In the Kingdom of Centralis, magic is everything—the measure of a person's worth, their station, their very right to exist. Those stripped of it are called "Empty," and they are less than nothing.
Celestia Valdrene knows this better than anyone.
Once the daughter of an earl, she lost everything when her father's debts consumed their family—including her magic, sealed away in an iron bracelet around her neck. Now she lives alone in a crumbling mansion, fighting off debt collectors with nothing
The Fallen Lady Speaks with Her Fists - A night in the back alley, yet she still clenches her fists
Outside the clinic, it was still dark.
Thin moonlight spilled across the cobblestones. The clouds were thick, and no stars were visible. Each time the wind blew, the smell of the old canal stung her nose—rotting algae, fish blood, wet wood.
Celestia Valdrene stood leaning against the clinic wall. Her silvery pale-blonde hair was tousled by the night wind. Her gray-blue eyes were fixed on the closed clinic door.
Gareth was inside, being treated.
He'd been stabbed in the chest. The vital point had been missed. But for a sixty-three-year-old body, that wound was too heavy.
(It's my fault.)
Celestia bit her lip. The taste of iron spread through her mouth.
The mansion was gone. Drang had seized the mortgage deed. Their home, their money—everything, lost. What remained was her own fists, her wounded butler, and a trembling boy.
"Big sis..."
Luca stood beside Celestia. His reddish-brown curly hair clung flat to his head in the damp air. His freckled brown eyes wavered with unease. The small cut on his left cheek stood out white in the moonlight.
His hands were clenched tight around the hem of his shirt. His fingertips trembled slightly.
"Gareth's gonna be okay, right...?"
Celestia looked at Luca's face. Tears welled in the thirteen-year-old's eyes. But he bit his lip, determined not to cry.
"...Yeah. I won't let him die."
Her voice was low and short. But the words carried a certain weight.
Luca nodded again and again.
"Right. 'Cause you're here, big sis. I believe in you."
Luca's voice was shaking. Even as he said he believed, his voice was full of anxiety.
Celestia gently placed her hand on Luca's head. His reddish-brown curls tangled around her fingers.
"...Are you cold?"
"Huh? Oh, no, I'm fine. I'm tough against the cold."
Luca forced a smile. But it was strained.
The clinic door opened.
A sleepy-looking man emerged—the same clinic man who had examined Gareth earlier. He wore a rumpled white coat and held a bloodstained cloth in his hand.
"You kids still here?"
"...Gareth?"
"He's sleeping now. The wound was deep, but he got lucky. The bleeding's stopped. As long as he rests, his life's not in danger."
A little of the tension drained from Celestia's shoulders.
"...I see."
"Yes! Yes, big sis! Gareth's going to make it!"
Luca jumped up in joy. Tears he couldn't hold back streamed down his cheeks.
"However."
The man's voice suddenly dropped.
"The treatment fee. Stopping the bleeding, the stitches, medicine, plus tonight's lodging. That comes to fifteen silver coins."
Celestia fell silent.
Fifteen silver coins.
Right now, she had only a few copper coins. The mansion was lost, the money was lost. Fifteen silver coins were nowhere to be found.
"...I need you to wait."
"Can't wait. We're not a charity. If you can't pay, you leave. Now."
The man's voice was cold.
"Hold on! Gareth can't even move yet! If you throw him out now, he might die!"
Luca lunged at the man verbally.
"Not my problem. I've got no obligation to use my medicine on someone with no money."
"You bastard...!"
Luca tried to grab the man.
"Stop, Luca."
Celestia's voice was quiet. But Luca's body jerked to a halt at the sound of it.
"...Please. Just let Gareth stay. I will pay the money. Without fail."
Celestia bowed deeply.
Her silvery pale-blonde hair fell softly, yielding to gravity.
She had once been the daughter of a count's house. A noble's daughter bowing to a commoner—in this world, that was unthinkable.
But now she was empty. No magic, no status, no pride—nothing.
