Chapter 458: Celestia: Mother Stop The War!!
The great doors of the throne hall closed slowly behind the Pillar Head as he departed.
The heavy sound echoed through the vast chamber before silence settled once more beneath the high marble ceiling. Yet the silence now felt different than before. Heavier. Tighter. Like something unseen still lingered within the room even after his departure.
No one moved immediately.
The guards remained frozen where they stood, hands still clenched tightly around spear shafts slick with sweat. Several had lowered their eyes completely toward the floor, unwilling to even glance toward the throne after witnessing what had just unfolded.
At the center of the hall, the cracked marble beneath the Pillar Head’s former position remained as quiet evidence of the pressure that had filled the chamber moments ago.
Celestia slowly turned her gaze toward her mother.
Nerissa still sat upon the Imperial Throne exactly as before, one hand resting against the armrest while the other lightly supported her cheek. Her expression had already returned to calm.
Too calm.
That unsettled Celestia more than the confrontation itself.
Because she knew her mother.
And when Nerissa became this quiet... it meant her thoughts had already gone somewhere far deeper than anger.
For several long seconds Celestia simply watched her in silence before finally speaking.
"How could you allow this?"
Her voice remained controlled, though strain lingered beneath it now.
Nerissa’s eyes shifted slowly toward her daughter.
"You are the one asking why I did what I did?" The response came softly tho Coldly.
"That is not what I meant."
This time Celestia answered faster.
She took a step forward, the tension beneath her composure becoming harder to fully conceal.
"You know what this war will become now."
Nerissa remained silent.
"You know he intends to wipe that kingdom from existence." Celestia’s eyes narrowed faintly. "And you still allowed it."
A faint sigh escaped the Empress.
"What exactly would you have preferred I do?"
Her tone remained steady, almost indifferent.
"Reject the Promise?" she continued. "Break the word of the First Emperor before every Pillar Family in the Empire?"
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"Do you understand what that would mean?"
Celestia fell silent briefly.
Of course she understood.
But still..
"You could have killed him," Celestia said quietly. "No one would have known. His voice would never have left these walls."
The moment those words entered the throne hall, several guards visibly stiffened.
No one dared raise their heads.
Even breathing seemed quieter afterward.
Nerissa, however, remained unmoved upon the throne.
"Could you have done it," she asked calmly, "if you were the Empress?"
Celestia immediately fell silent.
Her lips parted slightly, though no answer came.
The question settled heavier than she expected.
Nerissa watched her daughter quietly for several moments before speaking again.
"Words mean something, Celestia."
Her voice remained steady.
"It is easy to question another person’s principles when they appear inconvenient or foolish to you. Harder when those same principles become your own burden."
The Empress slowly leaned back against the throne.
"There are rules people bind themselves to," she continued. "Some call them pride. Some call them ego. Others call them foolish honor or arrogance." A faint pause followed. "Yet men and women still choose to live by them."
Her eyes slowly lifted toward the ceiling above.
"And if they abandon those things..." she said quietly, "What remains of them afterward?"
The hall remained silent around her.
"It is not easy to sit upon this throne," Nerissa said. "I do not merely carry my own dignity. I carry the dignity of this Empire. The promises of every ruler before me. The weight of the bloodline itself."
Her fingers tapped once against the throne’s armrest.
"That responsibility does not belong only to me as a person." Her gaze returned toward Celestia. "It belongs to the throne."
Celestia lowered her eyes slightly.
"I may be wrong in many things," Nerissa admitted calmly. "But those rules... my dignity... my pride... they matter to me more than convenience like this."
Another silence followed.
Celestia’s hand slowly clenched tighter at her side.
"If I were the Empress..." she said quietly, "I would not have fulfilled the Promise."
Her body trembled faintly after admitting it aloud.
Because part of her believed those words.
And another part felt ashamed for believing them.
She suddenly felt smaller standing there beneath the throne.
As though she had failed some invisible standard her mother carried naturally.
Her gaze lowered further.
She expected disappointment.
Expected Nerissa to tell her she was weak. Too soft. Too emotional. That she still had not hardened herself enough to rule.
But those words never came.
