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墨書 Inktalez
Thunder wove a dense web above the Glorious Demon Fortress. In the corner of the VIP section, Lucius closed his Pocket Watch, while on the third floor Nursery, Luna was gnawing on a Crystal Teething Stick with her Milk Tooth.
The baby in the pink swaddle had eyes as deep as an ancient well. Magic Crystal Powder scattered from her unaware grasp, leaving a faint Golden Butterfly imprint on her Qian Si Skirt.
"A new toy from Third Young Master Lucius?" the Nurse remarked, catching sight of the maid holding a carved Sandalwood Box.
"It's a magical music box from the outer city," Qin Si said as she opened the velvet-lined lid. Suddenly, Luna let out a loud cry.
The chubby baby’s palm struck the corner of the box's Dark Compartment, causing three Pearl Hairpins entwined with Platinum Long Hair to clatter to the ground—those were the Dowry ornaments lost by Aelia last year during Ailya's Birthday Rune.
Before the Nurse could react, Luna had grasped Qin Si's butterfly Silver Buckle at her collar.
The Maid suddenly remembered something and hurriedly picked up the baby, rushing through the Emerald Corridor adorned with portraits of past Lords.
Raindrops trickled down the Stained Glass, forming tear-shaped trails that reflected fleeting Hexagram patterns in Luna's pupils.
In the study, Aelia's favorite White Iris Fragrance filled the air as the Lady of the Fortress pressed a Gold Foil Invitation onto an ink-stained envelope.
Kneeling at the edge of a Persian Carpet with Luna in her arms, Qin Si noticed how the Hairpin refracted eerie light under the candle flames—its pearl surface glimmered with barely discernible Magic Engravings, piecing together Xu Ying of the Outer Courtyard's Wisteria Arbor.
"Where did these items come from?" Aelia’s fingertip brushed over the slightly raised Iris Dark Pattern at the end of the Hairpin, which bore Leonard's hand-carved anti-counterfeiting Curse Mark from his Wedding Ring.
Her sleeve embroidered with Silver Thread and Forget-Me-Not flowers trembled violently, like butterfly wings torn by a hurricane.
At just the right moment, Luna giggled, and suddenly a Strong Light burst forth from the moonstone around her neck.
As if awakening from a dream, Qin Si pulled out a scroll of Parchment: "In Cellar, seventh row Oak Barrel Hidden Layer... and behind Wall Tile three on the East Side of Stable..." At that moment, as the candelabrum toppled over with a crash, Aelia caught sight of crimson fingerprints on the Contract—those unmistakably belonged to Leonard, who had signed a Magic Contract five days prior, promising to allocate three Magic Crystal Veins in Eastern Realm to Black Rose Separate Courtyard.
The torrential rain pounded against the Lead Gray Window Lattice as Aelia stumbled into a high-backed chair.
Malachite shattered her carefully nurtured Ailya's White Nails, and the excruciating pain in her fingers was nothing compared to the piercing words on the Parchment: "Twinborn Magic Pattern Inheritance Rights."
Twenty years ago, on their wedding night, Leonard had used the Oath Ring to cut through their palms, declaring, "My Bloodline will only flow beneath the Iris Emblem."
"Madam!" Qin Si exclaimed in horror as she watched silver strands emerge from Aelia's hair. The Moonlight Hair Ornament, symbolizing the glory of the Lady of the Demon Fortress, was cracking apart.
Luna suddenly reached out to catch a falling Gem Fragment, blood mixed with Magic Crystal Powder dripping onto Aelia's trembling Hand Back, forming tiny Prophecy Runes.
When Jing Lei split open the Southwest Tower, the arena erupted with cheers like a roaring sea.
The Silver Sword of her elder brother was embedded in the throat of the Shadow Demon Wolf as it collapsed, the Dawn Color Magic Pattern creeping up the hilt to his bulging Veins on his Wrist.
The oldest elder in the judging panel suddenly knocked over his wine cup, his murky Eye fixated on the exposed Collarbone of the youth—where an entirely different Thorned Sun Wheel Totem was Emerging compared to that of the Current Fortress Lord.
