Chapter 159: Chapter 158. Mana Depletion
The moment Roxanne arrived at the port, she felt it, before she even reached her. Vivianne was seated on a low stone step near the docks, with Marvessa kneeling close beside her like a shadow that refused to leave. The sea breeze should have carried warmth after the battle, but when Roxanne reached her wife and gathered her into her arms, the cold in her body was unmistakable.
Vivianne’s body is too cold. Not the pleasant coolness of Undine’s touch, but a hollow cold, as if the warmth had been drawn out from the inside. Her skin was pale, lips faintly tinged with blue, and lashes fluttering weakly as she tried to smile up at Roxanne.
"You overdid it," Roxanne murmured, voice tight despite herself.
Vivianne only hummed softly, her head tipping against Roxanne’s shoulder. The spirit bearer’s mana had been pushed far beyond its natural rhythm to provide Undine’s protection, which spread across hundreds; Tempest’s winds dragged fleets against the sea’s will, Afrit’s fire burned through iron and flesh, and Terra Nova bent both land and boundaries. Each spirit answered her call, and in doing so, she drank deeply from her core.
Now, there’s little left. Mana depletion isn’t like physical exhaustion. It’s quieter. More dangerous. It hollowed a person from within, leaving the body intact but fragile, like glass cooled too quickly.
The flow, which typically warmed the blood, steadied the breath, and anchored the soul to the flesh, had thinned to a trickle. Without it, even the strongest spirit bearer could slip into shock, fever, or worse, drift too far from herself to return easily.
Roxanne tightened her hold. "Go to the island," she said to Marvessa without looking up. "I’ll take care of my wife."
"Yes, Your Highness," Marvessa replied at once. She knelt briefly, fist to her chest, then rose and moved swiftly away.
Another knight approached with Roxanne’s warhorse. Roxanne adjusted Vivianne carefully, cradling her carefully in her arms and moving the horse quickly. Vivianne’s breathing is shallow but steady, each breath a faint wisp against Roxanne’s collarbone.
"Let’s go to the Viscount’s estate," Roxanne ordered.
Six Borgia knights fell into formation at once, while Leonhart and several of his warriors followed without question, their usual bravado muted as their eyes lingered on the empress in Roxanne’s arms. Even the gryphons are quieter than usual, their massive wings folding low, feathers ruffling uneasily as if they too sensed the imbalance in the air, the thinning pulse of mana around Vivianne.
Vivianne’s head rested against Roxanne’s shoulder, her breaths shallow and uneven. The warmth that usually surrounded her had faded, replaced by a fragile chill that seeped through cloth and skin alike.
"You can leave and rest, Grand Duke," Roxanne said without slowing her pace, her voice steady despite the tension in her grip. "I know you’ve been fighting for days."
Leonhart studied Vivianne for a brief moment, then he nodded. "Yes, your highness. Call for me if you need me." There’s no teasing in his tone this time, only respect.
He turned away and led his warriors toward the accommodations the Viscount had prepared, the most luxurious hotel in the port city, sparing no expense. The Viscount’s own estate, after all, had already been reserved for the emperor and her empress.
Roxanne mounted swiftly, holding Vivianne close as the horse surged forward. The port city blurred past them, none of it mattered. All her focus was on the faint pulse beneath Vivianne’s skin and the way her fingers trembled when Roxanne brushed her cheek.
Mana would recover, eventually. The spirits never truly abandoned their bearer. But until Vivianne’s core refilled, until warmth returned to her blood and light steadied behind her eyes, she would be vulnerable.
Vivianne’s condition worsened with every passing minute. Her breathing is shallow, each inhale uneven, as though the air itself resisted entering her lungs. Even her pulse, when Roxanne pressed her fingers to Vivianne’s wrist, felt faint and sluggish, like a river running dry.
Mana depletion isn’t like ordinary exhaustion. It gnawed from the inside out. Vivianne’s lips had lost their color, pale as frostbitten petals, and faint tremors ran through her fingers despite the thick cloak wrapped around her shoulders.
She tried to speak once, a soft voice meant to reassure Roxanne, but the sound dissolved into a weak breath before it formed into words. Her eyelids fluttered, heavy, struggling to stay open. Too much longer like this, and her consciousness would slip away entirely, forcing her body into a defensive sleep that could last days.
Roxanne tightened her hold instinctively, one arm braced around Vivianne’s back, the other shielding her against the wind of their swift ride. And Roxanne felt it sharply: the terrifying weight of carrying not an empress, not a spirit king’s bearer, but the woman she loved, her omega, her luna, drained to her limits.
