Cloud Thinking

Chapter 325 Blood Feast 1

Yolief looked at her in silence for a moment, as if trying to discern the emotion in her eyes.

Then he smiled lightly, brushing off her words as a joke.

"What are you talking about?" He held Helia's hand that was resting on his cheek, and felt the warmth in his palm. "Even if there are risks, it is my voluntary choice."

He smiled brightly, his eyes gleaming with sincerity: "Besides, if it weren't for you, I don't know what kind of person I would be now!"

Helia knew that Yoriff was trying to comfort her and tell her not to feel guilty.

Everything was his choice, and no matter what the outcome was, she didn't need to blame herself.

She lowered her eyelashes, her voice calm and cold: "You only have this one chance to regret it."

If she missed this chance, she would never have another—her conscience didn't often get in her way.

Yoliev smiled helplessly.

He could see clearly that Helia was using him, but he could also see that she cared about him.

That's enough.

His mother left too early and he has no brothers or sisters, so he is now alone.

Among the few people he cared about, Helia occupied an important position.

Just like his mother would turn against Wagers for him, didn't she foresee the possible outcome of being murdered?

Of course she thought of it.

But for the sake of her own flesh and blood, for the only thought in this world, she still did it.

In this respect, he is very much like his mother.

Once you recognize your family, you must protect them even at the cost of your own life.

He gently lifted Helia's chin, allowing her to raise her head. He leaned forward slightly, resting his forehead against hers.

“Once you’ve made a decision, don’t hesitate. Believe in yourself and move forward.”

He forced Helia to look him in the eye, trying to convey the fire in his eyes to her.

"This is the motto my teacher told me when I discovered I had a talent for magic. It was also the opportunity that led me to embark on the path of magic, and it was also..."

"This is what my mother always said. She hopes that I will be brave, confident, strong and move forward."

"Now, I give this to you."

Helia blinked slowly, but ultimately said nothing.

She closed her eyes, unable to bear looking at the young face that made her feel guilty, and just stretched out her arms to wrap around his neck and gave him an apologetic hug.

This hug contained thousands of words: concern for his future, guilt for using him, respect for his choice, and unconditional support for him.

Her arms tightened slightly, as if she wanted to convey all her complicated emotions through this hug.

Yolief hugged her back, patting her back gently with his palm.

The two of them hugged each other quietly, without any words, and all the understanding and tolerance melted in this silent hug.

-

Fifteen days later, at the residence of Marquis Frank.

The entire mansion was ablaze with lights, as if it were daytime. Thousands of crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, each holding hundreds of beeswax candles, illuminating the ballroom with a golden splendor.

Gilded wall lamps extend all the way along the corridor, casting luxurious light and shadow on the walls inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

The banquet had a total of one hundred tables, stretching for hundreds of meters.

Each dining table was covered with gold-embroidered silk brought from the Tulton Dynasty, with intricate family crests embroidered on it with real gold thread.

The sterling silver cutlery gleamed coolly in the candlelight, and next to each set of cutlery were three crystal wine glasses for different purposes—the largest for red wine, the medium for white wine, and the smallest for champagne.

The walls are hung with ancestral tapestries, embroidered with gold and silver threads to depict the glorious history of the Frank family.

The ceiling was painted with a fresco of a feast of gods, every stroke of which was inscribed with real gold dust. The marble floor was covered with a thick Persian rug, intricately embroidered with gold thread, and it was soft and silent underfoot.

The precious ornaments everywhere are dazzling: the ivory carved chess set is placed on the gold-inlaid coffee table in the corner, the blue and white porcelain vase contains fresh roses that have just been shipped from the south by express horse this morning, and the gilded clock ticks on the mantelpiece.

Even the trays carried by the waiters were made of pure silver, and on them were placed delicacies from all over the world: ice-aged wines from the frost plains, candied dates from the desert oases, deep-sea caviar from the coastal city-states, and rare birds and animals cooked with spices shipped from the far east.

The musicians played melodious music under the pillars, with the sounds of harp and flute intertwined.

The air was filled with the mixed aroma of perfume, food and flowers. The jewels on the ladies sparkled in the light, and the gems inlaid on the hilts of the gentlemen's swords sparkled with dazzling brilliance.

This extreme luxury is just like a nouveau riche who suddenly becomes rich and can't wait to show all his wealth to others.

But as the Frank family's farewell party, such extravagance and waste were just to maintain the little dignity that was left.

The guests present all understood it tacitly, but they saw it but did not say it out loud.

Helia wore the same dark green dress she had worn to Carter's College's freshman dance—a gift from Yoriff.

Her long hair, as silvery as moonlight, was elegantly tied up with an emerald hairpin, revealing her swan-like neck.

