"Easy enough. I'll go and fetch Castorice in the next day or two. But Imperator, you have to promise me you'll treat her well. After all, we're asking for her help."
Fu Zhu stared at Cerydra with a serious expression. He didn't want the young Castorice, who had already suffered from neglect, to find herself in an even worse state of isolation after moving to a new place.
Cerydra rolled her eyes, a little speechless. Did she look like the kind of petty person who would turn on someone the moment they walked through the door? Did her own subject have so little faith in her?
"You don't need to tell me that. Anyone under my command is my beloved subject!"
With that guarantee, Fu Zhu was satisfied. He drew his Yamato and sliced open a spatial rift.
"Then I'll be heading back. An early return means a little more rest. See you."
Fu Zhu quickly ducked into the spatial rift and vanished. Cerydra watched the portal close, shaking her head in exasperation.
So impetuous. Her Lord Nameless didn't seem quite as domineering or composed as the rumors suggested.
---o---
Early the next morning, Fu Zhu woke up right on schedule. The moment he was conscious, he instinctively reached for his teleslate, planning to laze in bed and scroll for a while. But before he could find a video to pass the time, a series of surprised shouts echoed from outside, immediately pulling his attention away from the device.
"What's all this yelling about so early in the morning?"
Fu Zhu put away his teleslate, got up, and walked outside. As he opened the door and stepped out, he felt his foot connect with a soft lump, followed by a faint whimper.
He quickly looked down and found Castorice, curled up in a ball at his doorway. The light kick had been enough to wake her.
Castorice blinked her eyes open in a daze. She stood up, looked left and right, but couldn't find the "culprit" who had kicked her.
"Why don't you try looking behind you?"
Only then did Castorice react. She whipped around to see Fu Zhu standing there with his arms crossed and a wry smile on his face. She immediately tried to pull a smile onto her own face, but having never smiled at another person before, the expression was incredibly stiff.
Looking at her small face with a smile more pained than tears, Fu Zhu couldn't help but let out a speechless laugh. He reached out and gently poked at her two small dimples.
"You don't have to force it if you can't smile."
Castorice stood obediently where she was, letting Fu Zhu prod her face. Hearing his words, she couldn't help but say, "But... everyone smiles when they greet their friends."
"What friends want to see is a smile that comes from your heart, not one you force yourself to make. A smile like that will only make your friends worry that something is wrong with you."
Castorice nodded with a vague understanding and stopped trying to force a smile. Fu Zhu then withdrew his hand and silently ate a few more Golden Apples.
The sheer cuteness of her just now had nearly given him a system crash.
"Oh, right. What were you doing crouching at my door, my friend?"
Fu Zhu remembered what had just happened.
At the mention of it, Castorice's head drooped in embarrassment, her fingers fiddling in front of her.
"I just... wanted to say good morning to you... and then I wanted to ask, can we hold hands again today..."
Hiss—
Fu Zhu drew in a sharp breath. This poor little thing had been waiting at his door since the crack of dawn just to say good morning and ask to hold his hand.
It was an impossible request to refuse!
"But I refuse!"
"Huh?"
The hope in Castorice's big, watery eyes visibly dimmed.
But in the next second, she suddenly felt her body lighten as she was lifted into the air.
Fu Zhu placed her on his shoulders and said with a smile, "If we walk around holding hands so early in the morning, you'll run out of energy fast. A little girl like you should just let me carry you. We can save the hand-holding for later."
Castorice clung tightly to the back of Fu Zhu's head, looking down at him nervously.
"Is this really okay?"
"You're already sitting on my shoulders. What's there to be okay or not okay about? Let's go~"
With Castorice on his shoulders, Fu Zhu headed towards the courtyard outside, intending to see what all the chaotic squawking from the priestesses was about.
Having never experienced being at such a height before, Castorice's initial nervousness soon gave way to joyous laughter.
Hearing her genuine laughter from above, Fu Zhu's mood brightened as well. The corners of his mouth turned up unconsciously, and his pace quickened.
"That's right, that's it. You should smile just like this. From now on, you should walk in the sun more often. This place is all ice and snow; getting some sun is good for you."
Wait a second? What did I just say?
Fu Zhu's steps suddenly faltered. Castorice, sitting on his shoulders, asked in confusion, "Sunlight? But didn't the priestess grandmas say the sun set a long, long time ago? Only Okhema still has one..."
Fu Zhu blinked, then raised a finger and pointed to the brilliant orb hanging high in the sky.
"Then what's that thing above our heads?"
Castorice subconsciously replied, "That's the sun."
And then...
Fu Zhu: ???
Castorice: ?
Holy shit, how did the sun come back?
By now, Fu Zhu, standing in the courtyard, could finally make out what the priestesses were chattering about. They were excitedly discussing the sudden reappearance of the sun, all of them speculating whether the [Sky] Titan had recovered.
Fu Zhu, still carrying Castorice, hurried over to the group of priestesses.
"Oi, ladies, what's the story with this sun?"
The priestesses heard him and looked up. Seeing him carrying the Saintess was no longer a surprise to them; in fact, they were secretly relieved that there was someone like him, unafraid of the curse, who could be close to the Saintess.
"Lord Fu Zhu, you may not know, but at six o'clock this morning, the sun that had vanished reappeared! This is a rare and wonderful event!"
"Yes, yes! It could mean that the [Sky] Titan has finally recovered!"
Just as the priestesses finished speaking, the sun that had only been shining for a short while suddenly vanished.
"What?! The sun is gone again?"
The priestesses stared blankly at the darkening sky, utterly bewildered.
Fu Zhu had just witnessed the sun's disappearance firsthand. It didn't set in the usual way as day turns to night; it simply, abruptly, vanished.
Although he had long since confirmed that this world was a data world and the sun couldn't possibly be a real star, it was still a world Lygus had painstakingly simulated. He wouldn't have been so slipshod on a detail like this, would he?
Wait a minute... a data world...
"Castorice, let's head back for a bit."
"Okay."
Fu Zhu carried Castorice and quickly returned to his room, where he set her down.
"I'm going to take a short nap. It won't be long. Can you sit quietly by my side and wait for me, okay?"
Castorice nodded and obediently sat down on a nearby recliner.
After settling her in, Fu Zhu lay down directly on the bed.
Not long after, in another location, Lygus let out a startled cry.
"Wo Cao, how did the sun rise again?"