Ceres stared intently at the strange girl standing in front of her. She looked no older than eighteen, and most unsettling of all, she looked like a younger version of herself.
Everything about the girl screamed familiarity. The shape of her eyes, the curve of her lips, the subtle arch of her brows. It was like looking at a reflection from another lifetime.
Ceres wanted to command her to leave. To vanish. To stop speaking nonsense.
But at the same time, something in her soul screamed for her to stay.
And that confused her even more.
She was Empress Ceres Evadne Valeria. No one could claim her identity, least of all a girl who looked like a ghost from her past.
Yet she couldn't bring herself to be angry. Not fully.
"I know it sounds completely absurd," the girl said, chewing her lower lip nervously, "but it's the truth. I used to be Ceres Evadne Valeria."
Absurd was putting it lightly. And yet…
Deep within her chest, something clawed upward, memories without form, emotions without anchor, believing her.
"If you really are who you say you are," Ceres said, her voice hardening with disbelief, "tell me something only I would know. Something only Ceres Evadne Valeria could possibly remember."
"I'm a halfling," the girl answered without hesitation. "Human and Narf. But not because my father was human and my mother was Narf, or the other way around. No, it's because the Valeria bloodline once had a Narf ancestor. The Narf blood passed silently through generations, always dormant. Always forgotten.
"Until I was born.
"On my first birthday as the First Princess of Vaelundis, my mother brought me to the Bounty Festival Chamber. She had me touch the stone slab used for the ancient chant. That moment awakened the Narf blood inside me.
"And with it, my abilities. I became telepathic. I could breathe underwater. I could command water itself. And from my human blood… I could not only detect mana, I could see it, hide it, manipulate it.
"And most of all… I could see the future."
Ceres staggered backward, shaking her head.
Everything she just heard, every word of it, was true.
How?
"How is this possible?" she whispered, her voice rising with panic. "Why are there two of us? I don't understand. I, this doesn't make sense!"
Seeing her break, the girl, Evadne, immediately stepped forward and gently guided Ceres to sit on the edge of the bed.
"Relax," she murmured, her tone soft but steady. She picked up the glass of water resting on the side table and offered it.
Ceres took it with trembling hands.
"I don't know how this is happening," Evadne said once Ceres had calmed a little. She set the glass back down carefully. "Honestly… I shouldn't even be visible to you right now."
"What do you mean?" Ceres asked, wiping her damp cheeks with the back of her hand. Her voice was still shaky.
"Because at this moment, I'm dreaming," Evadne said, her voice almost wistful. "My body… my real body… is back on Earth. Sleeping."
Ceres blinked. "This is a dream?"
"I'm not sure." Evadne sighed. "This is the tenth time I've come back to Solmara in my dreams. But every time before, it was always… memories. Things I had lived through."
Her gaze swept over the room once more, her eyes now darker, weighted with something far more ancient than her youthful face suggested.
"But this time is different. I came here because Uriel said this would be my last visit. He said I would finally find out what my 'unfinished business' was."
Evadne looked at her.
And then, gently, she said, "I think… you're my unfinished business."
"Your unfinished business?" Ceres asked, brows furrowed. "Did… did we die?"
Evadne shook her head slowly. "As far as I remember, no. We didn't die. The last dream-memory I had before this… Emperor Aurelios died. I cried for hours. Although he was my husband in title, he was more like a father to me… my only friend, the only one who truly cared for me in that lifetime."
Her voice trembled.
"When he died, I was left with nothing. I lost my will to go on. I was ready to take my own life. I remember kneeling in the quiet of the Empress's chamber, blade pressed to my wrist, when a Celestial being appeared before me."
Ceres stiffened.
Evadne continued, "He told me not to do it, said I would only hurt myself, but I wouldn't truly die. He said my body is blessed by the stars, one that couldn't be destroyed so easily. Then he offered me a deal. He told me there was a soul that needed to be bound in Solmara, one that could only survive in my body, because my body was the only vessel strong enough to contain it.
"He said if I agreed to surrender my body, he would reincarnate my soul in a new life. A life I deserved. And I agreed. There was nothing left for me here. So… I was reborn on Earth as Evadne Persephone Monteverde."
She looked away, blinking quickly. "I didn't remember anything, not at first. Not until my eighteenth birthday. That's when the dreams began."
Ceres was listening with breathless stillness.
"At first, they were just nightmares. I kept dreaming of this fat princess, being humiliated, abused, mocked… over and over again. But I knew, somehow, I knew it was me. And then I started hearing thoughts. Controlling water. But I kept quiet. I didn't want anyone to think I was insane," Evadne gave a half-hearted laugh. "But the nightmares… they kept getting worse. They drained me. They drained my parents too. So eventually, I had to see a psychiatrist."
"A psychiatrist?" Ceres asked curiously.
"It's a kind of healer," Evadne said with a chuckle. "For crazy people."
Ceres smiled, despite everything.
"My psychiatrist's name was Dr. Uriel. Turns out, she was actually an angel. She helped me understand that the nightmares weren't just dreams, they were memories. My past life was clawing its way to the surface. And she told me it was because I had… unfinished business in my previous life."
