Ceres woke up with tears already spilling from the corners of her eyes, her chest constricted with a heavy, suffocating pain.
"He's dead," she choked out in a trembling whisper, covering her face with her arm as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
He was the only person who had ever treated her right. The only one who respected her without condition.
And now he was gone.
She didn't know how she could face tomorrow. Even if she wanted to follow him in death, she couldn't. She had tried to end her life before, but every wound she inflicted had healed in an instant. Her body, cursed or blessed, would not allow her to die. She was destined to walk this world until she turned one hundred and one.
Her despair was absolute.
Then a voice, soft, male, and impossibly gentle, broke through the silence.
"Your Highness?"
Ceres wiped her tears and slowly pushed herself up, eyes darting toward the source of the voice.
A tall, ethereal man stood near the door, with silver-blue hair cascading down his back and eyes glowing with concern. Every inch of him radiated an otherworldly beauty, but she knew instantly, he wasn't human.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice sharp with confusion and dread.
The man faltered, visibly taken aback by her reaction.
"I… I am Seiryu, Your Highness."
Ceres blinked. Her lips parted slightly.
"Seiryu?" she echoed, trying to place the name in her mind. Then it hit her.
Her eyes widened. "The Holy Beast, Seiryu?"
Despite his unease at her reaction, the man nodded slowly.
"No… no… no…" she murmured, panic creeping into her voice as she backed away. "How are you here? You shouldn't be awake. You should be in slumber!"
Seiryu took a step forward, his voice filled with uncertainty. "You… You subjugated me, Your Highness. You awakened me."
"I did not!" Ceres shouted, backing farther away, her breath quickening. "I never did that! I've kept to myself, never told anyone I even knew your names! You're not supposed to be awake. You can't be awake!"
A commotion erupted outside the chamber.
"Seiryu, what's going on?!" Legion's voice thundered from the other side of the door, followed by Aurelian and Tuf's panicked shouts.
But Seiryu didn't answer them. His focus remained solely on the Empress, who was unraveling before his eyes.
"Your Highness," he said again, reaching a hand toward her.
"No! Don't touch me!" she screamed, stumbling backward. "This can't be happening!"
Without thinking, Ceres bolted toward what she thought was her bathing chamber, but the door wouldn't open. She stared at it in confusion, only now realizing something even more terrifying.
This room… this was not her chamber in the Empress Palace.
"Where am I?!" she screamed, pressing herself against the wall as though it could swallow her whole.
"You are in your bedchamber, Your Highness," Seiryu answered, his voice calm yet wary, keeping his distance out of respect, and fear. Because what he saw in her eyes was pure terror.
"No… This isn't my room," she said, shaking her head violently. Her gaze flicked across the space, taking in the polished stone floors, the enchanted glow of crystal sconces, the silken drapes embroidered with divine symbols, everything was of unmatched quality.
Too luxurious. Too perfect.
Things she had never once known. Not even as the First Princess of Vaelundis.
And then… her eyes landed on the mirror.
Panic gripped her again.
"No…" she whispered as though in a nightmare, unable to tear her gaze away.
Unaware of her feet moving, she stepped toward the mirror slowly.
Seiryu remained silent, closely observing her every move but making no effort to approach.
Ceres stood in front of the mirror, face-to-face with the woman reflected back at her.
Gone was her obese body, gone was the girl they ridiculed and scorned.
In her place was a woman with ethereal beauty. Pale, glowing skin. Luminous eyes. Long, flowing hair like spun moonlight. A creature too divine to be human.
Any other woman would have rejoiced at the sight.
But Ceres… felt nothing but dread.
She didn't smile.
She didn't marvel.
She trembled.
No. It was more than fear.
It was terror.
And then the world went black as her knees gave way, and she collapsed.
Seiryu caught Ceres just before she collapsed fully onto the floor.
"Your Highness…" he whispered, his voice filled with worry as he gently lifted the unconscious Empress into his arms and carried her back to the bed.
Just as he laid her down, a sudden crack echoed from the veranda doors.
It was Tuf, relentlessly trying to break through the layers of rune spells covering the Empress's chambers. His frustration was evident, but even he knew the truth, unless Ceres herself permitted him entry, there was no force, no spell, no magic, not even his, that could breach the protections.
He should know.
He was the one who created them.
An impenetrable barrier, sealed by her will.
