Chapter 316: You Can Shine Again
"Everything is not over yet. You still have a very promising future ahead of you. King Neville and Samuel will surely support you. Don’t you think it’s high time to grow out of your mother’s shadow and be in the limelight in the path of your choosing? Didn’t you say you wanted to be the best scholar in Obrusca, and even perhaps Eliora someday?"
Arabella gave a bit of a push. It was up to Lucille how she would interpret this.
"Why? Why are you saying this? Shouldn’t you be angry at me?" Lucille asked in confusion. She wondered if Arabella was stupid or simply naive.
"I was. I was furious and felt betrayed after learning you were the one who tried to set me up. I’m annoyed that you even worked with Carmella. I’m angry that you are using other people to commit crimes and terrible things. And I don’t like it that you are copying your mother," Arabella said and Lucille was wide-eyed.
"I will never-" Lucille paled when she realized Arabella was right. The way she had been acting was just like her mother’s.
[Did I have that obsessive and hateful look in my eyes too?!] She recalled the gaze she hated seeing in her mother’s eyes.
"The Lucille I used to know was so much brighter. She works hard to learn and do something she wanted and smiles dazzlingly when she accomplishes it. I liked that Lucille better. Your mother may be living in the past, but you shouldn’t be. Why won’t you show her what you can do? You can shine again. I’m sure, if it’s you, you can do it. Maybe, someday, you will even be able to wake your mother up to live in the present."
Arabella told Lucille that she didn’t need to do things alone. That she shouldn’t shoulder everything on her own.
Samuel was there ready to listen and support her.