As the morning light began to break, the cast iron door knocker of the Magic Castle, adorned with the Dark Night Rose Pattern, was tied with a Xingchen Sha. The butler directed the Familiar to hang Ice Crystal Lanterns throughout the Emerald Corridor.
Luna, wrapped in a swaddling blanket covered in Xing Mang, had her Emerald Color eyes reflecting the flowing Magic Aurora of the Dome—this was the first time in a century that the Glorious Demon Fortress held a celebration for a baby girl’s Ailya's Birthday Rune.
“Xiao Luna needs to catch this Golden Bell!” Brother San pushed the floating magical toy closer to the Cradle, his black robe's sleeve still leaking Liquid Starlight from its torn seam.
The eldest brother, seated in a Wheelchair, was teasing his sister with newly bloomed star-shaped flowers. The blossoms, sprouting from burn marks, scattered Silver Powder as they followed the Track of his Fingertip.
Aelia leaned against a Gilded Column, her necklace made of Wedding Ring Fragments forming a half-heart that was growing warm against her chest.
When Luna’s laughter mingled with the chiming of the Magic Wind Chimes, her painted Ailya's White Nails nearly dug into her Palm.
The ambiguous sounds from outside the study last night and the unfamiliar perfume lingering on her husband’s collar now twisted like Thorns around her throat.
“Mother!” Second Brother suddenly exclaimed, his Parchment inscribed with ancient spells fluttering without wind. “Luna’s swaddle is glowing!”
A faint Golden Halo spread from around the baby, as Twelve Rays of protection infused by Lord Xu Ying into Lucius’s light sphere last night transformed into Star Sand that entwined with the Crystal Chandelier in the banquet hall.
Luna grasped her brother's Wheelchair Armrest, and suddenly starlight seeped from his Fingertip. The flowing Light Spots followed the wooden grain and penetrated into his knee—his atrophied leg muscles twitched slightly for the first time in years.
The moment Leonard stepped into the banquet hall, Aelia’s Wedding Ring Fragment around her Neck suddenly levitated.
Under Luna's suddenly bright Pupil, those Broken Diamonds seemed to be drawn together by an invisible Dark Purple Thread, merging mid-air into a complete heart amidst gasps from everyone present.
As the final gap was filled with starlight, Magic Engraving emerged on the inner side of the Wedding Ring—beneath the vow that read "To My Beloved," another name belonging to a Strange Woman was unexpectedly imprinted.
“The scent of Father...” Luna suddenly uttered clear Broken Syllables, startling Brother San into knocking over an Element Bottle.
The baby’s Chubby fingers pointed at Leonard’s collar. A violet stained with Ye Lu suddenly flew out from his chest pocket and unfolded into a Light Barrier under magical influence—in Leonard's Last Night, deep within a flower room at midnight, Lord had pinned a violet bearing the same Star Pattern into a Blonde Woman's hair.
Aelia staggered backward as the ancestral Rose Bracelet of Wrist suddenly shattered into pieces.
The fallen Buds, upon touching the ground, were awakened by Luna's starlight. In the astonished gaze of everyone present, vines with sharp Spikes suddenly ensnared the Blonde Woman within the Light Barrier.
As the third party in the illusion cried out in pain, bloodstains inexplicably seeped from Leonard's collar in reality.
"Luna's first birthday celebration is truly extraordinary," Lucius remarked as he entered, stroking the glowing orb. The orb, infused with Guardian Power last night, now reflected the thick love letters in the Study Room Secret Compartment.
He bent down to pick up Sister Yi Ya, who was making sounds, and his Fingertip gently brushed against her newly formed Starry Birthmark. "It seems our Little Star is destined to let the truth shine."
The banquet hall suddenly fell into an eerie silence, with only the sound of the Magic Fountain growing clearer.
Aelia trembled as she caught the Wedding Ring that flew back to her. When the starlight illuminated the overlapping names on its inner circle, she suddenly realized that the newly formed Star Pattern was slowly corroding the second name.
Seizing the opportunity, Luna grasped Mother’s finger and quietly infused it with the Light Gold energy absorbed from the violet Root System last night—an energy potent enough to wither lies, known as True Light.
