The Villainess Will Not Bring Dishonor To Her Family

116 - One of Us - Part 2

Helena was the first I met who was reincarnated. I know so for certain because she approached me directly. Disappointingly she is from a different world than mine, and her version of the story was a bit different from mine. More detailed.

Helena got attached to Jesmaine immediately and, just as Helena got attached to Claire the heroine. I did think it was odd back then, but I never considered that she could have been reincarnated. I never got this suspicion confirmed, but her unnaturally fast friendship with Helena despite their differences in status and her interaction with me would suggest Jesmaine is a reincarnated person too. Thus, when Lionel gave me the message I wasn't really surprised about the message, but rather that the Headal king and prince allowed her to have any influence on the battlefield, considering that she is neither married to the Headal crown prince, or a man.

"We should bring Helena Fox. This message pertains to her as well," I inform Lionel as we head towards the battlefield. I don't receive a favorable reaction from him. You can see his shoulders sink and his brows furrow with annoyance at the thought.

"...very well, but a word out of her..." he takes a breath and waves over one of the nearby soldiers.

"Fetch Helena Fox in the Keep. She is to join negotiations with Headal now. She does not have a right to speak and will only be there to observe."

I can't help but to raise an eyebrow at the gleam of irritation lingering in his body language. She must have been pestering him a lot about Jesmaine.

"Yes milord." The soldier runs off in a hurry as Lionel motions me to follow along.

"Ordinarily only father would attend a negotiation where the Headal royalty is to attend, but they insisted that he would not be allowed to attend. They asked that you attended alone." He pauses and watches me closely for a few moments.

"How bold," I respond calmly as he seems to expect an answer out of me. I do not want to share Lionel's possible futures with him, and explaining that I have knowledge of some things that could have happened in this world is something that cannot be discussed so lightly. Seeing as I didn't divulge any information he sighs.

"Of course we refused. We cannot let someone make deals for us. It is our responsibility, and if something goes wrong we need to be there to get you back. Especially since you have yet to recover. After a bit of arguing they seemed to accept my presence at the meeting... so it'll just be the two of us."

He looks uncomfortable with it. The risk is enormous... but it is still better than losing Lord Tepet himself. I'm am not sure why they would allow Lionel when they wouldn't accept Lord Tepet, but it all sounds like a trap. Still, Jesmaine was close friends with the Heroine. Bringing Helena along should make things better... they could have tortured her, but I honestly doubt so. If they know about her reincarnation, then they wouldn't be bringing it up but using it as I had told Helena back when she wanted to use her knowledge of the future. There's just one odd thing...

"Why haven't you blankly refused?"

Lionel visibly straightens up and takes a small breath.

"They offered two days of peace in return if the meeting happens. The rest of today, and the entirety of tomorrow. It would be enough to just barely rest up our soldiers and for people to regain their mana. It is too valuable to decline. We need every day of calm that we can get."

In other words, the Tepet troops were exhausted, and Headal was offering them time to recover... it may not seem like much, but seeing as their main method of getting. Through the Tepet army is by exhausting them, then this is the most valuable thing that they could offer. They must really want this meeting... unexpectedly much... too much... Lionel's grim expression causes a shadow to fall over my own. The risk of it being a trap is enormous.