Legion wasn't sure why he was nervous.
It was the Hour of the Sea-Goat at Duskfall, and here he was, standing before the Empress's chamber, hesitating.
He had no idea how he could help refill her HP, yet his instincts screamed that whatever awaited him behind that door… would change his life forever.
But the fact remained, he couldn't refuse her.
If the Empress needed him to gamble his life for her, he would.
That was the oath he silently swore.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked three times.
"Your Highness, it's me, Legion," he called out.
Silence.
He waited, half-expecting a response, but none came.
A flicker of concern passed through him. Was she still asleep? Too weak to answer?
Slowly, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The room was dimly lit, only four candles burning in the corners, casting long shadows across the grand space.
"Your Highness?" he called again, scanning the room.
His gaze fell upon the empty bed.
His breath hitched.
Where was she?
He turned toward the bathroom, listening for any sound of movement.
Nothing.
Then, a glimpse of silver in the moonlight caught his eye.
He turned toward the terrace.
There she was.
Standing under the vast night sky, bathed in the glow of the twin moons.
The large, blue moon above illuminated her pale skin, her platinum hair cascading like liquid silk. She stood completely still, gazing upward, lost in thought.
Legion's steps slowed as he approached.
She looked… lonely.
Not the loneliness of someone abandoned, but of someone staring at something, or someone, she deeply longed for, but could never reach.
Was she thinking about the late Emperor?
The only person who had treated her with respect?
Legion felt a sharp pang of guilt.
Because he was not without fault, either.
The first time he had seen her, he had, like everyone else, judged her.
He and Delphine had never spoken ill of her, never mocked her, never laughed at her. But they had also never defended her.
And wasn't silence just another form of cruelty?
Would her life have been different if she had always looked like this?
Would other kingdoms have fought to make her their Empress?
Would Aquilonis have respected her instead of throwing her away?
Why, why hadn't she used her power sooner?
Why suffer through years of humiliation when she could have changed everything?
His gaze drifted downward.
She was wearing a thin, satin nightgown.
Bare shoulders. Delicate straps. Fabric so sheer that the candlelight nearly glowed through it.
Legion swallowed, feeling his body heat up against his will.
His training had taught him discipline, but he was still a man.
And the Empress, standing there in the moonlight, was something beyond beauty.
Clearing his throat, he grabbed the robe that was draped over a nearby chair and stepped closer, making sure to make some noise so as not to startle her.
"You might catch a cold, Your Highness," he murmured, draping the robe over her shoulders.
She didn't flinch.
She didn't even look at him.
But she accepted the gesture.
Legion exhaled softly, relieved.
"Have you ever been anywhere outside of Aquilonis?" she asked suddenly, eyes still locked on the moon.
"No, Your Highness," he replied.
"Do you have plans to?"
"Delphine and I planned to go to Vaelundis after fulfilling our five-year contract serving you."
Ceres turned her head slightly, finally looking at him.
The moment her piercing golden eyes met his, Legion's breath caught in his throat.
It was… intense.
"The others left before their contracts were fulfilled. No one punished them. Why didn't you leave?"
Legion held her gaze, feeling his face heat up.
"We've spent our whole lives barely surviving." His voice was steady. Firm. "But no matter how hard life was, our parents raised us to live honorably. To never go back on our word. Because that's the only thing commoners like us have, our integrity."
Silence.
"Your Highness… if it's not inappropriate, may I ask something?"
Ceres gave a slight nod.
Legion hesitated, then took a breath.
"Delphine and I can tell how powerful you are. And if you can refill your HP, and if you're certain you'll live until you're 101 years old…"
He clenched his fists.
"Why didn't you use your power before? Why did you let people mock and disrespect you?"
Ceres stared at him for a long moment.
Then, instead of answering, she asked, "Have you ever imagined a world without magic?"
Legion frowned. "A world without magic?" He shook his head. "I don't think such a place exists, Your Highness."
A mysterious smile curved her lips.
Then she turned back toward the sky.
"I don't know how to answer your question," she admitted softly.
"But I can tell you why I chose to use it now."
Legion said nothing.
He simply listened.
"I need to create a spell," she murmured, lifting a hand toward the moon as if she could grasp it.
