Chapter 171

It had been two days since Delphine and her knights arrived at the Black Tower. And still, there was no sign of Tuf or the Empress.

She wasn't overly worried, not yet. Demon Lord Caelum had assured them that the abrupt closure of the portal was not a threat, but rather a side effect of Tuf's first attempt to cross the Blinding Mist. And if, after five days, Tuf and the Empress still hadn't arrived, his daughter Vivi, whom they had met during their first night's dinner together with his other son Milo, would open a new portal to return them to Aquilonis. And if that failed, he himself would escort them back.

Still, the silence left a weight in her chest.

Currently, they were in the Black Tower's garden for Pixie's daily tea party. As always, Delphine was the sole guest of honor. The demoness aides fluttered around them in elegant attendance, refilling cups and arranging pastries with almost ritualistic grace.

Despite the tense stares of some demi-humans, no one had openly disrespected them. They were treated with distant civility, guests of the Demon Lord, after all.

Yet since that time at Alpha's office, Delphine hadn't seen Caelum again. Not once.

She remembered clearly the moment she mentioned the Empress's full name, Ceres Evadne. The way the Demon Lord's gaze dulled, how the light in his eyes dimmed. Then he quietly excused himself, saying he needed rest. She hadn't seen him since.

It felt… off.

"Regent," Delphine said gently, pouring chocolate milk into the delicate porcelain cup in front of Pixie, a rich, velvety drink unlike anything she'd ever tasted before arriving here. "May I ask you something?"

Pixie beamed. "Of course, my Delphine. You can ask me anything!"

Delphine gave her a warm smile. "Where is your Mama? Why haven't I seen her?"

The effect was instant.

Pixie's cheerful expression faltered, replaced by a soft, genuine sadness. Not the dramatic kind she used to manipulate the people around her, especially her father, but a deep, fragile melancholy that belonged to a child who missed something she never truly had.

"We don't know where Mama is," Pixie answered quietly, her voice a whisper carried on the wind. "But Papa says… we'll see her very, very soon. He's still waiting for her."

Tears welled in the girl's eyes, and Delphine instinctively reached out to wipe them away. Pixie didn't resist.

"I'm sorry, Regent," Delphine said softly. "I didn't mean to make you sad."

"It's okay," Pixie sniffled. "I don't remember much about her. But everyone says I look like her. Luna too, except for her black hair… and scary eyes."

Pixie tried to smile again, as if determined to lighten the mood.

Delphine placed a slice of cake on her plate. "How long has it been since you last saw your mother?"

Pixie tapped her chin in thought. "Hmm… I don't know. Like… ten one-hundred years or more?"

Delphine's eyes widened.

That's… one thousand years.

The weight of that number sunk into her chest. This child had been waiting, for a thousand years, for a mother who never came home.

"Forgive me for asking, Regent…" Delphine hesitated. "You're older than me. Much older, clearly. But… do you not want to grow up?"

"I don't grow up," Pixie answered matter-of-factly, then perked up. "Try this ice cream, it's my favorite! Chocolate chip cookie!"

She handed Delphine a chilled glass. Delphine took a spoonful, sweet, creamy, and unnaturally perfect.

Still, she couldn't ignore the strange truth hanging between them.

"Why is that, Regent?" she asked softly. "Why don't you grow up?"

Pixie glanced around, then leaned closer, lowering her voice into a conspiratorial whisper.

"Because Papa doesn't age. Not even a day. And since he doesn't…" she paused, a spark of old magic in her golden eyes, "neither do we."

Delphine blinked.

"That was the deal he made with the dark angel, before we came here. Papa can't grow old until Mama comes back… and as long as he doesn't… neither do we."

Delphine's blood turned cold.

A deal with a dark angel?

A family cursed, or bound, by eternal youth?

And yet… the sadness in Pixie's eyes made it clear,

Eternal childhood wasn't a gift.

It was a cage.

A beautiful, well-dressed, sugar-dusted prison made of tea parties and chocolate milk, filled with smiles too heavy to be real.

