Recaps

Larkspur led Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan through the World Gate toward the Magic Kingdom, using prepared documents to get Bai Jingxuan past an inspection. In the World Bridge, Larkspur endured whispers urging her not to return and opened the final door, declaring that she was back.

• Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, Bai Jingxuan, and Larkspur admired the ocean views from the train before arriving at Luen Nore.
• Larkspur explained the World Gate’s rules and had the younger girls transform before approaching its guards.
• A guard requested a routine inspection of Bai Jingxuan, but Larkspur presented an approved mission document and secured permission for them to pass.
• Larkspur and Bai Jingxuan crossed the World Gate and entered the dark World Bridge after the others had gone ahead.
• Larkspur ignored the shadows and whispers telling her not to return, opened the final door, and said, “I’m back.”

Larkspur reunited with Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan at the Luen Nore border checkpoint, explained away her delay, and introduced them to the Kingdom’s humanoid Fairies and city districts. After completing entry procedures, the group decided to head to their lodging, while Lin Xiaolu struggled to accept how modern the Magic Kingdom was.

• Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan waited anxiously for Larkspur, who emerged from the World Gate after a delay and claimed she had resolved a Spatial Connection Fluctuation.
• Larkspur told the girls that the winged, antennaed World Gate guards were powerful Fairies, then completed the checkpoint inspection and received a Mana Indicator Bracelet.
• Larkspur explained the rules and districts of Luen Nore, including the Mana-Free District, Academy District, Emerald Zone, and Emerald Book Gallery.
• The group debated where to go next, and Larkspur chose their lodging because it was getting late and they had luggage.
• Xia Liang discovered that her phone had signal and showed the group the online map, while Lin Xiaolu protested that the modern technology ruined her imagined picture of the Magic Kingdom.
• Larkspur called the group to their booked car, and Xia Liang helped the overwhelmed Lin Xiaolu toward it.

Larkspur brought Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan to Rainbow Cloud Wetlands, where they explored the cloud-covered resort and soaked in its magical hot springs. As the group returned to their cottage, Larkspur recognized one of the passing magical girls as someone very familiar, while she prepared to visit Emerald at the Research Institute the next day to mend her Heart Gem.

• Larkspur and the others left the Mana-Free District and flew to the Emerald Zone after reaching Takeoff Point No. 43.
• Lin Xiaolu played on the clouds at Rainbow Cloud Wetlands while Larkspur and Xia Liang unpacked and Bai Jingxuan went to find food.
• Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu persuaded Larkspur to join them and Bai Jingxuan in the women's magical hot spring.
• Larkspur explained the hot spring's tingling sensation and concealed why she kept her eyes closed while the others soaked.
• Larkspur recalled her appointment with Emerald at the Research Institute to mend her Heart Gem and restore her combat strength.
• After leaving the hot spring, Larkspur felt an intense familiarity with a passing magical girl, but lost sight of her when her companions came over.

Larkspur met Emerald in person at the Emerald Book Gallery and asked for help repairing her damaged Flower of the Heart. Emerald brought her to a hidden laboratory, prepared Love Source for the treatment, and Larkspur fell asleep as the repair began.

• Emerald greeted Larkspur with jokes and a favorability game before agreeing to help her.
• Larkspur told Emerald she had chosen her as an ally and needed her help, prompting Emerald to lead her into her private laboratory.
• Emerald showed Larkspur the laboratory’s network of remote facilities and examined her cracked Flower of the Heart.
• Emerald retrieved Love Source, explained its value, and prepared a dose to repair Larkspur’s Flower of the Heart.
• Emerald began the treatment, and Larkspur fell asleep beneath the laboratory lights.

Larkspur dreamed of her wartime past, when Cornflower became squad leader and assigned Nina Kregios to train her younger sister, Nym. After Emerald repaired Larkspur’s Heart Gem and warned that her True Form remained fragile, Larkspur discovered a side effect: she had lost another two centimeters in height.

• In her dream, Cornflower and Cherry Blossom fought together until the war’s escalating casualties sent them to different city-defense posts.
• Lycoris assigned ten-year-old Nym Kregios and her sister Nina to Cornflower’s squad, explaining that she needed a leader she trusted to protect the rookie.
• Nina told Cornflower that Lycoris had taken all her Echo in exchange for placing the sisters together, and Cornflower ordered Nina to train Nym for a month.
• Cornflower welcomed Nina into her squad under the codename Ink Lotus after Nina agreed to guide Nym.
• Larkspur awoke in Emerald’s laboratory after treatment restored her Heart Gem’s abilities, and Emerald warned her to avoid fighting while her True Form stabilized.
• Larkspur noticed that her height had decreased by another two centimeters.

Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan registered for the White Card assessment during a Queen Year, while Larkspur visited a Memorial Cemetery and encountered a former teammate from the Garden Defense War. The teammate revealed herself as Nina Krejios, now known as Ink Lotus.

• Receptionist No. 7 told Lin Xiaolu's group that the Queen might attend the assessment, and Lin Xiaolu teased Bai Jingxuan about the Queen discovering her Magic Base Color.
• Larkspur repaired an elderly man's wheelchair, then read Lin Xiaolu's registration update and replied as Lin Yun.
• A pastry clerk told Larkspur that a nearby Memorial Cemetery honored those killed in the Interrealm War, prompting Larkspur to buy Cloud-Qi Cake and visit the cemetery.
• Larkspur arrived at the cemetery and helped a black-haired girl gain entry by suggesting she show her Certification Card.
• The girl called Larkspur her captain, removed her leather mask, and revealed that she was Nina Krejios, whose card identified her as Ink Lotus.

Larkspur reunited with Ink Lotus at Memorial Cemetery, where their awkward conversation revealed how much Ink Lotus had changed and ended with an invitation to a dessert restaurant. Meanwhile, Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan learned that Valentine’s Day was tomorrow and pressed a shop clerk to explain the holiday.

• Larkspur and Ink Lotus honored their fallen teammates at the cemetery, and Larkspur noticed Ink Lotus’s cat-paw prosthetic and troubled demeanor.
• Ink Lotus asked whether Larkspur had found happiness after leaving the Kingdom, and Larkspur gave a guarded answer.
• Ink Lotus drove Larkspur from the cemetery in a tiny go-kart and invited her to visit a famous dessert restaurant the next afternoon.
• Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, and Bai Jingxuan sampled chocolates at shops throughout Luen Nore until one dessert restaurant impressed them.
• The three girls learned that Valentine’s Day was the next day and asked the clerk to explain it in more detail.

Larkspur reunited with Ink Lotus at the Rainbow Cloud Wetlands and agreed to have dinner with her the next day, hoping to understand how her old teammate was doing. Their farewell oath and Larkspur’s inability to complete the Kingdom Army salute left her confronting memories of the war.

• Larkspur learned that the masked Magical Girl she had encountered near the hot springs was Ink Lotus, who said she had concealed her identity for a Kingdom mission.
• Ink Lotus recognized Larkspur as her captain despite Larkspur’s changed appearance, and invited her into her cabin, but Larkspur declined.
• Larkspur agreed to dine with Ink Lotus the next day and refused Ink Lotus’s offer to drive her there.
• As Larkspur left, Ink Lotus gave the old soldiers’ oath and a Kingdom Army salute, and Larkspur returned the oath but could not complete the salute.

Larkspur learned that Fangting City would host the prefecture-wide exchange symposium in May, leaving the bureau with only three months to prepare. After her call with Hong Siyu was interrupted, she discovered that Lin Xiaolu had become clingy after eating several liquor-filled chocolates, and suspected the juniors were hiding more from her.

• Hong Siyu told Larkspur that Heavenly City had approved Fangting City as the symposium venue after Linyang City was devastated by Black Ash Dawn.
• Larkspur reviewed the official documents and learned the conference would take place in May, with Green Tower proposed as the venue.
• Lin Xiaolu interrupted Larkspur's call, and Larkspur ended the discussion with Hong Siyu so they could speak again later.
• Larkspur questioned the juniors and learned they had sampled liquor-filled chocolates during a dessert tasting, after which Lin Xiaolu became unusually clingy.
• Larkspur noticed Xia Liang's awkwardness and Bai Jingxuan's envy and suspected the three juniors had done something else without telling her.

Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan planned to make a birthday cake for Lin Yun alongside the Valentine’s chocolates they were preparing, and Xia Liang joined their plans. They began preparing desserts before Larkspur returned, intending to celebrate with Lin Yun by video call and send him the cake.

• Lin Xiaolu rallied Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan to spend the day making desserts before Larkspur returned.
• Bai Jingxuan revealed that the next day was Lin Yun’s birthday, prompting Lin Xiaolu to realize Bai Jingxuan knew him well and had taken candies from his office.
• Lin Xiaolu decided to make a cake for Lin Yun and celebrate his birthday with him over video call.
• Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan learned that cold-chain delivery could send the cake to the Material Realm.
• Xia Liang learned about the birthday plan and encouraged Lin Xiaolu to make the cake while they prepared chocolate for Larkspur.

