Cloud Thinking

Behind the card of Ansel, there is not only Tasle, but also the other half of the empire - the forces of the southern continent.

Moreover, Helia also has the help from Antonio's family. Hilda is in charge of the north, and Ansel controls the south, tightly surrounding the imperial capital in the middle.

Therefore, although Helia has few cards in her hand, each card is as powerful as the big and small jokers.

Although Claude preferred Eric to Helia, he was not the only one.

He sat upright on it, with the mountains, rivers and territories all in his sight. He knew better than anyone what the empire was like now.

It has become a pool of stagnant water, or a tree with rotten roots, dead but still alive.

How could he, alone, and in just a few decades in power, handle all the conflicts, difficulties and injustices that had accumulated in the empire over the years?

Even that group of deeply rooted nobles were enough to give him a headache for half his life.

He couldn't possibly eliminate them all at once; they were still needed to keep the empire running.

But these people are the termites on the big tree of the empire. If they are not eliminated, they will be the culprits that cause the tree to collapse one day.

As he grew older, he made many enemies, and now he was in a rare steady state of equal strength. He wanted to break the situation, but he was already in it.

Even a rabbit will bite when it is cornered, let alone these powerful people who are eyeing them covetously.

Now, he couldn't do anything too excessive, otherwise if he touched their bottom line, they might come and cause trouble with the idea of ​​dying together.

But at this moment, Helia came.

She was already a big trouble, and now, this big trouble will continue to create trouble, jumping up and down, causing unrest everywhere.

Although cleaning up her mess was annoying and exhausting, Claude had to admit that he really admired Helia's ability to cause trouble.

He just wanted Helia to make a fuss, to liven up this stagnant water, to light the hidden tails of those old guys, to step on their feet and force them to show up.

He gave Helia so much power and support just to allow her to make things bigger.

Otherwise, with her skills alone, they would be no more than firecrackers played by children, loud but with little effect, and would not only bring her trouble.

He set Helia up and gave her some gunpowder so that she could become the big firecracker that would shake the entire empire.

Of course, he and Eric stood behind her.

It is a backup plan and also a precaution to prevent Helia from making a big mistake and ruining the empire's hard-earned breathing opportunity.

Even though this might put her in danger and make her the target of public attack.

Even though he knew that he was pushing his own daughter out as bait...

But he had to do it.

Helia has the ability to break the impasse, and Eric has the ability to determine the outcome. He wants the two siblings to open up a path for the empire to rise again.

Even if it costs a huge price, it is worth it.

Helia and Claude stared at each other for a long time, but they soon figured out each other's true purpose. They couldn't help but turn their heads away and snorted with an unclear laugh.

Oh, how can I put it...

Claude was indeed a good king. He worked hard for his country and his people, and was willing to ruin his own reputation and sacrifice his own children.

Eric was willing to be Claude's pawn, because he and Claude both wanted the prosperity of the empire, so he was willing to obey Claude's arrangements.

But Helia was different, and Claude knew that Helia was different.

She does not belong to this world, she just occupies the body of "Helia", but she is not necessarily loyal to the royal family or the empire, nor is she necessarily willing to sacrifice herself for the so-called empire.

Helia was indeed unwilling to be a pawn used by Claude to manipulate the situation, nor was she willing to be a soldier at the forefront.

Because she really doesn't like the feeling of being controlled, used, and toyed with.

That was very uncomfortable, and made me seem no different from a puppet on strings.

Moreover, she wanted more than that.

Just as Watersise said to the original owner in his previous life, He wanted her to be ambitious and greedy.

What should I do? She seems to be unable to control her ambition and greed...

Claude couldn't see what Helia was thinking, so he could only wait and wait for her to express her opinion.

If it were in the past, he would have directly and forcefully given the order, because he knew that Helia would not be able to resist his will.

But now, the person sitting opposite him was not Helia, who put her father and brother first, but a soul from another world that he could not control.

"Father, I call you father, and you will always be my father. This will never change." Helia said with a smile.