Luna burped in the Nurse's arms, her gaze piercing through three layers of stone walls toward the Competition arena.
The curled Toes of the infant twitched slightly, as if enduring some invisible magical force tearing at her.
Her left hand, hidden in swaddling, struggled to Jie Yin. The remnants of Magic Crystal Powder on her Fingertip suddenly felt like a branding iron—this infant body could hardly withstand the soul of a Great Mage's Zhen Chan.
When Leonard kicked open the study door, Shan Na's presence extinguished the Hexagram deep within Luna's Pupil.
The Obsidian Ring on Lord's left pinky was still oozing blood, yet it did not prevent him from gently lifting his pale-faced wife. "How did you break your beloved Emerald Bracelet?" As he leaned down, half of a Black Rose-shaped bite mark faintly revealed itself at Leonard's Cloak collar, perfectly matching Aelia's fading Curse Mark on her Neck.
Aelia sobbed like a kitten in her husband's embrace, unaware that Luna was smearing bloodied Magic Crystal Powder onto Qin Si's skirt hem.
The infant gazed out at the East Tower illuminated by lightning; behind one window, Brother San's Frost Barrier emitted a sound like shattering porcelain.
When Leonard left, he took away the last trace of Blood Stench.
Luna struggled in the nurse's embrace, her throat emitting urgent laughter as she pressed her fingertip, dusted with magic crystal powder, against her brother's burning wrist pulse—those meridians cursed and corroded by the Shadow Demon Wolf were ravenously gnawing at the Thorned Sun Wheel Totem.
"Young Miss, be careful!" Qin Si hurriedly tried to pull the baby away, but saw Luna suddenly drawing twisted runes in the air with her finger stained with milk.
Shattered fragments of the emerald bracelet suddenly floated up, refracting the magic crystal powder into a Xu Ying that wove the Thorned Sun Wheel in midair.
Her brother groaned as he curled up on the ground, the Silver Sword piercing through the center of Xu Ying with a sudden hum.
As the emerald green light seeped into his Clavicle Totem's Shan Na, seventeen dark purple cursed chains burst forth from his pores, burned to ashes by the Thorned Sun Wheel Totem.
"Sister..." Her brother trembled as he cradled the feverish Luna, her curled toes grasping at his unhealed scar. "How did you know that the Thorn Knight's bloodline inheritance requires jade marrow?"
Luna pressed her scorching Luna against his blood-stained collar, using magic crystal powder to draw the curse recorded in the original text on his palm.
Her brother's pupils shook violently—this was clearly the secret script of the glorious First Lord of the Magic Fortress.
As thunder split the sky, Second Brother was curled up in a secret chamber, clutching a crystal pendant gifted by his dear friend.
The symbiotic incantation carved into his spine before his friend’s death suddenly surged forth, pinning him against the ice crystal wall.
"Second Brother, catch!" The moment Luna was embraced into the secret chamber by the nurse, she hurled a rattle dusted with emerald powder towards the crystal pendant.
At their collision, Shan Na twisted into a grotesque face—the very visage of his dear friend who had died for him three days ago.
"The Symbiotic Curse is bidirectional!" Luna issued a warning with a sharp loud cry unique to infants.
Second Brother trembled all over, instinctively stabbing a shard of jade pendant into his heart as his friend's phantom screamed and was drawn back into the remains of the jade pendant.
As the ice crystal wall crashed down, he looked at Luna's Mei Xin, where the hexagram mark had yet to fade, suddenly recalling the nebula phenomenon that enveloped the delivery room on the night Mother gave birth.
As the sound of the Frost Barrier shattering echoed from the East Tower, Brother San was throwing the seventeenth Ice Sculpture against the wall inscribed with spells.
Luna, cradled in Qin Si's arms while medicine was being administered, suddenly grasped Brother San's frost-formed fingers.
"Wrong," the infant said, drooling as she traced a swirling Hexagonal Ice Crystal on the Ice Surface. "The Ice Vein of the Extreme North Snow Witch must turn counterclockwise." Brother San stared blankly at his own reddened eyes reflected in the ice crystal, suddenly realizing that those Frost Flowers he had regarded as a curse were blooming into the shape of Ice Phoenix Tail Feathers in the backlight.
