Merisa stood straight, silent, her expression unreadable.

The silence that followed was eerie, suffocating. Her voice still echoed faintly in the air, carried off by the ocean breeze. Even the waves seemed to quiet themselves, their crashing replaced by a tense, hollow stillness.

Celestia, who had remained composed all this time, finally stirred. Her calm eyes, platinum bright like cold stars, flickered as she turned her gaze from the horizon to Nova's back. Her brows jumping violently, betraying her thoughts.

Just how far was Nova willing to go?

Celestia's mind swirled with disbelief. To call her mother names was one thing. To yell, to throw tantrums, even to challenge imperial law these were things she had expected from Nova Virelan, the infamous drunken wildfire of the Empire. But this? To openly point at Merisa Virelan, her own mother, the current Matriarch of the household, and demand she step down from her position?

It was lunacy. Madness painted in flesh.

Even forgetting the respect owed to one's mother, even forgetting the duty to the head of the household no one, not even the boldest of nobles, should dare to speak so disrespectfully to there heads not to say.. One of Strongest and dignifiest.. Merisa Virelan.

And yet Nova had.

Celestia's lips pressed together tightly as her heart pounded once in her chest.

Because she knew the truth: Merisa was not just any matriarch. She was the second-strongest being alive. The only one standing beneath her own mother, the Empress. To reach that level in a world dominated by monsters, saints, and kings… it was an achievement beyond comprehension. Even Celestia, born of the imperial bloodline, had never managed to grasp the full scope of Merisa's power.

Nova was insane to speak to her like this.

And yet… Celestia couldn't completely dismiss her words.

Because she understood.

If she were in Nova's shoes, if her brother had run into the sea, and her mother the one person powerful enough to act simply stood still, silent, bound by rules she could easily break without concequences… Celestia knew she would be furious as well. The frustration of knowing someone you love is out there, slipping away, while your family head refuses to move? It would have driven her mad too.

No, Nova wasn't entirely wrong.

Merisa could have done it. She could have acted. She could have reached out and snatched Razeal back with no effort. No one, not even the Empress, had ever restricted the Virelans completely. The Empress allowed them to do as they pleased, for reasons Celestia never fully understood.

The truth? The Empress herself avoided open conflict with the Virelans whenever possible. And that definitely wasn't out of kindness as farr as she is aware of about her mother character.

Though celestia understands.

Virelans were compulsive, unpredictable, violent at the smallest provocations. They turned sparks into infernos. They could not be reasoned with once enraged. If pushed too far, they would fight to the death.. and Celestia wasn't entirely certain even her mother, with all her bloodline authority, could stop them without dire cost.

Celestia had always wondered.

Could it be possible? That the Virelans, despite there bloodline authority, could harm her? That even the Empress, the strongest of all? That her bloodline dominance, her ability to command all subjects, faltered in the face of Virelan blood? Even when even that she have?

She had no proof. No one did. But deep inside, the possibility terrified her. And it was the only explanation she could imagine for why her mother avoided direct clashes with them.

And yet here was Nova, her aura wild, her voice a storm, her fury untamed.

Celestia stared at her back.. tall, rigid, violent in posture and couldn't help but feel a chill of shock. She had expected Nova's fury, her insults, even her recklessness. But this?

This demand was beyond anything.

Nova had asked her mother.. no, ordered her mother to step down from the Matriarch's seat. To surrender the title of head of the Virelan household, as if she no longer deserved it.

Insanity. Absolute insanity.

Celestia took a light breath while shaking her head. Her hand instinctively shifted toward her chest, where her bloodline authority surged, ready if needed. Her gaze slid sideways to Merisa's eyes, sharp and searching.

Would she act? Would she crush Nova with a glance? Would she let this continue?

Celestia guarded herself up.

Because if Merisa did anything impulsive, then she might have to... Stop them

Her guard was raised fully now, ready to intervene if Nova's madness pushed beyond words. If the storm of power boiling under Nova's skin exploded outward, Celestia would not hesitate to use her imperial bloodline. Not for her pride. Not for herself. But because if Nova died here, on this platform, by her mother's hand.. Which seems impossible… but again if it did the consequences could spread like wildfire across the Empire.

The Virelans would not forgive. The world itself might not recover.

She kept her breathing calm, her face unreadable, but her mind raced. As she was still confused.

Why didn't Merisa act earlier? Why didn't she stop Razeal? She could have. Celestia knew it. With her speed, her strength, her will, she could have dragged him back before he even before he knew.

So why didn't she?

Two days ago, Merisa had Fully been determined to bring him home. Fierce, uncompromising. Yet now she stood frozen, silent, her eyes calm but unyielding.

What had changed?

Was she truly… afraid? Afraid of the law, of her mother, the Empress?

Celestia's jaw really confused.

She didn't know. She couldn't know.

All she had was the silence of Merisa, the fury of Nova, and the storm in her own chest as she tried to reconcile them.

And as she looked at Nova, who stood tall and trembling, spitting fire at her own blood, demanding the impossible with wild eyes and shaking hands, Celestia's confusion only deepened as she could only wonder.

While all the workers and merchants on the platform trembled under the crushing weight of the atmosphere, the realization of what had just happened spread through them like a plague of fear. Some could not even comprehend it. The Matriarch of the Virelan family the most terrifying household in the entire Empire.. had just been openly challenged. Not only challenged, but her position as head of the family had been questioned.

It was insanity. Madness in its purest form. To even imagine such a thing was frightening. To see it unfold before their eyes? That was unbearable.

