Chapter239

After having slept with Leif's mother many times, Leif's father became pregnant with him. At that time, Leif's mother's people had already located her, and it was almost time for her to leave.

Although she wanted to bring Leif's father back with her, she had come to Sargassum to escape. The situation there was only slightly stable, and the journey back, along with what she would face after returning, was full of danger from the ongoing battle for the throne.

So Leif's mother didn't take his father with her. She also didn't know the man she had slept with was already secretly pregnant with her child. She had thought that men in the Carnation Kingdom couldn't get pregnant.

Fortunately, Leif's mother was a responsible woman. Before leaving, to ensure that Leif's father could survive, she personally went to the then-ruler of Sargassum. She revealed her identity as a second-ranking royal princess of the Carnation Kingdom and made a deal with the ruler of Sargassum, which allowed Leif's father to be freed from the status of a criminal slave and regain his identity as a member of the Sargassum royal bloodline.

Sadly, even though Leif's mother completed the deal with the previous ruler of Sargassum and personally witnessed Leif's father restoring his royal identity, believing he would live a good life, she then left the kingdom.

But just two months after she left, the previous ruler of Sargassum suddenly died. All royal family members and senior officials closely related to the former ruler were either demoted or killed for various reasons.

Leif's father, who had just regained his royal status, was demoted to a slave again while still pregnant.

The new ruler who took over—now the current monarch of Sargassum—was originally an unknown distant royal relative.

After gaining power, he didn't send those demoted to the death cities. Instead, he sent them to another extremely dangerous and remote place.

Leif's mother had just returned to her kingdom and re-entered the dangerous world of politics. She had no time to check on what was happening in Sargassum.

On the journey to exile for the second time, Leif's father wasn't as lucky as before.

The second journey was full of hardship and wandering, but for the sake of the child in his belly, he clenched his teeth and endured everything.

But Sargassum was still a male-dominated country. As Leif's father's stomach began to swell and people noticed something was wrong, the fact that a man from a male-dominated country was pregnant with a child from a female-dominated nation made his already dangerous situation even worse.

He was cursed at, humiliated, laughed at, and looked down upon. People treated him like a monster, bullied and framed him, and he almost died on the journey.

But in the end, he held on with gritted teeth and managed to survive. He gave birth to Leif.

However, in that extremely harsh and wandering land, giving birth as a slave, and being a man giving birth in a male-dominated country, was never a good thing.

Leif was born with a slave mark. His father had already been damaged during the first time he was exiled and forcibly changed his body. The second exile was even more tragic, and he was pregnant with Leif during that time, forcing himself to give birth, which completely broke his already exhausted body.

Mr. Yu's face showed a complicated expression. "Even now, I still don't know how Leif's father managed to survive those hardest years while taking care of the newborn Leif for five years."

"In short, he gave birth to Leif in exile as a slave and managed to raise him to five years old. Finally, a force from abroad came looking for them. It was Leif's mother who finally had a bit of freedom and, afraid her involvement in Sargassum would be exposed, sent people specifically to protect Leif's father."

But they came too late. Leif's father had already been ruined by two exiles and the forced birth of Leif. On the third day after Leif's mother's people found them, his father could only hand Leif over to them. That night, he died in pain in the slave cave.

Mr. Yu paused for a moment. The whole private room fell silent. Elara took a sip of tea before she heard him continue softly:

"Leif was born with the body of a man from the Carnation Kingdom. Though he was taken in by the people his mother sent at five, he never left the place of exile. After burying his father, he mourned in silence there for three years."

"Leif grew up as a slave. Maybe because he experienced and saw too much from a young age, he became very wise and mature early."

"During those three years of mourning, he gradually found out about his mother's whereabouts and successfully gained control over the people she sent."

"His personality combined the strengths of both his parents. He was very calm and composed but also had sharp skills, especially in business. Otherwise, Zhaiyun Pavilion wouldn't be what it is today."

"During those mourning years, he used his mother's forces to quickly and intensively study various matters in the world. He was most interested in business and learned it the fastest."

"When the mourning ended, he used that force to secretly leave the exile place and, under a false name, went to other countries to learn and explore business."

"A few years later, he returned to Sargassum's capital and, using his mother's people and wealth, founded his own shop when he was only twelve."

"Soon, the business grew rapidly. Before the merchants of surrounding countries even noticed, it had already become today's Zhaiyun Pavilion."

"But at that time, Leif was still just an escaped slave. If discovered, he would be killed without mercy."

"Though his mother sent people, Sargassum's political situation had changed too much. The throne struggle in Edelweiss had not yet ended, and his mother was still entangled in countless dangers in her country and couldn't spare time to find him."

"So Leif remained hidden as a slave for a few more years. When he turned sixteen, his mother succeeded in seizing power in the Carnation Kingdom and became emperor. Then she finally sent forces to search for him in secret."

"But even though she had become emperor, her situation was still not good. The central continent had three major first-tier kingdoms and countless second-tier ones."

"Each country fought openly and secretly for power. His mother still had many enemies inside and outside her kingdom, so she couldn't bring Leif back or even reveal his existence. She could only send secret guards with supplies, personally wrote a letter, and made a deal with the current Sargassum emperor. Only then was Leif retrieved by the royal family and restored as the Sargassum heir."

"Although he carried royal blood, his name was chosen by his father at birth, taking his mother's surname, Leif, making him the first Sargassum heir with a different surname."

"Even after he regained his identity, life wasn't easy. Because of his father's past and his body as a man from the Carnation Kingdom, other royal members of Sargassum treated him as a joke and an out