Little Pink Starfish

Recently, there was a new daily ritual at the Cardinorn Duke’s estate: every morning, a stone-cutting master would be summoned into the manor, and about an hour later, he’d leave with a dreamy, dazed expression.

—This was the conclusion drawn by some particularly observant individuals outside.

But inside the manor?
The butler’s feelings were… complicated.

Because every morning after breakfast, the new favorite stone-gambler of their young master Cecil would have the unreasonably strong sub-beastman servant carry a hefty stone into the drawing room, then ask for a stone-cutter to open it.
This wasn’t too strange in itself—after all, a dedicated stone-gambler honing his craft was a sign of professionalism.

But the problem was—every single time a stone was cut, it turned out to be an 8th-level rare stone! What the hell!

On the first day, the butler was surprised.
On the second day, the butler was shocked.
On the third day, the butler was absolutely dumbfounded!

By the fourth, fifth, and sixth days—with the exact same scenario repeating daily—this old butler, who had seen many ups and downs in life, finally went numb.
He began to think this new favorite of young master Cecil was truly extraordinary. Even some of the most renowned and powerful female stone-gamblers, with the strongest mental power, couldn’t maintain this kind of success rate—yet this one? Not a single miss!

And even more shocking to the butler…
Every single one of those rare stones the master cut each day—was given to their young master Cecil.

At this point, after serving the duke’s house for decades, the butler didn’t even know how to express what he was feeling.
Should he say that their two generations of playboys had finally found someone reliable?
Or that young master Cecil was ridiculously lucky, finally meeting someone who didn’t dig things out of him, but rather brought him gifts?

No, what really made the butler feel something was off was…
He honestly felt like their young master Cecil… was being kept.

Daily rare-stone attacks—and all 8th-level at that! The scale of this gifting was absolutely shocking!

Cecil was already a rising star among the younger generation—a mere youth, and already an 8th-level beastman—but compared to this sharp-eyed stone-gambler, he somehow felt… less.
Was it luck? Or extravagance?

Damn it, their young master smiled like blooming peach blossoms every time he got those stones! Truly, so shameless!

There were already enough rare stones to last Cecil for years, and yet the butler grew more and more sullen…
If Cecil wasn’t a male and that one just a sub-beast, he’d really start to think Cecil was the one being proposed to!

→If only the butler had internet and could browse a bit, he’d probably realize this was what people called “reversed CP energy.”
Too bad he didn’t, so all he could do was clutch his chest and silently suffer.

Their young master’s name was Cecil, but now he made everyone around him (→specifically the butler) feel heart-sese-d* every day! _{*[T/N: Meant to be a play on slang that means ‘heart blocked’. But you can pretend it says ‘heart ceased’.]}

And in the middle of all this, the butler completely forgot—
Their young master Cecil had just come of age.

Now that was a serious problem. Σ( ° △°|||)︴

---

Inside the room.

Servant Ya An lay half-collapsed on the thick carpet, face pale, tears brimming in his eyes:
“Ying ying ying, young master, have you really fallen for that ill-intentioned bad guy? Ying ying ying…”
↑
This was his 108th tearful question.

Gu Bai’s expression was blank: “I’m crushing on him. Don’t interfere.”

Ya An: Young master said more than a few words to me—so happy!
But then he immediately remembered why his master was saying more to him, and the tears “whoosh”—fell all over again.

Ya An: “Ying ying ying, young master, are you really truly in love with that evil man? Ying ying ying…”

Gu Bai: “I am. Shut up!”

How many times was this guy going to repeat the same thing?! What is this, Journey to the West? Want ge to gift you a golden headband? In another universe, ge would smack you into the wall with a stick and you’d never come off!

Ya An shut up instantly.
Still weeping silently, gazing at his master with eyes full of sorrow and devotion—but not saying another word.

Eye-contact attack: get√
Gu Bai coldly snorted.
Immunity to eye-contact attack: get√

And thus, this day ended with a tense atmosphere but relatively joyful results!

Later that night, Gu Bai stood up, grabbed Ya An by the collar, and threw him out of the room—
Hey, how does he toss people so easily without a King Kong bloodline?

Ya An tiptoed as he was thrown: Young master wants to throw me, I’ll cooperate, ying ying ying…
Then disappeared from sight.

