The night was shrouded in faint mist, silver moonlight streaming through the treetops.
Eiren held Lyra in his arms, her body still weak after the events at the altar.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice trembling.
Lyra nodded, but her gaze remained distant, as if she could see something no one else could.
Suddenly, soft footsteps echoed from behind.
They turned to see an old man, tall and lean, draped in a dark gray cloak.
"I have been waiting for you," the old man said, his voice calm yet filled with mystery.
"Who… are you?" Eiren asked, eyes wide with suspicion and curiosity.
The old man chuckled softly.
"I am the Keeper of the Key to the Curse, and you are the one chosen to break its bonds."
A cold wind whispered through the branches, and the faint sound of bells beneath the altar echoed, as if responding to the man's words.
> "Everything you witnessed last night was no accident… your past life and the Queen's were bound by a curse and blood."
Eiren took a deep breath.
"How… how can I end this curse?"
The old man's gaze fell on Lyra, a sorrowful smile gracing his lips.
"You must understand your past first. You cannot break the curse if you do not know why you were called back."
Lyra stirred weakly, her eyes beginning to glow faintly.
She heard a voice in her mind — the Queen of the Moon:
> "You will see it all again… the truth of everything."
The silver light from the Moon Compass began spinning around Eiren and Lyra, as if opening a door to the past.
Faint images materialized in the air — the cursed forest, battles from a thousand years ago, and the Queen's ultimate sacrifice.
Eiren felt the buried pain and love from centuries past — a truth he had to understand, to prevent history from repeating itself.
The old man whispered,
> "You will journey through your memories… and only true love can help you overcome the curse."
The full moon shone its brightest in a thousand years.
> Tonight… the echoes of the past began to resonate within their hearts.