Legion and Delphine stood frozen.
Life force?
The Empress was using her own life force just to perform magic?
That meant, every time she used magic, her lifespan shortened.
Was that why she never used magic before?
A sinking feeling settled in their chests.
Before Empress Ceres arrived in Aquilonis, no one had expected the palace to open its doors to commoners, not as servants in the Empress's Palace.
It had caused an uproar.
The Empress Palace was one of the most well-maintained palaces in Aquilonis, even after the former Empress Rosielyn died.
Many commoners had celebrated the opportunity, thinking it was their chance to live better lives.
But then, they saw her.
Short. Fat. Weak. A woman who couldn't even control mana.
A royal in name only.
It had taken mere moments for them to realize the truth.
They were not hired out of generosity.
They were there as an insult.
A message from the Crown Princess Aurora, the true ruler of the Aquilonis Royal Court.
A message that the new Empress was nothing.
That she was not welcomed.
That she had no place in this kingdom.
That she only became Empress because Aquilonis needed the food supply promised by Vaelundis, her homeland.
Even the fact that she was still called Ceres Evadne Valeria instead of being given the Aquilon name, which was tradition for all Aquilonis royals, was further proof.
The Crown Princess Aurora had made her hatred clear.
She saw Ceres's marriage to their family as an insult.
To her, Vaelundis had mocked them by sending a useless, hideous woman to be their Empress.
Because Aquilonis was a dying kingdom, a kingdom covered in endless winter, ravaged by monsters from beyond the Frozen Sea.
A kingdom so poor and weak that even the five other royal families, despite their endless wars, never bothered to conquer it.
Aquilonis simply wasn't worth the trouble.
And Ceres was from one of those royal families, a reminder of how much they were looked down upon.
The Aquilonis royal children made sure to make her life hell.
And if not for the Emperor, they would have let her starve to death.
But even the late Emperor was old, frail, and dying.
He had done what little he could, treating her with respect, but even he could not control his children.
And by the time he passed, there was no one left to protect her.
His final decree was simple, Ceres would remain Empress until Duke Aurelian, his eldest son, married.
But Duke Aurelian was a warrior, not a politician.
He spent his life on the battlefield, determined to exterminate monsters rather than play political mind games with corrupt nobles.
And so, Ceres remained Empress.
Yet, despite holding the title, she had no real power.
She was deemed worthless.
Even the commoners serving under her mocked her, something that should have been punishable by death.
But no one cared.
She had suffered in silence.
For years, she did nothing but cry behind closed doors or bury herself in books, ignored and abandoned by all.
And the servants, knowing the budget for the Empress Palace would be cut, decided to loot the palace before leaving.
But before they could even attempt to steal, Ceres herself had approached the palace butler, a commoner.
And she said something that shocked them all.
"Take anything you want. Leave nothing behind, except the books and my chamber. Everything else, divide it equally among yourselves."
She had even given away her jewelry.
And just like that, the servants took everything of value and left.
All except two.
At first, Legion and Delphine did not stay out of loyalty.
They stayed because they had a contract.
They had sworn to serve the Empress for five years.
They had only served for two.
And for three more years, they would honor their agreement, because that was what their late mother taught them.
But now, everything had changed.
They had seen it.
With their own eyes.
She wasn't useless.
She had magic.
Not just ordinary magic,
But something even greater than what the royals possessed.
Because unlike everyone else, she did not use mana.
She used her life itself.
And suddenly, everything made sense.
They had witnessed it firsthand.
She had used her magic to give her personal farewell to the Emperor, conjuring luminous butterflies and the Golden Tree that transformed the palace grounds.
She had used her magic again to gift them powerful abilities, gifts equal to those given by the Celestial Beings to royals at birth.
And now, they were seeing the consequences of that magic.
The price she had paid.
The side effects.
Even moving her hand or speaking a few words had become difficult.
She could barely function.
Was she dying?
Legion's fingers curled into fists, jaw clenching.
Delphine, her chest tight with emotions she couldn't contain, felt her vision blur with tears.
And then, she collapsed to her knees beside the Empress's bed.
"Your Highness…"
She sobbed.
Loud, unrestrained, heart-wrenching sobs.
For the first time, Delphine saw the Empress not as an abandoned ruler, but as a woman who had given so much yet received nothing in return.
And that realization broke her.
"Why the hell are you crying?" Ceres asked, voice irritated but weak from exhaustion.
"It's my fault, Your Highness," Delphine hiccupped, sobbing. "If I had just agreed to what the Royal Chief wanted, you wouldn't have had to give us abilities that cost you your life force. If I had known… I wouldn't have said anything. My dignity doesn't matter. One way or another, someone would have taken it from me eventually, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. That's just the life of commoners like me. If I had just kept quiet…"
Despite her heavy fatigue, Ceres forced herself to sit up, her arms trembling slightly from the effort.
