Cloud Thinking

The peaceful yet busy week passed in the blink of an eye. When Helia was woken up early in the morning to do her makeup, she looked at herself in the mirror and it seemed a little unreal.

Thinking back to when she first traveled through time, she had been thinking about and worrying about her eighteenth birthday party. In order to avoid falling into the established plot of the original work, she made a lot of changes and paid a lot of price.

When that day finally came, Helia actually felt a sense of relief, as if everything was finally settled and the story had come to an end.

But this is just the beginning.

In a moment, Helia would go to the largest Saint Lanya Square in the imperial capital to give a speech and announce the official start of the feast.

Today, except for workers in specific jobs who have to stay at their posts, everyone else has a holiday. In addition, the royal family has contracted all the food, drink and entertainment expenses in the city today, and the whole city celebrates Princess Helia's eighteenth birthday.

In addition, Claude also issued a tax reduction order, reducing the population tax of all residents of the empire by 30% in the next three years, in order to invite all people to share the blessing of Helia's birthday.

They even sent invitations to the neighboring countries on both sides. However, due to the tight schedule, it was difficult to make arrangements, so the Xiali Empire and the Turton Dynasty only sent people to deliver gifts.

The carriages carrying gifts alone lined up from the entrance of the palace to the city gate. It was a huge procession that stretched for dozens of miles and was extremely spectacular.

This was a treatment that even Eric had never had. Helia's eighteenth birthday party was so grand that it could be recorded in history. No princess in history had ever been so favored.

The dress Helia wore today was made of the finest fabrics and jewels. Its color was a dreamy deep blue, like the tranquil surface of the sea, with sunlight shining through it, sparkling and emitting fragmented light.

She also wore a dazzling crown on her head, which was inlaid with countless diamonds and gems, sparkling with dazzling light. She also wore a ruby ​​necklace around her neck, the luster of the gems contrasted with her red hair, making her look dazzling.

She stood on a high platform in the square, with a huge crowd of people below her. She was enveloped by the fanatical shouts, cheers and discussions. She could feel countless eyes on her.

People were really curious about Helia. All kinds of contradictory rumors made her elusive and unclear. But when they actually saw her, almost everyone was stunned for a moment, and then burst into waves of exclamations - that was the recognition of Helia's beauty.

Standing on the high platform, Helia suddenly thought of her uncle Turhei. A similar situation had occurred in his sea of ​​consciousness before, but that time she was holding a divine descent ceremony as a saint, while this time, it was really her eighteenth birthday party.

She held the prop with the magic amplification in her hand and calmly read out the script she had memorized a few days ago. For some reason, even in front of so many people, she was not nervous at all, as if she was completely used to this kind of scene.

But before she came here, she would feel weak and tremble even when she went to the podium to give a report. Her mind was blank and she didn't dare to look at the people below. She was stage frightened and socially anxious. Before going on stage, she would even feel like vomiting and was so nervous and anxious that she almost collapsed.

Now it seems that she has really changed a lot.

And it’s improving in a good direction.

Good looks always win more praise and recognition from the crowd. With Helia's solid achievements and her beauty, she completely overturned the impression of the imperial princess in the minds of the people present in just ten minutes of speech.

After the speech, Helia got on the float and circled the city, smiling and waving at the people around her, occasionally accepting a few roses or other gifts handed to her.

This was done firstly to reflect the majesty of the royal family and make Helia familiar to the people; secondly, it conveyed the meaning of sharing happiness with the people and demonstrated the magnanimity and love for the people of the Abraham royal family.

It was already past one in the afternoon when Helia returned from her city patrol. She ate a few mouthfuls of food and began to prepare for tonight's banquet.

The morning appearance was for the common people, but the evening banquet was for the powerful and influential parties, which could be regarded as a true imperial banquet.

Various forces gathered here to celebrate Helia's birthday. On the surface, it was a birthday party, but undercurrents were surging behind the scenes. How many interests were exchanged amid the clinking of glasses?

When the bell rang, the crowd that was originally talking and laughing gradually quieted down, and all looked towards the platform extending from the second floor.

To everyone's surprise, tonight's heroine, Princess Helia, was wearing a military uniform with black and red as the main colors. She wore two badges on her left chest, connected to the epaulettes by a ribbon. Her red hair was neatly tied behind her head, making her look neat and tidy. She wore white gloves and black boots, and her unmade-up face was still handsome under the light, but compared to her usual gorgeousness, she now looked more heroic and had the majesty of a superior.

Similarly, Claude and Eric were both wearing military uniforms. It was not surprising that Claude was dressed like this, because whenever he attended a formal occasion, he would wear a military uniform and a long sword at his waist.

But Eric and Helia's attire today was puzzling. The three of them standing together gave the guests the illusion that they had mistakenly entered a military parade.

But this is clearly Princess Helia's 18th birthday party???

In fact, many young masters and young ladies who wanted to curry favor with her had already thought about how to praise Helia tonight. They would definitely start by praising her clothes and appearance. However, Helia's unconventional dress made them at a loss as to how to reorganize their words.

