Standing proudly atop a mighty hill was the Castle of Starlight. It was beautiful structure, with towers reaching high to the heavens and its walls bathed in the beautiful sun.
Beyond the outer walls of the castle, however, lay a different story.
There was a formidable defense created by Guinevere herself. She had made a vast wall of earth that rose up like a circular mountain, sharp and jagged. Beyond the earth was a barrier of fire that she had added, then a sinking sea churning violently beneath.
For seventeen years, these defenses had stood. Guinevere created it to protect her son, Aeric from the dangers beyond the castle. The people of the other Regions and some even in her own Region still spoke wrongly of him.
Abomination... was the name they gave him.
Mother Guinevere had given strict orders long ago: her son, Aeric, was to be treated as royalty.
Anyone who was heard calling him "Abomination" or speaking vile, blasphemous things about him would be burnt to the stake!
They were her people, and he was her son. So they were his people to. He was not an abomination, but their prince, the son of Eros, deserving of their loyalty and protection.
Mother Guinevere had also commanded her daughters, Misty and Rosette, to treat Aeric as their brother, but that task had not always been easy for them.
While they loved their mother dearly, they often found her doting over Aeric excessive, and it sometimes sparked jealousy. Yet none dared question her, for Guinevere's love for Aeric was as unbreakable as the barriers she had built to keep him safe.
After these barriers of elements, the town was bustling. Commoners went about their daily activities, there was laughter and conversations, and there was also the clatter of market stalls and the hum of horses' hooves on cobblestone streets.
Farmers tended to their fields, merchants called out their wares, and children played by the edge of the Calamentine River that was the Region's main source of drinking water.
Everything seemed touched by the light of the day, and there was a sense of anticipation in the air, as if even the wind itself knew something important was about to happen.
It was the eighteenth birthday of Son Aeric!
Inside the castle, in his large chambers, Aeric of Starlight sat alone.
It was a rich chamber, richly adorned, befitting his new royal status. There were silken drapes of deep red and black hanging from the walls, and golden chandeliers dangled from the high ceiling.
The grand four-poster bed he sat on was draped in velvet, and his reflection shimmered faintly in the large mirror across the room.
He sat on the edge of his bed, one hand resting thoughtfully on his knee, the other tracing absent circles on the fabric of his trousers. His gaze was distant as he thought of many things, especially how he came to be in this world.
He had died... he had reincarnated.
Somehow, eighteen years had already past by, and although he had the memories of what had happened in those eighteen years, he could barely remember living it.
Aeric was strikingly handsome now. And not just handsomely in a way that grandmothers complimented any young man, but extremely, breathtakingly handsome.
His old self would have been jealous of him, because he was nothing like the boy he had once been.
He was taller now, with a lean frame that was regal. His hair was dark, glossy and it resembled obsidian, sleeked back in elegant waves that fell a little below his neck, while shorter strands in the front framed his sharp, chiseled face.
Just like his mother and sisters, his eyes were crimson, his jawline was sculpted from marble, his brows were full and sharp, and his skin was smooth and pristine, without a single blemish to mar his perfect features.
Aeric was wearing an outfit befitting a prince—an expensive black shirt with gold buttons, tucked into matching trousers. Draped over his shoulders was a ceremonial red sash, fastened with golden locks that hung elegantly beneath. Over this, he wore a black and gold cape, the fine fabric trailing down his back like a mantle of authority.
And then on his chest was the golden insignia of the Starlight Region. It was an elegant star, and an eagle standing above it.
'Eighteen years,' Aeric thought, his brow furrowing as he stared down at his hands. 'Has it really been eighteen years since I died? Since I left Dagwood Ackley behind?'
'Couldn't this just be a really long dream? I've tried pinching myself so many times but I still wake up on this bed every morning.'
He looked around his room. 'But... why does it feel like this is the first time that I'm actually experiencing this my new life? Why do I feel truly conscious now?'
His mind drifted back to that fateful night. Sitting at his desk, staring at his computer screen, lotion on the table, tissue paper as well.
Dagwood Ackley: Chronic masturbator, most likely an incel, ugly, a step away from being called a fatso, no purpose, no goals.
The boy felt foreign now, as though he could not really believe that he had being so vain and stupid. But at the same time, it still felt like yesterday.
Because that's how he remembered it — as though it was yesterday.
He remembered pressing enter on his keyboard, the game launching, and then… that woman's voice.
"This is not a game anymore."
Was this what she meant? The Daughters of Eros wasn't a game but a new life?!
Aeric had read countless mangas, watched countless animes and read few webnovels. Transmigration and reincarnation into games and fictional worlds wasn't a foreign concept to him.
And although he never expected it to happen to him, he still had to ask, when does the game start?!
What exactly was he supposed to do in this game world?
All he knew was that he was no longer Dagwood Ackley. He was Aeric of Starlight, the first and only son of Eros, third heir to the Starlight Region, a prince revered and hated in almost equal measure.
Aeric wasn't sure if his father even missed him back in the real world. He died of a heart attack yes, but once his father saw that he had stolen that game, he certainly would be angry, right?
Even worse, he had not deleted his browsing history. The entire Ackley family must have already found out about his love for big titty hentai moms, and deep throating blowjobs, and... ugh!
Aeric squeezed his eyes. That was his old life! He had to concentrate on his new. This game promised him fulfillment and he was going to take it.
Here, unlike in the real world, his mother loved him fiercely, without question. She valued him more than anyone, more than his sisters even, and he knew that her protective nature was not just out of love, but out of fear—fear of what the other Regions would do to him if they ever got their hands on him.
He heard his door open and turned around to see a royal knight stepping into his chambers. He bowed respectfully before speaking.
"Your Highness," the knight said. "Your presence is requested in the courtroom. It is time for your Coming of Age ritual."
Aeric stared at the knight for a moment. 'That's right. This Coming of Age ritual, I wonder what it could be. Misty and Rosette said they both did theirs but this will be the first time a Son is getting one. I wonder what it's all about and why it's so important.'
He nodded at the knight and rose from the bed, adjusting the folds of his cape as it settled across his shoulders. Then he followed the knight down the long corridors of the castle.