Before Daehyun could answer these questions, a loud and sweet voice answered for him:
"Even if we knew something about the problem Master is having, little would be helpful. We can barely solve our problems as mere Great Aura Knights, what would be our contribution to solve the problem that not even Aura Emperors can."
Celeste met them before the agreed meeting point. Dressed in a white tank top and short white leggings and black sneakers, the cold seemed to affect Daehyun even less. Her curly white hair was now tied back in a ribbon and made her skin an even deeper blue.
After joining the other two, she gave a small warning, complementing her previous speech:
"Beware of her curiosity, Emmanuel, you can't expect her to bring you nothing but good news. At one time or another your curiosity can lead you to life or death situations and I doubt that Master is always there to save you from danger. Especially now that he can't help any of us, even if he really wants to."
Emmanuel was not affected by Celeste's tone of voice, but he replied in a playful way:
"Worse than not being able to do anything is not trying to help, Celeste. Master is in trouble and we have no idea what it is, if we knew we could at least try something. For him to be going through trial, I doubt he found a solution. I don't know about you, but for me, I think Babel just wants to unite the useful with the pleasant. Keeping Master contained in the Abyss while they try to find a solution to the problem."
Daehyun nodded positively to these words, and he himself helped reinforce this idea by giving his opinion:
"I agree, that would connect some dots in this situation. For example, the fact that possibly this problem is making Mestre unstable and/or out of his mind, leading him to commit crimes. And because Babel wanted to keep him in prison, we can deduce that they didn't find it, but they are still looking for a solution to the problem."
He began to stare straight ahead and placed his chin on the thumb and index finger of his right hand which he held up. With a contemplative pose he continued to speak:
"At the same time, the Babel 15 council would not want the Master's image to shift from Honored Hero to Fugitive Criminal. That's why the board chose to try to pass the image of a criminal who will pay for what he did. In this way, they can maintain a certain authority over the Master's punishment and confinement in the prison of the Abyss. After all, the council that manages the Abyss would hardly accept arresting someone like the Great Apollo Kairis without him being tried and convicted."
Soon he finished his rambling, but several questions need to be clarified, and since he still doesn't have enough information, they can only theorize. Daehyun doesn't understand why Babel didn't intervene in the situation since the first incident.
He also doesn't understand why Apollo didn't isolate or confine himself to deal with his problem. Also, what kind of problem is so hard to fix that even Babel hasn't found a solution, even 6 months later.
These and several other questions began to take over Daehyun's mind and focus, making him stop paying attention to his teammates. Just walking slowly and fully focused on his thoughts.
Celeste, noticing that Daehyun was in introspective mode, decided to answer another question that Emmanuel had asked earlier.
"Since we're out of Daehyun for now, let's change the subject slightly. Mother is the same as Lady Klaus must be, completely devastated and depressed."
With a simple and direct answer, Celeste gave an answer that she hardly wanted to be correct. Her expression became saddened and she started to get melancholy just remembering the situation Queen Aurora is in.
But she simply decided to vent those feelings to someone like Emmanuel rather than further burden the other girls in the group. And she continued to speak in an even sadder and lower tone:
"She isolated herself in her room and it's been a few weeks since she left there. No one but Snotra is allowed into the room, and even Snotra is only allowed into the room 2 or 3 times a day to bring meals. I always try to go in to see how she is doing, but Snotra warns me that it would be even worse for her if I see her in her weakest moment."
She shifted her gaze slowly to the road in front of her, now looking up at the sky, she continued to speak:
"Even before she completely isolated herself, about 3 or 4 months ago she was already starting to get depressed. She didn't say anything more than necessary, ate only in her office, didn't smile and was always sad and thoughtful looking out the window. But it all got worse when she had to exile Master from Svalbard."
Emmanuel gently placed his hand on her shoulder as a gesture of empathy. It worked, but it wasn't enough to erase Celeste's dismayed expression. It was just enough to encourage her to keep venting:
"It's hard to know that someone very important to you is in such an unfortunate situation. Even worse is knowing that there isn't much you can do to help. You can only stand there, accompanying that person and watching them slowly wither away…"
Pausing to get her feelings in order, she took a deep breath as her gaze wandered to the road ahead. She seemed again trying to find the right words to speak, and after a few seconds she continued to speak:
"Mother is almost 130 years old, but she has only fully lived the last 15, which is when she and Mestre met, it would be ironic if it weren't extremely tragic. Living over 100 years doing nothing but training to get stronger, studying to lead her people, and marrying just to maintain the royal bloodline... Snotra was the only true friend she had and her advisers are only there for honor and duty."
A pause again was made, and again his gaze wandered uncertainly…
"Sometimes I wonder if this is what I want for my future. I'm strong, but I don't want to live with the obligation to become stronger, Emmanuel. I have you, which is so much more than Mother ever had, but I can hardly enjoy that friendship as fully as I do now."
…
"Mother loved my two older brothers, but her expectations of them were too much and she ended up hurting them badly. She stopped living after that, she became pure remorse, guilt, sadness and her duty as a queen. She stayed that way for decades, and even after I was born she only had a glimmer of hope. It was still pure melancholy, depression, self-loathing and endless anxiety."
…
"She lived like this for more than 40 years, Emmanuel, we are 32 years old and we have lived so much already, I have an abysmal fear just thinking about living so long with such sad feelings."
Tears began to well up in Celeste's eyes... But she managed to hold it back for a little while, and continued to speak:
"But everything changed after she and Mestre met. In the 4 times they met, it was as if she had been reborn, becoming a totally different woman from how I knew her. And it really happened, Snotra herself told me that she had returned to her prime, a woman I had never seen in my life, only heard about."
Emmanuel bravely interrupted her with a comment that he thought was convenient and that would fit the situation very well. With a small smile he said:
"Typical of him, she appears out of nowhere and ends up winning your friendship, trust, your affection and affection and everything else you can offer. I well remember Lady Ivanov saying that he is so good at it that he is a danger to everyone. Hahahaha."
Celeste found the comment quite apt to sum up the situation that had transpired between her mother, Queen Aurora, and Apollo, her master.
"In fact, as far as I know, he achieved absolutely everything that mother had to give. Trust, affection, love, loyalty... Just what Mestre didn't want she didn't give, hahaha, I remember her trying desperately to make him take a Parvitite armor to protect himself on a mission in the North Pole mines."
Emmanuel also had a memory of one of the many embarrassing situations Apollo went through because of Queen Aurora. He found it interesting to share it to try to lighten the mood a bit. And with a little laugh he said:
"Hahahaha, I didn't know that one, but I remember the one time she almost dragged him back from Babel headquarters just because he hadn't had breakfast with her that he'd promised. Hahaha he was bullied by Lady Klaus and Lady Ivanov for like 3 days straight."
Celeste also remembered the occasion and laughed along with Emmanuel when she remembered. But soon the mood returned to the melancholy state. So, after a bit of distraction, Celeste decided to continue her monologue:
"Yeah, it was good while it lasted. If I had known that everything would be so fleeting, I would have enjoyed it much more than I did. I would have done everything with more intensity and risked much more, I wouldn't want to regret not having tried. But it all went by so quickly that it seems like just yesterday I met you for the first time in that room at the Babel headquarters in Thanax."