Eli reached for the mirror and shaped an ice-blade from frost. He shaved lightly, and warm water flowed like spring rain as he rinsed his face.

He combed his hair, tied a white ribbon at the tail into a single ponytail, draped over his shoulder like a stream.

Just like when Edlyn first saw him—bright-eyed and handsome like a fresh wind.

“Morning~” Anna rubbed her eyes, stepping out of the room like a sleepy cat.

Eli waved her over, smiling: "Breakfast's ready; eat while it's warm. Once we're done, we push on."

Anna stared for a beat, then laughed: "Getting dressed up all of a sudden. Off to a blind date?"

Eli ruffled her little head, smiling: "You imp."

“Heh-heh.” Anna laughed, light blooming in her eyes like morning stars.

Eli’s brows knitted; one hand cradled a cup of tea like a small hearth, the other held a map, studying the lines like river veins.

“Old man. Whatcha doing?” Anna lifted the curtain; her voice rang crisp like a bell.

“Mm. Same old work. Still no leads.” Eli shook his head with a bitter smile like dust in wind.

"In the Snow Realm, every stretch of cold a normal race can endure—I’ve scoured it. I found nothing on the Snow Wraiths, not even someone who knows them."

“Ah-haha. That’s rough.” Anna rubbed her hair, shy as a rabbit.

"...You’re hiding something, aren’t you?" Eli looked her up and down, his expression wry as a crooked moon.

Anna waved her hands fast, a thread of tension flickering like a taut string: "No, no. How could I? I’m super good."

Eli rolled his eyes and drained his tea in one swallow, like a stone into a pond. He scanned Anna, rubbed his chin, and nodded: "You’re definitely keeping something."

“Hehehe, am not.” Anna kept her shy smile like a folded fan.

Eli sighed and let it drop, pouring his focus back into the map like a hunter tracking snow-shadow.

He marked a few deep zones where Snow Wraiths might dwell, each circle like a bruise on white land.

Anna whistled and sat aside, then scooted, slipped toward the room like a cat on soft feet.

Behind her, the air rippled, a purple ring opened like a moon gate.

A head peeked out, eyes scanning. A right fist popped out and knocked Anna’s crown: "Hey, you. Such a brat. We told you to hurry back, and you didn’t. Now it’s a mess."

"Hey, you’re only two years older. That’s still a kid!" Anna planted her hands on her hips, protesting like sparrows.

The girl glanced at Eli, still absorbed like a mountain in mist, then stepped out of the purple circle.

The two whispered carefully: "Listen. To find you, the energy Dad gave me is spent. I’ll have to stay in the past with you."

Anna bit her lip, worry moving like frost: "It’s fine. There should be similar energy nearby. If we follow Dad’s trail, we might find it."

The girl studied Eli for a moment and put on black-rimmed glasses like a scholar’s talisman.

From her view, the lenses lit up with streams—readouts of Eli’s body like flowing scripts.

Even his total combat strength glowed in numbers, crisp as carved runes.

Including the little attack methods he’d honed these three years, ways to wield Stellar Power like stars flicked from a sleeve.

She frowned: "Judging by Dad’s state, this is when the Stellar Power system was just forged. At this time, Dad’s weak as a reed. You sure you’ll find it?"

Anna rolled her eyes and shrugged: "What else? Got a better plan?"

"...Yeah. No."

"Another problem: how do we explain you? If he learns too much about the future, it might hurt him." Anna’s brow furrowed like storm lines.

"And Dad said it—coming back from the future can affect the whole flow of history. Doesn’t that mean we can change the past?" Anna’s eyes cut sideways.

The black-haired girl sighed and shook her head, breath like a small gust. "You clearly did something to Dad back then and have zero self-awareness. Otherwise you wouldn’t talk like that."

"Hmm? You hiding something from me?" Anna’s doubt rose like mist.

The black-haired girl shook her head and kept silent, a lock on a door.

Anna grew anxious: "Hey! Alice! Not fair!"

Alice shrugged, hands on hips like a little general: "Call me big sis."

"No!"

"Call me big sis!"

"Nope. Bleh, bleh!"

"You rotten brat, haven’t had a good spanking in ages. Getting bold?"

"You’ve got no big-sister spirit! You always ran with Dad outside! Never took me!"

"That was work! What do you know! You were tiny!"

"I don’t care!"

"Brat!"

"Hmph!"

Eli rubbed his temple, watching the two noisy little sprites spar like sparrows.