As the last shard of ice transformed into an Ice Phoenix Feather in Brother San's palm, Luna suddenly convulsed in Qin Si's embrace.
The magic pattern on the infant's neck glowed like a burning iron chain, causing Qin Si to gasp and release her grip—this was exactly what had disappeared from Aelia's wedding gown when her engagement was tampered with twenty years ago: the Phoenix Dark Pattern.
"Miss, look!" Qin Si pointed at the glowing remnants of Magic Crystal Powder in Luna's swaddling. "The arrangement of these powders... doesn't it resemble the patterns on the Lord's Seal?"
As Aelia bent down, her hair tips brushed against her daughter's feverish forehead.
Outside, torrential rain poured down, and she failed to notice that a wisp of smoke, matching the color of the Obsidian Ring, was quietly swirling in the Calming Incense Burner her husband had sent last night.
Just as Aelia's fingertip touched the remnants of Magic Crystal Powder, Qin Si suddenly covered her mouth and took two steps back.
The Pearl Hairpin in the maid's hair clinked against the Carved Pillars, waking up the sleeping Light Butterflies outside the window.
"Miss, this pattern..." Qin Si's trembling finger pointed at the undispersed Magic Crystal Powder in the air. "Last month when I organized the study for the Lord, that gilded box contained a Magic Letter..." She seemed to recall something and tore open her collar to reveal an unhealed burn mark on her collarbone. "That day I accidentally knocked over the incense burner. When the Lord absorbed the smoke with his Obsidian Ring, this was exactly what was on the inner circle of the ring!"
Luna's loud cry suddenly turned sharp, and deep purple smoke swirled in her pupils as it reflected from the incense burner.
Aelia staggered to support herself against the Emerald Screen, and a strange light suddenly refracted from the Moonstone embedded in it—this was reminiscent of three years ago on the eve of Leonard’s expedition to the Northern Territory when he personally placed a Starry Necklace shaped like a Zhui Zi around her neck.
"Go fetch the Memory Crystal from Dong Ge Lou," Aelia commanded, her voice sounding as if it came from beneath an Ice Layer.
As she traced her Ailya's White Nails stained with Balsam Juice across the surface of the crystal, scenes from three days ago during a celebration emerged in the rain: Leonard’s fingers wrapped around a wine glass while smoke seeped from his Obsidian Ring, quietly entwining around the wrist of a Strange Maid who came to pour wine—on that wrist’s inner side was etched a Thorned Sun Wheel Totem identical to that of the Magic Crystal Powder.
The sound of the torrential rain pounding against the Stained Glass suddenly became deafening.
Aelia's Wedding Ring flickered in the Memory Frame, and when it collided with the Obsidian Ring, it ignited not the sparks of past love but an Ice Blue Flame that consumed half the wall.
She finally recalled the betrothal ceremony from Twenty Years Ago, where the Old Priest, gazing at the Gold Dust floating in the chalice, hesitated to speak: "The Sun Wheel and the Thorn are ultimately destined to conflict..."
Luna suddenly let out a kitten-like sob, and the Phoenix Dark Pattern on the infant's neck began to absorb the incense smoke.
Aelia's Silver Moon Robe moved without wind, and simultaneously, seventeen magical lamps exploded, sending Liuli Fragments soaring through the air, forming a scene from her first encounter with Leonard—during that year’s Chun Shou, the young Lord knelt on one knee, holding a blood-stained Thorn wreath, declaring that her golden hair shone brighter than the purest Sunstone.
"How many nightingales does he keep in Xi Tower?" Aelia suddenly turned to ask Qin Si, her Ailya's White Nails stained with flower juice digging deeply into her palm.
Amidst the sound of rain, a faint Harp Sound from Northern Elegy could be heard; it was a melody Leonard often hummed during her pregnancy, now echoing from the Stargazing Tower that should have been empty.
As the eighth lightning bolt struck the Castle Spire, Three Brothers appeared simultaneously at the end of the corridor.
