Midnight Affair Side Story 1: Helena

Chapter 5

"Helena, How are you feeling?"

The Duchess asked her daughter who sat opposite her direction. Helena smiled a little.

"It feels a little weird after taking that potion, mother. But will it really work though?"

"I don't know about it, dear. Did you not ask Riftan?"

The woman dropped her gaze at the mention of her former husband's name. She shook her head.

"Not at all. I didn't really want to talk to him that much."

The Duchess sighed.

"Are you still upset?"

"It's not like that… whenever I face him, I feel like everything I've fought so hard to get rid of comes back to me. Moreover, he's being so nice like he always did… It's kind of uncomfortable… I prefer him not behaving like that.."

"That's because he adores you, dear. You also know he's not nice to everyone. Anyhow, you can treat him however you are comfortable with."

He adores you.

Helena looked at her plate while forcing a smile. If he did adore her so, why did he do the most hurtful to her.. After a while of being silent, Helena forgot about the old conversation and started a new one.

"Mother, from now on, may I go to the ball with you too?"

The Duchess looked a bit shocked to hear that. Helena never once asked to have her presence attended at any social gatherings or ball. She was scared of how people would look at her and to hear the gossip from them. The Duchess felt so bad yet happy for her child.

"What made you think of attending the ball party, dear?"

"If I attend the ball, I may be able to see a friend of mine."

"A friend?"

The Duchess repeated her daughter's word as Helena was smiling and nodded happily.

"Yes. A friend I knew when I went on the trip. He told me to attend social gatherings."

"A man??"

Helena opened her eyes wide, waved her hands hurriedly to reject the thought her mother had in mind. It was rare for a man to be friends with a woman.

"He really is a friend! He's a good person.. too."

"How would you know if he was a good person, child?"

Helena gulped a little. She could understand why her mother had asked that. She had her lesson. With someone who she saw as a sister. But Theor was different… he wasn't so sweet but rather straight to the point, the words that fell off his lips were all logistics and mannered, a basic trait a human should have. He didn't sugarcoat her either.

"Ah… that's because he's honest.. and he has a different mindset from our society.. I really appreciate him for that…" 

The Duchess was taking time to think. Helena wasn't the type of person to catch on to people's motives fast like some people do, that was why the Duchess couldn't believe her confirmation of the mysterious man too soon. But it's great that she is trying to fight her weakness, thanks to him.

"Since this is summer, there'll be a lot of balls and parties, dear. I'll tell the maids to prepare your looks when it's the time to go."

"Yes."

From then on, the sick lady who never had the gut to join social gatherings showed up from time to time. It was a bit of pressure at first since people put all their evil gazes on her but Helena tried to put on a strong mask to ignore them with the help of her mother... and her ex-husband.