"So… are you two going to kill each other now?" Ceres asked dryly, one brow arched in amusement as she sat at her vanity while Legion calmly brushed her hair.
Though Legion's expression remained composed, Ceres could feel the tension radiating from him like a blade waiting to be unsheathed. Aurelian, seated on the velvet sofa near her bed, made no effort to hide the irritation blazing in his gaze, aimed squarely at the knight standing behind her.
"You have more than enough personal maids now," Aurelian growled. "Why is it still Legion who helps you bathe? It's completely inappropriate."
Ceres rolled her eyes.
This wasn't the first time Aurelian had demanded that she stop letting Legion assist her during her baths. And, as always, she declined without hesitation. He had no say in what she did or who she allowed into her chambers.
And more importantly… it wasn't like Legion hadn't already seen every inch of her.
"The personal maids you're referring to aren't mine," Ceres replied coolly. "I don't pay them. They came here on their own and chose to serve in the Empress's Palace. I won't burden them with more than they already do, especially when they're working for free."
"They're the women who were with us during the expedition, Your Highness," Legion added. "Even if you offered them payment, they wouldn't accept. After all… you're the reason they returned alive."
Ceres didn't miss the way Aurelian's fists clenched at those words, knuckles whitening. She didn't bother to soothe his wounded pride. Legion had only stated the truth.
If he hadn't been there during the expedition, she would never have learned that this year's so-called "Monster Hunt" was, in fact, a blood ritual orchestrated by the nobles, a scheme to sacrifice commoners in hopes of awakening Seiryu.
It had been Legion who teleported from the Frozen Sea, no, Azur Deep, now that the ancient waters had finally begun to stir once more, and warned her.
And that had changed everything.
"Anyway," she said, voice sharp with finality, "why are you still here? Aren't you supposed to be incredibly busy these days?"
"So he's allowed to stay, and I'm not?" Aurelian snapped, ignoring her question and throwing it back with venom.
Ceres turned to look at him, disbelief etched across her face. She opened her mouth to speak, ready to reprimand him for his tone, when the doors opened and Delphine stepped inside.
"Your Highness," Delphine greeted with a graceful bow. Though she could sense the hostile energy between her brother and the Duke, she paid it no mind. It had become a frequent atmosphere in recent weeks.
"The High Court Magician, Celion, is here to see you."
Ceres's brows furrowed slightly.
"He says it's a very urgent matter," Delphine added quickly, catching the flicker of disinterest in the Empress's eyes. "I've had him wait in the receiving room."
Ceres gave a small nod, almost distracted.
Perhaps it was better to speak with Celion… than to continue enduring Aurelian's volatile temper every time Legion so much as breathed near her.
She rose from her seat once Legion finished brushing her hair, and with her usual grace, made her way toward the door.
"Empress, where do you think you're going?" Aurelian snapped, rising from the couch and striding after her. His hand seized her wrist just before she could reach the doorway.
Ceres blinked at him, taken aback. "Didn't you hear what Delphine just said? Celion wishes to speak with me."
"And you're going out wearing that?" Aurelian's eyes narrowed as he gave her a slow once-over, his jaw tightening with each inch.
Ceres glanced down at herself.
She was wearing a nude-toned satin dress with thin straps, the fabric hugging her figure like second skin. It was something she had conjured using her creation magic, modeled after one of Earth's luxury brands. Thank the gods for her abilities. It meant she did not need to suffer through the suffocating, heavy gowns of Solmara.
"And what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" she asked, genuinely confused.
She wasn't indecent. In fact, if the way both Aurelian's and Legion's ears had turned red was anything to go by, she looked too good.
"I can see your nipple," Aurelian growled.
"So?" she shot back without missing a beat, brow raised in challenge. "It's not like it's the first time you've seen them."
Delphine coughed awkwardly in the background, face turning crimson at her Empress's unapologetic boldness.
"Are you serious right now?" Aurelian barked, disbelief and fury mixing in his voice.