Instead
"That is acceptable too."
Celestia slowly raised her head again in confusion.
Nerissa looked at her lazily from the throne, almost amused by her reaction.
"Remember this, daughter," she said calmly. "You and I are not the same person."
The words settled gently this time.
"My pride is mine. My rules are mine. Yours do not need to become identical simply because you inherit this throne one day."
Celestia stared at her silently.
"Everyone lives through their own perspective," Nerissa continued. "Do not measure yourself against my standards alone."
The Empress leaned slightly forward now.
"I have always taught you one thing above all else." Her eyes sharpened faintly. "Never confine yourself inside rules created by others."
A faint smile touched her lips.
"You are meant to become strong enough to create your own."
The words lingered heavily in the chamber.
"This Empire matters deeply to me because i like it this way," Nerissa said. "That is why I protect its laws and promises." Her gaze remained steady. "But if one day you grow beyond caring for such things..."
She gave a slight shrug.
"Then you are under no obligation to chain yourself to them."
Celestia’s eyes widened slightly.
"I do not sit upon this throne because rules forced me to," Nerissa continued calmly. "I sit here because I wanted it."
A faint dangerous glint appeared in her eyes.
"Freedom means deciding such things for yourself."
The throne hall fell quiet once more.
Then finally
"For you," Nerissa said softly, "the answer is yours alone to decide."
"Then... does that mean this is what you wanted, mother?" Celestia’s voice carried confusion more than accusation now.
"You truly do not care about people dying? Even when you have the strength to stop it?"
Nerissa looked at her quietly from the throne.
"It is not what I want, Celestia," she answered calmly. "It is simply something I cannot interfere with anymore." A faint breath escaped her. "Had circumstances been different... perhaps I would have."
Celestia frowned deeper.
"But you just said you do not care about rules." She took a step forward unconsciously now, struggling to follow her mother’s reasoning. "You said people should not chain themselves to them. That if they wished, they could reject them entirely."
Her confusion was genuine.
"Then why not now?"
Nerissa watched her daughter silently for several moments before answering.
"The freedom I spoke of concerns the world’s rules," she said. "Laws made by kingdoms. Systems made by society. Expectations forced upon people."
Her eyes remained steady.
"But the rules one places upon oneself..."
A small pause followed.
"Those are different. That is me i cant go against myself."
Celestia fell silent again.
"You may call them morality," Nerissa continued quietly. "Or principles. Pride. Honor. Stupidity. It does not matter." Her fingers tapped once against the throne’s armrest. "The point is not whether others understand them. The point is whether you yourself can live after breaking them."
The throne hall remained deathly quiet around them.
"I care about my own rules," Nerissa said plainly. "Because they are part of what I became. I cannot cross them simply because circumstances become inconvenient."
Celestia’s brows tightened faintly.
Nerissa leaned back slightly against the throne.
"It is no different than people choosing what they eat.. veg or non-veg, who they love, what they worship. One man sees no issue where another would rather die than break his own beliefs." A faint shrug followed. "To outsiders those differences appear meaningless. Yet people still live by them."
Her platinum eyes remained perfectly calm.
"That is simply how humans are."
Celestia went silent completely after hearing that.
For the first time in her life, her mother’s thinking truly felt difficult to grasp.
Complicated.
Needlessly complicated.
The throne hall remained still for several long moments.
Then suddenly
"And if I broke one of those rules?"
Celestia looked up again.
"And according to your principles... I deserved death for it." Her voice lowered slightly. "Would you kill me?"
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Even the guards standing far away along the walls stiffened subtly after hearing the question.
Yet Nerissa’s expression did not change in the slightest.
Instead, she looked almost faintly amused.
"What a foolish question."
Her answer came immediately.
"You stand above those rules."
Celestia blinked slightly.
"You are my daughter." Nerissa’s tone remained perfectly certain. "Why would I value some meaningless principle above you?"
There was no hesitation in her answer.
No internal conflict.
No hidden doubt.
"To me," Nerissa said quietly, "There is no rule worth placing above my own blood."
Celestia lowered her eyes slightly after hearing that.
Something inside her trembled faintly.
Understanding perhaps.