"Lady of the Fortress, freshly baked Starlight Cookies from the kitchen..." Qin Si's voice came from the Side Door and abruptly stopped.
The maid, who always scented her Handkerchief with Gardenia, looked down in panic at the frozen scene in the banquet hall. A corner of a velvet box containing Jin Bian peeked out from her apron pocket, where a warm Magical Fluctuation pulsed rhythmically within.
As Qin Si hurriedly pressed down on her apron pocket, a waft of Maple Syrup and Cedar Fragrance drifted over from the kitchen.
The starry little deer she had crafted overnight from moonlight malt sugar was still warm in the oven. It gently swayed its antlers in time with the snoring of the fireplace sprite—this was a Secret Recipe she had exchanged with an Astrologer using Mother’s Black Rose Pocket Watch, a magic that allowed food to carry memories.
"The Young Miss loves watching stars spin around," the maid said softly as she tidied her wrinkled apron, her Fingertip brushing against the Golden Lock of the velvet box.
Inside lay a Star Chart Device she had reassembled from eighteen parts of Magic Clocks. Whenever Luna laughed, it would pop out candy-colored Nebulae.
The banquet hall's Magic Fountain suddenly played "Moonlight Serenade," and Lucius seized the opportunity to throw a glowing orb towards the Dome.
Colorful bubbles wrapped around dancing, luminous Jellyfish as they landed in front of Luna. Brother San immediately used the repaired Element Bottle to blow forth a Rainbow Bridge.
As the first Crystal Jellyfish lightly touched the baby girl's nose, Luna waved her chubby arms adorned with Xing Xu and grabbed Second Brother's wand.
"Watch closely!" Lucius suddenly flipped his wrist, and a shapeshifting Quicksand surged from the orb.
A miniature model of the castle rose before Luna's eyes, each Tower Spitze topped with a Magic Sphere resembling a Jumping Candy.
The baby girl's Emerald Color pupils reflected the spinning towers, and she suddenly reached out to poke at the Quicksand in the master bedroom, where it sparkled with starlight akin to Aelia's necklace.
Aelia was awakened by the laughter of children, a Wedding Ring Fragment leaving a red mark shaped like a Black Rose on her palm.
She gazed at Luna as she transformed the Quicksand castle into Xing Wu, her mind drifting back to twenty years ago when Leonard had raised an everlasting Morning Star for her in the same spot on their wedding day.
As Flowing Sand Star Mist floated before her, she caught a whiff of the Moonlight Rose and Cedar Fragrance that had adorned their wedding bed years ago.
"Mother, try this!" Qin Si appeared just in time, holding Starlight Cookies. The Sugar Coating outlined a Guardian Beast pattern that danced playfully on the plate.
She deliberately pushed a cookie engraved with Luna's Ailya's Birthday Rune towards Aelia. Beneath the layer of Caramel, flowing Galaxy Syrup suddenly spelled out "Eternal Love" in Ancient Language—an intimate phrase shared by the old Lord and Lady of the Fortress.
Suddenly, Leonard pressed his hand against his bleeding collarbone as a shadow spread beneath him, revealing a blurry outline of a Blonde Woman.
Luna immediately grabbed a cookie and hurled it at the shadow. The exploding Maple Syrup Nebula revealed love letters from the Study Room Secret Compartment.
Aelia's Wrist bore a newly formed Rose Tattoo that suddenly heated up, and thorny vines surged along the Tablecloth towards her husband's Projection.
"Father, look at this!" Brother San suddenly unfurled the Magic Scroll, and the phantoms of the Twelve Guardian Deities began to swirl around Luna.
He secretly mixed the Awakening Potion prepared by his elder brother into the Light and Shadow. At the moment Leonard inhaled the Stardust, the Emotional Curse Tattoo on his neck suddenly faded.
Seizing the opportunity, Luna grasped the floating phantom of a love letter and unwittingly activated her Break Magic Talent—tiny inscriptions on the Parchment began to flow backward and reorganize.
Aelia reached out to take the cookie her daughter offered, but the Wedding Ring Fragment suddenly burned her fingertip with Ailina's Burn.