He wasn’t deaf or blind; from the first squabble, they’d forgotten to lower their voices. If he still didn’t get it, he’d be more than distracted.

So here’s the question—he had another daughter now. What to do?

Will a third and a fourth show up later?

For now, how should he handle these two little terrors?

...

Birand stood within the Beastkin domain, basking in a ring of fear—eyes like icy rain and rattled drums.

He hoisted the Seafolk envoy, Wolred, with one hand, like a fisherman lifting a catch.

He pulled the envoy’s true form out from the mask—Birand held an octopus by the head, gaze cold as winter stone on every living soul.

The two Beastkin chiefs, Hyeok and Olrek, lay heavily wounded, breath fraying like torn banners.

They had fallen within the guard of many Beastkin. Their hearts lay bare on their chests, the flesh across the sternum gone like snow melted by fire.

Hyeok’s life force was stronger; his body had already begun to knit, slow as moss.

He raised his head with effort, looked at Birand, and trembled: "You… you didn’t… die."

Birand’s mouth tipped in a sardonic curve, and he smiled. "What’s wrong? Do Beastkin wish their great hero dead?" He chuckled. "You Beastkin were the lowest of the underground races. I gave you strength."

His right hand clenched. Wolred burst like a crushed ink sac.

Birand’s smile turned gentle as silk as he watched Hyeok. "Hmm? Hyeok? Care to speak?"

Seeing Hyeok shiver, Birand shook his head, bored, and sighed. "Forget it. Back then you were still small. I’ll ask your ancestors what they felt."

Hyeok coughed blood, anger flaring like sparks: "You! What are you planning!"

Birand smiled: "Gathering my old subordinates for a reunion. No need to waste words on a little pup like you."

Hyeok hurried: "The ancestor was wounded by your sword. He’s still in slumber!"

Birand’s voice went cold as steel: "If I go see him, do you think he’ll keep sleeping?"

Hyeok’s voice shook: "You… what are you now, exactly…"

Birand laughed, thunder in a clear sky: "Me? The revived me has already broken the shackles of the Supreme God throne. I’m at a height you can’t imagine."

"Your big boar back then, as I recall, only held a lower god seat, hm? Or was he merely a Transcender? Hah. Doesn’t matter."

"Relax. I still have to pay the Elf Race a visit. I won’t reach your den that fast." Birand smiled.

His figure blurred, then vanished before Hyeok’s eyes like a flame snuffed by wind.

Hyeok looked at Olrek, who was barely breathing, bit down hard, and ordered the Beastkin to retreat like a receding tide.

Above the forests of Nofiel, beyond the veils of countless spell arrays, the true Elven City lay hidden like a pearl.

Outside its gates, Birand stood stunned, drinking in a world that felt carved into his bones.

He stretched out a hand and touched the arrays he himself had set, a nostalgic smile blooming like old wine.

He gazed at the grand Elven City and sighed softly, breath weighing like autumn.

He thought of the one who mattered most, a name rising like a moon.

He straightened himself and walked in slow steps into the place where his lover grew up, each step like a page turning.

...

"Do you know you were wrong?"

"Mm… we do." x2

"Still going to fight?"

"Won’t. She and I get along great."

"Yep, yep."

Eli nodded, satisfied, then turned to pack, motions neat as folding sails.

Both girls rubbed the spots on their heads where Eli had knocked them, the ache warm as a lesson.

Anna asked, curious as a kitten: "Dad? Where are you going?"

Eli shot her a look and said, slow as a warning bell: "What’s it to you? You and your sister stay here till I get back."

Alice jumped in: "Dad, you’re heading for the Snow Wraiths’ domain, right? I know it. I can take you."

Eli paused packing, eyes sweeping his other daughter like a measuring blade.

"You know where?" He frowned, puzzled as a clouded pond.

Alice straightened her small chest with pride, chin up like a little hawk: "Yup. I make my living with my brain."

Anna nodded: "Mm. Like she said. That’s about right."

Eli studied her, then still shook his head, the motion firm as a closing gate.

"No. You’re too weak. Inside, you’ll get frostbitten in a heartbeat."

Alice rushed: "I—I’m not weak. You personally reinforced my Stellar Body. Really!"

Eli didn’t turn. He shouldered his pack and headed for the door, tapping both girls on the forehead as he passed. "Stay put for me."

"But—!"

"No buts."

"But—"

"Also no buts."

"Dad, your pack’s busted!"

"...""