The original owner respected her father and brother and was willing to be a chess piece for them. Even if she couldn't do that, she shouldn't lose her duty as a daughter.

Because she knew that Helia, who was occupying her body in another world, would also work hard to maintain her interpersonal relationships, respect and be filial to her parents, and love her family, just like her.

The meeting was so hasty that neither of them could chat for long.

But they saw their own shadows in each other.

They understood each other tacitly and wished for each other and themselves to live out the rest of their lives.

They never mentioned changing their bodies - because they all knew that was impossible.

Therefore, we can only wish each other success, health and happiness in each other's world.

Seeing that she had put away the alertness in her body and revealed the cuteness of a little girl, Claude's expression softened and he showed a rare gentle smile.

"Ansel is interested in you, that's a good thing."

"Although I don't know how much sincerity there is in this love, at least it gives us a rope to keep him under control," Claude continued.

"Even if you have no feelings for him, if you become husband and wife, you will share honor and disgrace, and interests. This will be a good thing for you, the royal family, and him."

Helia rested her chin on one hand and placed the other on the armrest of the chair, tapping her fingers.

The sound was not loud, but at this moment the house was as quiet as a chicken except for the sound of rain outside and the breathing inside, so the sound of her knocking seemed particularly obvious.

"Although on the surface, Ansel's status and position are far from being worthy of you, but..."

"Even if you don't marry him, you will marry someone else in the future. You might as well seize the opportunity while you still have a choice."

Claude was still trying to persuade her. Of course, in his eyes, he was doing it for Helia's own good, but he didn't understand what had motivated Helia to get to this point in the first place.

It's because she is afraid of marriage and having children, and doesn't want to be used as a political tool by her father and sent to an arranged marriage!

Helia: Flirting and dating are fine, but getting married and having kids is really out of the question!

Claude: I did persuade him, but in the opposite direction.

"Father, let me think about it for a while." Helia mainly used the strategy of "delay".

Although Claude was much more open-minded than she had imagined, his thoughts were still in line with the times and he still believed that women should get married and start a family.

After all, the economic base determines the superstructure, and material existence determines ideology. He is not a time traveler like himself.

After saying this, she smiled as if she had thought of something, "Father is in a hurry to urge me, but my brother is five years older than me, and right now he doesn't have a warm bed by his side, right..."

Claude was so angry at her words that he laughed and nodded at her from a distance, "You, you are urging your brother to do it."

Helia shrugged, not thinking there was anything wrong with what she said.

"My brother's marriage is of utmost importance. It is a matter of great importance to the empire. Father must carefully select a suitable match for him."

"You don't need to worry about it. I know what's going on." Claude waved his hand. "If you're fine, go back and rest as soon as possible."

Helia then became serious, "Father, we discovered something incredible during this trip..."

She recounted her experiences in the abandoned pagan mansion, with special emphasis on the so-called experimental subjects and the plot of the original work.

But she concealed what happened between her and Tang Yaoxing and Ian Hill.

After listening to this, Claude felt tired, sighed deeply, closed his eyes, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Helia looked at Cheko who was standing beside her. He had a stern face as always. Even after hearing so many incredible things, his expression did not change at all.

"Qike, stay with my father. I'll go back and rest first~"

After Helia finished speaking, she felt light, stood up, patted her pants, and prepared to leave.

"Your Highness Helia, you must have been exhausted on this journey. You must have worked hard." Chico de Claude said goodbye to Helia and said, "I wish you a good sleep."

There were some things that Claude was embarrassed to say, or was not easy to say, so Chico would guess his thoughts and say them on his behalf.

Although Helia mostly reported the good news and not the bad news when she recounted her experiences in Kenleka, anyone with a brain would be able to guess the hardships and difficulties involved if they thought about it carefully, so they would just say a few words of concern to comfort her.

Helia raised an eyebrow and said teasingly before leaving: "Of course, good night to you too, Knight Chico."

Qi Ke was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said nothing.