"A spell that will let me see one last time a very special person in my life… To say goodbye."
Legion felt something shift inside him.
Something he didn't understand.
"And you can't make it now?" he asked, his voice strangely tight.
Ceres exhaled, lowering her hand.
"No."
The wind picked up, making her robe billow softly.
"The spell will consume 500 HP."
Legion's eyes widened.
"After I make that spell, I will no longer use my magic again."
She smirked, but there was something tragic in it.
"Hopefully."
And as the blue moonlight bathed her in a soft, celestial glow, Legion suddenly felt like he was looking at something untouchable.
A divine being.
A woman bound by fate.
An empress standing at the edge of a world only she understood.
She was otherworldly, yet terrifyingly real.
"Will you help me?" Ceres asked, her voice smooth, almost teasing.
"Just tell me what you need me to do, Your Highness, and I will do it," Legion vowed without hesitation. "Delphine and I will follow you wherever you choose to go."
Ceres smiled, not a kind smile, but a knowing one.
"Are you sure about that?" she mused, tilting her head. "Even if I discard you after I achieve my goal? Will you still do that?"
Legion did not hesitate.
"I am no knight, Your Highness, but if you will permit this boldness…" he said, dropping to one knee before her. His left hand pressed against his chest, his right hand reaching for hers, holding it gently yet firmly. His heart was steady. His resolve, unshakable.
Then, with unwavering eyes, he spoke the oath that only true knights could make.
"This life is yours, and yours alone,
Forever shall I follow, sworn in stone.
For your honor, for your glory,
I stand unyielding, fierce and holy.
I am your shield against the tide,
Your sword that strikes where foes reside.
Should my worth fade in your sight,
Cast me away, let me wander night.
No curse upon you shall I bestow,
Only myself shall bear the woe.
And if this vow I dare betray,
Let Celestial's wrath take me away."
And as his lips brushed against the back of her hand, a golden light erupted around him.
Legion's breath caught in his throat.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
He was not a knight. He was never given the chance to be one.
Yet the heavens had recognized his vow.
The glow that surrounded him was proof.
It meant his oath was bound not just to the Empress, but to the very laws of fate.
To break it was to welcome death.
Legion felt something deep in his soul shift.
He had dreamed of becoming a knight.
But commoners were never given that honor. The highest they could ever rise in Solmara was a foot soldier, disposable and easily forgotten.
And yet here he was.
The heavens themselves had acknowledged his oath.
A knight, bound not to any throne, but to her.
The Empress.
Ceres watched him carefully.
Then, with a smirk, she spoke.
"Then I will hold you to your vow," she murmured, golden eyes gleaming with something dangerous.
"I will use you as much as I can, as much as I want, and as much as I need, until I discard you once I reach my goal."
She leaned down, her breath warm against his lips.
"So be useful."
And then, she kissed him.
Legion froze.
It was a soft kiss, yet powerful enough to set his entire body on fire.
His eyes widened for a split second, his mind racing.
What, what was happening?
But before he could even think, his body responded.
He tilted his head slightly, deepening the kiss, his hands instinctively moving to her waist as he stood, bringing her up with him.
The Malvera fruit tasted like nothing compared to her.
She was intoxicating.
But just as quickly, she pulled away.
Her golden eyes pierced into him.
"This is how you will refill my HP," she said matter-of-fact.
Legion barely managed to breathe.
"But you will not be the only one."
His chest tightened.
"There are others out there, somewhere, who can do the same."
Legion felt like he had been punched in the gut.
But she wasn't done.
"You can hold, touch, and claim my body. I will allow it."
She was giving him permission.
"But you must know," she continued, her voice dropping to something almost cruel, "no matter what you do, no matter how many of my enemies you strike down, no matter how many kingdoms you offer to me…"
Her lips curved.
"You will never have my heart."
It felt like a dagger to the chest.
Sharp.
Precise.
Final.
Legion felt his throat tighten.
It was a warning.
A promise.
She had laid everything out before him, with no false hopes, no lies, no illusions.
He would never have her heart.
No matter what he did.
But he still wanted to follow her.
So he smiled, masking the wound she had just inflicted.
"I understand, Your Highness," he said, his voice steady.
