[The Imperial Capital Two Weeks Later, Early Morning]
The Capital was still wrapped in a freezing,pre dawn mist.
A massive, heavily armored Imperial carriage stood ready in the courtyard.
Inside, seventeen year old Crown Princess Lyra,Princess Seraphina, eight year old Prince Elian, and I were already seated.
Lyra looked out the frosted glass window, a deep sadness pooling in her blue eyes. She gently rested her hand on her stomach.
"I didn't even get to say goodbye to Leo and Mia..."
"I'm sorry, Lyra," I said softly, reaching over and taking her cold hand in mine.
"But the Imperial Doctors strictly ordered it. If we woke the twins up, they would have cried and begged you to stay. The emotional stress would have caused your fragile mana core to violently fluctuate. It was better to leave while they were sleeping."
Lyra sighed, leaning her head against my shoulder. "I know. But I already miss them."
This is the agonizing, silent burden of parenthood: sometimes the deepest act of love is breaking your own heart so that your children do not have to break theirs.
Outside, Emperor Aldric stood by the carriage window, wearing his heavy winter coat.
"I have already sent an advanced magical message to the Eastern Territory," the Emperor announced, his breath visible in the freezing air.
"Duchess Serene Orion is expecting you. With the speed of these Royal warhorses, it will take half a day. You will arrive at the Orion Ducal Estate by evening. Stay safe."
With a final nod, the carriage driver cracked the leather reins.
The massive wheels rolled forward, taking us away from the safety of the Inner Palace and straight toward the freezing East.
[The Eastern Territory The Orion Ducal Estate]
Far away, nestled high in the snow covered mountains of the East, the magnificent crystalline castle of House Orion stood proud against the howling blizzards.
Inside the warm entrance hall, Duchess Serene Orion paced back and forth.
She was a stunningly elegant woman with sharp features, dressed in a thick, dark blue fur coat that screamed absolute authority.
"Arthur!" Duchess Serene snapped, looking sharply at her son.
Arthur Orion, an eighteen year old with messy blue hair and a slightly cocky smirk exactly two months younger than me stood by the heavy oak door adjusting his sword belt.
"Yes, Mother?"
"Your brother Zion is arriving this evening,"
Serene said, her eyes narrowing in a terrifying maternal warning.
"I swear to the Primordial Gods, Arthur, if you act like an idiot and try to hurt him or challenge him to a duel like you did in the past, I will personally bury you in the snow."
Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, looking genuinely embarrassed. When they were kids, Arthur had foolishly challenged me to a spar, which accidentally triggered my chaotic Three Aditya mana.
Arthur was nearly blown to pieces before Duchess Serene intervened to save his life.
"I already apologized for that!" Arthur grumbled.
"We were ten! I'm not going to pick a fight with him again, I promise."
"Fine," Serene sighed, adjusting her high collar.
"Just be on your best behavior. The girl he married is coming too."
[The Imperial Carriage Midday]
The temperature inside the carriage dropped significantly as we crossed the Eastern border.
I wrapped a heavy, magically heated fur blanket snugly around Lyra's shoulders.
"Are you okay, Lyra?" I asked anxiously, my protective instincts flaring.
"Is it too cold? Does your stomach hurt?"
Before Lyra could even answer, little Elian rolled his eyes dramatically from across the carriage.
"She is fine, Big Brother," Elian sighed, lazily feeding a cracker to Cinder, the disguised Phoenix.
"But I think she's starting to feel sick just looking at your face. Honestly, the real tragedy here isn't the cold, it's that she realized she's stuck with you forever."
"Why does everyone in this family target me?!" I whined, throwing my hands up in defeat.
"It is not fair!"
Lyra couldn't help but giggle, the heavy tension finally leaving her shoulders.
"Don't mind him, Zion," Seraphina chuckled, gracefully pouring a cup of hot tea. She looked over at Lyra.