Helia went back and slept until she woke up naturally. She felt so comfortable all over that when she stretched, her bones crackled and she felt her skin stretch out.

She made an appointment with the others to have lunch together and then go to the Executive Hall to report on the mission.

Even though she said it last night, she still had to go through the motions.

And we don’t know what to do with the pagan we brought back.

Whether to execute him secretly or to announce it to the world and behead him in public depends on Claude's attitude.

After a night of thinking, Claude finally gave a response after listening to other people's reports:

The pagans were put to death in public, and Helia was credited with the achievement.

Elroy and Grammy need to go to the Magic Association to inform them and ask the association to pay attention to it.

Although Helia didn't want to reveal this matter, after all, the Magic Association and the royal family were not of the same mind.

But the power of the royal family is limited, worldly affairs are numerous, and matters of the magical world still have to be resolved by magicians.

Let's communicate this first to avoid the situation getting worse in the future and the association refusing to provide support on the grounds of being unaware.

This mission was full of dangers and thrills, and it wasn't a good one at all. Except for Helia who got the credit, no one else got any benefit at all, but they had no complaints.

Elroy and Grammy were originally sent by Claude to protect her, Vikes was borrowed by Helia from Eric, and Lydia was her own.

Protecting her and completing the mission is my job, why do I need any reward?

As for Carlisle...

Although there was no reward on the surface, it at least eased the relationship with Helia, and the relationship with Vikes was no longer a life-and-death hostility.

As long as he is not next to the two heirs, no one will block his way up.

And through this, he also got to know the secret of Helia's life experience.

Maybe next time, he can stay in the house and participate in decision-making, instead of being kicked out and having to wait for news and orders.

As soon as Helia went out, she ran into Eric who was waiting at the door. He seemed to have been waiting there for a long time.

"Xiaoya."

Eric saw Helia coming out, walked over quickly, looked her up and down for a long time, and made sure that his sister was not hurt, and finally he felt relieved.

Helia knew that Eric was worried about her, so she spread her arms and turned around in front of him.

"Brother, look, I'm fine."

Eric glanced at Vikes, who was standing behind Helia, and the other party walked up to him.

Seeing this, Helia pursed her lips and pretended to be wronged: "I thought you came here to pick me up, but it turns out that you came to pick up Senior Vikes."

Seeing that she was still jealous of Vikes, Eric couldn't help but smile and raised his hand to gently rub Helia's head.

"Of course I'm here to pick up my good sister."

"Xiaoya did a great job this time. Thank you for your hard work."

Helia then smiled again and took Eric's arm.

"I was just kidding. I thought you were here to discuss matters with father, but you actually came to pick me up!"

Eric tilted his head to look at the door of the Consulate, stayed there for a few seconds, then retracted his gaze and fell on Helia.

"I was so worried about you going out that I couldn't sleep all night, fearing that something might happen to you."

"You are so good. You didn't even bother to tell me that you were safe when you came back last night. It was only when I heard the noise from Vikes that I knew you were back."

"I wanted to go find you, but I thought you must be tired after traveling all the way, so I didn't bother you. Who knew you would go to your father and talk a lot."

"My father called me early in the morning and we discussed for a long time. Now I just finished lunch in a hurry and came to pick you up?" Eric complained.

"Ouch!" Helia walked out with Eric on her arm, joking as she walked, "Brother, you are so old now, why are you still so attached to me, your sister?"

Eric gave her a slap on the head, "You are so disrespectful."

He didn't use much force, but Helia still made several strange noises in a pretentious manner.

Eric couldn't stop laughing because of her, but he didn't know what he thought of, and the smile on his face gradually faded, and he said seriously:

"Okay, tell me, did your trip go smoothly this time? Did you find the news you wanted to know?"

Helia glanced to the side. There were two rows of soldiers standing in the corridor outside the Executive Hall. It was really not a good place to talk.

She pulled Eric's arm and gave Vikes a look, "Brother, a lot of things happened on this trip. Let's talk while we walk."