Larkspur checked in with Lin Xiaolu, bought proper clothes, and went to meet Ink Lotus, whom peace officers had detained for acting suspiciously. Larkspur got Ink Lotus released by explaining that she was a magical girl and war veteran, and the two continued their meeting.

• Larkspur read Lin Xiaolu's message about making Valentine's chocolate and asked who she planned to give it to; Lin Xiaolu replied that it was for Larkspur.
• Larkspur bought two outfits and changed into a beige cardigan, white trousers, and brown platform loafers.
• Larkspur arrived early at her meeting place and found peace officers inspecting Ink Lotus after residents reported her suspicious behavior.
• Larkspur told the peace officers that Ink Lotus was her friend, showed her identification, and privately explained that Ink Lotus was a magical girl and an Interrealm War veteran.
• The peace officers apologized to Ink Lotus and left, and Ink Lotus praised Larkspur for rescuing her again.

Larkspur spent the afternoon watching Ink Lotus buy everyday magical tools for friends living in the Wasteland, then joined her for dinner. After Ink Lotus tried to pocket the restaurant’s pre-meal buns to get her money’s worth, she realized she did not know how to use the tableware laid out for the meal.

• Ink Lotus bought generators, repair devices, water systems, and agricultural tools for her friends in the Wasteland, planning to send them through the Material Realm.
• Larkspur and Ink Lotus went to a restaurant and cautiously began eating the cream buns provided before the meal.
• Ink Lotus ate several buns and tried to pack the rest into her bag because she thought thirty-seven were needed to get her money’s worth.
• Larkspur explained that the buns were only appetizers, and the waiters set out plates and tableware for the meal.
• Ink Lotus told Larkspur she had taken on something beyond her abilities and asked what the tableware was for.

Larkspur tried to teach Ink Lotus dessert etiquette, but Ink Lotus mangled her cake and recalled a painful moment from their past. After Larkspur left to take a call, Ink Lotus struggled to open a metal sphere for the chocolate hot pot and broke a knife instead.

• Larkspur explained how to use dessert utensils, but Ink Lotus mistook a Butter-Jam Knife for a dining knife and crushed her cake.
• Larkspur shared part of her own cake with Ink Lotus, who recalled that Larkspur had done the same when she left before and asked whether Larkspur had been happy afterward.
• Larkspur avoided answering and left the table to take a call, leaving Ink Lotus alone as the attendants served chocolate hot pot.
• Ink Lotus examined a metal sphere, tried to open it with a Flame Page Knife, and punctured the sphere while breaking the knife.

Larkspur approved a limited deployment to guard a construction site, then returned to dinner with Ink Lotus and answered her question about whether she was happy. She acknowledged her grief over lost happiness while insisting that the happiness she still had remained real, leaving Ink Lotus questioning whether it could still be called happiness.

• Larkspur approved sending Special Operations Department personnel to the construction site, with the guard duty ending after seven days if no Aberrant Beast appeared.
• Larkspur agreed to send Tian Sheng if he was available and stressed that elite personnel should retain time to respond to other attacks rather than overburden Asō Madoka.
• Hong Siyu wished Larkspur a happy birthday and Valentine's Day, then confessed that her heart was completely filled with her before ending the call.
• Larkspur returned to dinner, served Ink Lotus chocolate-dipped banana, and noticed Ink Lotus muttering about a time machine while worrying about an undisclosed mistake.
• Larkspur told Ink Lotus she remained happy despite regretting and grieving the happiness she had lost, and Ink Lotus asked whether lost happiness could still be called happiness.

Ink Lotus challenged Larkspur’s view that the happiness left after loss could still be cherished, and Larkspur explained that they simply wanted different kinds of happiness. After a dessert mishap, Ink Lotus said that despite their differences, she still wanted to help Larkspur.

• Ink Lotus argued that happiness diminished by loss became only fragments, and that people should seek lost or new happiness instead of remaining trapped in the past.
• Larkspur said their different views of happiness could both be true and explained that she could cherish whatever happiness remained.
• Ink Lotus fell silent and kept eating as their afternoon tea stretched into a two-hour dessert meal.
• Ink Lotus accidentally pulled a napkin from beneath her parfait, spilling jelly and fruit wine over herself while Larkspur caught the falling glass.
• Ink Lotus told Larkspur that, despite their different experiences and goals, she could not stand by and wanted to help her.

