Stella's heart was beating extremely fast in her chest, it seemed that the wave of adrenaline and rage that she had harnessed to condemn the King and the Council in such a manner had finally wore off.
And now the seriousness of all she had said now weighed on her, but she did not care at all, it was nothing but the truth, she regretted nothing, if she was to be demoted or lose her role as Chancellor she wouldn't care, it was worth it that she finally got to speak her mind out.
The silence of the hall was deafening and it was killing Stella on the inside, although she did not say it on the outside, she kept calm and her eye contact was steady with Albert's as he seemed to be waiting for her to waiver.
"I have heard all you have said Stella..." said Albert as his loud deep voice resounded in the silent hall, and his extreme pause caused Stella to feel more uneasy.
"And I hate to admit that I agree with every single thing you have said" said Albert.
"You are right, a bunch of teenagers were able to accomplish something I had not been able to do, neither had my father or grandfather" said Albert.
"Thank you for your acknowledgement my King" said Stella as she managed to force those words out in a calm, cool tone.
"I acknowledge your words because they are nothing but absolutely correct" said Albert as he looked at Christina, meanwhile Professor Reagan and those like him could not believe how everything had unfolded with Albert agreeing with Stella.
"But what do you suppose be done Stella? After all, it is your suggestion, tell me what you think should be done" said Albert as Stella looked at him, wondering if this was a trick question.
"My King, with all due respect, you asked for my opinion, and in my opinion I believe it would be right to acknowledge Annie and her friends as the true heroes, they deserve commendation for their acts of bravery, and it is thanks to them that Azazel has finally been subdued and is in our custody, due to begin his sentence tomorrow" said Stella.
"I have heard what you have said, and I will allow it, I will acknowledge Annie as the true hero here, the saviour of the Witch Realm" said Albert as Stella frowned, not missing how he only mentioned Annie, but she did not want to push her luck, she was already on the edge enough as it was.
"Thank you my King" said Stella as she bowed her head, she was not going to take any more chances, this was the best outcome that she could have ever anticipated.
"No need to thank me Stella, I should be the one thanking you for reminding me of my wrongs, you uphold your position as Chancellor well, maintaining the reason why you were appointed into this position in the first place" said Albert.
"Thank you for your compliment my King, I am just doing what I believe is right" said Stella as she bowed her head.
"And I am commending you for that" said Albert as he removed his gaze from Stella to the rest of them.
"And as for everyone else, I truly apologize for discussing such an important matter during this dinner that was supposed to be celebrating" said Albert.
"I am afraid that I just recalled I have something very important to take care of, but that does not mean the end of dinner, you are more than welcome to stay behind and enjoy, we will redo this celebration later" said Albert with a small smile as Christina wiped her lips with her napkin as Albert stood up and she stood up after him.
"Thank you all for coming, it is a shame that the happy mood was altered, but I do hope you enjoy the rest of your meal, goodnight" said Christina as she smiled.
"Goodnight your Majesties" replied everyone as they bowed their heads and Christina and Albert left the dining hall hand in hand.
"What are you going to do Albie?" asked Christina as she whispered into Albert's ear as they left the hall.
"What Stella said should be done, and do not dare tell me that you told me so" said Albert as Christina just smiled instead.
...
"Oh that was a wonderful dinner, I am stuffed" said Ollie as he sat down on the couch in the lounge as Annie and Matt laughed as they sat down beside him and Maddie sat down at the corner.
"I told you that Annie's mom is a wonderful cook" said Maddie.
"That you did" said Ollie.
"And it's clear that you doubted me blondie" said Maddie as she looked at him with a fake misleading smile on her face.
"Not at all Maddie, I never doubted you" said Ollie as he smiled sheepishly, they had only just partially made up, he didn't want to start another fight again.
"It's really late Ollie, are you sure that your parents won't be worried?" asked Annie as she looked at Ollie.
"Not at all, I got my mother's permission" said Ollie.
"And you are right, it is very late" said Ollie as he looked outside the window to see the dark night sky.
"I don't think I will be able to make it back home tonight" said Ollie.
