***
Mò yáo and Yin shū were being taught about politics and also about the kingdom since they will be the one to govern the kingdom in the future. And the person who was teaching them was non other than Elder Ting who holds a high position in the kingdom after the Queen, despite his old age, he is still agile and most intelligent in the whole kingdom.
Rumours says that Elder Ting was an advisor of the previous kings.
Some people who knew Elder Ting really well knows him as well as his age which was 75 years but those who just heard of him thought he was 40 judging by his appearance, he doesn't look old at all.
Yin shū was bored as she listens to Elder Ting explanation about politics and duties of a Queen.
"Elder Ting I'm so bored can't we go outside to play" Yin shū sighed.
Unlike Yin shū who doesn't like to study, Mò yáo was always serious when it's comes to studying and never jokes about it.
Mò yáo glared at Yin shū but the glare wasn't noticed.
Elder Ting smiled at the young princess.
"of course my little princess you can go outside and play....."
"Really?" Yin shū's eyes lit up.
"yes after I finish my explanation " Elder Ting said with a smile.
"Argh" yin shū groans feeling disappointed
"yin Shu.. this isn't the time to play. Focus.. This is for our future and also the future of our kingdom "Mo Yao said with a straight face.
"But I want to go and play" yin shū said with pleading eyes, Mo yao's face turned cold
Elder Ting sighed.
"Alright little princess if you want to play then you can go but I'll give you an assignment that must be submitted tomorrow before noon" The old man said with condition.
"okay" yin Shu beamed happily.
Mo Yao rolled her eyes.
"come on Mo Yao let's go play" yin Shu said pulling Mo Yao out of the library.
"yin Shu it's about to rain"mo Yao warned.
"let's go before it start"
Mo Yao didn't hesitate and let yin shū pull her.
***
The rain hadn't started, but the sky threatened it.
Queen jingfei stood in the highest chamber of the eastern tower — the Moonspire. A room only she and the royal seer were permitted to enter.
Her eyes were fixed on the garden far below.
She had felt it.
The sudden shift. A ripple in the quiet weave of magic that bound their kingdom together. Faint but undeniable — like the first crack in glass before it shatters.
"It has begun," the seer murmured from behind her. His voice was brittle as dry parchment.
The queen didn't answer. Her fingers traced the silver pendant hanging from her neck — a small lotus cradling a moonstone. A gift from her daughters when they were only five, made of pressed clay and childish determination.
"How soon?" she asked softly.
"Sooner than the stars foretold. The garden stirred. The seal weakened." The seer shuffled forward, his blindfold glinting with stitched symbols. "You knew this day would come, Your Majesty. You've known since the blood moon of their birth."
"I hoped..." Her voice faltered. "I hoped we had more time."
Her gaze sharpened, finding the faint movement — two small figures slipping out of the garden's shadow. Her daughters. Hands intertwined. Heads close. Whispering.
"They don't know what they've touched," the queen whispered. "Not yet."
"The prophecy stirs," the seer said. "And so does... the other one."
A tremor pulsed through her — a chill not from the wind but from the realization. Far beyond the palace, in a place where the world's memory frayed thin, a shadow had shifted in response.
The Hollow Dreamer.
He had felt it, too.
"Your Majesty," the seer said carefully, "you must tell them. The truth. The prophecy. What they are."
"No." Her hands tightened around the pendant. "Not yet. If they learn too soon... it might bind their fate instead of freeing it."
The queen turned sharply, her voice firm but laced with fear.
"Seal the archives deeper. Bury the scroll. Hide everything connected to the Gate of Echoes. Until they are ready."
A pause.
"Or until the world gives us no choice."
Thunder grumbled in the distance.
---
Far below, in the garden path... two girls still laughed. Still innocent. Still unaware that the weight of kingdoms and the balance of realms had just shifted beneath their feet.