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Chapter 25
Helena followed Readmoor’s words first.
She took a few steps back slowly, as if to confirm she wasn’t going to try anything else.
Instead of provoking with useless words, she examined him like a snake assessing its prey.
She lowered her presence and carefully observed whether her opponent had seen through her poison, whether camouflage or attack would work. Her intent was plain to me.
Readmoor hadn’t even glanced at Helena during all that time.
“Are you okay?”
As soon as he saw that she had moved a safe distance away, he turned to me and asked.
His cold eyes were gone, replaced by concern and worry.
“Here. Take my hand and get up.”
He extended his large hand toward me.
It was the hand of a grown man, hardened and callused from wielding a sword.
The same hand that had once thrown a stone at me.
The same hand that had dumped water from the window.
I stared at it blankly.
“Careful.”
At last, I reached out. My hand trembled pathetically as Readmoor grasped it and helped me to my feet.
Helena had been watching the entire scene closely. Her rosy lips slowly parted.
“It’s been a while, Lord Readmoor. I’ve missed our meetings dearly.”
Having made her judgment, she now hid her venom. She clasped her hands together modestly and greeted him sweetly.
Readmoor didn’t even look at her. Instead, he supported me by wrapping his arm around my unsteady shoulders.
Helena faltered at his lack of response, but then resumed in a smooth voice.
“I was just having a little chat with my younger sibling. Is there a problem?”
Only then did Readmoor turn his head.
His face was once again filled with rage. It was a look I was far more familiar with—and never expected to be directed at Helena.
“She was clearly terrified.”
“I think there’s a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding are you referring to?”
He shouted through clenched teeth.
“I saw it all—when she screamed that you weren’t her family. Threatening her life to force her back into your household—is that a misunderstanding? Using her late mother’s belongings to blackmail her—is that a ‘chat with your sibling’?!”
He clenched my shoulder tighter.
When I looked up, veins were bulging on his neck, and his jaw was locked tight with tension.
The warmth of first love had vanished. All that remained was a shred of affection flickering in his eyes.
“Miss Barden. I never imagined you to be this kind of person.”
Even that last veil of love was ripped away by Readmoor’s final words.
Helena seemed to feel it, too.
Her hands, once demurely folded, now fell apart. Her stiff back straightened. The doll-like smile disappeared from her delicate face.
“You’re completely soaked.”
She suddenly made an absurd remark.
“What are you talking about?”
“It must have been Kalia, right? That child has always acted out, trying to get attention.”
I flinched. Through our joined hands, Readmoor must have felt it too. He snapped sharply.
“Don’t say such useless things.”
“You should be careful, too. That girl might stab you in the back at any moment.”
“Miss Barden!”
She turned her gaze from Readmoor and looked straight at me.
Poison gleamed in her green eyes. Without breaking eye contact, she spoke.
“She’s a difficult child. That’s why she needs… the right kind of family to guide her.”
It was as if I were bewitched—unable to break away from her gaze. Then suddenly, my vision was blocked.
Readmoor had stepped in front of me again. He spoke firmly.
“Kalia is not your family. She is under Desmier’s protection.”
His voice cut cleanly through the air with strength.
“The ducal house—I—am protecting her.”
As he stepped aside, Helena appeared again, smiling sweetly.
She lifted her dress in an elegant curtsey.
“I’ll leave the child in your care for now. Do be careful.”
She gave a nod of farewell.
“Well then.”
“Don’t think this is the end.”
Helena paused at his words.
“I’ve heard everything you people did.”
Surprised, I looked at Readmoor.
Now I understood why his attitude had changed—why he had called me over so differently before we met Helena.
I recalled what Ayla had hinted to me about the conversation between the Duke and Readmoor last weekend.
“The head maid of the estate confessed everything. All the malicious plots and abuse you subjected Kalia to—every bit of it.”
Helena’s face became expressionless, like a porcelain doll.
“I won’t stay silent. I’ll expose your crimes to the entire Empire.”
“Who do you think will believe that?”
Her voice was flat. Like a parrot mimicking others. In contrast, Readmoor grew more agitated.
“There are witnesses. Not just the head maid—every servant who was there. I’ll find more if I must, even if I have to search the whole Empire.”
