The Bai Ze squinted while observing the children as if looking at the sun. “Two new stars who have received the aid of the Four Divinities,” he said with a pronounced nod. “You may sit. It has been many years since I have spoken to any humans. What purpose brought you here?”
Angelina knelt before the Bai Ze, the white sand crunching beneath her. “My fodder has been transformed into a child. Please tell me how to return him to normal, Mishter Bai Ze—I beg of you.”
“I have the same request,” Ryuho added, bowing his head. “I want you to heal Feilong… Um, please!”
“I cannot do that,” the Bai Ze responded.
“Why not?” Angelina asked, looking at him with watery eyes.
The young girl’s earnest gaze nearly caused the Bai Ze to succumb to emotion. “Feilong is not a virtuous statesman,” he answered despite himself. “He is a sullied, fallen star. I do not wish for him to reclaim his throne.”
“Fodder is a wonderful emperor!” Angelina cried out.
“Feilong killed his own father. He bears the sin of patricide, and thus, he lacks one of the eight virtues. I do not recognize him as a statesman.”
The Bai Ze’s resolute answer caused Angelina to fall silent.
“That said, Kyril is a pure star,” he continued. “You are a beautiful star as well, Angelina. Abandon Feilong. If you do so, a new reign shall begin. The correct ruler shall preside over this dynasty with my recognition. It shall be a wonderful era of guaranteed fortune.”
Angelina’s mind went back. “You’re seriously asking me to abandon Fodder…?”
She recalled the small and adorable Feilong. He was currently a toddler who’d forgotten everything. If he left the North Star Sanctuary, he wouldn’t be able to survive on his own, as he had no parents. He could even be killed if his identity became common knowledge. Considering all that, was abandoning him the correct decision? When Angelina recalled her own abandonment, her words caught in her throat, and she found it difficult to breathe.
“Hey,” Ryuho said while standing beside a frozen Angelina. “Wouldn’t that be patricide too?”
Angelina and the Bai Ze looked at Ryuho.
“It would merely be abandonment,” the Bai Ze answered with a humorless smile.
“But Feilong would die if we abandoned him,” Ryuho argued. “He’s so small right now. How is that any different from murder?”
As the Bai Ze fell silent, Ryuho bristled with irritation. He remembered when he’d first met Angelina. At the time, Feilong hadn’t recognized her as his daughter, and he’d practically abandoned her. Now, the Bai Ze was asking Angelina to do the same thing to her father. Ryuho was furious with the creature.
“Feilong stained his hands with his father’s blood,” the Bai Ze said. “He has spurned filial piety—one of the eight virtues. Children must obey and honor their parents.”
“Are you serious?” Ryuho asked. “Being a parent doesn’t automatically make you a good person!”
The Bai Ze began to shrink from the boy’s persistence.
“I don’t like Feilong either, and I think he’s a terrible guy,” Ryuho said. “He’s killed a lot of people, and he’ll probably kill even more people in the future. I would understand if you couldn’t forgive him for that.”
“Killing in order to govern the empire is in line with loyalty and righteousness,” the Bai Ze countered. “It is not a sin.”
“Then it makes even less sense for only patricide to be a sin! The emperor before Feilong was the absolute worst. The nation improved when he died, right? People who kill children are worse than people who kill adults!”
The Bai Ze didn’t respond.
“I don’t know much about the eight virtues!” Ryuho continued shouting. “Jinlong’s rules don’t have anything to do with me, but bullying weak people is definitely, definitely wrong. Ignoring Lina was way, way worse than killing the previous emperor!”
The crabs walking along the beach grew frightened of Ryuho’s roaring and buried themselves in the sand. When Ryuho quieted down, the area grew deathly quiet. While Angelina gaped, the Bai Ze eyed Ryuho.
“Um, Ryuho,” Angelina said. “By that logic, it’s okay if we don’t return Fodder to normal, y’know?”
Jolting, Ryuho clapped his hand over his mouth. At that same time, tiger ears popped out of his head and drooped down. “Oh crap,” he muttered. “Umm, what I meant to say is… Feilong should repent for what he’s done and take better care of Lina. Yeah, that’s what I meant!”
The Bai Ze let forth a bellowing laugh. “Ah, I see. I suppose you’re right. You value the future more than the past. Is that right, Ryuho?”
Ryuho cocked his head, not seeming to understand the question.
“What do you think, Angelina?” the Bai Ze asked while scrutinizing her. His deep black eyes seemed capable of seeing through anything. “Do you not think patricide is a sin?”
“I don’t know for sure,” Angelina responded, hanging her head. “Fodder has killed a lot of people. He murdered his fodder and even abandoned his child…”
No one could change the fact that Feilong had abandoned her in the past. To say she didn’t resent him would be a lie. She’d even rejoiced in past loops upon hearing of her father’s death.
But it was also Father who risked his life to protect me, she thought. I can’t ignore the kindness he’s shown me in this life!
Angelina lifted her head abruptly. “But no matter how bad Fodder is, I want him to return to normal!” She bowed her head low enough to get sand stuck to her light pink hair. “Please tell me how to return Fodder to normal, Mishter Bai Ze! I beg of you!”
Ryuho bowed his head alongside Angelina, getting white sand stuck to his forehead. “Please!”
The Bai Ze smiled ever so slightly at the two desperate children. “I appreciate your honesty. When you don’t know something, you don’t pretend otherwise. I haven’t had such a pleasant dialogue in a long time. In deference to that, I will teach you how to return Feilong to normal.”
A scroll and a book drifted up to the shore on white-crested waves. The Bai Ze opened the texts in front of him. The paper wasn’t the least bit damp, perhaps because the ocean was magical.
“Feilong had time reversal magic cast upon him,” the Bai Ze explained. “This is one of the Yulan Secret Arts. His reversed time transformed into sheet music and now resides with the rest of the secret arts. You must play the Reversed Time Score for him once again. If you do so, he will return to normal.” Here, the Bai Ze turned his scrutinizing gaze on Angelina. “Listen closely, last remaining Princess of Yule and bearer of the Tianshi’s Protective Seal.” When Angelina nodded, the Bai Ze continued, “The Jinlongian Empire submerged the Yulan royal castle underwater.”
“Underwater?” Angelina repeated.
“Indeed. Yule flourished thanks to the secret arts stored within its castle. The former Emperor of Jinlong tried to obtain the Yulan Secret Arts and failed. Nonetheless, he submerged the castle underwater to prevent any other nation from obtaining them. As a result, the Yulan people lost most of their kingdom’s land, and many of them became nomads.”
Angelina bit her lip. “…How awful.”
“You will need ice magic to reach the castle. The former Emperor of Jinlong unleashed monstrous fish in the lake to prevent anyone from entering. Freeze the lake surface and cross over.”
“Will we be able to get into an underwater castle?” Ryuho asked.
The Bai Ze nodded. “The Queen of Yule sacrificed herself to cast a final spell that now protects the castle. As such, the castle is brimming with sorcery, and water cannot enter it. You can understand why even nations of great power fear the place, no?”
Ryuho gulped.