Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"What did you talk about with the Second Steward this afternoon?" Dick asked, setting his tray down and sitting next to Eve. "My mom said you're so sly, cozying up to the steward while the other kids were still crying in front of their parents."

All the children were now in the starship's dining hall. True to the Medici family's lavish style, even the dining hall was a buffet, offering various cuisines, fruits, and beverages. The family had also generously provided each child with a psychic nourishing agent.

At fifteen or sixteen, they were at their most boisterous. These children, soon to enter the main family, were bustling around, eagerly socializing with everyone.

Eve found it annoying and had deliberately found a corner to sit in, though she had to admire Dick for managing to find her anyway.

She lifted her eyelids to glance at the uninvited, brash youth, forked a bite of rolled noodles coated in sweet fruit jam, and mumbled, "Just exchanged some casual remarks. I’m not familiar with him anyway. Besides speculating about life in the main family later, what else was there to discuss?"

"But with so much jam, isn’t it too sweet for you?" Dick’s gaze was drawn to Eve’s plate, piled with jam-covered rolled noodles, small cakes, fruit juice, and even the psychic nourishing agent she’d chosen was sweet-flavored. Just looking at it made Dick’s teeth ache a little.

"Ah, well, life’s too hard, so I just crave something sweet."

Eve didn’t mind. She had always had a sweet tooth. Back in the modern era, she’d restrained her dessert intake for fear of gaining weight or developing diabetes.

Now in this interstellar era, diabetes was no longer an issue, and even sweeteners had evolved to be delicious and harmless. Of course, she was going to indulge heavily and make up for so many years of suppressed cravings.

After dinner, staff came to distribute dedicated personal terminals. These contained the Medici family’s exclusive chips, allowing for internal family communication.

Considering that everyone probably already had their own personal terminals, if they wished to continue using their original ones, they could simply pry out the chip and swap it.

Eve did have a terminal—a basic model she’d saved up to buy herself—but it was far inferior in functionality to the latest brand-name model the family provided. Without any attachment, she abandoned her old personal terminal.

The starship was scheduled to arrive at the capital planet in two days. Besides Eve’s home planet, it would make detours to several other planets to pick up the remaining children before heading back.

Eve didn’t want to waste precious time on the starship. She wanted to ask Sandro for some materials on the spiritual state lineages of the four great families and the royal family. Most of this core knowledge couldn’t be found on the Star Network; to learn about it, she had to consult the internal documents of each family.

Sandro quickly responded to her request via terminal communication.

Sandro: "Research on the Medici Family and Lunar-type Spiritual State Beings.doc"

Sandro: "Research on the Cavendish Family and Solar-type Spiritual State Beings.doc"

Sandro: "Research on the Luo Family and Illusion-type Spiritual State Beings.doc"

Sandro: "Research on the Oliver Family and Miasma-wind-type Spiritual State Beings.doc"

...

It was as if Sandro had been waiting by his terminal for Eve to message him. The moment she sent her request, he sent her a flood of over twenty related documents. Besides the spiritual state research and basic information on the four great families, there were also documents on the empire’s history, the royal family’s origins and unique spiritual states, mecha operation manuals, and even introductory guides to alchemy—all kinds of random things.

These topics, which had been glossed over in the original novel, were now specific research documents, leaving Eve dazzled.

She clicked on one of the documents, an introduction to basic mecha knowledge. It detailed the composition of various mecha parts and the scientific principles applied. Although the scientific theories were entirely different from those in her original world, they were equally well-reasoned and logically rigorous. Even Eve couldn’t find any flaws at first glance.

Yet the rigorous logical consistency of the knowledge left Eve feeling somewhat inexplicably uneasy. Did an interstellar novel really need to have more than one set of independent, self-consistent knowledge systems?

She took a deep breath, temporarily pushing this suspicion down in her heart, and instead sent a sincere thank-you message to Sandro.

Sandro: You’re welcome. Feel free to ask me any questions about your studies during these two days on the ship. I’ve got nothing better to do anyway ^^

Eve: Thank you, Steward. [Sending flowers emoji]

Sandro: You can forward these to Dick too. That kid also has Class A Psychic abilities. As a future pillar of the family, he should start studying now too.

Eve: Okay.