Ceres sighed sharply. "Can you please stop? You've been in a foul mood all morning, and now it's getting on my nerves. If you don't like what I'm wearing, close your eyes. Or better yet, go back to your own palace."
She made another attempt to leave, but Aurelian moved faster this time, grabbing her again, hard enough to make her stumble into his broad chest.
"Empress," he warned, his voice low and dark.
Ceres jabbed a finger into his chest in fury.
"If I hear one more word from your mouth about my dress, you will never get the chance to touch even a single strand of my hair again, Duke," she said coldly. "Now let me go, before I make you."
Aurelian froze at the threat. He knew her well enough to know she meant every word.
With visible reluctance and a clenched jaw, he released her arm.
Ceres yanked it back and stormed out.
Behind her, Legion followed in silence, but not before flashing Aurelian a small, satisfied smirk.
Aurelian's blood boiled.
"That fucking peasant," he snarled under his breath.
Still, he grabbed his fur cloak and stormed after them.
He caught up quickly. Just before Ceres could descend the grand staircase that led to the receiving room, Aurelian moved to block her path. Without asking, he threw the heavy fur cloak over her shoulders.
Ceres stared at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"
"I'm not saying anything about your dress," Aurelian said evenly, tightening the fur around her body. "But Celion is a man. And right now… you look like you're wearing nothing."
He secured the cloak himself, pulling the ties with a possessive sort of precision, tight enough that not even a sliver of her satin dress was visible beneath it.
Ceres let out a long, weary sigh and shook her head.
There was no use arguing anymore.
At this rate, the entire day would end before she even made it down the stairs.
"Are you happy now?" she asked dryly, her tone laced with sarcasm as she tugged slightly at the fur-lined collar pressing against her throat.
Aurelian merely smirked, tightening it further just to be sure no skin was exposed. Then, without asking, he took her hand and looped it through his arm, prompting an exasperated roll of her eyes.
The Empress's palace had changed drastically in the past month. Where once it had been quiet, home only to Ceres, Legion, and Delphine, now it buzzed with life. Dozens of new faces moved throughout the halls, all working eagerly and without pay, simply to serve the Empress who had changed their fates.
Since the new orphanage Ceres had commissioned beside the Holy Church was still under construction, the children, and Granny Morgana, were temporarily residing inside the palace itself. Their laughter and constant movement filled every corridor with warmth.
For the first time since her reincarnation into this world, the Empress Palace no longer felt like a prison.
Now it was alive.
And strangely… Ceres knew she would miss the noise once she began her journey to other kingdoms, to awaken the remaining Holy Beasts.
When they finally entered the receiving room, which had been transformed from a once-empty chamber into a regal salon filled with finely conjured furniture and magical artifacts, Ceres immediately noticed that Celion was not alone.
Several Holy Knight Commanders who had joined the recent Monster Expedition were seated with him.
And at the corner table, calmly sipping from a delicate porcelain cup, was none other than Seiryu, in his human form, of course.
"Your Highness," Celion and the Knight Commanders greeted her in unison, standing respectfully.
"Your Majesty," they added with a nod to Aurelian.
"I thought the High Court Magician alone had requested to speak with me," Ceres said as she moved toward the couch across from them. Her voice was neutral but firm. "So why are you here, Lady Layla?"
She sat gracefully, the fur cloak still wrapped tightly around her frame, though the flash in her eyes warned Aurelian not to tighten it again. Naturally, he sat beside her.
Legion remained standing behind her as always, a silent shadow.
Delphine moved to serve coffee to the guests with her usual grace, the porcelain cups clinking softly as she poured.
"I apologize for arriving unannounced, Your Highness," Celion said, only taking his seat after Ceres gave a small nod of permission. "But this matter is not ordinary. The Magic Tower received a peculiar message this morning, delivered through the ancient monolith stone."