Many lowered their heads further, pressing their foreheads against the wood of the platform as if bowing deeper might make them invisible. Their breaths shook, and their spines went rigid. None dared look up, for fear that their eyes might betray them, and they would be caught staring at the exchange between monsters far beyond their station.

Among them, Marcella remained kneeling. The iron grip of Nova's authority still pressed her down, blood streaming in twin streaks from her royal purple eyes. Yet even with pain lancing through her, Marcella did not flinch. Slowly, carefully, she tilted her chin up, looking at Nova.

The heiress of the Virelan family stood tall, finger pointed like a blade at her own mother. Marcella's lips pressed tightly. She wanted to speak, to intervene, but she knew better. Her words would be like drops of water thrown against a raging inferno. So instead, she closed her eyes. Blood traced her cheeks like red tears as she remained silent, unmoving, bearing the weight of both Nova's fury and Merisa's stillness.

The silence that followed was suffocating. No one dared breathe too loudly, no one dared shift. Seconds stretched into minutes, and minutes dragged on until it was impossible to tell how much time had passed. The world seemed frozen, caught in this unbearable tension.

Finally, Merisa opened her mouth.

Her voice was calm, even, stripped of all emotion. No warmth, no coldness. Just a plain statement, delivered as though she were reciting a fact carved in stone.

"You are just as impulsive as ever. I am quite disappointed in you, Nova."

The words cut deeper than any blade.

Nova's heart clenched, her breath caught in her throat. For all her fire, for all her reckless defiance, she had never been prepared for those words ..not from her mother. The weight of disappointment in Merisa's eyes was heavier than any punishment, chains, Even heavier even than death. For the briefest moment, her heart nearly stopped.

But she clenched her jaw and forced herself not to falter. She refused to fold.

"You are the one who has disappointed me, Mother," she shot back, her voice trembling with restrained fury. "I have always looked up to you. Always. And now… have you started fearing? Are you so bound by rules, so shackled by laws that are not even ours, that you would let this regret stain our bloodline? Last time, I could still understand a little... that you acted to protect the dignity of the family, to uphold your responsibility as head of the household. But this time? To do nothing because of rules and laws that belong to people who are nothing to us? This is unacceptable!"

Her chest rose and fell with each breath, her finger still pointed, trembling. "And I have every right to question it! Because this is not just some small matter. You have started fearing things, Matriarch. I cannot accept this."

She did not call her "Mother." Not anymore. She spat the word "Matriarch" instead, as if to remind her of the title, to strip away the bond of blood and reduce her to nothing more than her office.

Merisa let her finish, her face unchanged. She neither interrupted nor reacted, as though Nova's fury were a gust of wind brushing against stone. And when Nova fell silent, Merisa spoke again, her voice steady, her face as still as a sculpture carved from obsidian.

"Do you really think this is because of others? Do you really believe I fear anything? Nova, I broke these so-called laws before you were even born. I have never bowed to rules, nor to the Empire, nor to that woman."

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, cold and sharp. "Do you truly think she would dare interfere in my business?"

Nova froze, her breath catching.

"I did not go to sea," Merisa continued, "because I did not want to."

The words were plain, simple, yet heavy as thunder.

Nova's anger flared again, her lips parting to spit another retort. But Merisa's next words drowned her fire.

"As for you daring to call yourself the Matriarch.. you are not worthy. You would have to prove yourself first. And as of now, you are nothing but a child. A child filled with arrogance, drunk on power, blind to restraint, and utterly without manners. You need more education. You need discipline. You need to learn the meaning of true strength."

She shook her head slowly, her disappointment carved into every movement. "This is why you are unfit. And this… this is the reason I did not go."

Her hand moved at last, graceful and deliberate. She showed a crumbled letter. With the same calmness that marked every word she spoke, she tossed it forward. The parchment drifted through the air before landing against Nova's chest.

Nova caught it instinctively, her hand snapping around it before she even thought.

Her heart thudded.

She looked at the paper, then back up at her mother's face. For once, her fire dimmed. Her voice faltered. "What…?" Her tone cracked with confusion.

Why?

Why would a mere letter hold her mother back? What could possibly be written there that made even Merisa... the unstoppable force of the Empire, the Matriarch of the Virelans.. halt her steps?

Her anger trembled, her momentum shattered. For the first time, doubt clouded her eyes.

"Why…?" she muttered again, almost to herself. Her fist clenched around the parchment, crumpling it slightly.

Her anger was still there, boiling under her skin, but the words she had built her storm upon were crumbling. Her mother's calm scolding had broken something in her. The ground beneath her rage cracked, and she struggled to stand firm.

Her jaw clenched, her teeth grinding together. She wanted to scream again, to stand tall, to prove she had not been reduced by a simple letter. But the disappointment in her mother's eyes.. that cold, calm, heavy disappointment.. was too much. Even being called unworthy?.. By her..

It silenced her fire.

She clenched her fist tighter, veins bulging against her skin, and forced herself to stand tall, to look strong. But inside, her momentum bled away like sand through open fingers.

Merisa's voice cut through her silence.

"He left this letter for us."

Nova's head snapped up. Her eyes widened. "He…?"

Merisa's gaze never wavered. Her tone never shifted. She simply said the words as if they were obvious.

"Razeal."

Nova blinked. Her mouth opened slightly, her mind dazed.

Razeal left a letter?

Confusion.

"…Really?" she whispered.

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