Ink Lotus told Larkspur that the Magic Kingdom had unfairly exiled her, then asked whether Larkspur still considered them companions. The chapter ended with Larkspur waiting for her answer in Ink Lotus's car.

• Ink Lotus said Larkspur deserved better because she had saved many people, but Larkspur refused to discuss the matter in the restaurant.
• Ink Lotus tried to pay with expired restaurant Coupons, so Larkspur covered the bill and gave her money for the next two days.
• Outside the restaurant, Ink Lotus revealed that she had learned Larkspur was permanently exiled from the Magic Kingdom and had confirmed the news with Miss Cherry Blossom.
• Ink Lotus insisted Larkspur had done nothing wrong and asked whether they were still companions.

Ink Lotus told Larkspur about her team’s refuge for abandoned magical girls and homeless humans, and offered to help restore Larkspur’s Magic Armament if she joined them. She asked Larkspur to help protect the children and their home, but Larkspur could only say she needed time to think.

• Ink Lotus said she wanted to help Larkspur, then revealed that she knew Larkspur had used Ephemeral Bloom three times and had only one piece of her Magic Armament left.
• Ink Lotus offered to help restore Larkspur’s Magic Armament if she joined her team, though its form and abilities might change.
• Ink Lotus described the refuge her team was building in the Wasteland for abandoned magical girls and homeless humans.
• Larkspur believed Ink Lotus’s dream was sincere but worried that helping could add to the burdens she already carried.
• Ink Lotus asked Larkspur to help protect the children and their home, and Larkspur replied that she needed time to think.

Larkspur told Ink Lotus she needed time before deciding whether to join her, and asked to hear about her life and friends. Ink Lotus shared stories from the years after the war, then wished Larkspur a happy birthday and left her at the Rainbow Cloud Wetlands.

• Larkspur clarified that her hesitation came from her existing responsibilities, not Ink Lotus’s poor performance, and asked to hear more about her plans and friends.
• Ink Lotus struggled to explain her team’s work because revealing it might betray her companions, and Larkspur inferred that the group could have ties to Claw Mark.
• Larkspur assured Ink Lotus that she did not need answers and said Ink Lotus had changed, though she remained special to her.
• Ink Lotus told Larkspur about her plans after the war, her search for a home, and her schooling in the Material Realm as they drove back to the Rainbow Cloud Wetlands.
• Ink Lotus wished Larkspur a happy birthday, said the blessing was special to her, and walked away into the darkness.

Lin Xiaolu struggled to decide what shape to make for the chocolate she planned to give Larkspur, then discovered Bai Jingxuan was making chocolates with messages for her and Xia Liang. She moved on to inspect Xia Liang’s work, leaving her own design undecided.

• Lin Xiaolu found herself stuck choosing a shape for her chocolate and turned to see how Bai Jingxuan was doing.
• Lin Xiaolu startled Bai Jingxuan by touching her exposed back, then tried to peek at the messages Bai Jingxuan was writing.
• Lin Xiaolu spotted chocolates labeled “Sister Xiao Lu” and “Sister Xia Liang” and excitedly hugged and teased Bai Jingxuan.
• Bai Jingxuan admitted that one chocolate was for Larkspur and asked Lin Xiaolu not to look at the blessings she was writing.
• Lin Xiaolu went over to Xia Liang, who stopped working and let her look.

As Lin Xiaolu made Valentine’s chocolate, Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan teased her into affirming that they were friends before Xia Liang explained how to put personal feelings into a gift. Lin Xiaolu found inspiration for her chocolate, though she realized the others had deliberately played a prank on her.

• Xia Liang told Lin Xiaolu that she had made a Heart Gem-shaped chocolate for her and confessed that she liked her as a friend.
• Lin Xiaolu misunderstood Xia Liang’s confession, and Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan pretended to judge whether Lin Xiaolu considered them friends.
• Lin Xiaolu insisted that Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan were her friends, and Xia Liang declared that Jiang Yuan was her only other friend at school.
• Xia Liang explained that Lin Xiaolu could use chocolate to express feelings understood only by her and its recipient, drawing on Lin Xiaolu’s birthday gift of earrings.
• Lin Xiaolu gained an idea for her chocolate, then accused Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan of teasing her before they continued working without answering.