"You really have nothing to fear in the East, Lyra. Duchess Serene Orion isn't like the other Dukes. She grew up alongside our mother. She is essentially an aunt to us."
"Wait, really?" Lyra asked in surprise.
"Yes," I nodded, crossing my arms.
"In fact, Aunt Serene dotes on us. To be brutally honest, I think she likes me more than she likes her own son, Arthur."
[The Orion Ducal Estate Evening]
The carriage finally came to a halt amidst a heavy snowfall.
The door swung open.
Standing outside in the snow was Arthur Orion.
He offered a charming, overly confident smile, reached his hand out to Lyra, and gave her a flirtatious wink.
"Welcome to the East, beautiful lady. Allow me to help you"
SMACK!
A heavy, fur lined glove hit the back of Arthur's head with the concussive force of a brick.
Arthur yelped, stumbling forward and falling face first into a deep snowbank.
Duchess Serene Orion stepped right over her groaning son, giving him a look of absolute disgust.
"She is already married to the Second Prince, you absolute idiot! I am so sorry for my son's rudeness, Princess Lyra."
I stepped out of the carriage, laughing brightly as I helped Lyra down onto the stone steps.
"It's good to see you, Aunt Serene."
Serene turned to me.
Her stern expression instantly melted into a massive, warm smile. She rushed forward and pulled me into a bone crushing hug.
"Zion! Oh, look how tall you've gotten!" Serene beamed. But then, she pulled back, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as she looked me up and down.
"I knew you were growing into a fine young man, but I didn't think you were such a shameless pervert! Getting a seventeen year old girl pregnant when her mana core isn't even stable? Have you no restraint?!"
My jaw dropped to the floor. "I'm not a pervert! It was a potion!"
Serene completely ignored my desperate defense, instantly turning her maternal attention to Lyra.
Her eyes softened with intense, genuine worry.
"You poor, sweet girl. You just traveled for half a day from the Royal Palace in this freezing weather! Forget the pleasantries Arthur! Bring the Eastern Doctor immediately! We need to make sure the princess is alright!"
[The Orion Infirmary]
A few minutes later, Lyra was sitting on a warm, plush bed in the estate's private infirmary. The highly skilled Eastern Doctor finished his glowing green diagnostic spell, nodding respectfully to Serene and me.
"The Princess is perfectly fine," the Doctor confirmed.
"The heated blankets protected her from the cold. Her core is stable, and the babies are completely safe."
I let out a massive, shuddering sigh of relief.
"Excellent," Duchess Serene smiled brightly.
"Now, I will assign the living quarters. Seraphina, you and Elian will take the East Wing suites. Princess Lyra, you will take the Master Guest Chamber. Zion... you are in the small room at the end of the hall."
I blinked. "Wait, what? Why can't I sleep with Lyra?"
Serene crossed her arms, raising an imperious eyebrow.
"Because Emperor Aldric sent me a personal letter requesting that I separate you two immediately upon arrival. He explicitly wrote: 'My son is a shameless pervert with zero self-control. Do not let him sleep in the same room as his pregnant wife.'"
"I AM NOT A PERVERT!" I yelled, my face burning bright red as Seraphina and Elian burst into hysterical laughter.
"Is it okay if I sleep in the Master Chamber with Princess Seraphina, Duchess Orion?"
Lyra asked politely, offering the most innocent, angelic smile imaginable. "I feel safest when Princess Seraphina is nearby. Thank you so much for your incredible hospitality."
Serene Orion gasped, physically clutching her chest. Lyra's overwhelming cuteness was a direct, critical hit to the Duchess's heart.
"O-Of course! You can have whatever you want, you absolute angel!" Serene practically fainted, fanning her flushed face.
"I... I will see you all at dinner time!"
"Okay!" Lyra smiled happily. "Let's go straight to dinner then!"
[The Imperial Capital Dinner Time]
Back in the Capital, the massive Royal dining table felt suffocatingly empty.