Eve lightly tapped her screen, selected the messages, clicked forward, and chose Dick from her contacts.

Her terminal only had two contacts: Sandro, who’d been pre-added to her friends list when the device was issued, and Dick, who’d insisted on adding her during dinner.

For the next two days, aside from meals, Eve stayed in her room, focused on the learning tasks Sandro had assigned her. Not only Eve but even the seemingly lively and energetic Dick had settled down, shutting himself in to study.

Eve first finished reading the spiritual state research on the four great families, paying special attention to the main family’s Medici lunar spiritual state.

There were still two years until the original plot officially began, when she would attend the First Empire Academy. During these two years, she would first undergo preparatory studies at the Medici family.

Knowing oneself and one's enemy is the key to victory. So, for her, it was essential to have a thorough understanding of the main family’s spiritual lineage.

The Medici family emphasized the cultivation of spiritual states. Their inherent spiritual state lineage was the lunar system, focusing on magical direction. Spiritual state beings in this lineage were mostly hazy and beautiful, shimmering, dreamlike.

The spectrum ranking was based on a comprehensive assessment of the strength, rarity, and functional practicality of those who had possessed this spiritual state lineage throughout history.

At the top of this lunar lineage were the "Three Lunar Sanctities"— Silver Moon Clematis, Mist Cloud Vine, and Luna Butterfly. Although the Medici family’s emblem was the Silver Moon Clematis, records showed that almost every generation’s head of family had awakened either the Silver Moon Clematis or the Mist Cloud Vine. The least awakened was the Luna Butterfly, so records about it were also the scarcest.

According to records, only one female head of family had awakened the Luna Butterfly. She was also the empire’s supreme commander-in-chief during the last war with the insectoids.

Interstellar spiritual states weren’t just for appearance—these peculiar beings often provided their owners with various functional benefits. Powerful spiritual states could even assist in combat.

Among the Three Lunar Sanctities, the Silver Moon Clematis was a sacred healing item, also providing group enhancement and immunity to negative effects for allies. The Mist Cloud Vine was a rare spiritual state with high physical attack capabilities, capable of ignoring certain levels of shield defense. Records of the Luna Butterfly were limited, but it was known to have strong stealth abilities. Research speculated it might have other more hidden and powerful functions, but due to insufficient reference material, it remained mere conjecture.

In the original story, Eve awakened a spiritual state that was just below the Three Sanctities in the lunar lineage—the StormEye Butterfly. Its function was related to the well-known butterfly effect, though in the interstellar knowledge system, the term "butterfly effect" actually originated from the StormEye Butterfly.

The StormEye Butterfly had no directly activatable physical functions, but it was a rare spiritual state with independent consciousness, capable of acting separately from its owner. It easily influenced things it came into contact with, triggering chain reactions toward favorable or unfavorable development, like a snowball effect.

It was a spiritual state with great potential and rarity. Unfortunately, the original Eve had such a good skill but used it entirely to mess with the heroine, Alice.

Eve worked hard to commit the spiritual state-related materials to memory. In future confrontations, this would be crucial intelligence.

Besides that, she also made sure to skim through the mecha operation manual. After all, what modern person wouldn’t want to experience the thrill of piloting a Gundam-style mecha?

But whether it was due to a genuine lack of talent or lack of hands-on practice, just reading the book wasn’t very helpful. Eve remained confused about the abstract instructions in the manual, only half-understanding them. She didn’t even know how to ask Sandro about it.

Disappointed, she scratched her head and had to temporarily give up her mecha dreams.

The starship was scheduled to arrive at the capital planet on the afternoon of the third day. The day after Eve boarded, the last child with Class A Psychic abilities also came aboard.

This time, the Medici family had reaped quite a harvest. They had brought back 17 children from cadet branches who had reached B-class or above, with three of them achieving Class A Psychic abilities. In the previous selection, they had only brought back nine children, and not a single one was Class A.

However, Eve was unaware of all this for now.

She had just finished a day of tedious studying, taken a hot shower, and groomed her smooth, shiny silver hair when she received Sandro’s message. Then, she happily lay on her soft bed, watching Star Network arena combat videos.

The videos varied widely, but Eve loved watching spiritual state battles the most: visually distinctive spiritual state beings showcasing their unique abilities, cooperating with their owners in combat.

