Cloud Thinking

The nobles in the imperial capital are now in danger. They keep their doors shut in broad daylight and dare not show themselves in public, for fear of being retaliated against by some short-sighted lower-class person in the name of protecting the royal family.

Of course, there were also some guys with bad intentions who tried to muddy the waters and took the opportunity to rob the gold, silver, treasures and women of the big families, but they were all caught by Helia and beheaded in public.

She established her authority by killing decisively, and won the support of the people in the name of justice. At least everything was developing as she had imagined.

Helia raided the homes of the nobles and confiscated most of the money she looted. The rest was distributed in her name to the soldiers and the people who helped her.

When the common people get something good, they will naturally speak well of Helia and do what she tells them to do.

At this point, all the rebels in the palace were captured. Except for a few who needed to be kept for interrogation, the rest were beheaded on the spot without any mercy.

However, it is difficult to catch the spies in each palace, and it is even said that they have planted a plot here to try to sow discord between the brothers and sisters.

There are the most spies in the Jade Palace and the Tanzania Palace. There are also some in the Topah Palace, but because the little prince moved to Helia's Amber Palace, these people are of little use.

Even the Amber Palace that she held in her hands could not avoid being infiltrated by someone with ulterior motives.

If we talk about an iron barrel, I'm afraid it's only Claude's Cabinet.

The palace where the concubines lived was in even greater chaos. Several innocent concubines died that night, and many traitors were also killed. In short, blood flowed like a river, and screams echoed throughout the night.

Helia had no time to appease these people, and only ordered Corinna to do these things. However, some people were still scared and clamored to see His Majesty Claude, so Corinna directly accused them of being spies and killed them.

She is very happy with it.

Now that the palace has been stabilized and the imperial capital is under Helia's control, she can rest assured for a while.

Three days have passed, and Eric is still not awake. The high-level magicians in the palace are helpless. Helia has not caught Tarod, and she doesn't know who this guy has transformed into and where he is hiding.

As a last resort, Helia had to go to the Church of Charity in person, hoping that they might have a solution.

A cardinal named Tedrela met her and generously recommended Archbishop Latifa.

Tedrela sincerely wished: "Latifa is the highest-ranking healing magician in the Vatican. I hope she can solve your urgent problem and bless your Highness Eric to recover soon with the light of benevolence."

Helia nodded, "Thank you for helping me."

The relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the royal family has never been good. It should be said that Claude did not allow the royal family to get close to any other church, especially the Roman Catholic Church with its large number of believers and broad faith.

Some things change once they are tainted by power.

Helia was grateful for the kindness they showed her during her visit, so she owed them a favor. Who knows, they might use this favor to blackmail her or Eric in the future.

"I'm sure you, Archbishop, have heard about the unrest in the city. You've probably seen too much bloodshed recently, and you're feeling uneasy. That's why I wanted to come to the Vatican and confess." Helia added.

Tedrella was an elderly lady who always smiled and looked kind. Anyone who saw her would unconsciously calm down.

She seemed to have some magical power. Being with her, my restless heart calmed down.

She seemed amiable, but it was impossible for someone to sit in this position without some abilities and means, so of course she understood what Helia meant.

"It is an honor for the Holy See to be able to help Your Highness. If there is a need, Your Highness can come often. Benevolence will not reject any believer who asks for help." Tedrilla replied.

Helia wanted the Church to help, but Tedrella was not willing to work for her for free unless the royal family was willing to get closer to the Church of Mercy and Helia was willing to become a believer of Mercy.

Very greedy, Helia thought.

In the past, the royal family and the nobles were always tied to the same boat, rising and falling together. The nobles were a great help in consolidating the royal family, acting as both a shield and a spear.

Now, as the nobles showed signs of pointing their spears at the royal family, Helia openly broke with the nobles and challenged them, taking action against the feudal lords. However, if she lost this shield, the interests of the royal family would inevitably be damaged.

In the past, it was the nobles who supported the royal family from behind the scenes. Now that a vacancy has appeared, the Holy See has noticed it and this is a good opportunity for them to take power.

Helia smiled and said, "If I remember correctly, Duke Ronald used to be very close to the Church of Charity. They often visited each other and donated a large sum of money every year to show their kindness."

Seeing that the smile on Tedrella's face faded a little, Helia continued, "I'm just a little curious about where the money that Duke Ronald donated to the Holy See came from."

