Chapter 331: More Cunning Than Them
Queen Helga stood still for a long moment, her eyes fixed on the door through which her son Reuben had just exited. Her jaw clenched and unclenched, and the light from the sconces caught the sharp lines of her face—beauty turned brittle by fury.
Ceres shifted uncomfortably beside her, wringing her hands. The silence pressed down on her like a weight.
"She’s dangerous," Queen Helga murmured at last, her voice soft but simmering with menace. "That woman... she cannot become the crown princess. She is more cunning than Reuben."
"She’s clever," Ceres said bitterly, voice taut. "Too clever."
"And you let her outmaneuver you."
Ceres flinched, stung. "Mother—"
"You should have planned better. You should have taken into account her instincts. If you’re going to play a serpent’s game, Ceres, you should be cunning. You can’t blink first. You can’t afford to be soft or distracted."
"I wasn’t soft," Ceres protested, eyes brimming with tears she refused to let fall. "I did everything you asked. I did everything right. She switched the cup—I didn’t see it! No one did!"
Helga’s voice was low and sharp. "Then you should have. We cannot afford mistakes. Not in this court. Not with a girl like Lara playing her hand so cleanly while the rest of us are left smeared with filth."
The words landed hard, and Ceres turned her face away, jaw clenched. A single tear slipped down her cheek, but she wiped it away quickly, refusing to appear weak.
Helga studied her daughter with a calculating gaze. "You still want Alaric?"