"The Oath of the Moon"
A few days later, the arrival of Queen Adelaine in the Duchy was announced.
The news spread quickly throughout the capital, because it was not common for the queen to travel in person to that place.
She had come specifically to pay tribute to Sofía Douglas of Mondring.
When she entered the ceremonial hall, the atmosphere changed immediately. Everything fell silent, and even the proudest nobles lowered their heads.
Adelaine advanced slowly toward the coffin.
Her posture was firm, elegant as always, but her expression revealed something more human. There was fatigue… and restrained sadness.
In front of Sofía, the queen stopped and lowered her head in respect.
—The kingdom will never forget your sacrifice… rest, my friend —she murmured in a low voice.
She said nothing more. None was needed.
Silence once again covered the entire hall.
When the ceremony ended, Lusian stayed behind for a moment, until the place was almost empty.
Only then was he able to be alone with Elizabeth.
For a few seconds neither of them spoke.
Elizabeth watched him in silence. She looked at him closely, as if trying to understand what he had become.
Lusian no longer looked the same. He seemed more drained, more serious, as if something inside him had changed forever.
Elizabeth said nothing. She simply stepped forward quickly and hugged him tightly.
It was a direct embrace, without hesitation, as if she had been holding herself back for too long.
Lusian stood still at first. He did not react immediately, as if he did not know how to respond to that gesture.
Elizabeth rested her face against his chest.
Her breathing was unsteady. She was trembling slightly.
She was not only sad. She was also worried about him.
Seeing him like this, carrying everything alone, she wanted to take away that pain from him, even if she did not know how.
For a moment, everything would have remained calm…
Everything would have remained calm… if the heroes had not arrived at the Duchy.
Alejandro, Leonardo, and Kara entered the place shortly after the ceremony, and their presence immediately changed the atmosphere.
Nobles and soldiers began to murmur as soon as they saw them. It was not common to have the kingdom's heroes there.
Alejandro and Leonardo walked calmly through the crowd. Too calmly for a funeral like this.
They did not cry. They did not seem truly affected. They only wore neutral expressions, as if they were merely fulfilling an obligation.
That did not go unnoticed.
Several nobles noticed it, and so did Lusian.
There was something about them that felt unsettling.
It was not hatred or sadness. It was a strange kind of calmness, as if Sofía's death had not truly affected them.
Or worse… as if they had accepted it too easily.
Lusian felt it clearly.
And he was not the only one. Some Douglas soldiers also began to tense up without knowing why.
The atmosphere grew heavier without anyone saying a word.
Kara was the only one who acted differently.
She approached Sofía's coffin and knelt before it.
She lowered her head in silence.
Her hands trembled slightly, and her expression cracked a little.
—My condolences… —she whispered.
Her voice was sincere. Truly pained.
Kara closed her eyes tightly, as if trying not to let her tears fall.
When Lusian was about to leave the mausoleum, he saw the scene.
Leonardo, the Hero of Lightning, was speaking with Isabella, but she was not paying attention to him. Her eyes had been fixed on Lusian for a long time, as if no one else was there, as if she had only been waiting to see him.
Leonardo noticed that gaze, and his expression immediately changed. He tensed, clearly annoyed.
Lusian began walking toward them without haste, but the atmosphere around him grew heavier with each step. The silence inside the mausoleum also shifted, becoming cold and uncomfortable.
—Duke! —Leonardo spoke first, irritated—. Release Isabella!
He did not finish his sentence.
The air changed in an instant.
Lusian drew his sword without warning. It was so fast that almost no one could see it clearly. Mana covered the blade at the same moment he appeared in front of Leonardo's neck.
Too fast, too precise.
Leonardo did not manage to react. He only felt the blade dangerously close to his skin and a crushing pressure over him, as if his body had frozen by instinct.
The priest of the Temple of the God of Electricity reacted immediately and blocked the attack by reflex. The clash of energy shook the entire mausoleum and the walls trembled.
A thin line of blood ran down Leonardo's neck. One more centimeter and he would have died.
The priest stepped back, tense. His expression showed not only anger, but also fear, because he understood what had just happened. Lusian had truly tried to kill him.
—Duke! —the priest said firmly—. What does this mean?
Lusian looked at him without expression. His eyes were no longer the same.
—Do you know where you are? —he asked calmly.
—In the Duchy of Douglas —the priest replied.
Lusian stepped forward. The pressure of mana suddenly increased inside the mausoleum, making the air heavier and harder to breathe.
—Then tell me something —he said—. By what right do you raise your voice in my territory?
Each word fell heavily, as if merely speaking about him made it harder to stand.
