In a way, it was incredibly amusing to provoke the Pegasus. He had exactly the right sort of fuse to be the victim of these shenanigans: short. He was practically about to explode where he stood, his voice menacing, aggression leaking out of his every pore. Mauja would've loved to stand around and push his every button, until he was in such a rage that he didn't know what to do, but it would hardly look good. Instead, he just slicked his ears to his neck and glared whenever the birdbrain started speaking, but to call it "speak" was a lie. He was roaring, as if the sound waves could forcibly repel him and Psyche. But that, was not going to happen. With a cool expression of disapproval, Mauja kept staring at him, as if daring him to attack. Azzaron was doing everything the Ice King had hoped for: yelling uncontrollably, like a desperate man (and if someone was trying to poison his family against him, Mauja guessed he would be pretty desperate too), and calling Mauja, the calm one, a liar, which he had easily predicted and told Delinne. It was handy, when trying to convince someone, to point out all the things they would do, which would only further incriminate them. Such as, trying to blame someone else.

Fighting down the satisfied smirk, he glanced to Psyche with slight worry, as if to ask her if they should do something about the Pegasus' attitude. Not outright murder, but more of a this is why I brought back-up look. Mauja was fairly sure he could take on the stallion alone, but that was beside the point; the point was to make a convincing masquerade. He let his eyes back to Delinne, listening to, and seeing, the change within her. The cards were laid out, and they were in his favor — his calm demeanor in contrast of Azzaron's explosive mood, his sincerity, the months he'd spent protecting her from harm, guarding her home... Somehow it surprised him how sensible she was, weighing the time she'd known him against the time she'd known Azzaron. "No, Azzaron." He felt giddy all over again, as if his crush had just accepted to go out on a date, and if not for the severity of the situation he would've gone prancing around like a mad filly. Instead, he just felt a grim satisfaction, and as the lightning mare nudged her newborn hybrid towards him, he reached out gently to touch the side of her head in comfort. Delinne stood as a shield in front of her progeny, and taking advantage of his head already being lowered, he reached out to touch her shoulder in silence.

She told him to leave, and Psyche took it elegantly as her cue, stepping in to shield Delinne and further ordering the Pegasus away. With the volatile anger he'd shown, Mauja wasn't sure it was harmless, but unless the stallion exploded, he'd leave them be — seeing the tears in both Delinne's and Destry's eyes he felt a twinge of guilt, but it was quickly smothered as he tried to press his plush muzzle against the new mother's cheek. "I'm sorry," he breathed quietly, glancing over her neck to Psyche and Azzaron. "Let's go home." Even if things did turn violent, he was sure the Dark Empress could deal with the bastard alone. His role, now, was to care for Delinne, and moving slowly along with them he stayed near, hoping that his presence would be a comfort to both of them. The problem of Destry would have to be solved later, though he had to admit that he wasn't looking forward to having that discussion with Psyche. Mauja had never blamed hybrids for their parentage, and hopefully they were already on the way to curing Delinne of her love for the winged. Glancing over his pale shoulder, he wondered if all hell would break lose.