Seiryu let out a long breath. "Enough, Panther," he said calmly, his voice lowered so as not to disturb the sleeping Empress. "We need to talk."
With one last glance at Ceres, Seiryu turned and quietly stepped out of the room, heading not to the receiving area but straight into the Empress's private garden.
Aurelian and Legion, who had been waiting outside her doors in tense silence, followed.
But before Seiryu could speak, Tuf lunged at him, slamming him down onto the marble path with a feral growl.
"What the fuck did you do to her?!" Tuf roared, his voice filled with rage. "Why was she screaming like that?! Why was my mother crying in terror?! You fucking lizard, what did you do?!"
"Nothing!" Seiryu growled back, struggling against him. "I did nothing to her! This happened the moment the two of you stepped through your damn portal! Why the hell are you blaming me?!"
With a sharp push, Seiryu threw Tuf off and scrambled back to his feet.
"She doesn't remember me!" Seiryu's voice cracked, not from pain, but from the overwhelming confusion and desperation in his heart.
That made Tuf pause.
Aurelian and Legion exchanged startled glances, turning their full attention to the Holy Beast.
"What do you mean?" Aurelian asked, his voice sharp with disbelief.
"You heard me," Seiryu said, his tone steadier but still strained. "The Empress doesn't remember me. Or rather, she remembers what I am, but when she recognized me as Seiryu, the Holy Beast, she panicked. She said I shouldn't be awake. That she made sure no one knew she even knew the names of the Holy Beasts."
His expression darkened with sorrow.
"She fainted when she saw herself in the mirror… But it wasn't just confusion. It was terror. She was terrified of her own reflection."
A stunned silence fell over them.
Aurelian turned to Tuf, his voice low but laced with fury. "Still want to tell us there's nothing wrong with your portal?"
"There's nothing fucking wrong with my portal, you piece of shit!" Tuf snarled, getting in Aurelian's face.
"Enough, the two of you!" Legion barked, stepping between them and shoving a hand against both their chests to keep them apart. "This isn't the time for a pissing match. We don't need to tear each other apart, we need to figure out what the hell happened to the Empress."
Before anyone could respond, a sudden burst of silver light flickered beside them, Arwen had arrived, face pale and voice shaking.
"My Lords…" she said, bowing slightly but mostly addressing Legion and Seiryu. "Something's wrong with the Saintess."
"What?" Legion demanded immediately.
"I felt her life in danger earlier," Arwen said, breath unsteady. "I tried to teleport to her… but I couldn't. According to the oath I swore, if the Saintess's life is in danger, I should be able to reach her instantly. But I couldn't. No matter how I tried."
All four of them slowly turned their eyes to Tuf.
Tension thickened.
"There's an explanation for that," Tuf said, jaw tight as he tried, and failed, to calm himself down.
None of the four spoke. They waited for Tuf to explain.
"We sent the Saintess and her three other Saintess Knights through the portal first," Tuf began, his voice calmer now, but eyes sharp. "And since I haven't followed yet, I'm guessing my sister Luna, who can sense my portals, must've found them already."
He paused briefly. "And Luna isn't exactly… diplomatic. She tends to talk and threaten at the same time."
"But why couldn't I follow the Saintess?" Arwen asked, her tone urgent. "The moment her life was in danger, I should have been able to teleport to her. The Oath allows it."
Tuf exhaled heavily.
"Just like how our father Caelum has an ability called Instant Death, a power that no other being in this world possesses, my sister has one that's equally unique. Something that can't be copied, mimicked, or countered. It's called… Oathbreaker."
"Oathbreaker?" Legion asked, frowning. "And how does that explain Arwen's inability to follow Delphine?"
Tuf turned to him.
"As the name implies, it breaks oaths. Any ability powered by a vow, any binding oath, divine or otherwise, ceases to function around Luna. It's nullified. Even Celestial contracts don't work on her," he explained grimly. "That Soulpiercer blade you carry? Useless against her. Luna is every knight's worst nightmare."
"Then bring them back!" Legion snapped, forgetting it was he who moments earlier had urged calm.
"No!" Tuf snapped back, eyes blazing. "They'll be fine, as long as they explain themselves properly. Luna isn't needlessly cruel. If they give her a reason to listen, they won't be harmed."
"Fine?" Aurelian's voice rose. "Lady Arwen just said the Saintess's life was in danger!"