The moment they crossed the gates of the Viscount’s estate, Roxanne quickly made a full stop right in front of the estate door. Vivianne barely stirred as Roxanne dismounted, her head lolling slightly against Roxanne’s shoulder. Her skin is cold in a way that has nothing to do with the night, like embers long burned out.
"Keep awake, sweetheart," Roxanne murmured, her voice low and urgent. "Or I won’t know what to say to Seraphyne if you scare me like this."
Vivianne managed the faintest nod, lashes fluttering. Her lips parted, but no sound came. The Viscount saw it and knew what she should do: "I already prepared a room with a mana-rich conduit."
"Where’s the room for me and my wife?" Roxanne quickly asks, without any hesitation.
Valenzia de Borough was already running, skirts gathered in her hands as she hurried ahead. "This way, Your Highness—prepared and warded. Mana-rich conduits are already active."
Servants flung doors open as Roxanne strode through the estate, knights spreading out instinctively, sealing corridors, and silencing the manor with efficiency. The five knights who have been following them make a station in front of the room, outside the room near the window, and two shadow knights Marvessa sent are hovering above to keep every part and corner safe.
The chamber prepared for them was warm and serene, lit by soft crystal light rather than open flame. Mana glimmered gently in the air, drawn in by ancient runes carved along the walls and floor, stabilizing sigils meant to gather ambient mana and circulate it around the room. At the center of the room stood a wide bed layered with mana-threaded silk.
Marvessa had already ensured the viscount prepared everything in advance. She knew how far her empress would push herself for the safety of her people. The last time Marvessa had seen Vivianne so close to death from mana depletion was during the battle against the Luthens—a memory she refused to relive.
That was why she had made the arrangements herself, long before Roxanne arrived, anticipating the cost Vivianne would inevitably pay.
Roxanne nodded once in acknowledgment, then turned to Valenzia de Borough and gave her a brief, sincere nod of gratitude as she carefully laid Vivianne down upon the bed.
"This is perfect," Roxanne said quietly to Valenzia.
The moment Vivianne’s back touched the bed, the runes flared brighter. Mana responded immediately, drawn to her like water to cracked earth. The air thickened, heavy with energy, pressing softly against the skin. Roxanne felt it too, Kaelindor answering its empress, eager and protective.
Vivianne gasped. It isn’t pain, but shock. Her fingers curled weakly into the sheets as the first threads of mana seeped back into her core. Her body trembled, muscles protesting as sensation returned in slow, uneven waves. Color crept back into her lips, faint but steady.
The mana responded like a tide answering the moon. At Roxanne’s touch, the faint runes along the chamber walls brightened, their glow deepening from soft gold to a living blue-white.
The air thickened—not suffocating, but dense with warmth, as if the room itself had drawn a slow, steady breath. Mana gathered from the land beneath the estate, rising through stones and sigils and flowing inward in slow streams.
Vivianne shuddered. It’s subtle, almost imperceptible, but Roxanne felt it through the bond immediately, the first reflexive pull of a depleted core finally sensing nourishment.
Roxanne can see Vivianne’s chest rise with a deeper inhale, her lips parting as a soft breath escapes her. The cold that had clung to her skin began to recede, replaced by a warmth that spread outward from Roxanne’s palm, slowly.
"That’s it," Roxanne murmured, lowering her forehead to Vivianne’s. "Slowly. Don’t rush it."
Mana deprivation is cruel in its gentleness. There are no violent convulsions, no dramatic wounds, only the slow failure of the body to keep itself whole. The bond with her alpha steadied her.
Roxanne didn’t pour power into her. She knew better. To flood a cracked core is to shatter it completely. Instead, she guided, leading Vivianne’s exhausted body. The alpha’s presence anchored the omega, preventing the instinctive panic that came with emptiness, with the terrifying sensation of reaching inward and finding nothing.
Outside the chamber, guards instinctively stepped back as the pressure of mana intensified, even those without strong sensitivity feeling the change prickle against their skin. Inside, Vivianne’s breathing evened out, shallow at first, then gradually deeper. Color returned to her cheeks in faint traces, like dawn creeping over a dark horizon.
Vivianne exhaled, long and shaky. "There you go," Roxanne murmured, brushing damp hair from her wife’s forehead. "Just breathe. Let the land do the rest."
It would take hours. Maybe a full night. Mana depletion at this level will not be healed quickly, even for the Spirit King’s bearer. But she’s alive. Recovering. And Kaelindor, vast and breathing beneath them, had already begun to give back what she had spent protecting it.
Roxanne stayed where she was, unmoving, eyes never leaving Vivianne’s face. The fight with the intruder was over. Now, this is the fight that mattered the most for Roxanne.