Leonardo stepped back without realizing it. For the first time since he met Lusian, he felt real fear, not of a rival, but of someone who was no longer holding back.
And in that moment everyone understood. Sofía's death had not only changed him, it had left something broken inside him, something he was no longer trying to control as before.
The air inside the mausoleum grew heavy.
Lusian had already reached his limit. All the anger, pain, and despair he had been holding back since Sofía's death continued to build inside him, slowly wearing down what little patience remained.
And yet, those fools kept pushing him.
Isabella did not look away from him for even a moment. Her eyes showed determination and absolute loyalty, as if nothing else in the world mattered.
She did not speak.
She did not try to intervene.
She simply stayed there, watching him as if he were the only important thing in that place.
Leonardo swallowed.
For the first time since arriving at the Duchy, he felt real fear.
Because the man in front of him was no longer the same duke he had provoked so many times.
Something inside Lusian had broken.
And what remained now was someone far more dangerous.
—Duke! —Leonardo shouted, trying to regain authority—. You can't do this… she is…!
—Shut up.
Lusian's voice made the entire mausoleum fall silent.
Mana began to expand slowly around his body. The pressure became suffocating, heavy, unstable.
—This is my territory —he said coldly—. These are my people.
His eyes shifted toward Isabella.
—And she is free to choose.
The pressure increased even more inside the mausoleum.
—No one gives me orders here.
Leonardo clenched his teeth and looked desperately at Isabella.
—Isabella! Come with me! I can protect you! I am the chosen one of the God of Thunder!
But Isabella did not hesitate even for a second.
She kept looking at Lusian and answered with absolute calm:
—I will stay with my lord.
Those words struck Leonardo hard.
His face twisted with rage, humiliation, and disbelief.
And then he lost control.
—What the hell did this guy do to you?! —he roared, rushing toward her—. Wake up!
He tried to grab her arm.
But he never reached her.
The ground exploded beneath Lusian's feet.
In an instant, he appeared in front of Leonardo.
Too fast.
Too violent.
The sword covered in dark mana stopped once again at the hero's throat.
But this time the blade actually cut skin.
A thin line of blood slowly ran down Leonardo's neck.
Lusian looked him directly in the eyes.
His voice came out low, cold, and completely empty.
—Touch her again… and I will tear off your hand in front of everyone.
The pressure of mana made the mausoleum tremble.
Even the priests stepped back.
Leonardo froze.
Because he finally understood something.
Lusian was not threatening him.
He meant it completely.
In an instant, hundreds of swords were drawn.
Nobles, knights, and warriors of the Duchy reacted at the same time. The sound of steel filled the mausoleum as one after another stepped in front of Lusian and Isabella, forming a protective barrier around them.
The pressure of mana surged, turning the atmosphere suffocating. The air felt heavy, filled with hostility and tension, as if a single spark could turn that funeral into a massacre.
Leonardo stood still.
Because he finally understood something.
The entire Duchy was on Lusian's side.
It did not matter that he was a hero.
It did not matter that he had the backing of the Temple of Thunder.
If he tried to attack here, he would not leave the mausoleum alive.
The priest of the Temple of the God of Thunder immediately grabbed Leonardo before he did something foolish.
—Hero, stop!
But Leonardo barely heard him.
His eyes remained fixed on Isabella, filled with rage, confusion, and desperation.
—Why?! —he shouted—. What the hell do you see in him?!
Isabella did not hesitate.
She stepped even closer to Lusian, making her decision clear before everyone present.
And then she answered with complete calm:
—Because he never tried to force me.
Those words hit Leonardo harder than any sword.
His face tightened immediately, twisted with humiliation, rage, and helplessness.
Lusian kept his sword pointed at his throat without looking away.
His expression remained cold.
Empty.
—Listen carefully.
Dark mana began to spread slowly from his body, extending throughout the mausoleum and making even some priests step back instinctively.
—This is my territory.
The sword moved forward slightly.
A thin line of blood ran down Leonardo's neck.
—And if you ever try to touch her again… I will kill you here and now.
Silence fell over the mausoleum.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Because everyone understood the same thing.
Lusian was not exaggerating.
He was completely serious.
And in the middle of that funeral filled with grief, swords, and mana, it became clear who held true authority in the Duchy of Douglas.
At dusk, the twilight covered the walls of the Duchy.
The sky was still split open by those enormous cracks of light, shining scars that reminded everyone of the battle that had devastated the region days before.
Lusian walked slowly through the inner gardens of the castle.
His steps were heavy, unhurried, as if each one cost him more than he was willing to admit.