The eldest brother's Silver Sword was entwined with a newborn Thorn, while Second Brother's Crystal Pendant refracted a Frost Rune. Brother San's Fingertip spun an Ice Phoenix Feather that still carried Luna's Milk Fragrance.
They stood silently behind Mother, casting intertwined shadows on the carpet like three newly awakened Guardian Statues.
"Mother, there are fresh Blood Rose Petals in the secret passage of Xi Tower." The tip of the eldest brother's sword lifted a petal stained with Ye Lu. "It shares its origin with Father’s cloak’s Xunxiang."
Aelia's Wedding Ring suddenly burst forth with Strong Light, incinerating the petal into Ashes.
As she turned, the Starry Hairpin in her hair chimed softly; this sound reminded Luna of what was recorded in the original book: "At Dawn of the Battle, when the queen removed her Crown, twelve pearls fell."
"Go fetch your Father to the rose garden." Aelia's voice suddenly became gentle as water, reminiscent of how she sang Lullaby on Luna's full moon night. "Remember to remind him to bring that Obsidian Ring."
As Leonard's footsteps echoed on the spiral staircase, Luna suddenly coughed violently in Nurse’s arms.
The milk foam expelled by the infant crystallized in the air into a micro star map. Qin Si recognized it as the strange celestial phenomenon that had suddenly appeared on the roof of the delivery room the night Aelia gave birth.
The nurse's silver spoon suddenly melted, and liquid metal slithered across the ground, forming the ancient character for "rebellion."
"Darling, it's so late..." Leonard's voice trailed off as he pushed open the bronze door of the rose garden.
Aelia stood among the moonlight roses where they had first declared their love, playfully holding a fragment of an incense burner extracted from the memory crystal.
At her feet lay torn pieces of a magic letter, with tiny inscriptions on the paper glowing in the same color as the obsidian ring.
The torrential rain abruptly ceased, and moonlight streamed through the shattered colored window, illuminating Aelia's face and casting her in a light reminiscent of a weeping holy mother statue.
Luna's magic pattern suddenly began to absorb the moonlight, forming thorns that entwined around an ice phoenix—this Xu Ying bore an astonishing resemblance to Leonard's last night and the image of the first generation fortress master in the castle's underground chamber.
"Do you remember..." Aelia's voice was as soft as withering rose petals. "On the night Luna was born, you said you would use all the starlight from the Northern Territory to forge her cradle?" She suddenly raised her hand and overturned an entire rose trellis. Amidst a flurry of blood-red petals, a blood-stained letter box buried underground was revealed, with half of a pearl-colored Ailya's white nail still stuck to its lid.
A sound of shattering crystal echoed from somewhere in the castle. Lucius peeked out from the knight tower, holding a broken training sword in two pieces, just in time to see his father's figure swallowed by moonlight summoned by his mother.
The young third young master Lucius did not notice that the family crest embedded in his sword hilt was growing hot; its thorned floral pattern had somehow transformed into ice crystals with barbs.
As the last rose petal touched Luna's swaddling, Lucius suddenly found that his Leonard's sword was inexplicably vibrating within Jian Qiao.
He turned to look toward the main castle but did not see that the wind vane at the highest point of the castle was slowly turning north—toward Death's Land, where it was said that his father's rival lay buried.
The bronze door of the rose garden slammed shut behind Leonard with a resounding bang. Lucius stepped back two paces, gripping his heated sword hilt.
Ice-blue liquid seeped from the cracks in his training sword, corroding the bluestone bricks into honeycomb-like abyssal serpent parasite holes—this was clearly a characteristic of the bottle of Northern Aurora Water at the bottom of his mother's dowry box.
As third young master Lucius turned around, he knocked over a bronze candlestick, and melted wax formed a twisted thorn pattern on the ground.
He suddenly recalled how, during yesterday's morning practice, Father had patted his thin shoulders and praised his progress in swordsmanship, while the lining of his cloak was speckled with red, starkly different from the dusk rose color that Mother often wore.