“Bribed witnesses, no doubt. How pitiful.”
That was the last straw for Desmier’s young heir.
“Bribed?! How dare you insult my house!”
“Dear young master of Desmier.”
A smile finally crept across Helena’s lips.
“May I say something?”
Readmoor glared at her with a terrifying expression.
“Be warned—watch your mouth.”
“I’ll return those words to you.”
“What did you say?”
“Once might be forgivable, but not twice.”
Beneath her painted smile, rage leaked through.
“That story about your dead mother being that child’s godmother? That cheap novel twist only works once. It was shocking at first, so people watched silently. But now? You plan to paint us as villains and consume Estel whole? That won’t do, dear lord.”
She sneered. Before Readmoor could reply, she continued.
“We have justification—one no one can take from us: family. We’re connected by blood. Someone had to take in that orphan.”
Helena laughed loudly.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t it your family that killed her father? Isn’t it Desmier that began her misery?”
Readmoor ground his teeth.
“Don’t spout nonsense! It doesn’t change the fact that you abused her!”
“So what?”
“You’re insane…”
Readmoor stared at her in disbelief. Her calm voice echoed like silk.
“Do you know how deranged her father was? Even now, there are children who tremble and cry just hearing the name Count Estel. If his daughter inherited his temperament, isn’t it natural for her guardians to discipline her?”
“You’re the demons. You’re not even human…”
He murmured in a daze.
“Maybe our methods seemed a little rough. If Lord Readmoor wants to ruin Barden’s name with bribed servants, be my guest. Perhaps our reputation will take a hit, but no one will react the way you hope.”
Readmoor groaned in frustration. Helena, on the other hand, smiled broadly.
“It’s not a problem for Barden to act in Estel’s place. No one suspects us.”
Her eyes gleamed for a moment.
Even I, watching all this like a detached shell, could see what was behind them.
Ambition. And…
She grabbed her skirt with her hands, once folded calmly. The wrinkles did not smooth out.
Her voice trembled with incomprehensible rage.
“A lowly rural barony with no foundation. Even if we serve as proxies for high nobles, we’re seen as nothing but ornamental pawns. I know how they look at us. I know what they expect.”
Her elegant smile mixed with deep-rooted anger to form a strange expression.
“But…”
Helena quickly regained her composure and smiled again.
“If Desmier acts on behalf of Estel, things change. First, you drove out her good guardians. Now, you claim we abused her? What will you gain by restoring Estel’s honor? Will you merge that noble land and wealth with Desmier’s for some greater plan?”
She asked her next question with playful anticipation.
“Or… do you have some unspeakable plan in mind?”
“Shut that filthy mouth of yours!”
Readmoor looked like he was restraining himself from drawing his sword. His hand trembled on the hilt.
Helena paid no mind and continued.
“Kalia awakened to spirit magic suddenly. That never happened while she was with us. Did the ducal house train her? To use her as a weapon? A house like Desmier surely has tomes that enhance spirit arts tucked in their library.”
“None of that exists! We never trained her!”
Despite his desperate denial, Helena only tilted her head.
“If you say so, who would dare argue? Desmier holds enough power to topple a family overnight. But, dear lord, you cannot control people’s thoughts.”
She smirked—a smile completely opposite from the kind Readmoor had once admired from afar.
“Thoughts, when accumulated, become blades. What will you do if those blades turn against your family?”
“…”
“Even knowing that, will you still expose us for Kalia’s sake? Will you abandon your real father, your family, your people, for that insignificant child?”
“Desmier is not a house built on such a weak foundation. For the heir of Barden to speak such words…”
Helena shrugged.
“Do as you like. I have nothing to lose, even if you get your way.”
“Then stop pretending to be so calm!”
“Care to test me?”
Readmoor hesitated briefly. His lips and fists trembled slightly.
Was he wavering?
But the hesitation lasted only a moment. He spoke firmly.
“Then—”
“Remember this, my lord.”
Helena interrupted him. She glared sharply, then locked eyes with me.
“That girl belongs to us. We have no intention of giving her up.”
So take good care of her… and return her to us.
That’s what Helena said, with fierce determination in her eyes.
