Alone in Alpha's office, Caelum finally let himself break.
The moment the portal closed, the weight of a thousand years came crashing down on him.
She was here.
Really here.
And he had touched her again, if only her hand. Smooth, soft, warm... real and alive.
"Keep your shit together, Caelum," he hissed to himself, his voice shaking. "This isn't the time to get sentimental. You're still in a game with that fucking devil, and you have to win."
While his children were now in Aquilonis, finally reunited with their mother, Caelum locked himself inside the silence of strategy. His mind raced, burning through possibilities.
He could just follow the deal to the letter. But something gnawed at him.
Lucifer wanted more. This wasn't just about saving demi-humans anymore. That bastard wanted something beyond the agreement.
Caelum's gaze dropped to the chessboard in front of him. He swept all the pieces aside with a single hand, then carefully set two on opposite ends of the board, the black king on one side, himself. The white queen opposite, Ceres.
Then, one by one, he placed ten other pieces between them. Their children.
His eyes narrowed.
They could see her.
The block that once kept the truth locked behind their lips was... gone.
Luna had been the key.
The loophole.
But Caelum knew better than to believe it was mere coincidence. If this was only Lucifer's twisted amusement, why would another angel have intervened?
Solmara was Lucifer's world. His domain. His rules.
And yet, something, or someone, was pushing back.
Lucifer once told him, angels were allowed to create their own worlds. But with that came absolute responsibility. So what was it that Lucifer was desperately hiding?
"What the hell are you hiding, Lucifer?" Caelum growled.
He stood from the chessboard, the weight of thoughts too loud for the confines of the room. He left the office, making his way to the highest chamber of the Black Tower, his private bedchamber.
From here, he could see everything.
All of Solmara.
It was one of the few perks granted to him, despite still technically being human. As a Demon Lord, he was allowed to see.
See.
That was the condition.
He could only see Ceres once he fulfilled his end of the bargain.
But nowhere in their deal did it say he could not touch her.
And he had.
Their fingers had intertwined, hearts recognizing each other even in blindness.
Caelum's brow furrowed.
"Did you really make our deal... literal, Lucifer?" he muttered into the wind, eyes narrowing.
There was only one way to test it.
He closed his eyes and reached for the connections, his invisible thread to his children. Alpha. Orso. The rest.
Nothing.
No thread.
Only Luna remained tethered to him.
Interesting.
Then he willed himself forward, to see her again.
A familiar pull surged through him, and in the next heartbeat, he was no longer in the Black Tower.
He stood in Aquilonis.
In the Empress Garden.
The towering silhouette of the palace loomed in front of him, Château de Chambord, replicated down to the last romantic detail. It took his breath away.
Ceres had fallen in love with it on Earth. He still remembered the way her eyes lit up the moment she saw it. She once whispered, half-laughing, half-dreaming, that she wanted a smaller version of it to be their home.
She got her wish.
Caelum looked down at himself, black shirt, pants, shoes. Casual. Unremarkable. But it didn't matter.
He walked slowly. Lazily. As if he were just strolling through a memory. But every step he took was a calculated move.
He needed to know how close he could get.
He couldn't teleport within arm's reach, that much was certain.
But he could walk.
And the fact that he was here, flesh and blood, breathing the same air she did, meant something had changed.
Caelum immediately sensed Comet's arrival behind him, his presence was like a gust of cold wind brushing against his awareness.
"My Lord," Comet spoke with his usual calm, respectful tone. He maintained the proper distance as he followed behind him. "The Mistress asked me to come. They are in the indoor pool with the Empress."
At that, a flicker of temptation crossed Caelum's mind.
To see Ceres.
To will himself into her presence.
But the moment the thought surfaced, his body halted.
An invisible wall slammed against him, impenetrable. His foot couldn't even make the next step.
"My Lord?" Comet asked, sensing something shift.
Caelum raised a hand in command. "Stay where you are. Do not move an inch," he ordered without turning. His voice was quiet, dangerous. Final.
And then, without waiting for a reply, he pivoted, walking in the opposite direction.
His steps were leisurely, like a man admiring the architecture, but his mind was sharp, calculating. Every detail of the Empress Palace was curated, touched by Ceres's will. From the polished marble reflecting pale sunlight to the golden-blossomed cherry trees swaying in the garden.
Not pink.
Never pink.
She hated that color. Without explanation. Without reason. Just hated it.
He didn't even try to hear the sounds of laughter coming from the indoor pool, of his children, of her. He kept his thoughts quiet, his senses dull. If he allowed himself to feel, he wouldn't be able to walk away.
Some palace attendants bowed as he passed, only to do a double-take. They likely mistook him for Tuf at first glance, until they realized the absence of that ever-chaotic, mischievous grin.
No.
This man wore something colder. Older. Sharper.
And then, as he turned a shaded corner of the courtyard, Caelum came face to face with a man.
Not a servant. Not a guard.
A noble.
The way he stood, straight-backed and unflinching, told Caelum all he needed to know. The man knew exactly who he was.
"Demon Lord Caelum," the man said, eyes sharp. "I am Duke Aurelian. Crowned heir of Aquilonis."
There was hostility in his tone, barely restrained. Caelum didn't need to ask why.
He was taller by a single inch. Trivial. But it meant Aurelian had to look up to him, just barely.
The tiniest detail. But one that always mattered between men.
"Duke," Caelum greeted with a smile that never touched his eyes. "It's faint... but I can smell my wife's scent on you."
