The No. 1 Hunfen King in the Entire Server [Interstellar] Chapter 64

The little princess, seeing that he remained silent, lifted her beautiful ice-blue eyes and softly asked, “Mirror, have you heard this melody before?”

Lin Jing was momentarily stunned before replying, “Yes.”

He had heard it on the very first day he arrived in this world. In the square filled with white doves, from a silver-haired bard, the flute’s melody was both melodious and sorrowful, like the narration of a tragic past.

When the princess lowered her voice, it lost its usual sharpness, becoming more like a whisper in the night: “I’ve heard it too—at my mother’s funeral.”

Sensing the subtle sorrow in her words, Lin Jing asked, “Are you happy in the palace?”

The princess hesitated, then asked in return, “Mirror, what is happiness?”

Lin Jing paused, unsure how to explain, and instead asked, “Between the forest and the palace, where would you rather be?”

The princess smiled slightly, her eyes as clear as flowing light. “The palace, I suppose.”

***

The magic vine seed was delivered by a noble girl from Pars named Veraka.

News of the princess’s return had spread throughout all of Eberon, even reaching neighboring kingdoms. Veraka was the youngest sister of the late queen—the princess’s aunt. She had come not only to deliver the seed but also to visit her poor niece.

Lin Jing met Veraka in the garden. She was about the same age as Christine.

Dressed in a long black gown, with golden curls and deep blue eyes, she held the seed in her hands, smiling at him under the sunlight—gentle and kind.

The magic vine seed was larger than a normal plant seed, translucent and emerald green, resembling a small round jade stone.

Veraka asked kindly, “Were you the one who rescued Rossi from the forest?”

Lin Jing’s heart pounded as he took the seed. Instinctively, he replied, “Yes.”

Veraka sighed. “Thank you. I saw the scars on Rossi’s body… I can’t imagine how she survived in the forest. The gods have been too cruel to this child.”

Holding the magic seed, Lin Jing was in a great mood and reassured her, “It’s alright. We have a saying back home: ‘Great misfortunes lead to great fortune.’”

Veraka smiled, her sapphire eyes glistening in the sunlight. “Thank you again.”

Lin Jing wasted no time planting the seed in the flowerpot he had “borrowed” from the church.

After covering it with soil, he let a drop of his blood fall onto it, then watered it.

Man and rat sat in front of the flowerpot, waiting for it to grow.

The rat muttered, “The princess said this thing will grow in seven days. You think that’s for real?”

Lin Jing replied, “They call it a magic vine. It’s bound to be extraordinary.”

The rat looked around suspiciously and whispered in Lin Jing’s ear, “Don’t you think there’s something off about Veraka?”

Lin Jing pressed his fingers into the soil bit by bit, a smile playing on his lips, but his words were cold: “I do. She’s almost certainly a player.”

The rat was shocked. “??? D*mn, I just thought she was suspicious, but you’re already certain she’s a player?!”

Lin Jing chuckled. “Just a gut feeling.” A gut feeling honed from being a former top-ranked player.

The rat was even more stunned. “You know she’s a player, and you’re still just sitting here growing plants?!”

Lin Jing rolled his eyes. “What else am I supposed to do? Besides…” He lowered his long lashes. “She might be our only way back.”

He still couldn’t fully understand the mechanics of the teleportation array. But since the one in the cabin had been drawn by Evelyn, and Veraka was also from Pars, she must know something about it.

For the following days, Lin Jing was practically glued to his flowerpot, never leaving the young sprouting magic vine unattended.

Veraka seemed lonely in Eberon. During her stay at the palace, she often sought out Lin Jing. One day, she asked, “Mirror, would you like to accompany me to the library?”

Lin Jing, still holding his flowerpot, was eager for a chance to get close to her and immediately agreed, “Of course, Your Highness.”

The library stood behind the church, an ancient structure towering toward the sky. The bookshelves inside were extremely tall, and to reach a book from the top shelf, Veraka had to climb a ladder.

Her black gown resembled a magician’s robe, with silver patterns at the cuffs and hem. Reaching out, she took down a heavy book and passed it to Lin Jing. “M, could you hold this for me?”

