In the mansion's living room, Jake sat next to Sabrina on a sofa, and Kevin sat on a different one.

Ben had been asleep in his crib the last time Jake had seen him. His mother was a Soynite, and she planned on killing his leader. Ben's birth parents, Forman and Honda, had served Lock Tannis. Sabrina had killed her son's father and his birth mother. Firman and Honda had died inside a Freeman base in Washington. Sabrina intended on making Lock die in a Freeman base in California.

"I saw the two of you sleeping together," Kevin told Jake and Sabrina. "It reminded me of the time when the three of us were living inside that Soynite spaceship. Sometimes both of you used to sleep together during our trip to this planet. You two are Highs who are fond of each other, and that's how it needs to be."

Sabrina placed a hand on Jake's knee. "This High is my best friend. I'm always going to be fond of him."

"I know. And I wish one of your co-rulers didn't hate you and Jake."

"I wish Lovely didn't hate me and Jake, too. I know I have to see her again one day, but my reunion with her isn't going to be fun. I doubt that girl stopped hating me. Theo Majestic made her into a High, but I wish he hadn't. Lovely is awful. She's a good example of how a High shouldn't be. I'm not like her, though. And I never want to be like her. I want to keep being a better High than she is."

"You, me, and the other Highs are better than Lovely is," Jake said. "She's the worst High there is. She's one of us, but she's also a terrible person. And if she ever gets around Ben, we'll have to be even more protective of him than we already are. Lovely hates the three of us. Ben is your son, Sabrina. He's also a Freeman. Lovely will want to kill him."

Sabrina glared at the brown wall. "That blind moron isn't going to kill my boy. I'm never going to let her do that. Lovely is a High, and we rule a planet together. But if she murders Ben, I will kill her."

Kevin looked at the floor. "If Lovely kills Ben, you shouldn't kill her. She's a High, and—"

"Ben is my son! He is my baby. I'm going to do everything in my power to protect him, but if Lovely does manage to murder him, I will kill her, and no one will be able to convince me not to. Not even you."

Jake almost smiled. Sabrina crossed her thin arms. Inside the Freeman base in Washington, she had held Ben. Now he slept in the bedroom he shared with her, and his mother's uncle still wished she had killed him.

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"I know how you feel about Ben, Kevin," Sabrina said. "I ordered you to protect and serve him as if he was a High, but I haven't forgotten that you still hate him. But he is your niece's son. My sweet boy is a Freeman, and he came from planet Free, but he's a member of our family. That's the truth, whether you like it or not. Ben isn't biologically related to any of us. He isn't even a Soynite, but he's still my son. He's also Theo Majestic's grandson. And Theo is the reason why Ben's people still exist. Lock Tannis wanted our race to destroy the Freemans, and Theo didn't let that happen. Because of him, I was able to adopt Ben."

Kevin crossed his arms. "His people killed most of ours, Sabrina."

"But Ben wasn't one of the Freemans who participated in the Invasion," Sabrina said. "He wasn't even alive back then. My baby was born yesterday, and the Invasion happened eleven years ago. Ben is innocent. And before I found him, I killed a Freeman who wasn't innocent. I killed Vale Lit. He murdered my mom and dad during the Invasion. I wasn't able to save them. My adoptive parents are gone. They're dead, but at least I avenged them. I turned that pale moron into smoke, back when all of us were still in Washington. I wish you and Jake had seen Vale die, Kevin. I gave him what he deserved. After that, I gave Ben what he deserved, too. It wasn't his death, though. I killed Forman and Honda, but I didn't kill their son. I gave him a loving mother. That's what he deserved. Ben is going to grow up. One day he's going to be a lot older than he is now, and he will die of old age. I'm going to make sure that happens. No one will turn that Freeman into smoke. I'm so glad he's here."

"Your birth parents might not be glad when they find out that you adopted a Freeman," Kevin said. "Ben is their grandson, but he's still a Freeman. And Theo didn't want the Freemans to go extinct when Lock was still a High, but that was before the Freemans killed almost all of our people and destroyed our planet. Theo and your mother will probably hate Ben."

Sabrina didn't fiddle with her fingers. "Maybe they will. But if they do, their hatred for him will go away. Eventually. They're going to love that adorable Freeman. They will care about their grandson."

"I already care about Ben, Sabrina," Jake said.

Sabrina smiled at Jake. When he met her for the first time, neither of them had known she was a Majestic. King Hase had been the first Majestic and the first Soynite. He was Jake and Sabrina's dead ancestor. Hase and Soy's first queen consort had made three children together. Rio had been their oldest child. Sabrina and Theo were descended from Rio, but Jake wasn't. Rio's younger brother, On, was one of Jake's ancestors. Princess Nerra had been the younger sibling of Rio and On, and she had been born as the first Bloodhound. She had murdered the first Freeman, Zero Spike. On Free, Nerra had found Zero, then she had used a sword named Freeman Killer to end his life.

"I really wish Kevin cared about him," Sabrina said. She looked at Kevin. "You hate him. You hate a member of your own family."