"A message?" Ceres frowned. "But aren't all monolith stones connected across the continent? Couldn't it be a transmission from another Magic Tower?"
"I have already checked with the High Court Magicians in every major kingdom, Your Highness," Celion replied. "None of them sent anything."
He nodded toward Lady Layla, who straightened in her seat, her voice steady.
"As it happened, Your Highness, I was in the Magic Tower when the monolith received the message. I saw it with my own eyes," Layla explained, her voice composed but laced with quiet urgency. "I couldn't read the language… but the script was familiar."
She paused, allowing the weight of her words to settle before continuing.
"It matches a forgotten script found in an ancient tome hidden deep within the Wind Kingdom of Zephyriax, one partially deciphered three hundred years ago by their High Priestess. And since you managed to subjugate Seiryu, we hoped that either you might be able to read it… or that he could."
Ceres crossed her legs and leaned slightly back against the velvet cushions, her gaze drifting over the assembled group. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Alright, I understand why you are here… but what are Baron Aldric, Count Revan, Sir Deon, Sir Cedric, and Sir Draven doing here?"
Sir Draven, ever the boldest of the commanders, grinned sheepishly.
"We haven't seen you around lately, Your Highness," he said with a half-shrug. "We just wanted to check in on you. But since we didn't exactly have a formal reason to disturb the Empress… we used this opportunity."
Aurelian, who had been seething quietly beside her, let out a sharp hiss and shot a glare in Draven's direction, his purple eyes practically glowing.
"You wasted your time for that? Instead of doing your actual duty?" he snarled.
Ceres turned her head slowly toward Aurelian, one brow lifting.
"Says the man who's also here for no good reason. Shouldn't you be busy doing your job too?" she said, her voice laced with mockery.
"I am the future emperor," Aurelian shot back haughtily.
"Not until you marry Celion's sister," she added coolly, without even looking at him.
A few chuckles escaped the lips of the knights and even Delphine had to turn to hide her smile. Aurelian, of course, did not find it amusing.
"Anyway," Ceres said with a sigh, redirecting her attention back to Celion. "Where is the monolith now?"
"It's still in the Magic Tower, Your Highness," Celion replied.
"Can you not bring it here?" she asked bluntly.
A quiet laugh echoed from the far end of the room. Seiryu, seated casually with his legs crossed and a steaming cup of coffee in hand, finally spoke.
"They can't do that, Your Highness," he said, amusement in his tone. "If they remove it from its location, it becomes just another big, useless rock. The monolith is directly linked to the ley lines of Solmara. Move it, and it loses its purpose."
"So I have to go there?" Ceres asked, frowning as her eyes darted toward Layla. "How long would it take to reach the Magic Tower?"
"Thirty minutes by carriage, but we can teleport," Celion offered proudly. "We've already mastered the Teleportation Rune you granted us."
"No." Ceres stood, brushing her dress down. "I'm not teleporting unless it's a matter of life and death."
Though her health had improved, her HP having significantly increased since the expedition, the core truth hadn't changed: she still couldn't detect mana. A consequence of her halfling blood, something that could never be undone. And teleportation… made her dizzy and disoriented. She couldn't protect herself against the warping of space and time.
"I'll take the carriage," she said. "I'll meet you there."
"Understood. Thank you, Your Highness." Celion bowed, and in an instant, he and the knights vanished, leaving behind a ripple of light from the teleportation magic.
Ceres had granted access to her custom Rune Magic to everyone who joined the expedition. Any survivor who could remember the Rune could now use teleportation freely. And she also added the condition that the Runes given to Celion can be used by future mages and knights.
And speaking of knights… she had already begun forming her own personal order:
The Starlight Knights.
An elite corps open to anyone, noble or commoner. Any person who passed the grueling trials would be granted the Starlight title.
To her surprise, the six Knight Commanders had all volunteered to help train the recruits. Their loyalty, their belief in her vision, had become one of her greatest strengths.
And for that, she was quietly… deeply thankful.