Or confusion becoming heavier. But she doesn’t have time to explore this confusion right now.
Then slowly she raised her head again.
"And Razeal?" she asked quietly after several moments.
That name shifted the atmosphere once more.
Subtly.
Yet unmistakably.
Still, Nerissa’s expression remained unchanged.
"He is standing in the middle of a storm, mother," Celestia continued softly. "If this war truly happens... he could die."
The final words came out quieter than the rest.
And with them, something inside Celestia visibly shook.
Fear.
Real fear.
She did not even want to admit how deeply it had rooted itself inside her.
It confused her.
Everything about him confused her now.
He attacked her.
He humiliated her.
He married another woman.
By all logic she should have removed him from her thoughts already.
And yet
She could not stop thinking about him standing alone before what was coming.
That realization itself unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.
Her eyes slowly lifted back toward her mother.
Nerissa looked at her daughter quietly before lifting one hand and brushing her platinum hair back behind her shoulder with slow indifference.
"He walked into this knowingly," she said calmly from the throne. "And as far as we both remember... that boy has never once stepped into danger without already calculating the outcome beforehand."
Her gaze drifted slightly toward the distant palace windows.
"He has always been like this." A faint pause followed. "Doing things that appear completely suicidal... placing himself directly before death ... and somehow surviving regardless."
There was no amusement in her voice.
Only observation.
"So I assume this will be no different."
Celestia’s expression darkened further after hearing that.
Nerissa continued calmly.
"And besides..." A faint glint entered her eyes now. "I am interested to see what kind of miracle he produces this time."
Her lips curved ever so slightly.
"It would be very interesting... if he actually managed to survive this war."
"But it is against a Supreme, mother."
Celestia’s voice came out heavier now.
She understood better than anyone how absurd Razeal’s existence already was. She had witnessed enough impossible things around him to stop calling them coincidence long ago.
Yet this
This was different.
A Supreme was not simply another stronger opponent.
The gap between realms became meaningless at lower stages compared to the difference between Supreme and everything beneath it. It was not merely more power. It was a completely different level of existence.
"A Supreme would bite his head off without even needing to excert one percent of his power," she said quietly. "You and I both understand the difference between those realms."
Her eyes trembled faintly.
"No tricks matter before that level."
The fear inside her had become impossible to fully conceal now.
"He will die."
Silence lingered briefly after those words.
Then Nerissa finally looked down at her daughter again.
"If he dies," she said calmly, "then he dies."
The answer struck coldly.
"It is his choice."
Her eyes sharpened faintly.
"And you will not interfere in this battle."
The hall went into silence..
Celestia’s breathing tightened.. before..
"Even if I begged you?" The words escaped her before she could stop them.
"Even if I asked you to break this rule... for me?"
Nerissa’s gaze remained fixed upon her.
Then suddenly
Celestia lowered herself onto both knees before the throne.
The movement itself felt unreal.
For the first time in her life
The proud Imperial Princess knelt.
Not before the throne.
Not before the Empire.
But for someone else.
Even Celestia herself did not fully understand how she found the strength to do it. Shame burned through her body so intensely it almost made her physically tremble. She could feel it crushing her pride with every passing second.
For him.
For the man who betrayed her? The man who attacked her?
The man who should have already been removed from her thoughts entirely?
Yet none of that mattered now.
She only wanted him alive for now
Everything else could come later.
For the first time since the conversation began, genuine shock appeared across Nerissa’s face. Her brows visibly lifted as she stared down at her kneeling daughter.
Because she had never.. not once imagined Celestia capable of this.
Not her daughter.
Not someone so proud.
"You truly went this far for him?" Nerissa asked quietly.
There was no anger in her voice now.
Only curiosity... And surprise.
"Do you love him?"
"And to this level?"
The question lingered heavily between them.
Celestia lowered her eyes briefly.
"I..." Her voice shook faintly. "I don’t know, mother. It matters not.."
And perhaps that frightened her most.
Because she truly did not know anymore.
"But this is the first thing I have ever asked from you." Tears slowly began rolling down her face now, impossible to hold back anymore. "Please... don’t let this happen."
