Chapter 184: Festival (1)

On second thought.

Lucia’s memory seemed to have no recollection of Helena using Light Magic to heal her. Helena was considered one of the best Light Magic users in the Empire, yet Lucia had no memory of being healed by her?

Even though she had long known that her internal Light Magic and Fire Magic conflicted with each other.

‘But thinking about it now, it feels like there’s a blank space in my memory?’

‘When I try to reason backwards about certain things, they no longer make sense.’

‘For example, the treatment Helena mentioned just now—I’ve never experienced it even once. How could that be possible?’

‘Since Helena has truly never healed me in my memory, why does my body instinctively tense up every time I see the Light Magic glowing in the temple?’

‘Why does a nauseating phantom pain emerge from the depths of my marrow every time I hear the chant of a Healing Art?’

‘That feeling is as if the light has turned into countless red-hot needles, piercing through my blood vessels into my heart.’

‘It seems… it wasn’t that it never happened, but that my body remembered the fear of dying for me, while my brain chose to forget to protect me.’

‘The inability to accept Light Magic treatment and the understanding of the conflict between the two magical powers seem to be a default I’ve been conditioned to since childhood?’

‘But when I actually peel back the childhood I don’t want to remember and seriously start thinking about it, there really are many things that are off.’

‘When exactly did Helena heal me? I only remember her former warmth, but not the pain she caused me, let alone nearly killing me.’

‘It seems that little Lucia was in so much pain that she forgot.’

Lucia looked at her own small foot in a white stocking swinging under the table, her toes unconsciously gripping the carpet fibers.

‘So, in that childhood I don’t want to recall, there was the truth that almost killed me.’

Since she had already revealed the biggest secret in her heart, Helena seemed to have unloaded a burden.

She took a sip of the black tea on the table. After this period of calming down, her fragility gradually faded, replaced by the composed Empress of the Empire.

She adjusted her skirt, her long legs wrapped in white stockings adjusting their angle slightly under the table, the tips of her shoes elegantly touching the ground, restoring her dignified aura.

“Lucia, do you have someone you love?”

“…Huh?”

Lucia jerked her head up, her face full of disbelief.

‘What’s this?’

‘A mother I haven’t seen in five years suddenly asks me this question?’

Lucia didn’t quite understand Helena’s thoughts, but since the topic was at a critical stage, she continued to respond.

“I don’t. Of course I don’t. Look at the relationship between you two—how could I possibly… After going through so much to get together, now you’re fighting again, and both sides’ methods are getting more intense.”

Helena tilted her head slightly, her silver hair sliding down her shoulders.

This movement made her look less dignified and more girlishly playful, even resembling Lucia’s usual expression when she wasn’t angry.

“Really not? I know you hate me, and I’m guessing you don’t fully trust the Emperor either? You don’t have anything like love for him.”

Lucia snorted coldly. She slipped her foot that had kicked off her shoe back into the high heel. The heel pressed against the back of the shoe, making a faint creaking sound, as if venting her dissatisfaction.

“I told you, didn’t I? Isn’t that because of you two? All those years of cold war?”

Helena was silent for a moment, but didn’t continue to argue.

Her eyes seemed to drift into the distance. Her gloved hands gently rubbed the edge of the table.

This had to do with her purpose tonight. She actually planned to talk about some related topics, since it was also connected to her goal for tonight. But it wasn’t time yet—Lucia’s matter wasn’t finished. For Helena, between the Emperor and her daughter, her daughter was more important.

Although she didn’t know if she still had the right to call Lucia her daughter after abandoning her for so many years out of cowardice. Helena looked at the daughter before her, who, despite being full of impatience, looked exactly like her younger self.

But… Lucia was indeed her child, carried for ten months, and the name “Lucia” was personally chosen by Helena—it was her most beautiful wish for this child.

That was also the promise between her and Ian at the time: the father would name a boy, the mother would name a girl.

Helena looked at Lucia’s face, so similar to her own, and at her legs covered in white stockings just like hers.

Since both the Emperor and her daughter were distant from her for so many years… then she would choose the daughter who looked like her, the one she had carried for ten months and given birth to in pain.

“If you don’t trust me, you can also confirm it with him. Don’t worry… I’m not asking you to get along with me, nor am I asking you to forgive me. Just treat it as small talk. If you want to know about Ian and me, I’ll try my best to tell you what I know from my perspective.”

‘Going to confirm at a time like this—how is that any different from walking to your death?’

Lucia rolled her eyes internally. The silver fork in her hand poked listlessly at the remaining cherry tomato on the plate, bright red juice splattering and staining the white porcelain.

During this period, Lucia didn’t want to meet the Emperor. Unless he summoned her to the palace, she had decided to stay put in Zelion Royal Academy until the Radiant Festival.

Even if she had to bury her head under the covers and play dead, even if she had to mold in the dormitory, she would not take a single step out of the academy gates.

‘Nowhere!’

The atmosphere in the Imperial Palace was colder than the North, and the couple’s relationship was at its worst. If Lucia heard Helena’s words and then scampered off to see the Emperor…

‘No matter how I explain or what excuse I use, in the Emperor’s eyes, wouldn’t that be taking sides?’

‘That doesn’t seem good, does it?’

‘It would be awkward if I were suspected. I don’t want to fall into such a battlefield.’

‘What if the Emperor thinks Helena said something exaggerated or inappropriate, further worsening their already precarious relationship, or even turning the flames of war directly on me?’

‘That kind of awkward situation—I’d rather not.’

The Radiant Festival was coming.

Although it was a grand national celebration, most citizens were looking forward to the fifteen-day holiday, wanting to enjoy themselves to the fullest during the break.

During these fifteen long days, everyone could forget everything and immerse themselves in the festive atmosphere, enjoying various snacks and activities, and relieving accumulated fatigue.