“I was in too much of a hurry to use the restroom earlier. The soup was so good I couldn’t help drinking a bit too much. Let’s continue talking about the Empire and the Church. Next… it should be my turn to make an appearance.”
All three of them knew perfectly well that Mia probably hadn’t gone to the restroom.
Who would take a leisurely stroll through the dining room before heading to the bathroom?
Who would go to the bathroom barefoot, walking on those dirty tiles in just their stockings?
And when she came back, the soles of those black silk stockings were still dry, not a single water stain on them?
But Lucia didn’t care.
Since Mia chose to steer the conversation forward, whether the floor was truly empty or had been cleared by her,
it didn’t matter. Now there were really only the three of them.
Helena let out a soft sigh, her voice echoing in the empty private room.
“After that, Bulaien was naturally defeated. After all, Ian was strong. Among humans, only the Empire’s Sword Saint had a chance of beating him. And the Sword Saint had no ill intentions… Bulaien couldn’t win. In fact, it was a complete defeat.”
The Sword Saint…
Ah…
She was also Lucia’s swordsmanship teacher.
When Lucia was a little girl, curled up all alone,
she came to Lucia, taught her to strengthen her body, passed on her swordsmanship, taught her to control magic power, took Lucia wandering everywhere, and showed her that there were still many beautiful things in this world.
She was a very good teacher.
Lucia tapped her fingers lightly on the table and voiced the doubt in her mind.
“Since he wasn’t confident, why did Bulaien still launch an attack? The Church only has one ninth-rank Fist Warrior, right? And… as far as I know, that Fist Warrior didn’t cooperate with Bulaien’s offensive. He just sat quietly in the Holy Kingdom’s Cathedral, watching everything unfold.”
Helena lowered her head, her silver hair covering the side of her face and her eyes.
“As I too was gradually worn down by time, and experienced a dozen more years of the world’s warmth and cold… I think I gradually understood his thoughts. At the time… I had some idea, but I certainly couldn’t say I understood.”
“Oh? What was it?”
Helena shook her head.
“Nothing much. It’s just that Godfather… simply wanted to die. He carried too many burdens, but lacked the courage to take his own life. Yet the position of Archbishop meant that even if he committed a crime that took a life, he probably couldn’t trade his life for it… at most house arrest. So the only option was…”
As she spoke, Helena’s voice trembled slightly.
With the atmosphere building, even though they were discussing dangerous topics, it felt a bit like an ordinary family gathering for a late-night chat.
Under this mood, Helena also relaxed.
She silently rubbed her heels together, slipping off her white high heels with gold trim.
Freed from her shoes, her feet, wrapped in transparent white silk pantyhose, were finally released.
The transparent white stockings clung tightly to her skin, revealing the blue-green veins on the tops of her feet and the faint rosiness of her soles.
She seemed cold.
Helena brought her feet together, pressing the sole of her left foot against the instep of her right, rubbing up and down, left and right.
Swish…
The fine texture of the stockings rubbed against each other, making an ambiguous sound.
Helena was like a little girl lost on a winter night, trying to dispel the deepening chill of the night, and also trying to dispel the coldness of her memories.
“And besides, Godfather carried his own blood and hatred. For him, giving up was probably too difficult. The Late Emperor at the time had already purged everyone he knew related to the King.”
Lucia asked, “Then how did Bulaien slip through?”
“First, before the kingdom fell, Bulaien was just an ordinary child sent to the Church. He didn’t even know the person who often came to see him was the King. Second, that fallen King… in terms of governing the duchy, he was probably a good king who loved his people like his own children. But…”
Helena stopped moving her feet, placing her white-stockinged feet flat on the carpet, her toes sinking into the soft fibers.
“Even now, after I became Empress and after Bulaien was executed, I looked through the royal records and found out…”
“That King was a disaster in his private life. No one knows how many women he had affairs with… Even though the Late Emperor at the time did his utmost to investigate and deal with it… the Late Emperor still couldn’t solve everything.”
Helena opened her mouth and gave an awkward smile.
“At that time, I was just a little girl. I wasn’t Empress yet, and of course I hadn’t joined the Church. I didn’t have a tutor either; my mother basically handled my education. After all, I wasn’t a proper noble lady. My family’s plan was for me to grow up and help manage the family’s trading company.”
Helena pursed her lips, half-smiling, as if recalling the bittersweetness of those years.
“When I read the newspaper back then, I just thought that not cutting the roots completely, the Late Emperor’s impatience would one day cost him. But…”
“Who would have thought… in the end I would become this Empress? And get to read royal books. At the time, I was still a girl who read fairy tales every day. Even so, I never dreamed of marrying a prince. I only thought that getting involved with nobles would be troublesome…”
Lucia replied, “I never dreamed of it either… because I knew the royal family wasn’t any fun.”
Since it was a topic about girls, Helena naturally brought up Mia.
“Mia, what do you think?”
Mia’s glossy black-stockinged feet dangled in the air, reflecting a blurry sheen under the light.
She sat with her hands neatly placed on her lap, a smile on her face.
“I… at first, I was also a girl who loved to dream. I imagined someone would come to me and change my dull, boring life. Even if he wasn’t a prince…”
Lucia looked at this complex-faced Mia and found it a bit novel.
“Oh? And now you don’t dream anymore?”
“Yes… because it actually came true. It was an irreplaceable beautiful dream. Even though it wasn’t a prince.”
So, it didn’t come true after all? The dream shattered?
Since it was a painful topic, Lucia didn’t need to bring it up again.
Lucia looked at Helena. “Then was Bulaien the only one who slipped through the cracks?”
Helena was silent for a moment.
“Well… that’s really hard to say. That King had far too many women he was involved with.”
Lucia sighed.
“Give me a break. I don’t know how you, Your Majesty the Empress, feel about your Godfather, but if we haven’t truly rooted out everyone… even with my brothers around, I’ll still get dragged into trouble.”
“No.”
Helena’s answer was quick and firm.
“Although the Late Emperor didn’t clean it up completely… Ian this time did indeed cut the grass by the roots. Including everyone who had close contact with Bulaien.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.