Stardust Teeth & Imperial Invitations

" Did she just eat a moon flower?" Yueli's voice rang across the courtyard, laced with disbelief and the kind of exhaustion only magical toddlers could bring.

" Yes," Di Yan replied calmly without lifting his gaze from the ancient scroll spread across his lap. " She also sneezed it into a fireball right after."

Yueli rubbed her temples as their daughter, a glowing blur of motion, hovered upside down near a tree branch, gnawing proudly on what remained of the moon- blessed bloom. The petals shimmered with celestial energy, and the little star-mark on her forehead pulsed in time with her chewing.

" That's not a snack! That's a sacred plant!"

" Boom snack," the baby declared, bits of glowing pollen puffing from her mouth.

Di Yan chuckled, not even pretending to hide his amusement. " Well, at least her vocabulary's expanding. Yesterday she called the Oracle a ' talky potato."

" She's turning one in two days," Yueli groaned. " One. That's supposed to mean fewer explosions, not more."

" Clearly, she missed the memo." Di Yan finally looked up. " She's thriving.

Exploding things. Floating. Teething on stardust. Sounds like she's hitting all the major milestones."

Yueli shot him a sideways glance. " You say that like this is normal."

" It's normal… for us," he said smugly.

Their mountain courtyard, once a quiet retreat for warrior- meditation and peaceful stargazing, now looked like a festival collided with a battlefield.

Bright banners shimmered on every surface, tied with threads of wind silk.

Color- changing lanterns drifted lazily overhead. Spirit wolves, previously dignified protectors of their realm, now sat in piles wearing pastel party hats and confused expressions.

One wolf had somehow gotten tangled in glitter ribbons and was slowly backing into a bush, hoping no one noticed.

Yueli raised an eyebrow. " Why do I feel like the wolves are more nervous than usual?"

Di Yan shrugged. " Maybe because our baby turned their alpha into a balloon animal last week."

" She unturned him after five minutes!"

" He's still recovering emotionally."

Their daughter zoomed past, dragging a thundercloud like a balloon. She giggled when it zapped a tree, then summoned a new one from thin air. The scent of scorched pine needles wafted through the air.

And yet, beneath the chaos, something deeper stirred.

The Oracle's words whispered like phantom wind between the trees, echoing louder as her birthday approached:

" When she turns one, the stars will speak. And not all will like what they say."

It wasn't just a warning. It was a promise.

Yueli stood on the high balcony,

watching the horizon ripple like ink. The stars above had been restless lately— flashing in odd patterns, shifting positions too quickly. Time itself felt like it was holding its breath.

" She's not just growing," Yueli murmured. " She's changing something."

" She is something," Di Yan said,

stepping behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. " Something new. Something old. And something no one's ready for."

" She's still bites everything."

He grinned. " Balance."

But before the moment cloud stretch into peace, the sky shimmered. A gold sigil etched itself across the clouds,

burning bright as day.

A divine summons unfolded in elegant celestial script:

The Imperial Family of the Azure Realm cordially commands your presence for the Crowning Ceremony of the Starborn Child.

Attendance is not optional.

A heavy silence fell.

Yueli frowned. " They're holding a coronation for our baby?"

" She hasn't even mastered ' up' versus ' floor'" Di Yan muttered.

" She's not even talking in complete sentences yet."

" She did say ' burn the sky' yesterday."

Yueli stared at him.

He blinked. " It was in context."

She exhaled. " Of course it was."

Their baby, now lazily drifting upside- down while a flower sprouted from her ear, clapped her hands.

The clouds trembled.

" She's not going to be ready for that kind of ceremony," Yueli said, her voice lower. " And neither is the world."

" She's already chosen," Di Yan said,

stepping beside her. " Whether we like it or not. Whether they're ready or not.

That girl is a storm in waiting."

" She's also still asking if her toes have names."

" Let her keep asking," Di Yan said. " We'll deal with the empire."

Yueli looked out toward the direction of the Azure Realm. " They don't want a child. They want a crown they can control. A starborn they can tame."

" But what they're getting," Di Yan said, voice steel- edged, " is our daughter."

Down in the courtyard, their child spun into a dazzling tornado of sparkles, then landed with a puff on her bottom and giggled like a thunderclap.

" I crown me!" she shouted.

A wreath of floating stars formed above her head like a self- declared tiara.

And in that moment— beneath the laughter and absurdity and cosmic chaos— Yueli saw the truth.

Her daughter wasn't a weapon, or a puppet, or even a miracle.

She was a force.

And forces didn't bow.

They reshaped the world.