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The moonlight shifted when she wrote in its name.
In a secluded chamber hidden beneath the Lunar Archives, Princess Tsuki stood before an ancient scroll of silver-threaded parchment. Her hands moved slowly, brush dipped in starlight ink, her strokes weaving not just symbols — but power.
Moon calligraphy was the oldest and most delicate of magics. To write a word was to shape reality. A single misplaced line could summon a storm… or silence a heartbeat.
“Focus,” Kanji murmured behind her. “Your hand must be still, but your heart must speak.”
She inhaled deeply, and traced the final sigil: Aegis of Light.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegrfXUZBSP
The runes shimmered — and for a brief moment, a dome of silvery magic flared around her, a perfect astral shield.
Kanji’s eyes softened. “You’re ready for more than they let you believe.”
Tsuki lowered the brush, her pulse still steady but her mind racing. She felt it — the shift. Her power was no longer a passive echo of the moon. It was becoming her own.
“Will it be enough?” she asked quietly. “If Getsu returns with all the darkness she was denied?”
Kanji didn’t answer. He only looked away — and that silence said enough.
Later that evening, as Tsuki practiced alone in the moon garden, sketching defense glyphs into the mist itself, a sudden warmth split the air behind her.
She spun, startled — and found herself face-to-face with Prince Taiyo.
He stood among the pale blossoms, a stark contrast in gold and firelight, his eyes catching every curve of the spell midair.
“I didn’t know the Moon taught its heirs to fight,” he said softly.
“It doesn’t,” Tsuki replied, voice steady. “Not openly.”
Taiyo stepped closer, brushing his fingers near the glowing glyph, not touching, just observing. “Then you’re defying your court.”
“I’m protecting my people.”
Their eyes met. Not in conflict — but in quiet understanding. Taiyo, the warrior prince raised by war. Tsuki, the moonbound princess never taught to wield power — but born to command it anyway.
“You’re more dangerous than they think,” Taiyo said, almost admiringly.
Tsuki tilted her head. “And are you afraid of me, Prince?”
A flicker of a smirk. “I don’t fear moonlight. I just respect how easily it blinds.”
He stepped back into the garden shadows, vanishing as quickly as he’d arrived — but not before offering a final glance, something softer than flame.
From the trees above, hidden in the veil of constellations, Hoshi watched.
His fists were clenched at his sides.
He had seen the way Taiyo looked at her. The spark. The curiosity. The danger.15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRiiNCO739
He didn’t trust him — not with her. Not with the prophecy hanging like a sword above them all.
Later, when Tsuki returned to her chambers, she found a single folded note on her desk.
ns216.73.216.238da2“Be careful who you let too close to your light. Not all flames warm — some burn.”15Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nIqR7AXFw
— H