Emperor Aldric sat at the head of the table. Leo and Mia sat next to him, but Leo was aggressively stabbing his roasted carrots with his silver fork, his tiny face twisted in adorable anger.
"Grandpa is mean," Leo pouted, glaring up at the Emperor.
"You didn't wake me up! Mom and Dad went away and I couldn't even say goodbye! Now I can't speak with them!"
Aldric set his wine glass down, a rare look of guilt crossing his scarred face.
"I am sorry, Leo. It was for your mother's health. What should I do to make it up to you?"
Leo crossed his little arms.
"Tell us a fairy tale! Tell us the story about the Six Primordial Gods!"
Emperor Aldric paused.
The vast room grew unnaturally quiet. He looked at the twins, his expression turning deeply serious, carrying the weight of millennia.
"Very well," Aldric began, his resonant voice echoing in the empty hall.
"Long before the Empire was built, the world was held together by six absolute pillars of divine power. The Six Primordial Gods."
Leo and Mia leaned forward, captivated by the Emperor's tone.
"First," Aldric counted slowly on his scarred fingers.
"was the God of Time and Space. The one who sees all futures. Second, the Sovereign of Scorched Earth, the King of Lava who burns the impure. Third, the Lord of the Deep Seas. Fourth, the Empress of the Frozen Skies. And Fifth, the King of Shadows."
"Who was the sixth?" Mia whispered, her eyes wide.
"The Sixth..." Aldric's eyes darkened with an ancient sorrow.
"Was the Sovereign of Restoration. The most gentle, pure divine being in the universe. But thousands of years ago, a catastrophic dark plague threatened to wipe out all mortals. The Sovereign of Restoration sacrificed her entire physical and magical essence to cure the world."
Aldric looked out the massive glass window toward the starry night sky.
"Because she burned her soul away to save us... her divine throne was left completely empty. Since that day, no one has been able to claim the Seat of Healing. It remains vacant, waiting for a mortal soul pure enough to inherit the shattered pieces of her divine power."
This is the ultimate, tragic truth of true divinity: the greatest saviors do not rule from golden thrones; they pour their very lifeblood into the earth, breaking themselves apart so that the rest of the world might remain whole.
[The Eastern Territory The Orion Dining Hall]
The warm fire crackled happily in the massive stone hearth of the Orion dining hall.
We were all sitting around the grand mahogany table: Duchess Serene, Arthur, Seraphina, Elian, Lyra, and I. The mood was cheerful, filled with warm laughter and the rich smell of roasted Eastern meats.
Lyra smiled beautifully, picking up her crystal glass of water. "This food is really…"
Suddenly, Lyra's voice stopped.
Her deep blue eyes blew wide open in shock. A terrifying, wet, ragged cough ripped through her chest.
SPLAT.
A massive mouthful of dark, viscous crimson blood sprayed from Lyra's lips, splattering horribly across the pristine white tablecloth.
"Lyra?!" I screamed, shooting up from my chair so fast it crashed to the floor.
Lyra's eyes rolled back in her head. Her body gave out, collapsing sideways.
I dove across the heavy table, shattering porcelain plates and crystal glasses, and caught her just before her head hit the hard stone floor. Her skin was instantly burning with a terrifying, unnatural fever, and a horrifying, necrotic black aura was rapidly spreading across her chest, directly over her heart.
"DOCTOR!" Duchess Serene screamed, blinding panic exploding in the room. "SOMEONE GET THE DOCTOR RIGHT NOW!"
Lyra's vision blurred into suffocating darkness. The roaring chaos of the dining room faded into a dull, distant ringing.
The cruelest nature of this world is how it allows you to feel the absolute, comforting warmth of a hearth just seconds before it burns your entire house to the ground.
The very last thing she saw before she lost consciousness entirely was my terrified, blood spattered face, screaming her name.
"LYRA!!"