"Your Highness."
Mavuika pointed at Wanda and Pietro. "They are my guests. Arrange a guest room for them and take good care of them."
The guard looked at Wanda and Pietro, then nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."
Wanda looked at Mavuika, a wave of Warmth surging in her heart.
"Thank you," Wanda said.
Mavuika shook his head. "No need to thank me. Go on, get some good rest."
Wanda nodded, took Pietro by the hand, and followed the guard.
When Pietro reached the corner of the corridor, he looked back and saw Mavuika walking back to the throne and standing beside Odin.
Hela stood on the other side, while Thor and Loki stood a little further away. The five of them—the father and his four children—in the grand hall of the Golden Palace, looked like an ancient oil painting.
Pietro turned back and quickened his pace to catch up with Wanda.
"Sister," he whispered, "that Odin is so scary."
Wanda didn't answer.
The guard led them through a long corridor to a spacious guest room. The room was huge, larger than Mavuika's entire apartment in New York.
The walls were white, the floor was dark wood, and outside the window was the sky of Asgard—deep blue and dotted with a few white clouds.
There were two beds in the room, covered with soft sheets embroidered with golden patterns. There were flowers on the bedside table—the golden kind that looked like solidified sunlight—and fruit, snacks, and a pot of hot tea on the table.
"Your Highness said that humans might not be accustomed to Asgardian food," the guard said, "so the kitchen has prepared Midgardian fruits and snacks."
Asgard was truly beautiful. Not the bustling, worldly beauty of Earth, but a serene, epic, and magnificent beauty.
In the distance, a waterfall cascaded down from a towering cliff, the mist refracting rainbows in the sunlight.
There were castles and villages in the mountains, with golden roofs glistening in the sunlight. In the sky, there were flying birds—not the birds of Earth, but larger, exotic beasts whose feathers shimmered like metal.
Pietro walked over to her side, also looking at the scenery.
"Sister, we are really in Asgard." His voice carried irrepressible excitement.
Wanda nodded. "Yeah."
Pietro smiled. "We are the first humans to come to Asgard."
Wanda glanced at him. "How do you know?"
Pietro shrugged. "Just a guess. In norse mythology, no human has ever visited Asgard. Those stories were all made up, but we are real."
Wanda was silent for a moment, then smiled lightly. "Maybe."
In the grand hall of the Golden Palace, only Odin and his four children remained.
Mavuika stood on the right side of the throne, Hela on the left, and Thor and Loki stood a little further away.
Hela spoke first.
"I have fulfilled your initial proposal. Now, you should honor your promise."
Hela's eyes lit up. It was a radiance Mavuika hadn't seen in them for a long time—the radiance of a warrior, the radiance of a conqueror, the most primal radiance that belonged to Hela.
Odin and Mavuika exchanged a glance.
Both knew that such a day would come sooner or later, and indeed, the time was just about right.
"No problem, Hela. But before that," Mavuika's voice was calm, but every word was clear.
"We need to first resolve the issue of the Celestial embryo within the core of Midgard."
Mavuika said, "Earth. Midgard. There is a Celestial embryo there."
Loki's brow furrowed. "Celestial... embryo?"
Thor and Loki looked at each other; they had never heard this term before.
Mavuika briefly explained to the two of them what it was about.
The grand hall was silent for a few seconds.
Thor's voice broke the silence. "There is a... Celestial on Earth?"
Mavuika nodded.
Thor's face paled slightly. Loki didn't speak, but his fingers clenched slightly inside his sleeves.
Mavuika said, "For the past thousand years, I have been observing it. According to my perception, it is about to be born, likely within these next few years."
Hela was silent for a moment, then the corners of her mouth curled up. It wasn't a smile, but battle intent.
"Perfect. Then let the blood of a Celestial serve as the banner for a long-dormant Asgard!"
"We cannot be hasty," Mavuika said.
"The Celestial embryo is not hard to resolve. With our current strength, destroying it is not difficult. However, killing it will inevitably attract other Celestials."
Hela's brow furrowed slightly.
Mavuika continued, "The Celestials are not a race that fights alone. They are a civilization—an ancient, powerful civilization. The death of one Celestial will invite retaliation from more Celestials. When that happens, Asgard will face the onslaught of the entire Celestial race."
"We must make all preparations. Otherwise, one slight misstep will bring unprecedented disaster to Asgard and even the Nine Realms."
The grand hall fell silent again.
Hela stood there, arms crossed over her chest, her expression calm.
Her eyes were moving—not in panic, but in thought. Mavuika watched her, feeling somewhat surprised.
He thought Hela would be impatient to demand immediate action, that she would mock Mavuika's caution, or that she would be as impulsive as she was a thousand years ago.
But Hela didn't.
She stood there, thinking quietly, like a pool of deep water—calm on the surface, with undercurrents surging beneath.
Then she spoke.
"You are right."
Mavuika was taken aback for a moment.
Hela continued, "The Celestials are not ordinary enemies. We cannot be reckless; we need to plan this carefully."
Mavuika looked at Hela for a long time, then he smiled.
"Hela, you've changed."
Hela raised an eyebrow. "Changed how?"
Mavuika said, "You've become composed. The old you would have already drawn your sword and charged at the news of something like this."
Hela hummed softly, arms still crossed, and didn't speak.
Thor and Loki stood to the side, both looking a bit dazed.
Thor whispered, "There is a Celestial embryo on Earth... How did I never know about this?"
Loki glanced at him. "There is a lot you don't know."
Thor didn't refute him. He looked at Mavuika, at his calm expression, and at Hela's composed eyes. He suddenly felt like a schoolboy sitting in a classroom, listening to a teacher talk about knowledge he had never heard before.
"Sister," Thor said, "how come you never mentioned this Celestial business to us?"
Mavuika looked at him. "Because you didn't need to know yet. Back then, you were still young, couldn't help, and knowing would only have made you worry."
Thor's face flushed slightly. "I'm not young. I'm over a thousand years old."
Mavuika smiled. "Over a thousand years old, and yet, in some matters, you are still a child."
Thor opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but realized he truly knew nothing. The Celestials, the Earth embryo, the potential Celestial retaliation Asgard might face—he had never heard of any of these things.