"Stop talking nonsense." Her voice was stern, though still weak. "If your dignity didn't matter to you, you wouldn't have cried the way you did when someone tried to take it away. Just because you're a commoner doesn't mean you have to accept being treated like trash. You are a human being. You have rights. You are your mother and father's precious child."
She exhaled sharply, then crossed her arms.
"And let me make one thing clear, I didn't give you those abilities out of pity. I did it for myself. I didn't do it for free, either. I'm not that charitable. Using magic chips away at my HP, so I gave you those abilities to act in my place. Why should I work if I can make someone else do it for me? So stop crying. I'm going to make sure I use you and Legion enough to make every bit of HP I lost worth it."
Then, as if her body had finally given up, she collapsed back onto the bed.
Her limbs felt like lead.
Her head spun with dizziness.
And every single negative feeling was magnified seven times over.
"But… you'll die," Delphine whispered, tears still streaming down her face.
The Empress' words might have been harsh, but the fact still remained, she had lost HP. And with that loss, she was one step closer to death.
"How much HP do you have left, Your Highness?" Legion's voice was tight, fists clenched at his sides. He was angry, at himself, at the situation, at the helplessness of it all.
"29."
Ceres barely opened her eyes as she answered.
Delphine let out a choked sob.
"29? That means… you'll only live until you're 29 years old, Your Highness!"
Ceres snapped her eyes open at that.
"What?!"
She forced herself upright again despite the nausea. "How the hell do you figure that?"
Delphine froze, then turned to Legion in confusion. "Your Highness… don't you know?"
Legion gritted his teeth, trying to keep his anger in check.
"The number of HP you currently have determines the age you'll die."
Ceres stared at him.
"It's not constant, though," Legion continued, trying to explain. "If you take a fatal blow, or something that can kill you instantly, then you'll die regardless. But as long as you avoid that, your HP reflects the natural lifespan you have left.
"In order to increase your lifespan, you need to max out your MP and it will level up your HP by one point. And to increase your Level, you need to completely fill your HP."
Legion's jaw tightened.
"Are you seriously telling me you've been using your magic this whole time without knowing that?"
He wasn't mad at her.
He was furious at whoever had raised her, whoever had failed to tell her something so basic and so important.
And worse, she had no MP.
Which meant,
She could never increase her HP.
Ceres leaned back against the pillows, staring at them.
"Don't worry." She closed her eyes, exhaustion sinking into her bones. "That doesn't apply to me."
Delphine froze. "What do you mean?"
"I won't die. Even if my HP drops to 1, I won't die."
She yawned, burying her face into the pillow.
"Because I'm bound to this world until I turn 101 years old. I could be on my deathbed, barely breathing, but I won't die before then."
She exhaled slowly.
"I just feel like absolute shit when my HP drops below 50."
Then she smirked tiredly.
"And I can always refill my HP."
Delphine and Legion exchanged glances.
They didn't fully understand what she meant, how could she be an exception?
But at least, she wouldn't die.
That fact alone made their hearts feel lighter.
Delphine crawled closer, kneeling at the side of the bed and grasping the Empress's hand.
"Your Highness," she said softly. "Do you always feel like this when your HP drops below 50?"
Ceres barely nodded.
A fresh wave of guilt crashed over Delphine.
"What can we do to make you more comfortable?" she asked. "And if there's anything we can do to help refill your HP faster, tell us, we'll do it."
Ceres smiled, eyes still closed.
"Right now, I just need peace and quiet because I'm getting dizzy."
Delphine nodded immediately. "Of course, "
"But for my HP…"
Ceres yawned, grinning lazily.
"Sorry, Delphine, but you can't help me with that."
Delphine sighed.
Then Ceres turned her head slightly, eyes lazily opening to look at Legion.
"But he can."
Legion stiffened.
His heartbeat skipped.
Delphine's eyes widened.
Legion immediately stepped closer. "Tell me what I need to do, Your Highness."
Ceres sighed contentedly, rolling back over.
"Come back later tonight."
She let out another yawn.
"But for now, leave me alone."
And with that, she drifted into sleep.
Legion and Delphine were frozen for a moment.
Delphine bit her lip, then sighed, standing up and gently adjusting the Empress's blanket.
She picked up the empty dishes and gestured for Legion to follow.
Legion hesitated only for a second, then bowed slightly.
"I'll come back later, then, Your Highness."
A sleepy grunt was the only response.
With one last glance at the Empress, he turned to leave.
And as the siblings walked away, neither of them said it,
But they both knew.
Whatever the Empress needed from them…
They would give it.