She held a feather fan in her hand to lightly cover the lower half of her face, revealing behind the lace mask only a pair of emerald eyes that were very similar to Yolif's.

Just like when she first met Yoliv.

Even though her face was completely covered, her tall, perfect figure and extraordinary temperament still attracted the attention of most people present.

The guests all pestered Yoliv, trying to find out the identity of this mysterious beauty.

Those emerald eyes were clearly the hallmark of the Yoliv family; perhaps a distant cousin?

Now that Yolifu is about to fall into poverty, he can't just wander around with such a beauty, right? It's better to give it to them. They will carefully nurture this delicate flower with gold, silver and jewels to help it bloom.

Yolief maintained a polite smile, holding his wine glass and patiently declining every attempt, but in his heart he sneered:

A bunch of idiots, they don't even know how they're going to die...

Helia paced leisurely in the banquet hall, her emerald eyes occasionally flashing an inhuman ice-blue light as she scanned the faces of each guest with precision, like a ruthless scanner.

[Master, all facial scans are complete, ready to receive data! ]

Xiao Si used Helia's right eye to scan the information of all the guests, compared them one by one with the original content, and locked on those damned targets.

The machine is extremely efficient, the only drawback is that Xiao Si only has information on characters that appear in the original work, and it is difficult to judge characters outside the original work.

Helia blinked gently, and her vision suddenly changed: name tags appeared above everyone's head.

The ones marked in red by Xiao Si are the targets for tonight, and he even thoughtfully added a small grave icon.

Those that do not appear in the original work are displayed as question marks.

If Helia obtains new information, Xiao Si can update the database in a timely manner.

She is like Xiao Si's eyes in this world, using her body to collect information outside the original work to improve the database.

Rich data can allow Xiao Si to upgrade and gain more permissions.

It's a win-win.

Helia changed her cold attitude since entering the venue and approached and spoke to the guests who had question marks on their faces.

Her excellent eloquence allowed her to quickly obtain a lot of information.

However, due to his dazzling appearance, many ladies cast vague hostile glances at him, with vigilance and jealousy intertwined in their eyes, as sticky as reptiles.

Helia paid no attention to the looks.

Why bother about a dying person?

Yoriff was exhausted from dealing with gossipmongers and shameless people who coveted Helia.

In the end, it was his old friend Rant who rescued him from the crowd.

Rand and Yoliv were once like-minded friends. Unfortunately, after the Rand family declined, Wagers, who controlled the Frank family, looked down on such small families. He drove away Rand who came to visit him several times, both openly and secretly. He no longer bothered to bother others.

Now that he heard what happened to Yoliv, although Rand was a little angry, he was more worried about his friend.

Having seen Yoliv's situation over the years through rumors, and seeing it with his own eyes today, he felt even more guilty.

"What's wrong, Rant?" Yoliv was pulled to a secluded place. The banquet not far away made the place seem even more deserted.

Lant stared at Yoliv for a long time and sighed, "I'm sorry, I should have come to see you sooner."

Yoliv chuckled and patted his shoulder. "Why apologize? This is my family matter, it has nothing to do with you. Don't blame yourself."

These words were said with deliberate distance, and Lant naturally understood them.

Lant's body froze, and he smiled bitterly, "I won't comment on your family affairs. Now that it's settled, I'm sure you've already found a way out."

He brushed Yoriff's hand away and looked him straight in the eyes.

"As an old friend, I just want to remind you—" He said with a serious expression, "Be careful with that princess. She is not as innocent as she appears. She..."

Before he could finish his words, Lant's mouth was suddenly covered.

Yolifu's eyes burned with anger, and he lowered his voice and shouted, "Who allowed you to talk about her?!"

Rand was in disbelief.

In all the years they had known each other, Yolief had never lost his temper with him, and had never even said a harsh word to him.

Now, this attitude of defending Helia deeply hurt his heart.

He took a deep breath, his face filled with anger, pushed Yoliv away, and left angrily without saying a word.

Yoliev bumped into the wall and felt pain in his left shoulder, but he just watched Lant's receding back coldly.

"Why did you start fighting?"

Helia's voice suddenly rang out, startling Yoriff, but he quickly recovered and waved his hand, saying that nothing was wrong.

"It's been so long since we last met. He must have realized what a jerk I've become." He rubbed his left shoulder and sneered, "It was right to break off diplomatic relations back then."

Helia walked slowly around the corner, her eyes calm and gentle beneath the lace mask. To anyone who saw her, she looked like an elegant and intellectual noble lady.

But the next words made Yoliv's heart tighten: "He is quite sincere towards you."

She reached out and rubbed his shoulders, using just the right amount of force, but it made Yoliev's back stiffen.

She heard it all.

"He dares to say that to your face, it's obvious that he hates me!" Yoliv said angrily.