"If the money was earned by him through illegal transactions, then the Vatican taking over the money would, in a sense, also be accepting stolen money."

"How do I know if he has used this money to reach any cooperation agreement with the Vatican?"

"Did the Vatican help Duke Ronald to conceal the fact of the crime?"

A threat, a threat that couldn't be more obvious.

The most important thing for the Church of Charity is its reputation, which is earned by the numerous believers in the church through generations of struggle. Although this little storm will not cause much damage to such a huge church, but...

As for reputation, once it has the slightest stain, it will be infinitely magnified by the world. A little bad apple will spoil the whole bunch, let alone such negative rumors?

We should try to avoid it if possible, especially since they believe in the goddess of mercy and take mercy as their doctrine. Most of their followers are ordinary people. If they knew that the Lord they believe in and the Church they rely on dared to stab them in the back...

They have long seen the anger of the people, and even ants can push down a tree.

"We cannot be sure where the donations we received came from, but we can guarantee that we have used every penny on believers and the public. I have a clear conscience about this."

Tedrela folded his hands and pressed them against his chest, looked devoutly at the Lord of his faith, then lowered his head to question his own heart.

"However, the Church of Charity cannot turn a blind eye to such evildoers."

"If Her Highness Helia needs it, the Church will fully cooperate so that we can catch this criminal as soon as possible, calm the anger of the people, and put an end to the evil he has brought."

"Goddess, she will protect us."

Helia: You're willing to help with just this one thing, right? You want something in return for helping with other things, right? You're pretty calculating...

"Then please ask the Archbishop to have everyone sort out all the matters related to Duke Ronald over the years and send them to me." She agreed with a smile, "Thank you for the help of the Holy See, and thank you to the goddess."

"It's my duty, no need to thank me." Tedrela said, "I will have someone do it as soon as possible, so that others who don't know the inside story won't misunderstand it and tarnish the reputation of the Church. That would be a headache for me."

Helia: Haha, are you warning her not to say one thing in public and another in private after she returns, and not to be the first to tell others nonsense... She really has a clever tongue...

"I'm afraid the imperial capital has been in turmoil these days, and this is giving me a headache. If I can get the help of the Holy See and appease the common people, it will be a good thing for the Holy See."

“Lest there be some people with bad intentions mixed in, pointing the knife tip at the Vatican, that would be bad.”

You are the only one who can threaten, but I can't?

The two smiling tigers stared at each other, weighing the pros and cons, pulling the strings back and forth, and making sarcastic remarks, fearing that the other would take advantage of them.

Before leaving, Tedrela held Helia's hand affectionately like an elder at home, and said, "Your Highness Helia, when I look at you, I always think of my good granddaughter. You two have similar personalities. Forgive me for being old, but I just like to get along with children like this."

"Please forgive me if I have offended you."

The other party has brought up his identity as an old man, so Helia naturally can't treat an old man harshly, right?

She shook his hand in return. "I feel very close to you, Archbishop. I feel very comfortable around you. I will definitely come to visit you often if I have the chance in the future."

Tedrela smiled heartily, and then, as if he was just talking about something or getting to the point, he asked, "If I remember correctly, Her Highness Helia's sister, Her Highness Stella, is now also a magician."

"He is also a water-attributed healing magician."

"If Your Highness doesn't mind, you can come to the Holy See to study again after you finish your studies at the academy. The healing magicians of our Benevolent Holy See have always been the best."

Helia, who had been smiling since they met, suddenly turned cold when she heard Stella's name. Even though she still had a smile on her face, her aura had changed.

She could tolerate someone targeting her, but she couldn't tolerate someone targeting Starley.

"I'm the younger sister, how can I make the decision for my sister?" Helia said tactfully, "But what you said is indeed correct, Archbishop. The healing magicians of the Holy See are indeed the best and are really enviable."

"I will ask my sister again when she returns from her studies. If she is willing, I can't stop her, right?"

Tedrela: "Yes, the relationship between the two princes is so good, it is really enviable."

"It's getting late, Your Highness, and I'm busy with trivial matters. I won't take up any more of your time."

Only then did Helia realize that the other party was testing her relationship with Stella, and she fell into the trap.

Damn, it turns out that old ginger is still spicy.

