The Moon Palace glittered with life that morning.
Silk banners fluttered above marble balconies, courtiers whispered in gold-threaded robes, and laughter echoed like fragile glass.
To outsiders, it was a day of celebration.
To Liora, it was a stage built for her undoing.
She walked behind Kael as they made their way toward the Temple Square, where nobles gathered for the annual Moon Blessing Festival — a ceremony meant to honor the goddess who "protected" the empire.
Liora's lips twisted bitterly at the thought. The same goddess who cursed me to live twice.
The Festival
White petals rained from the sky, scattered by priestesses chanting hymns. The square gleamed under a vast silver canopy.
At the center stood the Moon Fountain, its waters enchanted to glow with faint light.
Children played near the edge, tossing silver coins for luck.
And that was when Liora saw her — a small girl, no older than eight, dressed in torn silk, her skin pale and trembling. The child's mother knelt beside her, tears streaking her face.
"Please, someone help her! The curse— it's spreading again!"
The crowd backed away.
The little girl's arm shimmered with dark runes crawling beneath the skin, glowing red. Her veins pulsed as if fire flowed through them.
The High Priest stood nearby but refused to touch her.
"This is the work of the Moon's Wrath," he declared. "Only repentance can cleanse it. Take her away."
"Repentance?" the mother screamed. "She's a child!"
No one moved. No one dared. The cursed were taboo.
Liora's fists clenched as anger and memory surged within her — the same helpless silence she'd once seen before her own execution.
Kael's jaw tightened. "Pathetic," he muttered. "They worship mercy and show none."
Liora stepped forward without thinking.
"Your Highness, wait—" she said, but her feet were already moving.
The priest turned as she knelt beside the girl.
"Healer! Don't touch her!" someone hissed. "The curse will consume you too!"
But Liora had already placed her hands over the child's arm.
Her heart pounded as she whispered an ancient incantation — words she hadn't spoken since her first life.
"By the light of the silver tear, let shadow lose its hold…"
Silver light bloomed beneath her palms, delicate yet fierce.
The runes hissed and writhed, then began to fade. The girl gasped — her breathing steadied, her color returning.
The crowd watched in stunned silence.
And then—
A shard of moonlight shot upward from the fountain, illuminating Liora like a goddess. Her eyes glowed faintly silver; her crescent mark pulsed visible beneath her sleeve.
Gasps rippled through the temple grounds.
"The Moon's power…" someone whispered.
"A forbidden art—!" cried another.
Kael stepped forward immediately, pulling his cloak around her to shield her from the crowd's gaze.
"Enough," he commanded, voice cold as steel. "You will not touch her."
The High Priest's face twisted with horror. "Your Highness, that magic is accursed! The Moon Bride's mark—"
"Speak again, and I'll have your tongue," Kael snapped.
The priest fell silent, trembling.
🕊️ The Aftermath
Later that afternoon, the royal guards escorted them back to the palace.
The incident had spread like wildfire.
Every corridor buzzed with whispers:
"The healer is no ordinary woman."
"Did you see her eyes? They shone like the moon itself."
"Perhaps the old prophecy is real."
Inside the grand antechamber, Kael closed the doors behind them and turned on her sharply.
"What were you thinking?" His voice trembled — not with anger, but fear. "Using power like that in public? You've painted a target on your back."
"She was dying," Liora said quietly. "I couldn't just watch."
"And what happens when they start calling you witch? When the Empress decides she's 'seen this power before'? You risk everything."
She met his gaze. "Everything was already taken from me once. I won't let a child die because of fear."
The room fell silent.
Kael's expression softened, the cold edge in his eyes melting into something else — something dangerous.
"You haven't changed," he said under his breath.
"What?"
He stepped closer, lowering his voice. "That fire in your eyes. I've seen it before. In another life… in another you."
Her breath caught.
"You're mistaken."
"Am I?" he murmured, gaze drifting to her wrist where the faint mark shimmered beneath her sleeve. "Because every time you use that power, my chest burns — right here." He pressed his hand against the scar over his heart. "Like it remembers something I can't."
Her heart thudded painfully. She forced herself to look away.
"You should forget whatever you think you remember, Your Highness. The past brings nothing but death."
"Then let me die remembering you," he said quietly.
The words struck her harder than any blade. She turned away before he could see the tears forming in her eyes.
🌕 The Empress's Shadows
Far above, in the Moon Tower, the Empress watched through her scrying mirror, her lips curving faintly.
The image of Liora healing the girl shimmered before her like smoke.
"So," she whispered, "the Moon Bride dares to reveal herself in my court again."
Her attendant bowed deeply. "Shall we silence her, Your Majesty?"
"Not yet," the Empress said softly. "Let her shine. The brighter the moon, the deeper the shadow that follows."
She waved her hand. The mirror's surface rippled, revealing the faint outline of a chained figure deep beneath the palace — a man whose body glowed with lunar sigils.
"Awaken him," she ordered. "It is time the Moon's Guardian remembers his duty."
💔 The Tear of the Moon
That night, Liora sat by her window, exhausted but restless.
She gazed out at the fountain below where moonlight shimmered like liquid silver.
Her thoughts were heavy — of the girl she saved, of Kael's voice, of the goddess who refused to leave her alone.
She reached into her satchel and pulled out something small — a single silver tear-shaped crystal, still faintly glowing from her healing spell.
It was said to be the Moon's blessing, a fragment of divine energy. But when she held it close, it pulsed like a heartbeat — and she realized it was alive.
"You're not a blessing," she whispered. "You're a chain."
She clenched it tightly in her fist, but instead of pain, warmth spread through her palm — and a vision bloomed before her eyes.
She stood once more under a blood-red sky, holding the same tear, only this time Kael knelt before her, bleeding.
"Liora," he rasped, "break the curse before it breaks you."
She gasped and dropped the crystal.
It rolled to the floor, glowing brighter, until it cracked with a sound like thunder — and a whisper escaped it, faint but unmistakable:
"The first seal is broken."
The moon outside flared crimson for a heartbeat before returning to silver.
Liora stared, breath trembling.
"What seal?" she whispered to the empty room.
But there was no answer — only the distant echo of temple bells and the faint laughter of the Empress in the wind.