She simply had something she wanted to protect.
The clinic man watched Celestia for a while. Then he sighed.
"...Until tomorrow morning. Bring the money by then. If you don't, the old man's out on the street."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Money. Bring me money."
With that, the man went back inside the clinic.
The door closed.
Celestia slowly raised her head.
"Big sis..."
Luca peered anxiously into Celestia's face.
"...It's all right. I'll figure something out."
Celestia turned her back on Luca and started walking.
"Where are you going?!"
"To make money."
"In the middle of the night?! That's crazy! You haven't even rested, big sis!"
"Is this any time to rest?"
Celestia didn't look back.
Luca watched her retreating back, his face on the verge of tears.
Celestia walked along the old canal road.
The Soil District at night showed a different face than by day. The streets that overflowed with market clamor during the day were now dead silent. Only the occasional drunk staggered by.
The moon wavered on the canal's surface.
(Fifteen silver coins.)
Celestia repeated the sum in her head.
Even taking on guard work, she couldn't earn fifteen silver coins in one night. Dark work might pay more. But she had no connections for that.
(What should I do?)
She clenched her fist.
Her knuckles went white.
(All I have is these fists.)
But she didn't know how to make money with her fists.
"Hey there, missy. What's a girl like you doing out alone at this hour?"
A man reeking of alcohol blocked Celestia's path. He held a bottle in one hand, his speech slurred.
"Move."
"Whoa, cold one, aren't ya. A beauty like you walking alone—that's dangerous, y'know? I'll protect ya."
The man tried to put his arm around Celestia's shoulder.
Celestia grabbed his hand and twisted it up.
"Gyaa! Ow ow ow ow!"
"I don't need protecting. Move."
She shoved the man away.
He landed on his rear, dropping his bottle. It shattered, and the smell of cheap liquor spread through the night air.
"Damn it, you'll pay for this!"
The man ran off.
Celestia sighed.
(A waste of time.)
She started walking again.
In the alley in front of the clinic, Luca sat alone.
He hugged his knees, making himself small.
Celestia returned about an hour later.
"Big sis!"
Luca stood and ran to her.
"...I'm back."
"How'd it go with the money?"
Celestia shook her head.
"...I see."
Luca's voice sank.
The two of them sat side by side in the alley before the clinic.
The cold cobblestones leeched the warmth from their bodies.
"Hey, big sis."
Luca spoke quietly.
"Hm."
"I was thinking..."
Luca's voice was small.
"Sell me."
Celestia looked at Luca's face.
"To that Drang guy. If you sell me, part of the debt gets wiped out, right? Then maybe we can cover Gareth's treatment too. I'm only thirteen, but I'm sturdy, and I'll do anything. Cleaning, hauling—anything."
Luca explained desperately, his voice trembling.
"Right now I'm useless. Gareth picked me up, you protect me, you even feed me... and I haven't given anything back. So sell me. I want to be useful to everyone, even a little."
Luca's brown eyes were wet with tears.
"I want to repay my debt. The debt I owe you and Gareth for saving me. So please. Sell me."
Luca bowed his head deeply.
Celestia watched Luca's head in silence.
His reddish-brown curls were trembling.
"...Luca."
Celestia's voice was low and quiet.
"Raise your head."
Luca timidly lifted his face.
Celestia's gray-blue eyes looked straight at him.
Those eyes were burning with anger.
"Never say that again. Not with that mouth."
Celestia's voice seemed to echo from the depths of the earth.
Luca's body jerked.
"You are not a thing. You're not here to be sold. You are my... my precious one to protect."
Celestia's fist was trembling.
"No one dies. No one is lost. That is my vow. Rather than sell you, I'd sooner cut off this arm."
Luca was speechless.
Tears spilled from Celestia's eyes.
She was crying.
Without a sound, just quietly, tears flowing.
"Big sis..."
Luca started crying too.
The two of them wept in the corner of the alley, stifling their voices.
The night deepened.
Gareth was suffering from the pain.