His voice was calm.
No anger.
No judgment.
"Did you have the honor of sharing her bed?"
The words fell like ice.
Deliberate.
Because Caelum knew Ceres.
Knew her better than anyone alive.
He could still feel her love in the way her hand had held his, just that brief touch was enough to remind him.
She would never allow another man to touch her unless it was necessary.
And considering what Delphine told him, that Ceres uses her life force in place of mana, he had a strong suspicion just how that life force was replenished.
Still, it wasn't jealousy that guided his words.
Just curiosity.
But Aurelian... Aurelian didn't see it that way.
The implication, the indifference, was an insult.
"Yes. Multiple times," Aurelian said, tone sharp as he began walking beside Caelum, matching his pace.
Caelum chuckled under his breath.
A slow, deep sound that did not match the tension in the air.
He turned his head slightly, smirking.
"By any chance, Duke... did you expect me to be angry at your answer?"
He let the question linger.
"I've been in your shoes," Caelum said quietly, eyes still fixed ahead. "I've watched her from afar... longing for her... while she laid in another man's arms. I gave her everything the world could offer… and still, she rejected my heart. For years, she wouldn't accept it."
Aurelian remained silent, jaw tight.
"It took me four long, agonizing years just to be allowed to call her mine," Caelum continued, voice turning cold and sharp like black glass. "Before she finally let me touch her the way I craved. Before she called me hers."
He stopped walking.
Turned fully to face Aurelian.
"So if you've shared her bed, Duke…" Caelum's smile curved into something colder, mocking, but not cruel. "…then I can only assume you did so not as her lover, but as her necessity. At least on her part."
"And I would also assume that before she let you into her bed, she warned you… more than once, perhaps, not to expect anything in return. That no matter what you give her, no matter how much you bleed or wait or worship, she would never accept your heart."
Aurelian stiffened. Not from insult.
From truth.
Caelum continued, voice lowering like a confession only the damned would understand.
"And I get it. Truly, I do. Because despite all her warnings, you dreamed of more, didn't you? Because the more time you spend with her… the more you see the real her, flawed, sharp, painfully human and yet godlike in her will, the deeper you fall. Down into the abyss. And you jumped willingly." He said and continued walking.
Aurelian faltered. Just slightly.
Because every word was true. Every damned word.
There was no threat in Caelum's voice. No warning.
Just reality, wrapped in centuries of understanding.
"The people of Aquilonis need her," Aurelian finally said. It was the only answer he had. And the only shield he could raise.
Caelum halted. Sighed.
Turned to face him fully.
"Who would've thought I'd do this again," he muttered with a dry chuckle, "even in this fucking world. Giving love advice to a rival."
He looked at Aurelian, with the weariness of a man who'd already lived the pain Aurelian was just beginning to drown in.
"Listen, Duke. Don't even try. Don't try to chain her with duty. Or guilt. Or the weight of how much your people need her."
His voice sharpened.
"She will hate you for it. And when that happens, there's no going back."
Caelum's eyes turned to steel, voice lowering like the voice of fate itself.
"She does what she wants. She gets what she wants. Even if she flips the entire universe the middle finger. That is Ceres Evadne."
He paused, tone softening just enough to feel like a wound.
"And I know you won't listen to me. But at least I said it."
Caelum took a breath.
"Crowned heir of Aquilonis. Duke Aurelian Aquilon. We may be rivals. But when it comes to her heart…"
He took a step closer, not looming, just certain.
"Your biggest enemy is yourself."
Aurelian's jaw clenched.
"Never make her choose, Duke," Caelum said. "Because she will. And she'll choose herself. Every. Single. Time."
There was no bitterness in the words. Only reverence.
"It may sound selfish… but Ceres knows and believes, if she can't love herself, she'll have no love to give. And the rest of us, you, me, the others, we're just fools caught in the mercy of her love."
He offered a shrug. Calm. Resigned. Dangerous.
"So go ahead. Offer her everything. Do what you must."
A slow, wicked grin.
"May the best fool win."
Then, with a lazy wave, Caelum turned and walked off, leaving Aurelian behind, fists clenched, jaw locked, eyes burning.
Caelum, meanwhile, continued his slow stroll through the palace grounds.
He memorized every corridor, every archway, every blossom hanging from the trees.
Every breath of the wind that passed through this place carried her scent. Her touch. Her will.
And eventually, he circled back, back to where Comet still stood, unmoved, as instructed.
He blinked in surprise when he approached, noticing something strange.
The Demon Lord was… smiling.
Not his usual, icy smile.
A real smile.
"You seem… happy, My Lord," Comet remarked carefully.
"I am," Caelum said without hesitation. His gaze drifted past his, across the garden. "I just realized something."
His eyes landed on a familiar structure, a high veranda bathed in pale afternoon light.
"Is that… the Empress's chamber?" he asked, voice almost playful.
"Yes, My Lord," Comet replied.
Caelum walked toward it, every step now confident, amused.
He stopped directly below the balcony.
Tilted his head up.
And then… slowly looked back.
Across the vast open horizon, rising like a monolith, stood the Black Tower.
His tower.
And the highest window in that tower…
It faced directly into this veranda.
Right into her chamber.
Caelum let out a breathless laugh.
"You really are fucking playing with me, you devil," he muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing with dark amusement.
Because only Lucifer would be that poetic.
That cruel.
That precise.
Lucifer's deal, it seemed, had never been vague.
It was literal.
He could not see her…
But she had always been in view.