"Third Young Master!" Qin Si rushed down the spiral staircase, her skirt in hand, a moonstone hairpin in her hair cracking with fine lines. "Madam wants you to go and retrieve the Frost Oath Scroll from the First Generation Fortress Master, and it must be done in front of all the Vassals—"
Lucius abruptly pressed down on the trembling shoulders of the maid, noticing that the silver thread embroidered on her collar glimmered with an eerie blue light.
This was the magic dye that Father had bestowed upon the Ministry of Internal Affairs three days ago, yet now it formed a pattern on the maid's garment identical to that of the Obsidian Ring's curse.
"In the name of the Moon Goddess, seal your treasure." The Shan Na opened by Xuan Tie Men suddenly erupted with blinding silver light.
Lucius had no choice but to lean on his sword, watching as his left hand emerged with an ice phoenix pattern reminiscent of Luna's neck.
The ancient script on the scroll began to rearrange itself automatically, etching an illusion of the oath taken between him and the First Generation Fortress Master alongside the Snow Witch—within that crystalline contract clause lay a reflection of a spell capable of breaking the bloodline curse.
"Mother knew all along..." he murmured as he brushed over the scorched edge of the Oath Document, recalling how Aelia had taught him to read the star map during his childhood, often lingering a moment longer over the Sagittarius constellation.
Only now did he realize that it corresponded to Father's Ailya's Birthday Rune's Guardian Constellation.
As Lucius dashed out with the scroll while invoking "In the name of the Moon Goddess, seal your treasure," all the wall lamps in the castle corridor suddenly turned a ghostly green.
The family crest on Leonard's sword completely melted into liquid, winding along Jian Qiao to form ancient demon script declaring "The Betrayer shall suffer from extreme cold."
The young Third Young Master Lucius failed to notice that every step he took on the carpet instantly blossomed frost flowers, while the Oath Document in his arms continuously infused Han Qi into his pulsing bloodline.
From the Corner Tower came the sound of shattering crystals; through a colored window, Lucius saw Father's figure trapped within a rose garden by a moonlight prison.
He reached for his waist where he kept a handkerchief stained with milk—a remnant from when Luna had unexpectedly held onto his fingers during a full moon. Underneath the moonlight, it revealed patterns resembling a starburst array, identical to that of the Guardian Array in the secret dome invoked by "In the name of the Moon Goddess, seal your treasure."
"Brother San!"
Luna's loud cry pierced through three layers of stone walls and struck the eardrum.
Lucius suddenly turned around to see a nurse rushing out from the Library of Hidden Books, cradling a baby girl. The magical light shards leaking through the gap in the infant swaddling were forming a map of the Northern Territory in mid-air.
A particularly emphasized coordinate point made his pupils contract sharply; it was the supplies point that his father had claimed was attacked by an Ice Beast last year. Yet now, on the map made of light shards, it displayed a perfectly intact magical barrier.
As the last trace of light shards seeped into the Oath Document scroll, Lucius heard the brittle sound of his bones clashing like ice crystals.
He gazed at the Moon White barrier rising in the direction of the rose garden and suddenly thrust his training sword fiercely into the ground.
Ice cracks rapidly spread along the sword body, and upon reaching Shan Na, within the coverage area of the Oath Document, they erupted into a wreath of thorns composed of countless ice spikes—shaped like the Moonlight Rose that his father had woven by hand when proposing to his mother twenty years ago.
An ancient Zhong Ming echoed from the castle cellar, and the Phoenix Pattern on Lucius's hand began to rotate clockwise.
Luna, nestled in his arms, suddenly stopped crying. The curled fingertip of the infant was unknowingly tracing on the Oath Document, slowly melting a frost-covered initial into a shape resembling a spring stream flowing gently.
When Lucius's palm pressed down on the signature area of the Oath Document, the Fire Seal of the First Generation Fortress Master unexpectedly oozed black rose juice.
This crimson liquid meandered across the ground in an arrow shape, ultimately pointing towards a corner of the castle kitchen where charcoal was piled up—there lay a lute box adorned with a Golden Cress totem, forgotten by a drunken bard during Luna's Hundred Day Feast.
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