Larkspur returned to the cabin and gave her juniors store-bought chocolate for Valentine’s Day, explaining the custom of Thank-You Chocolate. The juniors revealed that they had made chocolate for her too, though Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang had hesitated over how to present it.

• Larkspur returned to the cabin and found Bai Jingxuan, Lin Xiaolu, and Xia Liang gathered around Xia Liang's phone.
• Larkspur remembered that her juniors had planned to give her chocolate, then fetched the boxes she had bought and gave one to each of them.
• Lin Xiaolu questioned whether Valentine’s chocolate should be given only to someone a person liked, and Larkspur explained how Thank-You Chocolate had become a tradition among magical girl squads.
• Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang blamed each other for delaying their chocolate surprise, while Larkspur pretended not to understand what they meant.
• Bai Jingxuan told Larkspur that the juniors had made chocolate for her too.

Bai Jingxuan gave Larkspur, Lin Xiaolu, and Xia Liang handmade chocolates with heartfelt messages, drawing Larkspur into an emotional embrace and softening Lin Xiaolu’s jealousy. After hugging Larkspur, Bai Jingxuan wondered why she seemed taller than before.

• Larkspur sat with the younger girls in the warm cabin as Bai Jingxuan brought over three decorated chocolates.
• Bai Jingxuan gave Larkspur a chocolate inscribed, “To my favorite mom, who was willing to take me home,” and Larkspur hugged her, deeply moved.
• Lin Xiaolu read Bai Jingxuan’s apology and request to share affection with her, while Xia Liang read Bai Jingxuan’s thanks and request to call her Sister Xiao Liang.
• Lin Xiaolu set aside her urge to pull Bai Jingxuan away from Larkspur and ate the very sweet chocolate.
• Bai Jingxuan asked Larkspur whether she had changed shoes because her chin no longer reached Larkspur’s shoulder when they hugged.

Xia Liang gave the others carefully decorated chocolates shaped like their Heart Gems, including a hidden piece shaped like her own Heart Leaf for Larkspur. When Larkspur returned that piece to Xia Liang instead of eating it, Xia Liang ate it herself and felt delighted.

• Xia Liang handed out small chocolate boxes decorated with flowers matching each recipient’s codename.
• Larkspur, Lin Xiaolu, and Bai Jingxuan discovered that their chocolates were detailed replicas of their Heart Gems.
• Larkspur found a hidden chocolate Heart Leaf in her box and questioned Xia Liang, who claimed it was an extra piece made from her own gem as a reference.
• Xia Liang asked Larkspur to taste the Heart Leaf chocolate, but Larkspur put it into Xia Liang’s mouth so she would not be left out.
• Xia Liang ate the chocolate and felt happy that Larkspur had fed it to her.

Lin Xiaolu gave Bai Jingxuan and Xia Liang chocolates whose shapes expressed her affection and gratitude, then fled Xia Liang’s attempt to hug her. Larkspur watched them fondly and recalled the Fangting City Squad’s earlier chocolate exchanges, including how Lin Yun eventually married Anya.

• Lin Xiaolu gave Bai Jingxuan bow-shaped chocolates, explaining that they represented their shared love of candy and might suit Bai Jingxuan as a hair accessory.
• Lin Xiaolu gave Xia Liang a mirror-shaped chocolate and said Xia Liang had helped her recognize her shortcomings and grow as a magical girl and a person.
• Xia Liang, moved by Lin Xiaolu’s thanks and wish to keep walking forward together, asked for a hug, but Lin Xiaolu ran away and Xia Liang chased her around the room.
• Larkspur reflected on the Fangting City Squad’s past chocolate exchanges, when Anya and Su Shengzi teased Lin Yun at school, and recalled that Lin Yun eventually married Anya.

Lin Xiaolu gave Larkspur a handmade chocolate crown and explained that she saw Larkspur as someone who had saved and guided her, prompting Larkspur to remember a painful past. Surrounded by the younger girls, Larkspur composed herself and resolved to protect the people she still had.

• Lin Yun recalled how Anya once gave him a sword-shaped chocolate and called him her prince.
• Lin Xiaolu gave Larkspur a chocolate crown, and Larkspur recognized what it was meant to represent.
• Lin Xiaolu explained that Larkspur had once seemed like a prince who saved her and told her, "I like you the most, Larkspur."
• Larkspur became tearful as memories of the past surfaced, and Xia Liang, Bai Jingxuan, and Lin Xiaolu gathered around her.
• Larkspur reassured the girls that she was all right and resolved to use what remained of her strength to protect them.