His groans drifted faintly from inside the clinic.
Celestia leaned against the clinic wall, eyes closed.
(No one dies.)
The words echoed heavily in her mind.
(No one dies.)
She had said them many times before.
But now, for the first time, those words pressed down on her with their full weight.
(No one dies.)
What she must protect was certainly here.
A wounded butler. A trembling boy.
And her own fists.
(But I haven't been able to do anything.)
She'd lost the mansion. Lost the money. Caused Gareth's grave wound. Made Luca offer to sell himself.
(I haven't protected them.)
Celestia's fist clenched hard.
The old scars at the base of her fingers stood out white.
Tears welled up again.
She cried without making a sound.
No sobs—just her fist clenched, her shoulders shaking, crying.
Luca held his breath beside Celestia.
(I shouldn't touch her.)
That's what Luca thought.
(I shouldn't touch big sis right now.)
He understood that he had touched something deep inside her.
It was a loneliness he had never seen in her before.
Just before dawn, when the sky began to pale.
A figure appeared at the entrance of the alley.
Celestia opened her eyes.
"Hey there, milady. You look terrible."
Alvin Rayford stood there.
His chestnut hair swept carelessly, and behind his monocle, his blue eyes gazed at Celestia. His fingertips fiddled with a coat button.
"...Alvin."
"Heard the mansion collapsed. I've been looking for where you all went."
Alvin spoke in a light, casual tone.
"What do you want?"
Celestia's voice was full of wariness.
"Two things. One is your butler's condition. The other is a business proposal."
Alvin leaned against the alley wall and crossed his arms.
"A proposal?"
"Yes. I told you before, didn't I? There's a shadow of the Miasma Ring behind Drang. The Ring also holds the flow of your stolen magic. I can investigate that."
Alvin's blue eyes glinted behind his monocle.
"But I can't investigate for free. I'm an information broker. Information is an equal exchange."
"What do you want?"
"Rumors of your fists."
Alvin grinned.
"In the lower town, an empty noble lady is beating brawlers left and right without magic. That rumor's already spread quite far. But I still lack detailed information. How far do your fists reach? What kind of fighter are you? I want you to sell me that information."
"You want me to sell my fists as information?"
"Exactly. I observe your fights, record them, and sell them as information. In exchange, I give you information on the Miasma Ring and Drang. Not a bad deal, is it?"
Celestia looked into Alvin's eyes.
(This man finds my fists entertaining.)
That's what she thought.
Alvin was a man driven by amusement more than profit and loss. To him, Celestia's fists were information worth money—and at the same time, an exciting toy.
"...I need Gareth's treatment fee."
Celestia said quietly.
"Fifteen silver coins. I need them now."
"I see. So that's what had you stuck."
Alvin pulled a leather pouch from his coat's inner pocket.
"Twenty silver coins. For the treatment and immediate living expenses. An advance payment, you might say."
Alvin held out the pouch to Celestia.
Celestia stared at it.
(If I take it, I'm accepting his deal.)
Her pride sounded a warning.
But.
(It's to save Gareth.)
Celestia took the pouch.
It was heavy in her hand.
"...Fine. I accept your deal."
Celestia's voice was low and full of resolve.
"Deal struck. I'm glad, milady. Your fists will surely exceed my expectations."
Alvin smiled with satisfaction.
"First, go pay your butler's treatment fee. We'll talk after that."
Celestia stood.
"Luca."
"O-oh."
Luca scrambled to his feet.
"Let's go."
Celestia opened the clinic door.
At dawn, the sky was stained a pale blue.
Luca had swiped bread from a nearby bakery.
"Big sis, here."
Luca held out still-warm bread to Celestia.
"...Did you steal this?"
"Hehe. I didn't get caught. It was early and the baker was still half asleep."
Luca grinned mischievously.
"...Next time, buy it properly. We have money."
Celestia gave the leather pouch a little shake.
"Right! Got it!"
Luca answered cheerfully.
Celestia t
Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.