Return of the General's Daughter-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?"

Ceres did not hesitate, "Yes."

"Then you’ll stop mourning this mistake and start plotting your next move. Do you understand?"

Ceres nodded slowly.

"Louder."

"Yes, Mother."

Helga stepped forward, cupping her daughter’s face. Her hands were cold, her touch strangely gentle. "I made you for this. Though you were not born in a palace, you were raised as a princess. But that girl... that Lara, she spent the best years of her youth in the jungle. How could she outsmart you?"

"I got it, Mother. She’s clever, but not invincible," Ceres said, newfound steel in her voice. "She definitely has a weakness, and I will find it."

They stood in silence again, both lost in their own thoughts.

"What about Mira?"

Helga smirked. "Let Reuben keep her. She’s no threat. Just another broken girl caught in a royal web." Queen Helga’s eyes brightened. "But maybe, we can use her as a pawn. Her biological father is a general, and her adoptive father is also a general."

A smile bloomed on the Queen’s face. "It would be interesting when two generals with the same surname would battle for glory."

As they walked out of the room, Ceres looked back once—just once—at the place where Mira had fallen, at the bed where her plan had collapsed. But there was no regret in her eyes.

Only resolve.

The palace corridors were dim, gilded with moonlight and silence. Percival and Peredur were supporting Mira, and Gideon was following behind. They were trailing behind Eldest and the youngest Norse.

Lara walked a step ahead of Asael, her pace slow and graceful, the silk of her gown whispering against the marble floors. The soft glow of torchlight danced on the edges of her hair, giving her the air of someone impossibly composed, untouchable—yet Asael knew better.

He had been watching. Reading.

"Lara," he said quietly, once they were far from the scandal-soaked room. "You knew."

She didn’t stop walking.

"Knew what?" Her voice was mild, nonchalant.

"That the tea was drugged. That it wasn’t meant for Mira. That you were the target."

A soft, almost imperceptible smile curved Lara’s lips. "It wasn’t the tea that was drugged. It was the teacup meant for me."

Asael took a deep breath. He felt that his chest tightened.

Lara turned then, slowly, finally meeting his gaze. Her eyes—those cool, calculating orbs that mirrored the one in front of her—held neither guilt nor pride. Just the truth.

"I’ve lived with a master for two years. I knew just by the scent that there was something wrong with that cup."

Asael studied her. "You swapped the cups."

"Brother, I protected myself," she said calmly. "Nothing more."

She glanced at the man walking with a straight back beside her.

"Too bad, it is my cousin...your sister who wanted to harm me. She reaped what she sowed."

"Silly girl. We only have one sister." Asael said, his voice was doting but a storm was brewing in his eyes. "She tried to harm you, and that’s unforgivable." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Lara let out a slow breath. "Don’t worry, Brother, Mira already paid the price."

There was a beat of silence.

"Did you want this?" he asked.

Lara tilted her head. "Define ’this.’"

"Mira ruined. Reuben humiliated. Princess Ceres exposed. You emerging untouched—untouchable."

"I wanted to survive," Lara said quietly. "But I’ll admit... Reuben and Mira’s shame was a satisfying consequence."

Asael looked ahead, hands clasped behind his back. "You’re dangerous."

Lara gave a soft laugh. "Didn’t you know that yet? We fought side by side in Meander Pass. Perhaps I inherited that from you, Brother."

"But I am not as brave and dangerous. Not like you."

"No," she agreed. "You still think in lines. I think in spirals."

They reached the end of the corridor, the night pressing in through the tall windows like a held breath. Asael stopped, turning toward her.

"Our father will be here tomorrow. If this scandal explodes in the wrong direction, it could ruin our reputation and that of the crown prince. Do you understand what’s at stake?"

Lara faced him calmly. "Yes. That’s why I kept quiet tonight. