The morning light in the Crimson Spire was never white; it was a soft, pale rose that filtered through the enchanted glass. Leon sat by the bedside, watching Carmilla sleep. The "System" was screaming at him—a chaotic mess of numbers and notifications that would have driven a normal man insane.
[Class Evolution Complete: Emperor of the Eternal Verge]
[All Passive Skills Acquired: 'Absolute Immunity', 'Laws of the Sovereign', 'God-Slayer's Breath'...]
[Stats: ∞ (Calculating... Error... Value exceeds System Display)]
Leon closed his eyes, and with a single thought, he silenced the System. He didn't just mute the notifications; he overwrote the code. He pulled his presence inward, folding his immense power into a tiny, undetectable speck within his soul. To the world, he looked like a mere level 15 boy again. To the Gods watching from above, he simply disappeared.
Carmilla stirred, her hand immediately reaching for the space beside her. When she felt Leon's warmth, her eyes fluttered open. She looked at him—not with the predatory hunger of an Origin Vampire, but with the soft, tired vulnerability of an eighteen-year-old girl who had just discovered a miracle.
"You're still here," she whispered, her voice thick with sleep.
Leon leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. He felt the tiny, golden heartbeat of the child—his child—resonating against his palm. He knew he was powerful enough now to tear this castle down with a gesture. He could fly back to the school, grab Lucas and Elena, and erase every monster on the planet.
But as he looked at Carmilla, he saw the truth. She wasn't just a monster who had kidnapped him. She was a girl who had lived centuries in a cold, loveless void, and for the first time, she was genuinely happy. She didn't want to use the "Prince of the Eclipse" as a weapon or a political tool. She just wanted to be a mother.
"I'm not going anywhere," Leon said, and for the first time, it wasn't a lie forced by a contract. It was a choice.
"I felt the baby move," Carmilla murmured, a radiant smile breaking across her porcelain face. She sat up, leaning her head on Leon's shoulder. "I want to name him after the sun. Even though we live in the dark, he should have a name that shines."
Leon held her, his mind miles away. He knew that while he played the part of the doting father and consort, the world was rotting. He could feel the "Floor of Despair" in the school basement groaning under the weight of Elena's growing rage. He could feel the Gods scrambling to find where their "glitch" had gone.
"The Lords will be expecting us in the throne room," Leon reminded her gently.
"Let them wait," Carmilla sighed, closing her eyes. "Today, I just want to be with you. No blood, no politics. Just... us."
Leon nodded, but as he looked into the vanity mirror across the room, his reflection didn't move with him. For a split second, the Emperor looked back—a version of Leon with eyes like dying stars and a crown of black thorns.
The Emperor knew the peace wouldn't last. Elena was coming. The Gods were coming. And eventually, he would have to choose between the woman who loved him enough to defy her own nature, and the friends who were becoming monsters to "save" him.
But for today, Leon leaned in and kissed Carmilla again, masking his god-like power behind the simple touch of a man in love