[I had no idea breaking the bubble cage would be that easy.] Roxanna spoke in her mind. [I thought we’d have to do something much more complicated and exhausting.]
Not long after, Zeir spoke up. "It’s not as easy as it looks." He locked eyes with Roxanna, as if trying to convince her. "Not everyone can channel the same kind of energy that’s inside the bubble cage."
"I can do that," Calen said confidently.
Zeir immediately let out a hiss. "You’re the last person who could do it. Your energy is always full of chaos."
Before the two of them could start arguing, Roxanna quickly stepped in. "Then I’m glad Zeir managed to break the bubble," she said with a smile. "Especially since it was something so difficult to do."
She then turned to Maristella and saw that the Queen of Aquillian stood completely still, without even blinking. The unusual sight made Roxanna and the others exchange worried looks.
Helga was the first to call out to her. "Your Majesty, are you—"
"I... got out," Maristella whispered. She finally blinked and slowly looked at everyone around her.
"I thought I would stay trapped inside that bubble until the day I died."
Roxanna couldn’t help finding it strange that someone who could see the future couldn’t foresee her own death. Then again, maybe that was for the best. If people knew exactly how they were going to die, they would probably spend the rest of their lives living in fear.
"I... I really got out..." Maristella slowly reached her hand past the invisible boundary she had never been able to cross before.
Her eyes lit up the moment her hand passed through it and gently landed on Azul’s face. She didn’t say anything and simply looked up at her son’s face with a complicated expression.
"I’m sorry," she said at last. "I put you through so many hardships, but... I have no regrets."
Azul’s pupils trembled when he heard those words. His hands slowly tightened into fists, but he forced himself to stay calm.
"Not even a little?" he asked quietly.
Maristella looked into his eyes without looking away. "You wouldn’t have any of this if you had walked a different path in life. That’s why, do you—"
"You can’t say things like that," Roxanna interrupted without a moment’s hesitation. "If he hadn’t walked this path in life, then he also would have never known that he would have a wife, a daughter, and his other four... family members."
It wasn’t fair for Maristella to try to convince Azul that every painful thing he had gone through had been worth it.
Roxanna had once been manipulated with those same kinds of words by the people at her old orphanage and even by her ex-husband and that was exactly why she refused to let Azul go through the same thing.
"Ignorance is bliss," Roxanna said again. "There’s no point in thinking about a life that never happened."
"That’s why..." Roxanna swallowed hard. Her eyes trembled slightly as she looked at the Queen of Aquillian. "Azul deserves an apology from you."
"After all, he wasn’t the one who chose this life, and he wasn’t the one who chose to go through all the pain he experienced," she added.
Maristella stared at Roxanna without saying a word. For the first time in a long while, the Queen who had always seemed to have an answer for everything found herself speechless.
Slowly, she turned her gaze toward Azul. His eyes were lowered, and his fists were still tightly clenched at his sides.
Maristella took a deep breath when she saw him like that.
She had spent years believing that enduring pain was the only path to survival, yet she had never truly shown any sympathy for her own son.
She had always looked at him as the child who had to survive and she had forgotten that he was still a child.
"Azul..." she called softly. "I—"
"You don’t have to say anything," Azul suddenly interrupted her. "It all happened a long time ago, and I don’t think someone who just said she has no regrets can suddenly start feeling guilty."
He let out a quiet breath before continuing. "I don’t need an apology that doesn’t come from your heart. So... Mother, let’s leave this topic behind."
His words stunned not only Maristella, but Roxanna as well. Still, if Azul didn’t want to accept the apology, then she would respect his decision.
"But if apologizing would make you feel better," Azul continued, "then there is another way you can do it."
He gestured for Calen to hand Azura over to him. Calen carefully passed the sleeping baby into Azul’s arms.
"This is your granddaughter, Azura," Azul said softly. "She’s in trouble right now, and I think you’re the one who can help her."
As Maristella looked at Azura, Roxanna explained her daughter’s condition. "She’s a hybrid of a sea beast and a land beast, so her body is having a hard time adapting. If this goes on, she may never be able to breathe properly... and she could eventually die."
Even though she had scolded the Queen of Aquillian just moments ago, Roxanna shamelessly asked, "Your Majesty... do you know a way to help her body adapt more easily?"
Maristella lowered her gaze to the baby resting peacefully in Roxanna’s arms. She gently reached out and placed two fingers on Azura’s tiny wrist.
Roxanna and Azul watched as she slowly closed her eyes, carefully sensing the flow of energy inside the baby’s small body.
A few moments later, Maristella slowly opened her eyes. "The situation is serious," she said. "The sea energy and land energy inside her are rejecting each other. That’s why every breath is so difficult for her."
She looked at Roxanna and Azul. "It’s because both of her parents have incredibly strong bloodlines."
Roxanna blinked in surprise because she hadn’t expected anyone to praise her bloodline. Then she remembered she was no longer in her original human body, but she was now living as a pink fox beastkin.
She quickly asked, "Can you heal her?"