Lyn and Xing Luo hadn’t waited long at the entrance to the Potion lab area when a girl with cherry-blossom pink hair hurried toward them.
Kaoru had rushed here immediately after receiving Lyn’s message, eager to see him.
Emotions churned within her; Senior Lyn had been away from the academy for days.
But all her shyness and anticipation vanished completely when she saw the silver-haired girl clinging tightly to Lyn’s arm.
Her gaze turned vacant, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Kaoru, over here,” Lyn called, spotting her first.
Seeing his wave, she snapped back to reality. After a brief hesitation, she approached them. Stopping before the pair, a timid, deer-like glimmer flickered in her moist, beautiful eyes.
Her gaze fixed silently on the lovely silver-haired girl beside Lyn. As she drew closer, Xing Luo’s small hand gripped Lyn’s sleeve tightly.
“Senior Lyn, who is she…?”
Xing Luo blinked. She’d been sizing up Lyn’s junior the whole time. Before Lyn could speak, she chirped eagerly, “Nice to meet you! I’m my master’s future wife.”
“Future… wife?”
Lyn: “?????”
Lyn was dumbfounded.
If the system had shock alerts with “+1 question mark” pop-ups, his vision would’ve been flooded with spam.
“Senior… wife.”
The cherry-haired girl froze as if struck by lightning. Her pupils hollowed instantly. Her slender, pale hand clenched her skirt hem so hard her nails threatened to pierce her palm.
But Lyn snapped out of it, staring at Xing Luo in disbelief. “Why fiancée??”
“Just now… it was written in the book Master was reading,” Xing Luo said innocently after a pause.
“In the story, the hero made a contract with a powerful beauty. He was happy when they were called fiancés.”
“Master looked envious then. So if I’m his fiancée too, he’ll be happy, right?”
Xing Luo’s expression was utterly earnest.
Lyn rubbed his temples.
Earlier on the carriage, he’d been skimming overpowered novels to accumulate Jealousy and Greed Authorities. He’d thought she was just napping in his arms—but she’d been reading along enthusiastically?
He was relieved he hadn’t pulled out anything wilder…
“This isn’t a novel,” Lyn said gravely to Xing Luo. “Reality isn’t like fiction.”
“Then what am I to Master?” Xing Luo pouted.
Seeing her adorable, coquettish face, Lyn felt his HP bar take another critical hit. He stroked her cheek. “To me, Xing Luo is like a little sister.”
“A little sister?”
Xing Luo looked thoughtful. Sensing Lyn’s sincerity, she reluctantly accepted it.
“Senior, what’s going on…”
Hearing this, the girl froze again. But light returned to her eyes—moments ago, dark aura had seemed to swirl behind her.
Recovering, she adopted a gentle, tender demeanor, gazing at Lyn with confusion.
Lyn repeated the explanation he’d given Divine Snow Sakura, fabricating Xing Luo’s origin as the mysterious Stellar Realm.
“Xing Luo… is she a contracted companion Senior summoned from the Stellar Realm?”
The girl realized.
The Stellar Realm was deeply enigmatic.
Summoning from there required ancient rituals, with materials so precious few dared gamble on it—never mind what might answer the call.
“Master, who is this sister?” Xing Luo asked innocently, voicing her own curiosity.
“She’s Divine Snow Kaoru,” Lyn explained. “My junior. Also the sister of that guy you met yesterday.”
“Sister?” Xing Luo instinctively eyed Kaoru’s cherry-blossom hair.
“I was adopted by my sister,” Divine Snow Kaoru said softly, not waiting for Lyn.
In truth, Lyn had met Kaoru through Divine Snow Sakura.
Kaoru’s origins were tragic.
Bullied as a child for reasons unknown, she’d been protected after a chance encounter by Sakura—who was isolated herself and tsundere about it, never showing her care openly.
Only after Lyn befriended the awkward Sakura did she open her heart, using her family’s influence to take Kaoru in.
“Senior saved my life. Kaoru will forever be grateful,” she said earnestly to Lyn.
“I’ve told you, it’s not that dramatic. Sakura and I just hated those bullies—especially that idiot,” Lyn waved off, amused.
This girl was stubborn in her own way.
Divine Snow Kaoru stared silently at Lyn. After a pause, she bit her lip and whispered, “By the way, the Potion you asked me to research has new progress. But the test… still needs your help, Senior.”
“A Potion targeting the Belmond bloodline?” Lyn paused.
Just then, a system notification chimed:
*Accept Divine Snow Kaoru’s request to assist with the Potion test.*
*Task reward: 200 Devil King Authority.*
A new task appeared!
Lyn had avoided the “pet Xing Luo” task. He’d been wondering where to trigger others—now this dropped into his lap with two hundred Devil King Authority?!
His trip to the Sage Tower could wait. He’d planned to accept Kaoru’s small request anyway. With this reward, refusal was impossible. “Of course I have time. Can we go now?”
He’d entrusted Kaoru with this Belmond-targeting Potion after an accident.
When she first dabbled in Potion-making, she’d created one to boost magic power.
Curious, Lyn tested it. His acute bloodline instantly detected hidden ingredients that caused unconsciousness.
Kaoru hadn’t anticipated the side effect and panicked terribly.
But that incident revealed her talent—the unconsciousness trait was expertly masked. Without his bloodline gift, he might’ve missed it.
Refined further, that Potion could one day knock out Belmond.
Since then, Lyn had encouraged Kaoru to develop bloodline-targeting Potions, offering himself as a test subject. Success might yield unexpected uses.
Yet he never expected agreeing to this routine test would trigger such a free reward. What was this task mechanism?
