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.
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.