Pixie tilted her head, curious eyes fixed on Delphine.

"You ask a lot of questions about my Mama, Delphine," she said sweetly. "Do you want to be my Mama?"

Delphine's breath hitched. Her face flushed red.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"If you become my Mama," Pixie continued with a beaming smile, "you can stay here with me forever."

Delphine's heart thudded in her chest.

She didn't know what to say.

Because she remembered. Alpha's warning rang clear in her mind,

If Pixie puts you on the spot, don't say yes, not unless you truly mean it. She'll hold onto it forever.

And for a child who's been six years old for a thousand years…

Forever was a long time to keep a promise that would never be fulfilled.

"Don't you like me, my Delphine?" Pixie asked suddenly, her voice trembling. "I like you… and I want you to be my Mama…"

Tears welled in her eyes again, this time brimming over.

Delphine stood, gently lifting Pixie into her arms, holding her close.

"Of course I like you, Regent," she said softly, her voice trembling now too. "But I don't think… the decision to become your Mama is mine to make."

She stroked the child's hair, speaking gently. "Shouldn't that decision be up to the Demon Lord? You said it yourself, he's waiting for your Mama. He told you she would return very, very soon."

Pixie stiffened in her arms. Then, quietly, almost bitterly, she whispered…

"He didn't tell me that."

She clutched Delphine tighter. "He was telling himself."

Delphine froze.

"I love my Mama," Pixie said, her voice so small it was almost lost in the wind. "Because she's my Mama. But I don't want Papa to wait for her anymore. He's been waiting for ten one-hundred years already… and he's always sad."

Delphine felt the sting of those words like a blade across skin.

"And when he's very, very sad," Pixie continued, "he goes back to his island. He stays there for a long, long time. Sometimes, he doesn't even come to visit me."

Delphine held her tighter. "Then… why don't you go with him?"

"Because Alpha won't let me," Pixie murmured, pulling back just enough to meet her eyes. "He says… if Papa is missing Mama and he sees me, he'll be more sad. Because I look so much like her."

She sniffled and wiped her nose against Delphine's collar.

"And even when Papa stays here in the tower, he just locks himself inside his chamber and sleeps. Big brother Milo manipulates time inside, so Papa thinks he's just been asleep for a day, but really, it's been months. Years."

Delphine blinked. "Why does your brother do that?"

"Because Luna asked him to," Pixie said simply. "So Papa won't feel like he's been waiting too long."

Delphine couldn't answer.

Because this, this entire twisted fairytale of suspended time, unaging children, and a father who sleeps through centuries of heartbreak, was too much to wrap her head around.

"That's why I want a new Mama. Even if the others don't. Even if Luna and Tofu get very, very angry. Because they love our Mama too much. But I…" Her lower lip trembled. "I want Papa to love someone else. So he can smile… without sadness in his eyes."

Pixie buried her face in Delphine's neck. Hot tears soaked her collar.

Delphine held her, hand gently cradling her small back.

She knew she had no right to feel it… but the anger rose anyway.

She didn't even know Pixie's mother. And yet, a part of her wanted to hate her.

Because how could someone leave a child like this? How could someone walk away from him, from all of them?

Delphine couldn't stop herself from getting angry at the thought that there was an evil woman out there who looked far too much like her beloved Empress, someone capable of hurting the very people who loved her most. 

Because her Empress, would never do something like this.

Even with all the power in the world, Ceres would rather suffer than cause pain to those who loved her. She even pushed Legion away, not because she didn't care, but because she didn't want him hurt.

"Regent…" Delphine said softly, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Why did your Mama leave? Where did she go?"

Pixie slowly looked up at her.

Then, with a trembling hand, she wiped her own tears away.

And in the quietest voice Delphine had ever heard from her, Pixie said, "My Mama's dead."

Delphine froze, the words cutting through her like ice.

"She's… dead?" she repeated, as if needing confirmation her ears hadn't deceived her.