And so, one person remained.
…The quiet without buzzing in his ears—was simply great! _{[T/N: Dude got transmigrated with tinnitus.]}

Then he quickly bathed and changed clothes.

---

It was late at night.
A dark, windy moonless night.

And on this very night, something… happened.

In a certain spacious bedroom, low, hurried breathing sounded suddenly from atop the bed. The person flung off the quilt and looked around in a daze. A red gleam flickered in their pupils.
Then, their body seemed to collapse bonelessly.

The figure lay flat on the ground, spreading out his arms, flicking out a forked, crimson tongue—hiss hiss.

A strange sound came from his throat, and black scales covered his entire body.

Next moment—
His body stretched, and the pajamas he was wearing were shredded to pieces.

What lay on the floor was a massive black python, over ten meters long!

The python began to slither. With a flick of its long tail, the wall was slashed with a deep gash, almost shattered.

It slowly raised its head, surveyed its surroundings, and, as if confirming something, shot forward at high speed!

The door opened.
The python glided down the corridor.

Five meters. Ten meters. Dozens of meters… Until it stopped in front of a certain door.
Then, somehow, the door opened.

The long tail swept forward, and the giant snake slipped silently into the room.
At the same moment, the door clicked shut.

Inside—
The python moved with greater urgency.

The moment it entered the room, it seemed to have sensed something it desperately craved.
The emotion surged up from within, overwhelming its instincts, even heating up its once-cold blood.

It wanted…
It wanted…

Guided by the familiar scent, the python slithered forward.
Within seconds, half its body was already atop the bed!

Yes, this was the scent.
This scent made it restless, unable to endure, desperate to—
Wrap around it!

Its raised head gleamed red—the once-cold gold eyes now replaced by blood-red savagery.
Yet within that redness, a terrifyingly intense heat blazed.

This person was his.
The one it craved instinctively—wanted to fuse with.

Overwhelming desire erupted.
Like a predator, the python pounced, and its long tail instantly coiled around the person on the bed.
One circle. Two circles. Tightly locked—

As the countless scales brushed against cloth, the garments tore into fragments.

That pale, bare skin now pressed tightly against cold snake scales.
The python’s tongue flicked, making an eerie sound of satisfaction.

Then—
The man under it suddenly opened his eyes.

Moonlight spilled through the half-drawn curtains, and those eyes shone brightly.

Gu Bai: WTF, I thought I was having a nightmare but I still can’t breathe even after waking up and the first thing I see is a huge snake face-to-face with mine—what the hell?!

Do I look dead to you?! Even a corpse would jolt upright if wrapped like this, okay?!

Wait a minute! Is the security at this damn duke’s manor that useless?! A giant snake just slithered all the way into my room and nobody noticed?! Fire them all! Who dares live here now?!

Gu Bai was internally screaming.
Should ge be escaping or running?
The problem is—he can’t! Ge’s not a bodybuilder, how the hell is he supposed to break out of a python’s grip?!
If ge screams now, will help arrive in time?
Or will that just make the snake hungrier?!
IS GE ABOUT TO GET EATEN?!

The python moved closer and closer.

Gu Bai could feel the fishy scent in the air, could see himself reflected in those snake pupils.

It didn’t bare its fangs. Didn’t open wide.
Instead, the warm tongue flicked slowly against his neck—
Right on the fragile spot.
A soft lick…
Then another.

Gu Bai: Is it… tasting me?! FUCK, just finish me already!

And then—he realized—

Being wrapped wasn’t the scariest part.
The truly terrifying part was—
The tighter the snake wrapped around him…
The clearer his senses became.
He felt something part…
Something thick, rough, and barbed slowly press against his side.

Gu Bai’s inner thoughts exploded:
AHHHHHHH SOMEONE TELL GE THIS IS AN ILLUSION AHHHHHH THIS CAN’T BE REAL AHHHHHHHHHHH WHAT MONSTER IS THIS AHHHHH

But—
That still wasn’t the most terrifying part.

The scariest part came just after.

Gu Bai realized something so terrifying it shattered his worldview, his morals, and crushed the last of his shame.

He realized—
He didn’t actually dislike this beast.

Not only was he not afraid…
He actually kind of… liked it?!

Just a little. A tiny bit.

WHAT THE FUCK NO NO NO THIS ISN’T REAL
NO—