Helena lowered her head in guilt, her silver hair falling on both sides of her cheeks, hiding her profile and eyes.
“Haizi… after I left, she did catch up to me in the Holy Kingdom. She said she hoped to stay by my side like her mother, but I refused. Because before I left… I had asked her to take good care of you.”
Lucia snorted coldly, the high heels on her feet nearly flying off from anger.
“But after she left, she never showed up in front of me even once. Of course, I don’t want to see her either.”
Helena smiled bitterly.
‘That’s because, after she returned, Ian kicked her out. The Imperial Palace isn’t a place she can come and go as she pleases. Ian and I were already on the verge of falling out at the time, so there was no way I’d go back to plead for her. That would only worsen our relationship further.’
‘So I wasn’t the complete fuse? Listening to this, it seems the relationship had already deteriorated before the accident happened.’
Lucia responded perfunctorily, signaling her to continue. “Mm-hmm…”
“Actually, it’s normal. If that accident hadn’t happened, if I still had the courage to stay by your side… if someone who had betrayed me came back after leaving, I wouldn’t allow it either. What if they hurt you?”
“Where did she end up?”
“She… naturally didn’t stay by my side. Because I was very angry too.”
Helena’s fingers lightly tapped the table, producing a crisp sound.
“Besides, she’s always been highly capable—skilled in both literary and martial arts. She could have been your tutor when you got older. The position of Princess’s Nanny—how many nobles covet it but can’t obtain it.”
Helena shook her head. Her legs, wrapped in transparent white silk stockings, subtly adjusted their posture under the table, becoming even more dignified.
“Since she’s so capable, why were you still angry? Hmph.”
“It’s because… being by your side as your nanny would have been the best choice for you and for me. Yet, driven by her own personal desires, she still abandoned her duties to follow me.”
Helena sighed, her eyes growing somewhat deep.
“That’s the second reason I didn’t keep her by my side. She admired me too much. Too vast, too blind an admiration—like staring at the sun. It would eventually burn her eyes.”
Helena laughed self-deprecatingly, her gaze falling on Lucia’s face, so similar to her own.
“One day, when she realizes the huge gap between me and the ‘Saintess’ in her imagination, that admiration will twist into distorted hatred. After all… I’m not a perfect person. For example—I’m a mother who almost killed her own daughter.”
Helena sighed again, slowly bringing her five fingers together into a fist.
“Besides, when she realized I was wrong back then, she still blindly followed me. Naturally, I couldn’t keep her by my side. Since she could no longer return to the Imperial Palace, she continued working at the Church. But not long after, she slipped away again to participate in activities at a Church in the Capital area.”
Helena lowered her eyelids, her gaze falling on her own knees wrapped in transparent white silk pantyhose.
“I’ve hardly seen her since. She hasn’t come to find me either. This is better for everyone… no… I still regret it.”
Helena’s voice dropped, as if talking to herself.
“Because the result is the same in the end. If only she could have stayed with you back then.”
Lucia exhaled through her nose, cutting her off.
“Don’t make it sound like I’d die without that nanny. Even without you and her, I’ve lived just fine, haven’t I?”
Under the table, the white high heel hanging from Lucia’s toe swayed left and right, venting her dissatisfaction, then slapped heavily against her heel.
“I don’t need someone who betrayed me. Even less do I need someone who treated me as a backup plan. They left? Fine. I don’t care.”
Lucia crossed her arms, her chin slightly raised.
Helena shook her head bitterly.
“That’s all I know about her. Although her mother is still by my side, I never deliberately asked, and her mother never brought it up on her own. Sigh…”
Helena picked up her teacup and took a small sip to moisten her throat.
“Let’s continue talking about Ian. That’s also why I called you here today.”
After all that meandering, they’d finally arrived at the main point Helena wanted to discuss.
Of course, Helena couldn’t just come out and say it directly. When Lucia first entered, she was full of thorns. She wouldn’t listen to anything. Helena had to use this roundabout method to slowly break down Lucia’s defenses…
Of course… whether she ultimately accepted it was her own choice.
Helena set down her teacup, her arms wrapped in transparent white silk lightly resting on the edge of the table as she leaned slightly forward.
“Actually… Ian has already shown me quite a bit of leniency. After all, in history, the last Empress who almost killed her own daughter was deposed and sent into seclusion in her hometown. As for my accident, he didn’t escalate the situation—even you didn’t know.”
Lucia sneered at the woman with the curved lips, unable to help but taunt.
“He sure loves you a lot, doesn’t he…”
“Yes… I was actually the one who actively started the conflict with Ian.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Helena’s aura instantly changed.
If just a moment ago she was that guilty mother, that melancholy woman, now her gray eyes emitted a sharp light, as if she had transformed back into the Empress who navigated both the Imperial Palace and the Church with ease.
“So then—”
Helena stared straight into Lucia’s eyes.
“Since you’ve eliminated one of the key answers, as the Imperial Princess, you should be able to guess why I hate Ian, shouldn’t you?”
Helena’s eyes grew sharp.
“This is a question from the Empress. As the Imperial Princess, even if you don’t know the entire history, you can’t possibly not know what’s happened over these past few decades, can you?”
‘Not as a mother, but as an Empress?’
‘Then Lucia just needs to answer. Talking about family affection and motherly love like before is even more disgusting.’
Lucia put down the leg that had been crossed until it was numb. Her pure white sole pressed softly into the plush carpet. She lightly ground her foot, organized her thoughts, and then spoke calmly.
Lucia’s voice was as calm as if she were discussing today’s weather.
“Since I’m not the main cause, then it can only be that.”
She stared into Helena’s eyes, enunciating each word:
“The Emperor… killed all of your godfather’s faction, didn’t he?”
Helena’s pupils contracted slightly, but she didn’t speak.
“Including the children. Not a single one left… uprooted completely.”
Lucia continued.
“Even Her Majesty the Empress’s own parents were investigated because they provided some material support to that faction back then. Although… since Grandfather and Grandmother were naturally cautious, they only supplied some materials at a lower price——”