Whenever a major meeting of the 5 continents is held, the Kingdom of Svalbard is in charge of hosting the event. Consequently, Svalbard also has the responsibility of hosting the event, it is also in charge of providing the entertainment, organisation, accommodation and venue.
But not only responsibilities are placed on the kingdom, some advantages and benefits are given. As an example, the organizing board is made up of 60% members from Svalbard.
So, if they think something will harm or interfere with the smooth running of the event, they can just cut it. They can also decide or strongly influence the decision of who can and cannot participate in the event.
The current big meeting is the best example of how much Svalbard can influence management decisions. At Svalbard's strong insistence, high-ranking persons from each empire were barred from participating as representatives of the delegations.
As the representatives of each delegation, only Princes and Princesses without major political influences were chosen. Helena Alekseeva, a personal disciple, was specially chosen to be the coordinator and mediator of the trial.
Never before has such a decision been taken for a meeting of the 5 continents. And when we talk about Apollo Kairis, this meeting should be the place where the 5 great leaders of Sihir would meet even if it harmed them.
In any other meeting, just not allowing Imperial Heirs would not even be voted on. But this time, especially for the trial of Apollo, Svalbard made full use of its decision-making power. Vetoing and cutting the main names that were being suggested by other empires.
By final decision, the current lineup of delegations was decided. Looking nothing like the lineup each empire was planning. But that was much more manageable for Svalbard.
The biggest problem of this meeting for the Kingdom of Svalbard was the guest list, the other details were decided according to the previous meetings. For example, the Supreme Court Summit would be the meeting place, in the city of RedSnow.
And each delegation would be accommodated in large hotels located in the most expensive and valued area within the internal star. There they are housed and have the right to go out and visit any area of the inner star and outer star freely.
The central area of RedSnow has restricted access and they can only enter it when properly accompanied by supervisors. Therefore, most of the members of each delegation can only enter the central area when dealing with official business.
The exceptions are the Princes and Princesses and the high-ranking members of Babel. The latter have free access and can circulate freely within the vicinity of the central area. But they cannot enter restricted areas and above their pass category.
Princes and princesses are housed in their embassies and important members of Babel are housed at the organization's headquarters. In Celeste's case, she stays where she lives as Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Svalbard, the Queen's Palace.
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It's 19:26, the first day of Apollo Kairis' trial ended abruptly and without much result. Only an agreement between Babel and the Kingdom of Svalbard emerged after a few hours of meeting. Despite hoping for more decisions on this first day, all parties understood that it was not going to be that easy.
Helena at this moment, a few hours after the meeting ended, is in her bed inside her room at Babel's headquarters. She was already familiar with the room, in fact, this room had always been hers, and it was where she spent the most time for the last 2 years.
Inside the room of more than 20 square meters, you can find various types of items spread across the floor of the room. From aura-suppressing equipment for training, teddy bears of various sizes and romance novels to torn up photos that someone tried to glue together and underwear in all different colors.
In front of a window and next to the closet, was the Queen-Size bed. It was disorganized, as was the room, perhaps because the owner refuses to let anyone look into her secrets.
Even now, Helena is not properly dressed, and the imposing woman who was at the Judgment was far from recognizable. She found herself dressed only in a pair of short shorts with a man's shirt that covered her like a sheet.
Thinking about what Pietro meant with that little speech, Helena found herself thinking and wondering if that could really happen.
Can that man she admired redeem himself for what he did?
Can she really admire and be proud of him again?
Would he forgive her for what she's doing now?
She's pretty sure she can't answer those questions. But the more she thought about it, the more she saw the future becoming uncertain in a strange way. At the same time that she wants this to be true, she is also afraid of what would happen to the relationship between her and Apollo.
No matter how hard she searches, she doesn't know how Apollo can redeem himself and shine like the sun again while forgiving her for being his executioner. And even if he did forgive her, would they ever go back to being master and disciple like before?
"No… there's just no way that could happen."
Angry at herself, she starts to get out of bed and heads towards her closet. There, almost taking up all the space, is a giant teddy bear, almost 2.5 meters tall and that Helena couldn't even hug completely.
She almost looked regretful and anxious, as if she were remembering some things from the distant past that are now nothing more than that, the distant past.
As she carried the bear towards the bed, she continued to talk to herself. But now, it was with an even more decided and painful tone.
"Even if he does, he can't just go around killing people for no reason. He must answer for the crimes he committed. Lives were taken and families were destroyed, nothing in the world can make amends for that. I must not hesitate to keep fighting for him pay for what you've done. I must not hesitate."
Even though she continued to say that, she became less and less convinced of herself. Each word getting harder to say than the last. But at the same time, she sought approval by hugging the giant bear tighter and tighter.
Now, already in bed with her teddy bear, she stopped talking. And she decided to just hug her mate, trying to find the answers to her worries. And even if she doesn't find the answers, just being around this bear is enough to comfort her.
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While Helena is depressed in her room, Fianna is moving through the quiet streets of the embassy neighborhood in the central area of RedSnow. It is night, after 7 pm only guards and a few late officials are out on the streets, but Fianna moved with confidence and familiarity.
Perhaps because she already knew the way and had visited this area many other times, she wasn't intimidated by the guards, just in a hurry to reach her destination. As this is RedSnow's core area, security is naturally very tight.
But when an important event happens, security gets even tighter. Just to prove this fact, Fianna was stopped 4 times in less than 10 minutes between the 300 meters that she traveled on foot.
Her destination, the Embassy of the Astanium Empire, was approximately 1 km away from the Embassy of the Thanax Empire, where Fianna was staying. She was alone and decided to walk for several reasons.
Chief among them would be the inconvenience this would cause because of the time. If she decided to take one of the carriages available, she would be stopped twice as often and would take three times as long waiting for the inspection.
As she wanted to move quickly and to several places, she preferred to skip transport. Thanks to this decision she was speeding through the guards' checks. Soon she would arrive at her destination.
But even before walking 2/3 of the way, she found Annabel, the objective of her walk to the Astanium Empire embassy.
"I see we had the same idea, Fianna. I also see that we are beautiful and ready for a night of nostalgia, nostalgia and tears."
Not surprised by the encounter, Annabel commented playfully.
"We've done this several times Annabel, it would surprise me if you or they forgot about that sort of thing. Of course, the crying and missing you part will be new. But I think you have a lot to miss."
Serious but soft, Fianna responded to Annabel's comment. Also giving the answer to why they apparently had the same idea. And she quickly noticed that the two of them were dressed totally different from when they were at the trial.
Fianna wore black hot pants that had a small opening to let the train out and comfortable sneakers. Just as she wore a red and gray blouse that was long and baggy topped with a black jacket. With a winter hat covering her ears, she looked ready for a long aimless night.
As for Annabel, it looked like she was going on a long journey outside the walls of Redsnow. With a black coat covering her top and thick, warm pants covering her bottom, she wore warm sneakers and the coat's hat. Plus some extra cold weather protection for her ears.
"The others will arrive soon, but we shouldn't wait too long standing outside. It's best not to abuse Queen Aurora's hospitality and let the guards suspect something. Let's go find the others soon."
Fianna spoke sternly and sternly, glancing slightly around. Noticing several looks on the two, she decided that they shouldn't stay still and that they should head towards the next meeting place.
The cold was really strong in Redsnow, but that never stopped these little meetings between them. And it will hardly be today that the cold will ruin the favorite fun of the small team of disciples of Apollo Kairis.