Helia chuckled twice and patted his shoulder with her slender hand in a white lace glove. She said nothing, but it said a thousand words.

She saw that Yolief had interrupted Rant to protect him.

He knew Helia was listening and was afraid that Lant would say something disrespectful and anger her, bringing disaster upon himself.

Even though he didn't think Helia was bloodthirsty, before this incident, he never imagined that she would be the killer who massacred the nobles.

What if Lan Te is on the list?

Yoriff didn't dare to gamble.

He stopped Lant out of consideration for their old friendship, and made it clear that he stood on Helia's side, hoping that Lant would interact with him again.

Now that he is in a difficult situation, Lant will suffer disaster if he intervenes.

"By the way, brother, what's his name?" Helia suddenly asked, looking at the figure that had disappeared in the crowd.

Yoliv's face looked calm, but his heart was in turmoil.

I'm not really confirming whether he is on the list...

He could only pray that it wasn't.

"Lant Walsh." Yoriff told the truth.

He had never felt Helia was so strangely unfamiliar as she was at that moment.

When his gaze passed over Lant's shoulder and caught sight of Helia hidden in the shadow of the column, his body stiffened uncontrollably, almost instinctively—a completely suppressed sense of fear spread throughout his body like ice.

The pair of emerald eyes, similar to his own, flickered faintly in the dim light, like a hungry wolf ready to pounce in the dark night, sending out a dangerous signal of preparing to hunt and eat.

At that moment, he suddenly felt that he had become the most vulnerable prey, and out of the instinct for survival, he was afraid of his precious sister.

At this moment, Helia completely hid her true nature beneath a mask of elegance, leaving only a carefully crafted hypocritical shell.

The smiling corners of the lips and the gentle eyes are all flawless disguises, making it impossible to guess what kind of thoughts are hidden under the mask.

She stood there, like a doll carved from ice and snow, beautiful but cold.

The candlelight flowed around her body, but could not illuminate her bottomless eyes.

Lant was right, Helia was definitely not a good person.

Her life experience was destined to have her hands stained with blood.

He can understand, but that doesn't mean he can accept it.

He supports Helia in doing whatever she wants and is willing to be a pawn in her hands.

but……

Besides being a tool, he is also a family member.

He cared about her and cared about her, so he felt heartbroken when he saw her in such a strange appearance, and the overwhelming guilt almost drowned him.

How much did she go through to become like this...

He also hoped that Helia would always be as sunny and bright as when they first met, brighter than the sun.

But things and people have changed. Even if we stand at the place where we first met, facing each other, we are no longer the same two people, nor are we in the same mood as before.

Helia stared at the flickering question mark above the other person's head as it gradually solidified into words, and then watched with her own eyes as the name was stained with a faint red. Her eyes narrowed slightly and she fell into deep thought.

Yolief suddenly sighed and, as if on a whim, introduced Lant: "He's actually not a bad person, he just has a pair of jerk parents."

"Growing up in a family like that, he was lucky not to have grown up in a bad way. If I had been able to help him back then, he wouldn't be so unknown."

Since Helia had seen through his thoughts and sensed something was wrong in her subtle expression, Yoriff felt that he had to fight for a chance of survival for this old friend and confidant.

"Oh...?" Helia's tone dragged out exceptionally long, as if expressing curiosity and suspicion.

"There's a hereditary mental illness in their family, and their minds aren't quite right." Yolief pointed to his temple. "His parents are even more insane. They often beat and scold the servants. Almost every day, servants are dragged out in bloody messes."

"The brothers and sisters are even more perverted than the other. Putting people in sacks and tying them to horses and dragging them is considered a minor offense. He has a sister who specializes in collecting women's... breasts..."

He didn't continue speaking, but his frown made it clear what he wanted to say.

He rubbed his forehead and said, "In short, they are just a bunch of lunatics..."

These words did indeed imply a plea for Rand's mercy. If Helia had no reason to kill him, he hoped she would show some mercy.

After all, Rand is a poor man just like him.

Joriv worked for himself, and his request was indeed worthy of attention.

only……

"I can't bet on the chance of a sane person emerging from a den of madmen."

Her voice was very soft, as light as a falling feather, but it was just such a light sentence that determined a person's life or death.

Yolief just frowned slightly and said nothing more.

Since he chose to help Helia, he must carry out this promise to the end.

If he changed his mind at this moment and went against Helia, not only would he fail to protect her, but he would also completely lose her trust.

From the moment he invited Lant to the banquet, he had implicitly placed him within Helia's hunting range—this was true for all the guests tonight.

He looked at Lant's figure in the distance, a barely perceptible pain flashed in his eyes, but he did not look away in the end.

The candlelight cast flickering shadows on his face, hiding his struggle and determination in the interweaving of light and shadow.