“Sure.” Lin Jing extended his hands and took the book.

It wasn’t a grimoire. He recognized the words on the cover: The Lost Witchcraft of Pars.

Veraka descended the ladder and smiled. “When my sister was young, she was obsessed with studying witchcraft. Even after marrying into Eberon, that never changed.”

Lin Jing hesitated. “So… this was written by the late queen?”

Veraka’s smile deepened. “Yes. Who else could have written it?”

Golden light filtered through the towering glass windows, illuminating the quiet and ancient library.

Veraka led him to a long wooden table, and as she flipped open the first page, she grew still. Her gaze seemed nostalgic, yet sorrowful. In a quiet voice, she said, “This… should be the array my sister used to summon the witch.”

The rat squeaked in excitement. “Let me see!”

Lin Jing firmly pressed its head down.

Trying to remain calm, he asked in surprise, “So witches really exist in this world?”

Veraka shook her head. “Witches? That’s just what you call them here. In Pars, we refer to them as the Sorcerer God. The Sorcerer God governs all spirits and is omnipotent. As long as their followers pray sincerely, they will appear.”

Lin Jing murmured, “That powerful, huh…”

Veraka spoke softly, “Yes. Rather than believing that the Sorcerer God took my sister’s life, I prefer to think she traded her life for Rossi’s birth.”

Veraka traced the intricate array with her fingers, her expression growing sadder. “Rossi is the child my sister exchanged her life for, yet fate has been so cruel to her.”

Her fingertips brushed over the complex lines, and her voice dropped to a whisper: “My little princess lost her voice, closed herself off in loneliness, and became cold and world-weary. If I could, I would give up everything to let her grow up happy.”

Hearing those words, Lin Jing’s heart tightened. He was still holding the flowerpot in his arms, his fingers brushing against the cold porcelain surface.

As expected, in the next second, Veraka lifted her head. Her sorrowful gaze held a deep blue, like a lake reflecting the sky. She spoke softly: “Mirror, can you help me?”

Under the dusk, Veraka was breathtakingly beautiful and gentle. Her golden curls rested on her shoulders like a painting.

But Lin Jing only felt a chilling cold creeping up from his feet.

He held the magic vine tightly, hearing himself ask, “What do you need me to do, Veraka?”

***

Veraka said she wanted to summon the Witch God. To do so, she needed to enter the late queen’s bedchamber and collect more information about the summoning circle.

But now, the king had given the key to the princess.

The little princess was withdrawn and only willing to talk to him. Veraka asked him to retrieve the key.

On the way back from the library—

The rat finally crawled out of his pocket to breathe, immediately perching on Lin Jing’s shoulder and slapping its paws together: “Veraka is up to something! She must be!”

Lin Jing lowered his head, idly poking at the young sprout of the vine with his finger. After a long silence, he spoke: “Do you think she’s figured out that I’m a player?”

The rat was stunned: “She… she probably hasn’t, right?”

Lin Jing let a drop of his blood fall onto the magic vine, shaking his head as he muttered to himself: “No, she definitely has. She must have known the moment she brought the magic seed to Eberon. The only people who would need the magic vine’s fruit to break the Sleeping Curse… would be players.”

Lin Jing continued his analysis: “She’s pretending not to know my identity, and I’m pretending not to know hers.”

“The only difference is—now I know I’ve been exposed, while she still doesn’t know that I know.”

The magic vine, having absorbed the fresh blood, grew visibly larger. The delicate green sprout had now extended into a thick branch, as wide as a person’s finger.

The rat finally grasped the situation and widened its eyes: “Sh*t! I’ll sneak into her room tonight and find out what she’s up to!”

Lin Jing chuckled. “Alright, then I’ll go ask Rossi for the key.”

The rat: “?”

The rat: “Are you seriously going to help Veraka?”

Lin Jing countered, “Why not?” He picked up the flowerpot and smirked. “Don’t forget—every player shares the same goal.”

To obtain the Heart of the Rose.

But what exactly was the Heart of the Rose?

