Some happy moments

Helen smiled and said, "Of course they do. There have always been speculations about you, some even worse than being the queen's daughter. But now everyone seems convinced you are our princess." "How could I have been so disrespectful? I should curtsy to my princess." she added, standing up and doing a rather graceful curtsy.

"Sit your graceful ass down before I break your legs." Aria said with a laugh, wincing and shutting up when her jaw wound stretched.

Helen sat down laughing and Aria was grateful for that. First, it proved that she didn't believe that Aria was the queen's daughter, and secondly, because her laugh had covered the sound of Aria's wince. "I can't believe the night warriors came up with something as stupid as the queen's long lost daughter. And the people really believe it!!" she continued, and Aria realized with a start that Helen actually knew nothing about the queen's daughter. She hadn't been in the parlor when Professor Thomas had told the story, and hadn't probably heard it since, judging from her reaction.

"Umm . . . . . . Helen?" Aria spoke.

"Yeah?" Helen immediately stiffened upon hearing the sudden shift in Aria's voice.

"There actually is. . . " Aria said, "The story about the queen's daughter is actually true." "The night warriors got the wrong person," she continued as Helen's mouth fell open, "I am not the queen's daughter, but she is real. She's out there somewhere, some unknown girl who probably doesn't even know it."

"What . . . Wh-Wh-What do you mean?" Helen finally managed.

Aria explained all that had happened in the parlor that night. She told her everything she knew, how the night warriors had suspected she was Amber's daughter, how they had tried to convince her to join them, how their plot had been to overthrow queen Amber from the inside. Well, everything except the fact that maybe Edmond Christo was the girl's dad.

Aria had decided to keep that information to herself for now. This was the Queen's personal matter, and it would be best if Aria would discuss this with her before saying anything to anyone. Plus, she could be wrong. Edmond hadn't said anything himself, and Aria had no idea how credible Vincent's words were. And she wasn't about to go prattling until she was sure that it really was true.

Aria realized how much time had passed by when Miss Anhao appeared with her breakfast tray. "I could hear you all the way from my office. It's nice to see you happy." she said with a motherly smile, spreading warmth all across Aria's chest, who smiled back.

Aria's smile widened further when she realized that the motion did not really hurt her face, and she was not tired, even after talking to Helen for almost an hour. But Aria let out a groan the next second upon seeing her breakfast. "Why am I still on liquid diet. I'm perfectly fine!!" Aria whined as Miss Anhao set down the tray and began preparing to feed her.

"I believe your definition of perfectly fine needs some revision." Helen spoke with a chuckle, happy to have Aria back and whining about the stupidest of things. "I completely agree with Miss Scott." Miss Anhao spoke with a serious look, "And don't you also need to have breakfast, Miss Scott?" she added.