"I can't open another portal," Tuf admitted, his voice lower now, restrained. "Something's blocking me. Interfering."
"You just said earlier there was nothing wrong with your portal!" Seiryu barked.
"Are you deaf, you overgrown lizard?!" Tuf snarled. "I said something is stopping me from opening another portal, not that my portal was faulty. And even if I could open one now… do you think I would leave without my mother?"
They stared at him in stunned silence.
"My plan was to bring my parents together. So my father could finally see her, see that she's really here. I won't leave her side until I do that. So I'm telling you, Delphine is fine. But if you don't believe me, by all means, go to Velrathis yourselves. I don't give a damn."
And with that, Tuf stormed off, returning inside the palace and quietly sitting by the Empress's chamber door.
Now that he had said it out loud, without anything magically stopping him, it finally felt real.
He was going to tell her.
Tell her that she was his mother. That Caelum, his father, had been waiting for her for centuries. That their family's long, agonizing wait was finally over.
But what Tuf did not expect was what would happen next.
The once commanding, proud Empress, so full of certainty, now recoiled from him in terror. Especially him.
That night, as he waited quietly outside her chamber door, it finally opened.
He stood immediately, smiling, ready to greet her. He wanted to ask how she felt, maybe tease her a little, just like always.
But before he could even speak, Ceres screamed.
She screamed as though she had seen a monster.
"Mother! It's me, Tofu!" he said desperately, gently grabbing her shoulders before she could retreat back into the room.
"No! Please, please, don't hurt them!" she cried out in a panic, tears falling uncontrollably from her wide, terrified eyes.
Tuf froze.
That wasn't just confusion in her voice.
That was fear.
Pure, shattering fear.
"Mother! Don't you remember me? It's me, Tofu," Tuf pleaded again, voice trembling with desperation.
But the question only made her expression worsen.
"No!!! Please!!! No!!!" Ceres screamed, struggling violently against his grip. "Don't hurt them… Don't kill them!"
"I'm not hurting anyone, Mother," Tuf whispered, pain etched deeply into his eyes.
He tried to embrace her, to hold her steady, but she thrashed harder, terrified beyond reason.
"Let her go, Panther," Seiryu commanded softly, yet firmly.
He stepped forward and gently pushed Tuf aside, scooping Ceres into his arms with reverence, then carried her back into her chamber, beyond the threshold Tuf couldn't cross.
"Mother!!!" Tuf shouted after her, his voice cracking.
"Tuf, that's enough!" Aurelian barked, stepping between him and the door.
"Get out of my way, human, before I rip you apart!" Tuf snarled.
"Then do it!" Aurelian yelled back. "Do the very thing she just begged you not to do!"
His words struck like a blade.
"Did you not see her?" Aurelian's voice lowered, but the fury remained. "She's terrified. Of you. She doesn't remember you. And even if she did, right now, she's drowning in fear. Are you really going to force her to remember something that brings her that much pain?"
"You don't understand!!!" Tuf spun toward him, tears now trailing down his face as he turned to face them all.
"You don't know what it's like! She is the reason we came to Solmara. Our father, Caelum, has waited for her for over a thousand years. He's been alive for a millennium… but never truly lived. Do you know how agonizing that is? To exist in power, surrounded by people… but always feel alone because the only reason you breathe isn't beside you?!"
The raw anguish in his voice silenced everyone.
Legion looked away, jaw clenched. Aurelian's anger faded into guilt. And Arwen, she was crying.
Finally, Aurelian spoke again, softer now. "We may not be able to fathom that pain, Tuf. But we understand longing… and loss."
He stepped closer.
"But right now, she is the one who needs us. And if your father loves her as much as you say he does, then if he were here now, even with all that pain, he would prioritize her. Not himself."
"The Duke is right," Legion added gently. "What we need to focus on now is helping the Empress. We need to understand why she's like this. How we can bring her back."
He looked each of them in the eye. "And to do that, we have to unite. We must share everything, every theory, every memory, every clue we have. No more secrets. No more pride. No more feuds. For her."
Tuf's fists slowly unclenched.
His head bowed.
They were right.
This wasn't the time to break down or lash out. His mother, his mother, was hurting. And if Caelum were standing beside him, he would be focused solely on her wellbeing. Not his own grief.
They needed to find the root of this, to bring Ceres back.
And if that meant shaking hands with enemies?
He would do it.
He would even kiss the fucking vermins if that's what it took.