But it was nothing, for everyone knew that she doted on Stella. The Archbishop was probably worried that those rumors were just superficial efforts, deliberately spread to maintain the reputation of the royal family, which was why he made such a test.

Through this incident, Helia also discovered her own problem, which is that once she touched her weak spot, she could easily lose control of her emotions.

But once she gets excited, others will discover that it is her weakness, and she can't go on like this.

She still needs to practice more and work hard to become an actor who can be calm despite having a turbulent heart.

……

Helia had just stepped into the palace when she realized something was wrong the next second. She turned her head and looked in a certain direction, catching a glimpse of a figure running away in panic.

She didn't think much about it and just chased after him.

The other party seemed to have some skills. He ran so fast and was very familiar with the terrain of the palace. He was like a carrot hanging in front of a donkey, luring Helia to go somewhere.

Helia stopped running until she reached her red rose garden, and shouted to the figure that had disappeared, "Okay, you ran so far, what are you doing?"

"Ariana."

Her eyesight wasn't very good, but Xiao Si's eyesight was good. As soon as the other party showed a corner of his clothes, Xiao Si recognized his identity. Otherwise, Helia wouldn't have chased him.

It’s strange. Ariana’s eyes are not working well anymore. How can she run so fast?

No one responded to her, as if she was just chasing a shadow.

She drew the sword from her waist with doubt, walked slowly inside, and observed her surroundings vigilantly.

It was not until they reached the lake that Helia saw the other person's figure - on a small boat in the middle of the lake.

However, besides her, there was another acquaintance.

"Long time no see, Her Highness Helia."

Even though the other person had a face that Zhang Helia didn't recognize at all, she recognized him the moment she saw him.

That's the Tarod.

It was really strange. After going to the Vatican, her luck was so good after she came back. The people who had run away came to her one by one, saving her the effort of looking for them.

Could it be that the goddess of mercy is the real goddess of luck?

Helia stood on the shore and waved at the boat from afar, as if she was meeting a friend she hadn't seen for a long time. "Long time no see, Tarod, how have you been?"

"Not really." Tarod stood on the bow of the boat. Although he spoke at a normal volume, Helia could hear him clearly. "Since we separated, I have been thinking about you day and night. I can't eat or sleep at night. It's really uncomfortable."

The corners of Helia's mouth twitched, and she didn't know how to respond at this moment.

Wasn't it quite normal before? Why has it become a bit disgusting now... Who did you learn this from...

"You didn't do anything to Ariana, did you?" she asked again.

Tarod: "Guess?"

Helia: "I guess your sister."

Tarod: "That's a wrong guess. I have nothing to do with her."

Helia:?

Tarod: "She was trying to run away, but I bumped into her and picked her up for you."

Helia:? ? Is this what I'm asking?

Seeing her relentless look, Tarod said helplessly: "Don't worry, I know she is yours. I am just borrowing her to attract your attention. I will not harm her."

"It's just that her half-blind eyes and the injuries all over her body are all thanks to you."

Helia didn't want to say more about this, so she decisively changed the subject: "What do you want from me?"

Tarod pretended to be surprised. "Of course I'm taking revenge on you. Can't you see that? I shouldn't have done that."

"You killed my brother and ruined our plan that we had been planning for many years. If I don't retaliate against you, won't I have to compete with the goddess of mercy for a seat?"

Helia retorted: "Just revenge? I don't think so."

"You are very strong, at least much stronger than I expected. You have not yet revealed all the cards in your hand."

"If you really want to kill me, I will be seriously injured if not killed, and I won't stand here and talk to you."

Tarod: "Maybe I just didn't have time to kill you yet, or maybe I wanted to torture you, so I didn't kill you so quickly."

"What's more, you hold the authority of the gods. If I want to kill you in this place of the imperial palace, I won't be able to protect myself."

He smiled and said, "I don't really want to die with you."

Helia shook her head. "No, it was the assassins sent by Ronald who killed me. You got involved just to delay me and Eric, but you didn't kill me directly."

Tarod: "Your brother is still in a nightmare. Are you sure?"

The smile on Helia's face faded a little. "If anything had happened to my brother, I wouldn't just be standing here talking nonsense with you."

"You value your brother as if he were your own life, and I also value and love my family."

"If you insist on making me experience the pain of losing a loved one, don't blame me for hunting you down at all costs."