"Not to worry, you can just stay here" said Matt as Ollie smiled at him.
"Being here is definitely more fun thank being back at the Castle" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Why is there something happening at the Castle?" asked Annie.
"Well yes, all High Council members are having a special dinner with my parents" said Ollie as he sighed.
"That sounds really important" said Matt as Ollie nodded.
"A dinner for what?" asked Maddie as she was curious.
"A dinner to celebrate the capture and sentencing of Azazel" said Ollie.
"Oh..." said Annie.
"Yeah... from that you can only imagine what it's going to be about" said Ollie.
"It's nothing but boring long hours with a bunch of adults, talking about matters that I would rather skip out on" said Ollie as he sighed.
"I can imagine..." said Matt.
"I think Aunt Stella and Uncle Capi attended the dinner, that's why she couldn't make it for dinner tonight" said Annie.
"As Chancellor, she is expected to be there" said Ollie definitely.
"That makes sense" said Maddie as she nodded.
"Dude you skipped what seems like a very important dinner, are you sure that you won't get in any sort of trouble?" asked Matt as he was worried, he didn't want Ollie to get in trouble for spending time with them over here instead of attending a very important event.
"There is nothing to worry about Matt, I won't get in trouble, I didn't even want to miss it, but my mother said that I could, so it's fine" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Alright, if you say so" said Matt as that was enough to convince him.
"So you mean to tell me that it's a bunch of mostly stuck up adults gathered in one place to discuss the defeat of man they had no hand in defeating?" asked Maddie as she looked at Ollie.
"More or less, all I know is that I didn't want to be there" said Ollie as Maddie scoffed.
"How nice for them to enjoy a dinner dedicated to a man who Annie defeated singlehandedly with our help of course" said Maddie as she shook her head.
"I don't really care about that Maddie, it's not important, the most important thing is that Azazel is a closed chapter in our lives" said Annie.
"True that" replied Matt as he felt his ears twitching as he turned to the door as it opened.
"And there you are Curtis, where have you been all day?" asked Matt as he looked at Curtis who had just entered the lounge as Annie, Ollie and Maddie turned to look in his direction.
"Busy" replied Curtis as he walked to sit down beside Annie as she frowned at him.
"Busy with what?" asked Annie.
"With things" replied Curtis.
"Oh no don't you dare give us that nonsense Curtis, you have nothing to hide you have no valid reason to disappear like you did, so out with it, where the heck have you been all day?" asked Maddie as Curtis scoffed.
"Well if you really must know, I went out with John and Lisa to the orphanage, and after that Sapiens called me because he needed my help with something" said Curtis.
"Help with what?" asked Matt in confusion.
"Ask him yourself" said Curtis.
"Okay, alright, fine, let's not argue, Curtis, have you heard that Azazel has been sentenced today?" asked Annie as she looked at Curtis who nodded.
"The news is everywhere in the realm, people are jubilating actually" said Curtis as Maddie scoffed and they all looked at her.
"It's funny how they jubilate once the great giant has fallen down, but while he was standing tall they did not dare try to take him down, it's hypocritical for everyone to celebrate something they had no hand in, and that goes especially for the High Council" said Maddie as she shook her head.
"I totally agree with you Maddie, but that sad thing is that's how the world works..." said Ollie as he shook his head.
"I wonder if they would still celebrate if Azazel was defeated and Annie had died in the process" said Maddie.
"They probably would have, it's not like they showed any care for her before" said Curtis as Annie frowned, not liking how negative everyone was talking.
"Look guys I know that this is the truth, but there's no need focusing on it, the most important thing is that I'm free, we are all free from having to deal with anything related to Azazel, and that's what makes me so happy" said Annie as she smiled.
"And I agree with you Annie, you are right, Azazel is someone we won't have to worry about again for the rest of our lives" said Matt as he smiled.
"Or do you think not Curtis?" asked Maddie as she looked at Curtis who was silent and everyone looked at him.
"Azazel is gone and he is no longer any of our concern" replied Curtis as Annie smiled, happy of that solid fact.