She gazed at the flowing vows in the Maple Syrup and suddenly recalled Leonard's proposal years ago; those Love Words shared the same rhyming scheme as the ambiguous whispers she had heard last night.
When Luna's sugar-coated fingers touched her Tear Mole, a chilling truth pierced her heart through her tear ducts.
"Madam, would you like to try some Astrological Milk Jelly?" Qin Si frantically pulled out the Star Chart Device, unaware that the family crest engraved on the bottom of the box matched Luna's Luna Resonance.
As Shan Na turned the gears, all metallic decorations in the banquet hall began to hum softly. The Pearl Hairpin, long sealed away in Aelia's Dressing Table, suddenly broke open a Golden Lock—it was the Consolation Gift Leonard had given her in the year she bore her stillborn child.
Luna suddenly opened her arms towards the Pearl Hairpin, and a beam of light emitted from her Starry Birthmark transformed the Pearl String into a necklace.
As the tenth pearl fell into the cradle, Aelia finally saw that each pearl contained a smaller Golden-Haired Doll—bearing an identical face to that of the third party within the Light Barrier.
Staggering, she knocked over the Star Chart Device. In that instant, as gears splintered, every Magic Clock in the castle halted at the moment of Luna's birth.
The banquet hall fell into an eerie silence, with only Luna's fingertip dripping Maple Syrup.
Aelia looked at the ground covered in solidified Time Fragments and suddenly heard all lies from Twenty Years shatter simultaneously.
The frozen Time Fragments began to reverse and float as Luna's eyelashes fluttered. The Xing Hui erupting from her hair pierced through the still Pearl Necklace.
The impending fall of Aelia's Lacrima suddenly crystallized, reflecting the magic symbols Luna had highlighted in her previous life while perusing the original text—those were the Nine-Pointed Star Formation that could break the Emotion Spell.
"Yi Ya!" Luna grasped the floating Tear Crystal and pressed it into her elder brother's palm, starlight crawling up the wheelchair armrest to his curled fingers.
The dome of the Banquet Hall twisted into the ancient tome Iris, as years of magical rust on the wheelchair's metal components began to flake away, revealing the hidden Healing Rune beneath.
Her brother's pale fingertip suddenly oozed a Blood Pearl, which blossomed into a twelve-petaled Black Rose upon contact with the starlight.
He stared in shock at the newly formed star-shaped burn on his leg, precisely where he had been backlashed fifteen years ago when he forcibly deciphered the Elder Scrolls.
The inner side of the wheelchair armrest suddenly revealed golden Ke Hen—what he had misread as a Healing Spell back then now showed its true meaning in Luna's starlight.
"So it requires Star Pulse and Resonance..." Her brother's voice was hoarse, like rusty gears turning anew. He tore open his left shoulder robe, exposing dark purple skin eroded by curses.
At that moment, Luna pressed her finger coated with Sugar Coating onto it, and those writhing Hei Ban suddenly froze into a Star Map pattern.
The Healing Rune on the wheelchair armrest suddenly spiraled upward, imprinting a complete Dispel Array onto the parchment thrown by her second brother.
Her second brother, clutching a yellowed love letter Magic Letter, suddenly sneered; the blood-red Contract Patterns emerging on the parchment overlapped with the Betrayal Mark hidden on his neck.
Luna tapped at the floating Magic Quill with a "Yi Ya," its tip dipped in his fallen Lacrima, drawing out what was recorded in the original text—the "Truth Mirror."
As the mirror reflected Leonard's Last Night, where his close friend conversed with a Blonde Woman, the dark patterns on his robe's cuffs transformed into chains that ensnared the traitor within the illusion.
"Reshape the Contract with Star Sand." Luna suddenly articulated a complete sentence, startling Qin Si into knocking over parts of the Star Chart Device.
The chubby infant's palm slapped against the mirror, causing those altered oaths in Iris to flow backward and reassemble.
Second Brother trembled as he cut his finger, letting the blood drop onto the Reversal Spell formed by Luna with Moonlight Crumbs— the Magic Contract, signed under deception, began to burn at the edges, emerging from the Ashes as a true equal Contract.
