Helena seemed to see through what Lucia was thinking. She gently shook her head, and the silver strands of hair at her temples swayed with the movement.
“You don’t have to… compare yourself to Bulaien, even if you both grew up in the same environment of hatred. I’m not using an example to make you forgive me; I’m just stating the facts of the past.”
Lucia said in a low voice, a hint of respect in her tone.
“Even so, I still admire him. Growing up in a twisted environment, yet he could be so gentle and considerate of others.”
“Is being considerate of others necessarily the right thing?”
Helena countered, her mouth twisting awkwardly outward.
“Although… as someone who often helps people all over the Empire, it’s strange to say this, but after wandering the Empire and the Holy Kingdom for so many years, if I were really naive and sweet, could I have squeezed benefits out of those tightwads for the commoners?”
“That’s true.”
Lucia had hardly lived with Helena in recent years, so she didn’t know Helena’s ways. But to hold her position for so many years despite conflicts with the Emperor, Helena was clearly not someone who survived on gentleness alone.
Helena’s eyes dimmed.
“Lucia… regarding Bulaien’s matter… I can’t say anything about your personality. Not consuming yourself is better than Bulaien. That night, I begged him not to die… even if it meant house arrest… Someone even used outside tricks to force Ian to act, and he himself… truly didn’t want to live.”
After hearing such long and drawn-out words…
Lucia was at a loss for how to respond for a moment.
If one day in the future, she also encountered a similar choice… what should she do? If burdened with an unavoidable origin or having committed an irreparable mistake, is one truly not allowed to have happiness?
Lucia had never experienced it, so she didn’t know the answer.
Since the question couldn’t be answered… then don’t think about it!
Lucia cast aside those annoying philosophical debates. She adjusted her sitting position, crossing her legs under the table, which were clad in white lace thigh-high stockings. Her slightly numb toes hooked back into the white high heels, and the heels tapped lightly on the floor, making a crisp sound.
“Then… if your godfather Bulaien sought death on his own, why are you still giving the Emperor the cold shoulder? You said you love him today, and your eyes are practically dripping with honey.”
‘If you love him that much… wouldn’t it be better to live happily together? A cold war for so many years, putting yourself in the middle.’
Helena’s fingers tightly gripped the handle of the teacup, her fingers trembling slightly.
“Yes… I love Ian, but he went too far.”
“Went too far?”
Lucia didn’t recall that. Seeing Lucia’s confusion, Helena just smiled bitterly, her resentment spilling out.
“I told you, he didn’t hide Bulaien’s story with us. In the past… Bulaien was a common teacher for Ian and me. Even though he was a high-ranking archbishop, he also knew a lot about magic other than light magic, and he loved life. He was always like a big boy who hadn’t grown up, tinkering with all kinds of alchemical gadgets in the church’s backyard.”
Lucia crossed her arms, looking bored.
“Mhm… but what does this have to do with your quarrel?”
“Ah… you’re so impatient, or am I too old and nostalgic? You don’t know… is it because Ian himself felt this matter was unsightly? I still haven’t figured out why he did it.”
Helena sighed, and then her eyes changed.
From the moment they sat down, this Helena had been gentle as water. Whether facing her prickly, sarcastic daughter, or talking about her own unforgivable mistakes, or recalling that sad past. But this time, Lucia could clearly see flames of anger leaping in Helena’s beautiful gray eyes.
“What did he do?”
“At that time… Ian also wanted to spare Bulaien’s life. But after executing Bulaien, when he saw that relieved smile on Bulaien’s face, he struck with exceptional cruelty. Do you understand what I mean?”
Helena’s voice trembled. Under the table, her feet, clad in white high heels with gold trim, stomped hard on the carpet.
“Three hundred or so… actually nearly four hundred. Think about your social network. Do you have over a hundred people? Bulaien was an orphan, no children, but he had many friends due to his popularity, and some people similar to adopted daughters. Although he didn’t formally adopt them, he took care of them in life.”
Helena was about to cry.
“This practically eliminated all of Bulaien’s social connections.”
“Adopted daughters… similar to you and Mia?” Lucia sneered, glancing at the silent Mia beside her.
Helena’s gaze shifted between Mia and Lucia, and finally she just lowered her eyes and sighed.
“Mm… you’re right, more or less.”
Lucia tilted her head, urging her to continue.
“So?”
Helena’s eyes became even sadder.
“Since it was people related to Bulaien, naturally almost all of them were from the Church. As someone who grew up in the Church from a young girl and climbed all the way to the position of Saintess, I naturally knew all of them. The nuns who raised me, the priests who prayed with me, the apprentice knights who received favors from Bulaien… my contemporaries.”
Helena closed her eyes, as if splattered blood was right before her.
“Ian… all of them…”
Lucia keenly pointed out the blind spot. She crossed her arms, leaning forward, lightly grinding the toe of her white-stockinged high heel into the carpet.
“Since you took care of so many, the old fossils in the Church’s upper echelons who implanted hatred in Bulaien back then were naturally dealt with too, right?”
Helena answered quickly, as if relieving the blood clogged in her heart.
“Of course… root them out, leave none. Oh… I should add, the people related to those scum were not counted in the three hundred I mentioned earlier. After all… those people deserved it. After dealing with them, the Church became much more docile.”
Lucia snorted.
“You say that, but the current situation has gotten a little tense again.”
“Isn’t that… because I’m here?” Helena said matter-of-factly.
Lucia raised an eyebrow at the serious-looking Helena.
“You said you love him, and yet you still want to be a wife who goes against her husband?”
“Since my husband also went against me back then, don’t I have the right to fight back?”
When it came to Ian, Helena became noticeably more emotional. Her tone seemed like she wanted to do something, even a bit like a coquettish girl in a lover’s quarrel with her boyfriend. She puffed out her cheeks slightly and waved her hand in the air, gesturing something unknown.
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