It was not only a visual feast but also very enlightening for Eve, who was currently studying spiritual state lineages.

It was at this moment that Sandro notified her to come to his room with Dick after breakfast the next morning.

Eve: "......"

She had been meaning to ask Sandro if he’d forgotten to add his contact to Dick’s personal terminal. Otherwise, why did she always have to pass along messages?

Habitually, she selected the message, forwarded it, and Dick instantly replied with an "okay."

The next morning, Eve changed into the uniform provided by the starship. The uniforms were designed separately for boys and girls: girls wore shirts with knee-length skirts, while boys wore shirts with suspenders and pants.

In addition, the uniforms also featured some distinctive small designs tailored for each child. The girls had different hair accessories; for instance, Eve, with her long, straight, and exceptionally pure silver hair, was given only a diamond hairpin by the designer. Meanwhile, the curly-haired girl in the room next door had two bow hair ties, and every morning when Eve left her room, she could see the girl's playful twin tails swaying.

For the boys, distinctions were made through the color and pattern of their boutonnieres. Dick complained to Eve that all his boutonnieres and bow ties were an ugly shade of yellow, which looked tacky. When he asked the staff to change the color, his request was denied.

Eve waited for Dick on the only path from the children's accommodations to the Second Steward's room. People passed by in small groups, and since she had been too busy to socialize over the past two days, she only vaguely recognized the faces of these children from the branch families.

In contrast, Dick, who was slowly approaching from a distance, stood out like a minor celebrity. He yawned repeatedly while continuously greeting those around him.

"Good morning, Xie Ke. You didn’t wipe the vegetable leaf off your tooth properly."

"Morning, Sister Cynthia. Your ribbon headband is very pretty and complements your hairstyle perfectly."

"Me? I have some business—the Second Steward asked me to see him. But who am I to guess what the steward wants? Right, I’m going with little Eve."

"Little Eve isn’t as aloof as she seems. You could try talking to her yourself, but don’t even think about asking me for her contact info. Give up on that idea."

Eve: "..." She couldn’t understand how someone who spent all day holed up in his room with her could know so many people.

When Dick finally approached, Eve noticed the dark circles under his eyes and asked suspiciously, "Did you get any sleep at all these past two days?"

"Don’t even ask. I had to study the materials the steward sent during the day, and at night I had to socialize actively with peers on my terminal. I’ve been swamped," Dick said wearily. "I hope the steward isn’t calling us over to test us on the material. My brain feels like mush right now; I can barely keep up appearances."

"You could find a healing device to resolve the blood congestion causing those dark circles," Eve suggested.

Dick replied, "What you can get rid of are the dark circles, but what you can’t is the weariness of a king."

"......"

Despite his words, Dick borrowed a healing device from the staff. Three minutes later, a fresh-faced and energetic Dick returned—if one ignored those tired, sad blue eyes.

Fortunately, Dick’s prayers were answered: Sandro Medici did not subject them to something as tedious as an impromptu test.

At his door, Eve and Dick encountered another girl with silver hair cut shoulder-length—the third Class A Psychic from the branch family, Grace Medici.

Grace seemed very gentle and easy to get along with. Before the three could exchange more than a few pleasantries at the door, Sandro burst out of the room like a whirlwind and gave each of them an enthusiastic hug.

"Oh, my dear little buds, good morning!" It was impressive how energetic and vibrant the Second Steward was so early in the day. With his exaggerated, over-the-top voice, he greeted the three children enthusiastically: "I’m absolutely thrilled to see your hopeful faces here on time at our agreed meeting place this morning."

"I originally had an appointment to meet a VIP this morning and was worried about what I’d do if you were late. But thankfully, you’re all very punctual kids, and good kids deserve a treat."

When listening to Sandro speak, one had to learn to automatically filter out the unnecessary embellishments. So, like a skilled editor cutting out Sandro’s exaggerated, fluffy modifiers, Eve asked the question on everyone’s mind: "Who are you planning to take us to meet?"

Sandro’s mustache lifted in a smile. "The eldest young master of one of the Four Great Families, Lorca Oliver of the Oliver Family."

Eve blinked, genuine curiosity flashed in her eyes for the first time.

The reason was simple: in the original story, this young master Lorca was already dead at the start of the story.