Aelia stared blankly at the Automatic Repair Rose Bracelet, noticing that the Wedding Ring Fragment had somehow embedded itself in the center of the bracelet.
Luna grasped Mother’s flowing silver hair, channeling the awakening method of the Lady of the Fortress's Eye of Delusion into a Starlight Symbol.
As Aelia's Tear Mole started to heat up, she suddenly saw Leonard surrounded by hundreds of pink Curse Chains—each connected to a different woman's Xu Ying.
“Mother, look here!” Brother San suddenly unfurled a Magic Scroll. The back of the scroll, which he had long used for Luna's Doodle, revealed the Celestial Chart of Family Legacy.
Seizing the opportunity, Luna smeared Maple Syrup soaked in Awakening Potion along the edge of the Magic Scroll, causing the dormant Star Map to project into three dimensions against the Dome.
Amidst the swirling stars, Aelia discerned the truth—those Emotion Spells originated from a New Moon Night twenty years ago.
Leonard let out a beastly roar as a Heart-Shaped Tattoo began to emerge from beneath his torn collar.
Luna grabbed Second Brother's newly written Dispel Scroll and hurled it forward; the Parchment transformed into a Light Web upon contact with the black mist.
Taking advantage of this moment, Eldest Brother turned his Wheelchair to draw a Confinement Array, with Curse Black Spots shedding from his legs transforming into chains that ensnared Father.
“Use Mother’s Wedding Ring as the focal point!” Luna’s clear voice jolted the dazed Qin Si awake.
The maid hurriedly pulled out the repaired Star Chart Device, aligning its Twelve Rays gears perfectly with the Magic Pillar in the banquet hall.
As Aelia trembled while removing her necklace, those Wedding Ring Fragments once tainted by lies suddenly burst forth with pure Yin Hui.
Brother San gazed at Eldest Brother, who was rejuvenated within the Dispel Array, and abruptly crushed the Element Bottle in his palm.
As the Lavender Liquid came into contact with Luna's starlight, it unexpectedly coalesced into a once-abandoned cultivation schedule—those dates he had deliberately crossed out were now burning hot.
When Second Brother's Contract Ashes floated past him, he suddenly realized that each piece of Ashes reflected images of himself dozing off in the Cultivation Room years ago.
As the Magic Clock in the banquet hall began to move again, Luna was pressing the last of the starlight into Mother Mei Xin.
Surrounded by Aelia's rising Yin Yan, all the pink Curse Chains were snapping with sharp cracks.
Brother San quietly picked up a fragment of Time, seeing in its reflection his twenty-year-old self placing the Family Legacy's Celestial Secrets under a bubble tea cup—the very book he had mocked as an "antique" was now shimmering with a dispelling Magic Radiance beside his elder brother's Wheelchair.
Stumbling back, Brother San felt his Palm cut by shards of the Element Bottle, and the Blood Pearl seeping from the wound spread ripples across the surface of the Time Fragments.
The images of his neglected cultivation days suddenly came to life—his eighteenth year when he had deliberately knocked over the Star Chart Device, tearing apart the Magic Pattern Atlas on his Ten-Year Birthday, and burning the Meditation Journal last winter under the pretense of needing warmth—each Leonard's Last Night twisted into lashes under Luna's starlight.
He trembled as he tore open his shirt collar; the dormant Brand beneath his Collarbone suddenly ignited with pain.
What he once thought was misled by celestial signs in the Magic Circuit now revealed its true patterns under Luna's surrounding Xing Hui.
Those Magic Patterns he regarded as Error branches were clearly recorded in the First Generation Fortress Lord's Journal as "Starry Path."
"It turns out I am the one who has been blindfolded." Brother San knelt on the ground, his Fingertip digging deep into the Silver Thread of the embroidered shoes on the banquet hall carpet.
The flowing Star Sand suddenly crawled through his fingers, coalescing in the void into what he had once derided as the opening lines of Star Pulse Operation Principle—"True talent is an unceasing quest for knowledge."
Luna suddenly expelled a star Light Bubble towards Brother San; when it burst, scattered Xing Xu formed a Thorned Crown above his head.
Those Spikes transformed into flowing Liquid knowledge upon touching his Brand, pouring down his neck and into his Robe.
