Little Pink Starfish

Pei Sen had acted entirely on impulse when he charged into the royal capital, broke into the palace, and pulled Eagle out.

But now, seeing that the Eagle in front of him seemed suddenly… unfamiliar, he couldn’t help but feel a little awkward.

This… this kid had grown up all at once. It felt weird.

Eagle seemed to notice Pei Sen’s flustered and slightly helpless demeanor. He chuckled and simply stepped forward, wrapping Pei Sen tightly in an embrace.
“Pei Sen, I missed you so much.”

Pei Sen: “……”

Under these circumstances, Eagle’s changes were more apparent than ever. The boy who was only slightly taller than him before had now completely grown into a man. Pei Sen estimated he was at least 195 cm tall now—that’s way too tall!

If fifteen-year-old Eagle had still retained a kind of androgynous beauty, the person before him now was nothing less than a dazzlingly handsome adult man.

It made Pei Sen feel a bit awkward.

“Uh, you don’t need to hold me like this… Young Master, shouldn’t we, uh, hurry and get farther from the capital?” Pei Sen tried to wriggle free, but found that Eagle’s strength had increased considerably.

Eagle’s voice was low and hoarse.
“Pei Sen, I haven’t seen you in five years.”

Pei Sen: “……”

Okay, sure—for Pei Sen, it had only been twenty days. But for Eagle, five years had passed.

It all felt so surreal. Pei Sen needed time to mentally catch up.

Twenty days and five years were worlds apart. And when Eagle said those words, Pei Sen unexpectedly felt a familiar sense of grievance.

Oh… he was still the same Young Master. He hadn’t become someone else. He had just… grown up. In the space of twenty days, he had become an adult.

Pei Sen, still in Eagle’s arms, reached up to awkwardly pat his back in a comforting gesture. But because of Eagle’s towering height and the tight hug, the movement came off stiff and clumsy.

And to top it all off, those utterly absurd relatives of his had literally locked him inside a time-ruin. Pei Sen didn’t even know what to say about that.

“Alright, that’s enough. We’re not safe yet,” Pei Sen said helplessly.

Eagle finally let go. He swept a strand of golden hair from his chest back behind his shoulder.
“Don’t worry. They probably won’t come after me.”

Pei Sen was surprised. “Why not?” Leiser’s condition had looked dire—maybe he couldn’t hold on much longer.

Eagle smiled faintly.
“Because I can no longer be used as a vessel for the curse.”

Eagle had known Burke Angre’s plan for a long time. He had considered many countermeasures. What he hadn’t expected was that Carolina would bring the ruin stone, ruining all his preparations before he even had a chance to act.

At fifteen, he lacked the strength to thwart both Leiser and Burke Angre. He had thought he wouldn’t survive. But he refused to die. No matter what the Light Church intended, he had prepared himself mentally to awaken the Seed of Light.

And Eagle was never one to give up easily.

If it hadn’t been for Pei Sen, even with Atwell and the priests around him, he would have had no interest in the Light Church. But things were different now.

After he’d gone out with Pei Sen and inexplicably found he could use divine magic, he had intentionally begun studying Light Church materials, trying to better control this power.

Burke Angre had never mentioned anything about Light lineage or the Seed of Light. Eagle had been confused as to why he could use divine spells. But when he was locked inside the time-ruin, he finally understood the reason.

He didn’t need faith to use divine magic—he had Light blood. And the Seed of Light that originated from Queen Sophia, passed to Carolina, and then to him, had given him the power of Light.

And that white-haired old priest had even given him a second Seed.

Eagle had begun to sense changes in his divine magic.

Neither Burke Angre nor the Light Church had realized that Eagle already wielded Light-based divine power.

“Even though only twenty days passed in the outside world, I lived in that time-ruin for five years,” Eagle said, taking Pei Sen’s hand and walking forward. “There was enough food and clothing, and Burke Angre sent attendants, but the place was small and there wasn’t much to do. I poured all my focus into divine magic, trying to awaken the power of the Seed…”

Pei Sen nodded slowly. No wonder Eagle’s appearance had lit up the palace like a flashbang.

He asked, “What’s the deal with these so-called descendants of the Light?”

Eagle explained,
“According to the Light Church, the Light God once walked the land and left many descendants. These descendants formed the earliest noble bloodlines of the continent—like the royal family of Bonfrese, the Esmia line, the Burfield family, and the Lanno lineage.”

The Light God walking the earth? Pei Sen inwardly scoffed. To him, it sounded more like a particularly powerful transcendent—or maybe a legendary light-element mage, or something beyond even that.

He didn’t believe in real deities.

Still, by the Church’s tale, nobles descended from a god formed the first dynasties.

Then the Lanno family… kind of fell off, huh? While others were kings and queens, at least the Burfields had once had a queen. But the Lannos? Just landowners before Burke Angre made it to the capital.

Yikes.