Pixie nodded solemnly.

"How long?" Delphine asked, still stunned.

"Ten one hundred years ago," Pixie said simply. 

Delphine's breath caught in her throat.

"During the human war?" she probed carefully.

Pixie shook her head. "No."

"Does your Papa know she's dead?"

"Yes," Pixie whispered. "She died in his arms. There was an accident. She saved a little girl. The girl lived… but my Mama didn't."

Delphine swallowed hard. Guilt crept in like a slow poison.

Just earlier, she had been angry at the unknown woman, furious, even, thinking she had abandoned Pixie and the Demon Lord. Thinking she had been heartless to walk away from such a family. But now… now she knew.

She hadn't walked away.

She hadn't abandoned them.

She died saving someone else's child.

Delphine wanted to slap herself.

She had judged too quickly. She had been wrong.

"Regent," she asked softly, "if the Demon Lord knows your Mama is… gone, then why is he still waiting?"

Pixie didn't hesitate.

"Because the Dark Angel promised Papa we'd see Mama again," she said. "But only if Papa saved demi-human lives from humans."

Delphine stared at her, stunned.

"That's why Papa made the Blinding Mist. That's why he's waiting… until now… for the Dark Angel to keep his promise."

Before Delphine could ask more, Cosmo approached them with his usual quiet grace.

"Regent," he said respectfully, "the Demon Lord will be joining you for dinner later. I suggest you get ready."

He then turned to Delphine. "Master Alpha would like to speak with you in his office."

Calixira approached to take Pixie from Delphine's arms, and though reluctant, the little girl let go after a tight hug. Delphine gave her a gentle smile before following Cosmo with her knights toward Alpha's office.

As soon as they entered the richly furnished room, Alpha gestured for them to sit.

"Luna has already reached out to Tuf's people beyond the Mist," Alpha said without preamble. "They're tracking his presence in Aquilonis. We should receive word by tomorrow at the latest. I know you're worried, about what happened… and why your Empress hasn't followed."

Delphine, Cecilion, Robin, and Renee all bowed their heads slightly in gratitude.

"Thank you," they said in unison.

But Alpha's sharp eyes didn't miss the strain in Delphine's voice. The way her shoulders tensed. The distant look in her eyes.

"Are you okay, Delphine?" he asked gently.

And then, she broke.

Without warning, tears spilled down her cheeks, sudden and overwhelming.

Cecilion immediately moved to her side, and even Alpha rushed over, offering her a clean handkerchief.

Delphine clutched it as she tried to compose herself.

"Did someone mistreat you here in the Black Tower?" Alpha asked carefully once she began to calm down.

"No. I'm sorry…" she sniffled, looking up at him. "I just… I wanted to apologize."

Alpha blinked.

Delphine took a breath. "Pixie and I talked earlier… about your mother. I thought… I assumed… she abandoned you. Especially Pixie. And I got angry at her. I judged her without knowing anything. But then Pixie told me the truth… that she died saving someone. A little girl."

Alpha's gaze softened.

He gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Delphine. Really. I'm sure Pixie had a lot to do with how you perceived the story. She's… emotionally selective about what she shares."

He chuckled faintly. "And thank you. For caring."

Delphine wiped her eyes again.

"Forgive me for asking, but…" she hesitated, "may I know your mother's name? I'd like to offer a prayer for her… and ask for forgiveness for my thoughts."

Alpha looked at her, the ghost of a memory flashing behind his eyes.

"It's not necessary," he said softly. "But if you insist…"

He looked away for a second, then met her eyes again.

"Her name was Ceres Evadne. The same as your Empress."

Silence.

It crashed into the room like a wave.

Delphine stopped breathing. So did the knights.

The world shifted.

Cecilion's lips parted. Renee took a step forward. Robin looked like he'd seen a ghost.

They had no words.

Only one thought rang in all their minds, 

What is the connection between the Empress of Aquilonis… and the long-lost wife of the Demon Lord?