"Wait," Ceres suddenly interrupted, her voice sharp with realization. "You said… your last memory was when Emperor Aurelios died, before your soul was reincarnated?"
"Yes," Evadne nodded slowly.
"Did the Celestial reincarnate you immediately? Or did something else happen first?" Ceres pressed.
"Immediately," Evadne replied. "The moment I said yes."
A pale shadow fell over Ceres's face.
"Then… am I the soul the Celestial wanted to bind in your body?" Ceres whispered, her voice cracking with a quiet horror.
Evadne's brow furrowed. "I'm not sure…"
"My memories are of Ceres Evadne Valeria," Ceres said, her voice growing hollow. "But I don't remember anything about a Celestial being offering me a deal. Nothing like that. My last memory was also the day Emperor Aurelios died. And then I woke up… in this body. According to Seiryu, the Emperor had already been buried for almost a year. And he claims I was the one who subdued and bound him to me as the Holy Beast."
"But you don't remember any of that?" Evadne asked, concern deepening.
Ceres shook her head. "No. Not a single moment. I have almost an entire year of my life missing. Seiryu says I saved countless lives. That I commanded power. That people serve me because they owe me everything."
She looked down.
"And… and Tofu. He keeps calling me his mother. Even though he's technically older than me."
"Wait. Who is Tofu?" Evadne asked sharply.
Ceres leaned in a little, almost as if someone might overhear. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"He's the third son of the Demon Lord."
Evadne blinked. "The Demon Lord? The same one from our foresight? The one who's supposed to kill everyone in Solmara?"
Ceres nodded slowly. "Yes."
A long silence fell between them. It was heavy. Suffocating.
And then…
"What the fuckkkk!!!" Evadne exploded, lurching up from the bed so fast it startled Ceres. "Fuckkkk! Fuckkkk! Shit! Shit! Fucking shitttt!!!"
Ceres stared, mouth agape. "I… I don't think you should be cursing like that. A lady shouldn't curse…"
"It's fine. I grew up in France. Cursing is our national language," Evadne muttered as she began frantically patting down her denim skirt, clearly looking for something. "Oh, you fucking scammy angel, God bless your twisted soul," she breathed, relief washing over her face as her hand finally closed around her phone in one of the pockets.
She turned to Ceres, her expression a mix of disbelief and overwhelming emotion. Tears welled in her eyes, blurring her vision.
"You stupid Vee…" she whispered to herself. "Why didn't you think of this earlier? You dummy."
"Are you okay?" Ceres asked from the bed, voice tentative, genuinely concerned that the strange girl might've finally snapped.
"Yes," Evadne said, wiping her tears with one hand as the other rapidly scrolled through her phone. "I'm more than okay. I just need to find something. I know I saved it. That stupid Casadin turned my gallery into a self-portrait museum, his face is everywhere."
Despite her confusion, Ceres simply nodded, her gaze curiously flicking to the small glowing object in Evadne's hand. It was unlike anything she had seen in Solmara, yet it stirred something familiar in her chest. Like a memory that hovered just out of reach.
"I found it!" Evadne exclaimed. She hurried over, excitement written all over her tear-stained face.
"What is that?" Ceres asked, both intrigued and wary.
"It's called a cellphone. Look at this," Evadne said as she turned the device toward her.
Ceres's breath caught in her throat.
"That's…" she whispered, eyes wide, "the Demon Lord."
Even though the man in the image looked different from the version in her foresight, he looked alive, vibrant even, she knew it was him. The Demon Lord Caelum. But in the photo, he wasn't a creature of darkness or pain. He was smiling. Carefree.
"Right. That's him," Evadne nodded. "But look."
Evadne zoomed out of the photo to reveal the entire frame.
Ceres's heart stopped.
The Demon Lord wasn't alone in the image.
He had his arms around a woman. Holding her from behind. Their cheeks were pressed together, both of them glowing with unfiltered joy. It wasn't just a photo, it was a moment of peace, of love, immortalized.
"That's me," she murmured in disbelief, staring at the screen. "That woman… is me."
Tears rolled down Evadne's cheeks again, but this time from joy. "That's my older sister. Ceres Evadne Monteverde. And the man with her? That's Zeus Falcon, her fiancé. My sister died before I was born."
She laughed between sobs. "I never imagined I'd meet you like this. But I'm so happy. I'm so happy."
Unable to stop herself, Evadne threw her arms around Ceres, embracing her with a raw, trembling sincerity.
And Ceres, stunned but oddly comforted, didn't pull away.
As they embraced, the necklace around Ceres's neck, the glowing Starlight pendant, pressed against Evadne's skin.
A blinding pulse of light erupted between them, enveloping the entire chamber in a celestial glow.
Neither woman had time to speak.
The magic burst surged through their veins, wrapping their bodies in divine warmth before suddenly yanking them both into unconsciousness.
They collapsed together onto the bed, still entwined, as the room fell into stillness.
Outside the bedchamber, a gust of wind howled across the palace gardens.
And deep in the corridors of the Empress Palace, the Holy Beast Seiryu froze, eyes snapping toward the source of the light.