But in his mind, he thought, "If I ever dream to hold your heart, I will keep that dream to myself."
Ceres studied him for a long moment.
Then, she grinned.
"Good."
Ceres stepped back, brushing her fingers along Legion's jaw, her touch light yet commanding.
"Then start refilling my HP tonight."
Her golden eyes gleamed wickedly under the moonlight.
"I don't want to feel like shit tomorrow."
And with that, Legion lifted her effortlessly, as if she were made of glass, fragile yet precious, their lips still intertwined.
As soon as Legion laid her down on the bed, he hovered above her, pressing soft, reverent kisses along the curve of her jaw, down to her collarbone, and further.
He had experience... he was no innocent in the ways of coupling... but to have the Empress beneath him, responding to his touch, yielding to him…
It terrified him.
Not because he was afraid of her.
But because he was afraid he would never be enough for her.
"Extinguish the candles," Ceres whispered against his lips, her breath hot, her voice low.
Legion hesitated.
She didn't want him to see her?
But he said nothing, only did as she asked.
With a thought and a snap of his fingers, his Object Manipulation skill activated.
The flames flickered out, one by one.
The windows shut, the curtains drawn, blocking out the moon's glow.
The room plunged into complete darkness.
Legion couldn't see her anymore.
Only feel her.
Her warmth.
Her scent.
Her soft breaths mixing with his own.
"Is that enough, Your Highness?" he whispered.
"Yes. That is enough."
He buried his nose in the crook of her neck, inhaling her intoxicating scent, and pressed a kiss there, then another.
Everywhere.
Every inch of her skin.
He kissed, tasted, worshipped her, pulling away each article of clothing between them as if unwrapping something sacred.
And when he finally positioned himself between her thighs, his hands trembled.
This was not like before.
This was not some fleeting night of warmth with a nameless woman.
This was her.
His Empress.
And it meant everything.
"Do it," Ceres whispered, her voice commanding.
So he did.
The moment they became one, a guttural groan tore from Legion's throat.
It was like nothing he had ever felt before.
His previous experiences had been simple, a means to chase away the cold of this kingdom, with no attachments, no deeper meaning.
But this?
This was different.
His entire body burned from the inside out.
And the fact that the Empress was not just accepting him, but responding to him, wrapping around him, welcoming him inside her with soft moans and gasps...
It nearly broke him.
Yet even in his bliss, he remained devoted to her pleasure, making sure she reached her peak before he did.
And when he thought they were done...
"Again."
Her voice was breathless but demanding.
Legion stilled, momentarily caught off guard.
But she wanted more.
And who was he to deny her?
So he obliged.
Minutes passed.
Then another round.
And another.
Every time he thought she was satisfied, she would pull him back in, demanding, taking, consuming him whole.
And he gave himself to her completely.
Yet when she asked for the fifth time, he hesitated.
"Your Highness… are you sure?" Legion panted, his body slick with sweat.
"What? Are you tired already? Are you bored of me?" Though he couldn't see her, he could hear the challenge in her voice.
"No," he said quickly, almost too quickly.
That was not the problem.
"I'm just worried about you. You were so tired earlier... I don't want you to exhaust yourself even more."
But Ceres only laughed softly, her voice taunting.
"You're replenishing my HP, remember? I won't get tired. Are you stopping now?"
Legion froze.
Of course.
This was just for her HP.
That was all this was.
She had warned him from the beginning.
And yet…
Something ached inside his chest.
Because no matter how many times they did this, no matter how much she let him touch her, claim her, lose himself in her…
Her heart would never be his.
But she had given him permission to take her body.
And so, he did.
With the same intensity. The same devotion.
Until her body trembled beneath him again.
But this time… something changed.
She glowed.
A soft, golden light surrounded her, illuminating the darkness.
Like an ethereal being.
A goddess reborn.
And as if overwhelmed by it, Ceres's body slowly went limp, the exhaustion finally catching up to her.
Legion barely had the strength to process what had just happened.
He only held her close, pressing a final kiss to her damp forehead.
He didn't know what the future held.
Didn't know if she would ever see him as anything more than just a tool for her magic.
But right now?
She was his.
If only for tonight.