After breakfast, the team was still smiling, teasing each other about dreams, broken catchers, and how Yui almost snored loud enough to scare the curse away. The sunlight spilled through the windows like melted gold, warming the long wooden floor. Grandma stood by the window, holding something in her hands.
It was a book—old, bound in leather, the edges worn like it had been opened a thousand times.
"This," she said, her voice calm but filled with mystery, "is the history of that palace. The one you stepped near that day. The one you're all connected to."
She handed the book to Ethan gently.
"You all can read from here. This book... is not just a storybook. It holds truths. Warnings. Echoes of something ancient."
As the kids gathered around, flipping pages, tracing their fingers over the faded ink and strange symbols, Grandma turned to Ethan and Aiko.
"You may wonder why I call you Prince and you Princess," she said, looking at Aiko. "Because the people described in this book… the King and Queen… they looked exactly like you."
Everyone paused. Ethan blinked. Aiko's cheeks flushed a little, trying not to make eye contact. Liam gave a dramatic gasp. "So you're royalty now? Should I bow?"
Yui smirked. "Your Highness Ethan, may I request a royal nap?"
They all laughed, but Grandma's expression remained serious.
"You laugh now," she said, "but this is not coincidence. Their rebirth was prophesied. The curse that haunts the abandoned palace can only be lifted by the reborn King and Queen. When their tears—or water they pour—fall into the sacred bowl in the courtroom, the curse shall begin to break."
"A bowl?" Aiko asked, flipping through the book. "Like a golden one?"
"No," Grandma said, "made of glass and moonstone. Hidden under layers of ash and roots in the courtroom of that palace. It waits."
The group fell silent again, more thoughtful this time.
Grandma walked to the door. "I'll leave you to study. Plot the map. Understand the palace. Do your research. The curse only touches you at night. In the daylight, you're safe."
She left the room, and they immediately dove into action. Ethan and Aiko read out loud. Aiko plotted the palace layout on a board. Liam tried to sketch symbols from the book. Yui translated some faded lines and laughed when they made no sense.
"Team Royalty," Liam grinned, "Operation Curse Breakers has begun."
And outside, the wind whispered through the trees. As if something had heard... and was waiting.