Eagle continued in a quiet tone.
“After I understood this, a lot of things made sense—why Leiser went out of his way to approach my father Burke Angre, why he didn’t stop Prince Latimer’s plan, why Carolina insisted on giving birth to me… You know, Leiser’s curse is called the Mark of Darkness. Its only natural enemy is Light. He’s been looking for a way to break the curse for years. In the entire Kingdom of Esmia, only three noble lines carry Light blood—Esmia, Burfield, and Lanno.”

Leiser’s surname was Esmia. His mother was Queen Sophia of the Burfields. But that line was almost gone, so Burke Angre had been his best option.

From the very beginning, Leiser had never been seduced by Burke Angre’s beauty. He had clear goals. That single-mindedness made him seem especially cruel.

Burke Angre hadn’t realized until long after that their romantic “encounter” had been nothing but a calculated trap.

Pei Sen tried to comfort him.
“Don’t think about it. Since they can’t transfer the curse to you anymore, all their scheming was for nothing. Leiser doesn’t look like he’s got much time left… Let him rot.”

“Leiser isn’t someone who gives up so easily,” Eagle said coldly. “Before I entered the time-ruin, I overheard that Carolina, knowing she would be unforgiven for stealing the ruin stone and fearing for her children, had sent one of them—escorted by loyal knights—back to Esmia. I just don’t know which one.”

She had borne two children with the King of Bonfrese.

Pei Sen blinked. “Wait, what?”

“It means if I failed, there’s still a backup.” Eagle’s voice was calm. “Her children also carry Light blood. They’re not as good a fit as me—since I have a Seed—but they’re still viable.”

Pei Sen: “……”

So Leiser might still be trying to transfer the curse? Carolina must be the most terrifying mother alive. Having kids just to extend her brother’s life?

“If the curse requires Burfield blood,” Eagle added with a hint of sarcasm, “then maybe my father would’ve gladly offered himself instead.”

Pei Sen frowned. “So this Mark of Darkness can only be transferred to someone with Burfield blood, and they have to be exactly twenty?”

“Yes,” Eagle said. “It doesn’t activate until the age of twenty. According to those Church lunatics, the transfer can only happen then.”

“Carolina’s other kids are probably still little, right?”

“The ruin stone is still in Esmia’s palace,” Eagle said with a sneer. “So what if they’re young? Lock them up for a few years in the ruin, and voilà—twenty in no time.”

Pei Sen: “……”

Okay, worst mother ever officially goes to Princess Carolina.

“Enough depressing talk. Let’s go back to Frost Maple Territory,” Pei Sen said, pulling himself together. “Worst case, we never return to the Kingdom of Esmia. We leave all this garbage behind.”

Eagle smiled. “Alright.”

Pei Sen had left his horse at the palace—not like he planned on going back for it. He tossed a shadow cloak to Eagle, who donned it effortlessly, and the two of them set off toward the nearest town.

If it were just Pei Sen, he’d buy a horse. But with Eagle in tow, he considered buying a carriage—his pampered young master probably hadn’t ridden long-distance much.

As they walked, Pei Sen idly pulled up the forum.

Truth be told, he hadn’t checked it in days. He’d promised Ichabod he’d keep an eye on Bix activity, and now he felt a bit guilty.

One glance—and he froze.

Eagle, in a particularly good mood, had been walking close to Pei Sen, practically skipping.

After five years, the person he missed most was beside him. He was even afraid to show how much he’d missed him, worried it would scare Pei Sen away.

Eagle prided himself on his restraint. He had just been thinking of how to slowly express his feelings without driving Pei Sen off… when he noticed Pei Sen had stopped walking.

Surprised, he turned back.
“What’s wrong?”

Pei Sen cleared his throat.
“Uh, Young Master… You know how I came rushing to find you, so I didn’t really have time to manage the war back at Frost Maple…”

“It’s okay,” Eagle said cheerfully. “Even if we lost at first, it’s not a big deal. We can make new plans when I return.”

“No, Young Master,” Pei Sen’s voice was strained. “I think… the Bix may have gone too far.”

To boost participation in the war, Pei Sen had proposed enabling the Guild system in Bix Magic Cube. Originally, Guilds weren’t supposed to appear this early.

He’d worried the war might be lost, so he triggered Guild mechanics ahead of schedule—introducing Guild Strongholds.

In the original timeline, the first Guild base hadn’t even been in Yali—it came much later.

But now Guilds had appeared. Stronghold Tokens were dropping. You could even earn one during this war.

Pei Sen had calculated it would be hard to buy one from the quartermaster using just war merits. Unless someone had stockpiled contribution points, they likely couldn’t afford it.

The system he’d set up heavily favored his faction’s players. For non-faction players to earn enough, they’d practically have to solo all the noble territory bosses.

Players had gone mad for war merits. Not just those from Frost Maple, but more and more players joined as territories fell. And as the numbers grew… so did the chaos.

Pei Sen rubbed his neck.
“Young Master… when we get back, if nothing’s changed, then… the entire Principality of Balst may now be yours.”

Eagle: “???”