Lin Jing recalled the words he overheard from the beggars in the plaza. He had seemed indifferent at the time, but he had committed every word to memory.

The madman had said that the pigeons had taken the eyes.

Compared to the other beggars, Lin Jing actually trusted the madman’s words the most.

The gemstone on the crown was fake, while the real Heart of the Rose… remained missing.

When Lin Jing arrived at the princess’s bedchamber, she was brushing her hair.

Having lived alone in the castle for so long, Rossi’s hair had grown very long. It was called golden, but it was closer to platinum, glimmering with a faint silver hue in the bright room.

Hearing footsteps, the little princess paused and turned around. Seeing Lin Jing, she looked slightly surprised.

“Mirror? Why are you here?”

Lin Jing suddenly remembered—when he was a kid, he had desperately wanted a little sister. He had even dreamed about taking his imaginary sister out with adorable hairstyles, proudly showing her off.

Excitedly, he had mentioned this dream to his mother once during breakfast.

His mother had deadpanned: “Then go have one yourself.”

Dream, shattered.

And yet, now he had gotten his wish in a completely unexpected way.

He set the magic vine on the table and walked behind Rossi. He didn’t know if he was amused by his childhood memory or by the sight of the little princess, but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

Picking up the comb from the table, he asked, “Rossi, how about I braid your hair for you?”

The little princess froze, frowning slightly out of habit.

Lin Jing had expected her to refuse.

But after a brief moment of thought, she simply said, “Alright. Go ahead.”

Lin Jing, delighted by the rare opportunity, eagerly started braiding. Given his skills, the best he could manage was the simplest three-strand braid—and even then, he couldn’t divide the hair evenly.

Rossi’s hair was incredibly soft, flowing through his fingers like water, cool and silky.

Of course, as he played with her hair, he didn’t forget the real reason he was here.

“Rossi, do you have the key to your mother’s bedchamber?”

The little princess paused. “I do. Why are you asking?”

Lin Jing replied, “It’s not for me—it’s for Veraka. She wants to go in and take a look.”

Rossi was slow to react. “Veraka?”

“Yeah, your aunt. She misses your mother very much.”

Rossi pondered for a moment, then lowered her head and took a silver key from the drawer.

“???”

Lin Jing nearly dropped the braid he was working on.

That easy?

He suddenly felt a bizarre sense of guilt—like he was deceiving a child.

Clearing his throat to hide his embarrassment, Lin Jing asked, “Alright, I’m done braiding. What do you think?”

Rossi lifted her head. Her ice-blue eyes stared at the mirror, reflecting her disaster of a hairstyle.

She answered honestly, “It’s ugly.”

Lin Jing’s eyes widened. “Where is it ugly?”

Rossi reached up to undo the hair tie.

Panicking, Lin Jing quickly grabbed her hands, reluctant to part with his “masterpiece.”

“Take another look!” he urged.

The little princess sighed and gazed at her tangled reflection for a few more seconds before quietly closing the mirror’s cover.

Out of sight, out of mind.

“…….”

That move genuinely hurt Lin Jing’s pride.

Are you serious? Where is it ugly? It’s adorable!

But when he saw the princess’s usual cold, aloof expression now tinged with helpless resignation, he couldn’t help but lean on the chair and burst into laughter.

“Rossi, you’re kinda cute, you know?”

Rossi: “……”

Rossi stared at him, ice-blue eyes unwavering. “Are you joking?”

Lin Jing: “Not joking.”

The little princess suddenly pulled something else from her desk drawer.

“You don’t remember this?”

Lin Jing looked closely—and his smile froze.

How could he not remember?

On his first day in the forest castle, that cunning old witch behind the wall had tried to take this from him.

Resting silently in Rossi’s pale palm was a small glass bead.

At its center—was a drop of blood-red light, swirling with an ethereal glow.

Actually, the little princess didn’t have a good personality—everyone in the palace agreed on that.

She was arrogant, cold, and difficult to approach, more like a witch in a tower than a princess.

Rossi took out the glass bead and slowly said, “I actually lied to you. I never lost a bead in the forest. I just wanted to make things difficult for you back then. Here, you can have it back.”