The shame inside her became unbearable.
She could hardly recognize herself anymore. She never even had apologised to razeal much openly not to say what she did.. and now going this farr for him. She cant believe it.
Nerissa watched her daughter silently for several moments.
Then slowly
She shook her head.
"I would want to, my daughter," she said quietly.
And for the first time tonight, something tight entered her own voice as well.
"But I cannot."
Her fingers slowly clenched against the armrest of the throne.
"These rules may be broken one day," she continued calmly. "But not like this."
Not now.
Not for this.
And perhaps that answer hurt her as much as it hurt Celestia.
Because this would be the first true request from her daughter she would ever deny.
Celestia’s head slowly lowered further after hearing those words.
She remained kneeling there in silence while tears continued falling quietly onto the white marble floor beneath her.
Then slowly, Celestia raised her head again to look toward her mother.
Her eyes were wet. Trembling.
"And what if..." Her voice shook faintly before she forced the words out. "What if I said I would kill myself if you do not stop this war, mother?"
The throne hall instantly fell silent.
Before anyone could react
A sword appeared in Celestia’s hand.
The blade rose directly to her own throat.
Several guards visibly stiffened in horror.
Even the air itself seemed to freeze.
Celestia held the blade there with trembling fingers, its edge pressing lightly against the pale skin of her neck until a thin line of blood slowly formed beneath it.
Tears stopped falling from her eyes.
She simply looked at her mother.
"If you do not stop this..." she whispered, "then I will."
For the first time that night, Nerissa truly paused.
Not because of the blade.
But because of the person holding it.
Still
She did not move from the throne.
She remained seated, watching her daughter silently as the hall descended into an eerie stillness.
Then gradually, Nerissa’s expression softened.
Not weakness.
Not fear.
Something calmer.
"You would kill yourself for this?" she asked quietly.
Her voice remained level. Calm enough to make the entire moment feel even heavier.
Celestia’s grip tightened around the sword.
"I will..." she said shakily. "If you do not..."
The blade pressed slightly deeper against her neck.
Another thin line of blood appeared.
Her tears returned again despite herself.
Nerissa continued looking directly into her daughter’s eyes.
Several long seconds passed in silence.
Then finally
"Would you?" Nerissa asked again.
Not mocking.
Not challenging.
Simply asking.
The question struck differently the second time.
Celestia’s hand began trembling violently.
Her breathing lost rhythm.
"I..." Her lips quivered helplessly. "I..."
And suddenly
The sword fell from her hand.
The metal struck the marble floor below with a sharp ringing sound that echoed through the throne hall.
Celestia broke completely after that.
"I can’t..." she whispered weakly before the words collapsed into sobbing. "I can’t... I..."
She lowered herself completely, covering her face against the cold floor as if trying to hide herself from the world entirely.
From the guards.
From the throne.
From her mother.
Most of all
From herself.
Because in the end...
She still could not do it.
She could not kill herself for anyone.
And now the shame of that realization crushed down upon her alongside everything else already tearing her apart.
The crying became harder after that.
Messier.
Raw.
Nerissa closed her eyes briefly before letting out a long sigh.
Then finally
She stood from the throne.
The sound of her steps across the marble hall remained soft despite the silence surrounding them.
When she reached her daughter, Nerissa slowly lowered herself onto one knee before gently lifting Celestia from the floor and pulling her tightly into her arms.
Celestia immediately buried her face into her mother’s shoulder, refusing to let anyone see her like this.
Her body trembled violently against Nerissa’s embrace.
"It is alright," Nerissa whispered softly into her ear while holding her closer. "It is alright to cry."
Celestia broke apart completely after hearing that.
The proud Imperial Princess who had never once allowed herself to collapse before others now cried openly like a child in her mother’s arms.
Loudly.
Helplessly.
As though years of restraint had finally shattered all at once.
Nerissa held her silently through all of it.
One hand rested against the back of Celestia’s head while the other wrapped firmly around her shoulders.
Then quietly
Almost too quietly to hear
"I am sorry.... But i cant.."
A single tear finally escaped Nerissa’s own eye as well before disappearing silently against Celestia’s hair.
——