Brother San trembled all over, and suddenly, the scene from last winter emerged before him—when he had been dozing by the fireplace, the comet's tail that swept past outside clearly concealed the astrological code to break through his cultivation bottleneck.
Leonard erupted with fury, the shattered chains of the Emotion Spell around him transforming into black mist that surged toward Luna.
Aelia's wrist was instantly woven with Blood Rose Vines into a Light Web, but Brother San suddenly raised his hand and flung out fragments of an Element Bottle.
The glass shards, stained with the blood of awakening, reassembled mid-flight and transformed into the Star Shield he should have forged during his ten years of neglect.
"Father, it's time to wake up." The Star Shield refracted Luna's Luna light, illuminating the black mist until it was utterly exposed.
Within the flowing Star Map on the shield's surface, a rainy night from twenty years ago was vividly reflected—Young Leonard receiving a potion of Emotion Spell from a witch in a dark alley, with the amber liquid swirling around being none other than the pink Curse Chain embryo now entwined around him.
Aelia's Eye of Delusion suddenly overflowed with Silver Blue Blood Tears; those droplets ignited cold flames upon touching the Star Shield.
The Dark Purple Flame raced along the Curse Chain toward Leonard's heart, where the core of the Emotion Spell hidden within emitted a sound like shattering porcelain.
Seizing the opportunity, Luna grasped the Contract Ashes drifting before her and condensed the final chapter of breaking the curse from her past life into a baby's murmurs.
The entire Magic Castle suddenly resonated with a Zhen Chan-like sound, and the pupils of all past Lords' images on the banquet hall walls lit up simultaneously.
Brother's wheelchair armrest detached its Healing Rune from metal, assembling in mid-air into a Judgment Array diagram for punishing traitors by the First Generation Fortress Master.
As Leonard's name materialized in the Formation Diagram, a starry abyss suddenly opened beneath his feet—hundreds of pink Curse Chains connected to a woman named Xu Ying now transformed into chains pulling him downward.
"The castle is rebooting the Guardian Contract!" Lucius's light sphere suddenly exploded, and flying Star Sand above everyone's heads formed ancient fortress regulations.
Among them, the Contract stating "The Unrighteous Heart forever loses Xing Hui's protection" emitted blinding red light. Leonard’s Lord’s Emblem embedded in the wall suddenly peeled away and shattered into three pieces as it hit the ground, each flying toward his three sons.
Brother San stared blankly at the Reformer Badge Fragment floating before him. The sharp facets suddenly reflected his six-year-old self—a boy holding the Family Legacy's Astrolabe, smiling sweetly, with eyes full of pure love for magic.
He trembled as he reached out to touch it. The fragment suddenly melted and seeped into his innate Brand, forming a brand new Star Trail Magic Circuit on the surface of his skin.
“Mother, the drapes in the Sanctuary Hall...” Qin Si suddenly gasped, as the Star Chart Device in her arms automatically pointed toward the Southeast.
Her apron pocket, dusted with Sugar Coating, glimmered slightly, containing Starlight Cookies prepared for Luna, resonating with some ancient frequency.
The Aurora in the Banquet Hall Dome suddenly flowed toward the East Wing, outlining the forgotten contours of a Holy Icon at the end of the corridor.
Luna reached out her small hand toward the direction where the Aurora flowed. Her Emerald Pupils reflected a System Prompt that only she could see—the key item "Awakening Tear" had Automatic Activation, and the progress of the Holy Icon's seal being lifted was at 12%.
She pretended to reach for the floating Sugar Coating Xing Xu, but her chubby fingers unintentionally knocked over the velvet box in Qin Si's apron.
At the moment the Golden Lock sprang open, gears from the Star Chart Device suddenly flew off in different directions.
The Twelve Bell Chimes echoed from various parts of the castle, shaking the old drapes that shrouded the Holy Icon as if stirred by an unseen wind.
Aelia's Wedding Ring Fragment around her neck suddenly floated up, emitting a hum from Leonard's Sword Suddenly Emitted a Hum in the direction indicated by the Aurora, as if responding to some call that transcended time and space.
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