"What happened at Moonvale, you should forget it already. If you continue to dwell on the past, you and Archmage Ragus will be the laughing stock of not only the mages of the tower but also the people outside." Meliore tried to explain in a calm manner but the woman was so out of it that she was not listening to any of her words.
No matter what Meliore and Alastor would say, Arean wasn't listening. She was still lost in her own world. Meliore shook her head towards Alastor.
"Let's call Archmage Ragus, he might know what to do," Alastor suggested, which got the attention of Arean.
The woman suddenly rushed towards Alastor and started shouting in his face, "Shut up! My master doesn't have anything to do with this!"
Alastor grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly, "Then you should stop already. You are starting to become crazy again. What would the people say if you start spouting nonsense in the public again? You should wake up or else you might get expelled from the tower." Alastor had enough already.
He can no longer tolerate the woman and let Meliore handle her. He left the room after saying his piece to look for the archmage. He would let him make the decision for his disciple.
Cygnus went back to the Hall of Saints after that displeasing encounter. He was not in a good mood and his annoyance was written all over his face. The Magus saw this and gave him more books to read.
After that, the Magus asked his familiar what happened and in a heartbeat the man answered. The Magus couldn't help but sigh at what the woman had done. He thought that she was already behaving but now she was making another commotion.
"Go and investigate the incident and report to me every detail that you will find." The Magus commanded and the familiar disappeared.
He then left to talk to Archmage Ragus regarding his disciple's behavior. He wouldn't tolerate any more disrespect and accusations against his disciple. The Magus went straight to the archmage's study.
"Magus Maximus, it is my pleasure to have you visit this place," Archmage Ragus stood up and paid respect to the strongest mage in the tower.
"I've come to talk to you about your disciple, Arean." He was not a fan of talking in circles so he went straight to the point. "I heard what your disciple did and I am not pleased with it."
Archmage Argus sighed. Alastor already came to look for him and told him what happened. The archmage did not waste time and went to see his disciple. He was surprised to see that Arean looked deranged and unkempt.
With the help of Meliore, they hauled her towards her room where he tried to talk to her. She slowly calmed down and recognized him. Argus patiently explained to her that Rigel was not the person she thought he was.
She was only imagining things because of the trauma brought by her last mission. He also explained that if she continued to be like this, he would have no other choice but to let her leave the tower. Argus continued to emphasize these things to Arean.
After a while, Arean finally calmed down and listened to her master. Argus left her so that she could have time for herself to digest what he said. He gave her one last look before he left.
"I apologize for what my disciple did. I already talked to her and warned her not to do that again," Argus explained.
He didn't expect that the Magus Maximus would personally come to him regarding this matter. This only showed that he gave importance to his disciple. In the future, he would make sure not to offend Rigel in any way.
"I appreciate it. Remember this though, if she ever does it again, I'll make sure that she won't be able to return to the tower once again and revoke her title as a mage." The Magus Maximus's cold eyes pinned him down in his place.
Even though the Magus's face was covered, he could still feel the piercing gaze from behind that satin cloth which was covering his face. He was compelled to follow the man's order without any complaints. Although he didn't plan on going against the man in the first place he still acquiesced.
"I will keep that in mind, Magus Maximus." Archmage Ragus bowed his head and when he lifted it again, the mage was gone.
He slumped on his chair and breathed a sigh of relief after the Magus disappeared. He lifted his head and rested it on the chair. He needed to make sure that Arean wouldn't make any more raucous involving Rigel.
The commotion slowly died down and after a while everything seemed to have calmed down. Arean hasn't made any fuss and decided to stay away from Cygnus. Meanwhile, Duke Ulysses came to the capital once again to visit his son.
He looked up at the tower in disgust but he couldn't back down because his son was in there. He let the carriage stop in front of the main gate and let the butler talk to the gatekeeper. Only five minutes had passed but he already felt impatient.
"What's taking you so long?" He roared from the inside of the carriage and the butler ran towards it with an apologetic face.
"I'm sorry master, the gatekeeper is still confirming with the people inside because they can't just let us pass," the butler was sweating because he knew of the duke's temper.
"How haughty, they had the courage to let me wait, well let's see." Duke Ulysses came out from the carriage and marched towards the gate.
Before any of the gatekeepers could even act, Ulysses already sliced the steel gate into pieces. He walked inside the tower's compound towards the entrance to the first level of the tower. He started to unsheathe his sword when a voice stopped him from doing so.
"Duke Ulysses, I'm sorry for waiting long. Why don't you follow me so that we can go straight up and visit Rigel," Celes appeared with a smile on his face.
Ulysses's hand that was holding the hilt of his sword stopped midway then he let it go and let iT slid back to its scabbard but not before slicing one of the pillars of the gates into two. Celes could only maintain his smile even after the duke destroyed the entrance to the Hall of Songs.
Duke Ulysses silently followed the mage and they were transported to the Hall of Time and went straight inside Celes's study as they waited for Rigel to come. They already notified the young man but they were not sure if the Magus Maximus would allow him to see his father. He led the guest to one of the couches inside and let him sit.
"Would you like some refreshments while we wait for Rigel?" Celes couldn't lose his cool because if he does, then there might be chaos.
"No need," Ulysses sat there with his cold face without even looking at the mage. "And why is my son taking so long to come see me?"
Celes could only hold his smile and patiently answer the man. They just sat down and not even a full minute passed but the man was already asking why Rigel was taking so long to come. The veins on his head started to bulge as the mage tried to control himself from exploding.
"He must be having a lesson with the Magus Maximus right now," the mage explained even though he was not that sure.
He heard the duke hummed and then followed by silence. A knock came from the door and Astro's voice came from behind the door. Celes opened the door and let the person enter. Astro greeted the duke after he entered and placed a plate of cookies on the table.