What puzzled everyone even more and shocked them to the point of almost losing their voices was that Helia turned around, reached out her hand, and led a blonde, blue-eyed beauty slowly into everyone's sight. It was obvious from her appearance that she was a member of the royal family.

But the problem is, they have never heard of or seen this member of the royal family.

Starley wore a snow-white one-shoulder dress tonight, like a white rose blooming in the snow. The design of the dress is simple and elegant, and the one-shoulder cut perfectly shows her slender neck and charming collarbone, making her look as noble and elegant as a white swan.

The skirt is carefully outlined with large rose patterns in silver thread. These roses are lifelike, as if swaying gently in the breeze. Each petal shines with delicate silver light, shining gently but brightly under the light.

Starley and Helia stood together. Although the contrast between them was huge, one black and one white, they complemented each other and looked particularly suitable and well-matched.

Seeing that everyone was so shocked that they even forgot to greet each other, Eric stepped forward, bent his fingers and tapped lightly on the railing on the platform to call their souls back to their souls.

"Greetings to His Majesty Claude!"

"Meet His Royal Highness Prince Eric!"

"Meet Her Royal Highness Princess Helia!"

Everyone bowed their heads in unison and saluted the emperor and his children. The different voices merged into a unified sound at this moment to show respect for the royal family.

Helia noticed that Stella's palms were already a little sweaty, so she patted the back of her hands soothingly, leaned in and whispered, "Don't be nervous, sister. If you don't like them staring at you, I'll make them keep their heads down like turtles."

Stella was amused by her words, and her tense body relaxed as she laughed. Looking at Helia's smiling eyes, Stella felt her heart melt.

Tonight should have been Helia's eighteenth birthday, which meant that she had become an adult. It should have been the most special and unforgettable day in her life, but she resolutely made a bold decision - to give the heroine role tonight to Starley.

As soon as this proposal was put forward, it was rejected by three people including Stella himself. However, Helia used her eloquence to persuade Claude into compromise.

Of course, she also paid a considerable price.

There was no other reason why Helia wanted to do this, she simply wanted to give Starley a grand appearance and leave an unforgettable first impression on everyone.

She was not some illegitimate daughter who was not to be seen by others. She was a princess of the empire and someone who could stand on equal footing with Helia.

She deserves it all.

After Helia saw that Stella had relaxed a little, she let go of her hand and slowly walked to the front, sitting side by side with Claude. She looked down at the guests who were bowing their heads and saying nothing, and raised her voice:

"Today is my 18th birthday party. I am very happy to be able to gather here with you all, share this joy, and witness my growth."

"Perhaps God is celebrating for me. Not only did he give me a brother and a new family, but he also helped me find my long-lost sister, Starley, not long ago."

"The prosperity of the royal family will surely lead the empire to prosperity and strength. Therefore, this is not only a blessing for me, the royal family, but also for the empire!"

"Today, on behalf of the Abrahamic royal family, I solemnly announce that Starly Eliza will serve as another princess of the empire and a member of the royal family. She will contribute her own strength to the prosperity of the empire!"

To be honest, Helia herself felt a little embarrassed after reading this passage. It turned out that the writing skills of forced sublimation and elevation that she had learned without a teacher were now engraved in her bones and she couldn't forget them even if she wanted to!

But fortunately, the people below were generous enough to give face, or rather, they had no choice but to give face. After Helia finished speaking, they all added:

"Meet Her Royal Highness Princess Starley!"

In fact, it would have been better for Claude to make the official announcement, after all, the emperor's authority was there, but Claude refused to do so.

He was already somewhat unhappy about turning Helia's birthday party into a window for Stella to announce her identity to the public, not to mention personally acknowledging her identity.

At least in Claude's eyes, the value that Starley showed now was far inferior to Helia's.

The reason why he was nice to Helia, apart from some emotional factors, was more because Helia deserved his kindness.

If you want the horse to run, you must first feed it with grass. If he wants Helia to work hard for him wholeheartedly, he must give her enough love.

He gave and he paid, just like farming. You plant the seeds and work hard to loosen the soil, fertilize and water them, but until the seeds grow fully, you don’t know what they will grow into.

Maybe it is good and meets his expectations; maybe it is just average and barely passes the bottom line; worse is that it is a waste of time and it goes completely astray, making him a losing business.

The current Helia has far exceeded Claude's expectations. Even though he knows the reason for this change, he knows even more that a fake with outstanding abilities is much more valuable than a useless authentic one.

Helia turned sideways and reached out her hand to Stella again, pulling her to the front and gently pinching her fingertips, trying to transfer her own strength to her.

"Hello everyone, my name is Starley Eliza Abraham, and I'm glad to meet you all here."

After a simple greeting, Stella looked at Helia and held her hand tightly.

"Tonight is Aya's 18th birthday. I am very happy and honored to be able to witness this special moment and to be with her as a family member."

"I was absent for too long in the past. From now on, Aya, I will definitely stay by your side, witness you bloom like a rose, and love you as myself."