation with him immediately? What if the second captive also had a spirit fragment inside his body?"
"Let's postpone the interrogation for now and strengthen the isolation arrays around his cell." The High Priest replied.
"It may be that the spirit fragment would only be sensed by the main spirit when he was no longer inside the isolation arrays. Remember, all of the arrays were destroyed prior to having the spirit fragment defeated."
Everyone agreed with the High Priest's conjecture. It's better safe than sorry.
Soon everyone was dismissed but not a single one of them was in a mood to relax.
Before Eli and Leon exited the room, Nathan approached them anxiously.
"Little Sister, Third Prince, mother had sent me a message saying that Little Han is unwell. He never stopped crying and seemed to be calling Wisey repeatedly… His continuous crying made him run a fever.." He told the two with a worried expression.
The time he spent working with the two had made him comfortable. His biased thinking towards Leon was changed into respect, while he became more at ease and happy interacting with Eli whose intellect always makes him smile proudly.
He would always praise his grandfather in his heart for not letting Grandpa Andi monopolize Eli. If not for Grandpa Ben insisting on adopting Eli as a god granddaughter, he would never feel so happy to have an amazing Little Sister like her.
What's more, his little sister was also able to give birth to such a cute and lovable nephew! His life as an older brother was now complete! Before, he had lost hope to experience how it's like to have a sister. But the heavens heard his prayers and gave him one!
However, her little sister has it hard. Just a moment ago, she was forced to decide to go into seclusion. Now she will hear bad news about her little baby. Nathan's heart couldn't help but hurt for Eli.
Hearing the news, a great sense of panic and uneasiness masked Eli's entire face.
"Let's hurry back!!" She said while running frantically towards the teleportation array without even looking towards the two men who were left behind in shock.
Nathan patted Leon's shoulder while assuringly saying, "I'll inform the Emperor and the rest, just accompany my Little Sister and check for my little nephew's condition."
"Thank you…" Leon looked at Nathan gratefully before calling out Kayden to check what was the problem on Little Han's body. Then the two immediately went after Eli towards the teleportation array.
In the Farauld Estate, Grandma Myrna, Janine and Aquila were already on the verge of crying as they saw Little Han wailing loudly while his temperature kept rising.
"Shall we call the doctor?" Grandma Myrna asked Grandpa Ben anxiously.
"No… We've already informed Nathan, for sure Eli and Leon will take Kayden with them." Grandpa Ben answered as calmly as he could, it was the first time he saw Little Han act like this.
It was only then that everyone realized how dangerous it was for Little Han to contract any kind of sickness such as this because they could not haphazardly call a doctor whom they could trust for the fear of exposing his existence prematurely.
They could only rely on Kayden who was with Eli to take a look at Little Han's health.
"Grandpa… Grandma…" After a few minutes, Eli's haggard figure which was still covered in bandages ran towards the anxious elders. Leon and Kayden followed and greeted everyone.
Eli immediately proceeded to Little Han's crib and tried to comfort him, "My baby.. Mommy is here."
Her voice quivered as she saw Little Han's plump face was soaked from crying and his entire body was already reddish because of the uncomfortable heat he was suffering.
"Mommy… mommy.. sisi … sisi…" Another batch of tears rolled from Little Han's eyes as he wailed pitifully.
Little Han looked at Eli with an extremely aggrieved face. His anxious wails was enough to break Eli and Leon's heart as they realize what they have just decided earlier.
They were just about to announce that they will leave Little Han under the elder's care. But seeing Little Han like this, how could they be so heartless to leave in times when Little Han needed them the most?!
"Brother… please take a look at Little Han…" Tears were already rolling from Eli's eyes, she was already on the verge of mentally collapsing but she is holding on because she cannot afford to neglect Little Han's condition.
Kayden immediately examined Little Han carefully. After doing so, he looked at Eli and Leon while explaining his diagnosis,
"He is running a fever, however it is not yet on a dangerous level. In a while, I'll concoct medicine for infants to help lower his temperature. But the worrying thing was that he had cried for a long time and I saw signs of inflammation on his throat. If he still could not stop his crying, his throat might be wounded and may cause an infection. I highly suggest that you calm him down at all cost prior to administering the appropriate medications for him."
"Alright, brother.. Thank you very much." With that Eli took the crying Little Han in her arms and tried her best to comfort him.
Leon on the other hand, faced the Elders and Kayden in order to express his sincere thanks for caring for Little Han. He also took this time to gather them and explain what he and Eli would do for the days ahead.
The elders reluctantly looked at Eli who was still covered with bandages and torn clothes. It was evident that she and the rest went through a lot today yet she was taking care of her son without minding her condition.
The mother and son were left in the room. It was already night time yet Eli was still unable to get a minute of rest.
"Wuwu.." Little Han still kept whimpering as he clung on Eli's neck like his life depended on it. "Wuwu.. mommy.. Sisi… wuwu.."
"I'm sorry baby.. Sisi is asleep, but she will come back.. I'm sorry baby.." Eli hugged Little Han tighter. Her body trembled upon realizing that Little Han could feel that Wisey's presence disappeared.
She realized that Wisey as the book spirit has been her and Little Han's companion from the start.
What's more, she contracted Wisey and Baobao while she was pregnant with Little Han. With that Little Han could also be considered as half their contractor and could completely sense when something went wrong with them.
Little Han continued to cry aggrievedly. His young mind could not understand yet why his companion was not around.
Remembering Kayden's words Eli became increasingly worried as the little one showed no signs of stopping. Helpless, she gently placed Little Han on the bed and summoned the book of knowledge.
She looked at Little Han while she coaxed him, "Sisi is sick, she is sleeping in this book.."
Little Han saw the book of knowledge, he seemed to have sensed Wisey's presence inside. His cries immediately lessened as he reached out his chubby hands and his crystal blue eyes to look pleadingly towards Eli. "Mommy.. Sisi.."
"Yes, Sisi is here.." She gently placed the book beside Little Han. The book was half as big as Little Han, but the little one rolled sideways and hugged the book as if he was afraid that it would be lost.
Slowly his loud cries became whimpers. His whimpers became soft and delicate sniffles. Until such time that his eyes fluttered tiredly and eventually drifted to sleep.
Drying is face moistened with tears, Eli gently cleaned Little Han's body, changed his clothes and lulled him to sleep.
"Sleep tight my baby. Mommy and daddy will do their best to protect you." After ensuring that Little Han was alright, Eli kissed his forehead and tucked him to sleep while she hummed a lullaby.
Fatigue overwhelmed her body, she was unaware that she was also drifting to a deep sleep.
