When had Helena begun to fall in love with Edras, the man from beyond the palace walls?
She couldn’t quite remember, but recalled that her heart had raced the first time she saw him, especially when she noticed the persistent melancholy in his brow.
Such sorrow hanging on that beautiful face; just seeing it made any lady of the Female Country want to soothe his grief...
Even though it was clear in his expression, why had her mother never realized it?
Although she resembled her mother, Helena’s heart was much more delicate. She quickly became acutely aware of her feelings for Edras and knew, of course, that such forbidden affection could never be tolerated by society. Consequently, she could only keep it hidden in her heart, a secret known only to herself.
Still, occasionally, Helena couldn’t resist yearning to watch him from afar.
Watching him alone in the depths of the garden far from the palace, watching him draped in fur, spending afternoons in the pavilion, and watching him lovingly hold Alagina in his arms...
It was this hidden emotion that always gave her a strange feeling towards her sister, Alagina.
Because of her resemblance to Edras, Helena paid her much attention; because of Edras’s doting on her, Helena felt intense jealousy towards her.
Until one day, when Helena’s enduring feelings reached their limit, she gathered her courage and finally expressed her inner affections to Edras.
As she had expected, Edras firmly rejected her; she still remembered his utterly stunned and disgusted expression.
That expression hurt her, left her so ashamed she could hardly bear it, and she ultimately chose to leave the Hammond Feudal Country to become a Phoenix Knight beside the Sovereign.
But being away from the Hammond Feudal Country didn’t grant Helena the peace she craved. Her spirit was trapped in unexpressed emotions, not greeted by release but by the bleak news of Edras’s suicide by drowning.
At that moment, far beneath the Sovereign’s seat, Helena suddenly regretted leaving the Hammond Feudal Country. If she had stayed, perhaps Edras wouldn’t have met such an end...
In the tavern, a weary Alagina raised her fist high towards Helena but never let it fall on her face,
"...You, Hammond family members, are all unworthy of mentioning my father. All of you disgust me immensely!"
"Ha, hatred for the family... You’re not the first nor the last. But, does any of this really matter?"
Helena, her eyes swollen from Alagina’s hits, squinted and sneered at her,
"Alagina, you possess many things others envy, the source of their jealousy. You have talents even our mother would marvel at, Edras’s affection, and loyal followers. Yet, you’ve managed nothing well, grasped nothing..."
"You had countless opportunities far superior to mine to rescue Edras from his torments, to change the situation of the Hammond family and Feudal Country, to make a name for yourself in the outside world, yet you squandered what you had."
"In my opinion, you are a talent-filled fool with no direction, like an idiot who throws money around despite having a fortune... Heh, however, Alagina, what I want to tell you is, seek high and achieve low, seek low and achieve nothing. The smaller the target, the less you will receive!"
Helena’s words resonated, causing Alagina to falter slightly, as if struck in a tender spot.
In the days of her father in the Sardinia Female Country, her only aim was to be with her father; the future throne and power were immaterial to her; while seeking revenge for her father, her goal was merely to kill King Hammond, unconcerned about the future of the kingdom...
But in the end, what had such simple goals led to?
Her father driven to drown himself, the Hammond Kingdom just replaced by another incompetent successor, and she and her followers becoming fugitives from the Sardinia Female Country...
Perhaps Helena was right; if her goals had been grander, more determined, might the final outcome have been better?
Just like now, if her only goal was to secure a good end for her crew, to marry Fisher and be with him, could setting such goals truly yield such outcomes?
Just as Alagina was lost in thought, Helena suddenly burst forth, landing another punch on Alagina’s face.
With that final punch, the room finally quieted down, leaving only the sisters’ intermittent gasps.
Both covered in bruises, they lay on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling, no longer speaking, focusing entirely on breathing, reminiscing, and their recent conversation.