The wind moved through the trees and flowers along the stone path. It was a quiet place, but even so it did not ease the pressure he carried.
Then he saw her.
Elizabeth was at the end of the path, waiting in silence.
The princess walked slowly toward him.
Her dark dress moved with the wind while her eyes never left Lusian.
When she got close enough, her expression changed.
It was clear in her gaze.
She no longer saw the same Lusian as before.
The man in front of her looked exhausted.
Elizabeth felt a knot in her chest.
She wanted to hug him. She wanted to take away even a part of that burden.
Lusian stopped in front of her.
Neither spoke for a few seconds.
The wind moved through the garden, gently filling the silence between them.
Then Elizabeth stepped forward.
And kissed him.
Direct. Without warning.
Intense, as if she could no longer keep everything she felt inside.
Her hands clung to Lusian's clothes as she pulled him closer without hesitation.
There was no shame. No hesitation.
Only the need to get closer, to make that pain a little more bearable.
Lusian froze at first.
But he felt Elizabeth's trembling body.
And that was enough to break something inside his silence.
His arms slowly wrapped around the princess's waist.
And he returned the kiss.
With force.
Not gently or delicately.
The exhaustion, the rage, the emptiness.
All of it came out in that moment, without words.
Elizabeth closed her eyes tightly.
Because she could feel it.
No words were needed.
And in that moment, she did not care about the kingdom, the nobles, or what would come next.
She only wanted to stay there.
With him.
Later, inside the room, everything fell silent.
The curtains moved slowly with the night wind.
Elizabeth remained in Lusian's arms, breathing heavily after what had happened moments before.
The sheets covered part of their bodies.
The warmth was still there.
Lusian watched her in silence.
And for a moment, he felt as if none of this could be real.
In his previous life, Elizabeth had been completely unreachable.
The most beloved princess in the game.
—Lusian…
Elizabeth's voice trembled slightly.
He lifted his gaze toward her and, for the first time since Sofía's death, felt a different kind of fear tighten in his chest.
Elizabeth was in danger.
Memories of his previous life returned to his mind all at once. The demonic cult. The forbidden rituals. The Demon Queen. And that twisted plan to use a perfect body as a vessel.
His breathing grew heavier as images appeared one after another in his mind.
He imagined her losing control of her own body, trapped inside herself while something else slowly took her place.
He imagined her looking at him with empty eyes, speaking with her voice, smiling… but no longer being herself.
And then he remembered the ending.
Elizabeth becoming the final enemy of humanity, facing the heroes while the entire kingdom begged for her death.
He remembered the final scene of the game.
Her body pierced by holy weapons.
The heroes praised as saviors.
Humanity thanking the gods for destroying the Demon Queen.
His chest tightened as fear began to spread through him.
He could not let it happen again.
He had already felt this before. He already knew what it was like to watch someone important be taken from him without being able to do anything to stop it.
He still remembered the helplessness, the rage, and the emptiness left behind.
And now he did not want to go through it again.
Not again. Not with Elizabeth.
As he kept his face buried against her neck, a thought began to burn inside him with a violence he did not try to resist.
If anyone tried to touch her or harm her, he would destroy them all without hesitation.
Every member of the demonic cult. Every monster involved in that twisted ritual. He would leave none of them alive.
His arms tightened slightly around Elizabeth as he breathed slowly.
His voice finally escaped, trembling not from fear, but from a firm determination that cut through the air like freshly forged steel.
—I will not let anything happen to you.
Elizabeth did not fully understand the intensity behind those words, but she still rested her forehead against his gently, as if trying to anchor him with her presence alone.
—Lusian… whatever happens, I am with you. No one can take me away from you.
He looked at her in silence for a few seconds.
And in those eyes he found something that kept him tied to this world, something he could not afford to lose under any circumstance.
It was in that moment that the oath formed clearly in his mind.
To protect her, even if it meant destroying anyone who tried to harm her.
Elizabeth's calmness softened his expression, but inside him the weight kept growing stronger.
A deep, dark fire expanded within him, fed by everything he had lost before and everything he refused to lose again.
—I will always return to you —she murmured with a soft smile, unaware of the true weight of those words.
Lusian pulled her closer without saying anything, as if that gesture was the only answer possible.
In that silence, something far greater than a promise was sealed.
He would not allow the demonic cult to touch her.
He would not allow the gods to reach her.
He would not allow fate to claim her.
And that decision was carved into him with absolute force, firmer than any fear or doubt.
A certainty that did not depend on the world, or logic, or even reason.
Only on a single truth.
That if anyone tried to take her away, the world would have to pay the price.