Celena was... bored.
With all the hustle bustle surrounding her brother, Celena discovered she was included in the ceremonies only as a token appreciation to the fact that she was a Schezar. Therefore, although she'd had to learn where to stand when the procession for Van ended at the entrance of the palace (which was, unsurprisingly, right next to her brother at the end of the long line of nobles, soldiers, and gawkers), she was afterwards left to dwadle in one of the gardens with the daughters of the Asturian nobles. After a few of the girls recognized her from Allen's social gatherings, and identified her as that "strange Schezar," she was primarily left alone. Of course, some of them tried to get friendly with the Great, oh so Handsome Knight Allen Schezar's sister, but the chattering and the gossip made Celena cringe and Dilandau irritable. Neither of the responses that had popped in her head seemed very appropriate. She managed to fend them off by acting shy and quiet, and found a secluded spot where she could enjoy the scenery and discreetly listen in to the conversations.
Other than the usual talk about who had married whom and who was going to marry whom, she learned that part of the mania surrounding Fanel's visit to Asturia was an apology. Apparently the Asturian King had "mistreated" Van upon his first visit proceding the destruction of Fanelia. According to the ladies, not only had Van attacked Zaibach troops without provocation, he had courted the princess Millerna and had been rebuffed. However, Millerna had eventually re-evaluated the prospects of being married to a King (demolished country aside), and had disappeared from the palace. However, by then, Van had already by then fallen in love with some mysterious foreignor...
The girls sighed and continued elaborating on the supposed love triangle. Nevermind the fact that Millerna had often made it clear her rather scandalous attraction to Allen; this was a far more interesting tale. Of course, Dilandau knew the true circumstances surrounding Asturia's decision to mistreat Van, which did not involve romantic encounters of any sort.
Ignorant twits.
Celena grimaced. The boredom was starting to add to her agitation, and broke some of the already tenuous barriers between her mind and Dilandau's. Her head pounded as she was distracted by a particular conversation.
"...and they said that King Van has no queen yet!"
"Oh! Then who's that cat-girl? I hear they're very very close."
"Bah. It would be absolutely vile if the king married a beastwoman. Could you think of the children?"
"Oh, you just want him for yourself." A chorus of giggles followed.
"It couldn't be that bad." The voice lowered to a stage whisper. "I heard he's really an Atlantean!"
"Oh that's just silly."
The same voice continued, just audible to Celena's ears. "No more silly than this other one I heard." Petticoats and hardened lace shuffled as her cohorts leaned in. "That mysterious Zaibach Captain? The really handsome one that slaughtered half our troops? I hear he was really a she."
Celena swallowed. The girls all gasped and giggled some more.
"Now that's silly."
"You're just saying that because you don't want it revealed you really were attracted to him!"
The girls shrieked with laughter. She had to get out of there. The urge to begin removing those meticulously designed hair styles by ripping them from their roots was becoming far too strong, and it wasn't just Dilandau suggesting the act.
A sudden happy chorus of squeals heralded another thankful distraction. The loud clanks and thundering footsteps from below the garden balcony spoke of a series of Guymelefs making their way to settle for the upcoming ceremonies.
All of them clambored over to the side to gawk at the knights, including Celena. Although Dilandau scoffed at the rustic, relatively small Guymelefs (why, even the Alseides designs were far more advanced), Celena gaped. She'd never gotten a real chance to see many before her absence, and here was a whole company of them! She even lost her desire to remain inconspicuous when Scherezade came into view.
"Allen! Allen!" she cried, waving her hands frantically, a smile blossoming on her face.
The facial plate of Scherezade whirred and flipped open. Allen threw an affectionate look at her before resuming his duties. The other girls cast threw jealous looks in her direction. They began whispering behind their hands, trying to point out every fault of hers they could muster. Celena didn't care. It had been a long, frustrating day, and just seeing her brother made even her problems with Dilandau seem insignificant.
After a while, Scherezade had disappeared, and the girls had resumed pointing, giggling, and making flirtatious gestures at the line of knights, both in and out of Guymelefs. Celena suddenly realized that all the attention had been directed away from her. And over there, within perhaps one hundred paces, was an open, unguarded door.
How could she pass this up?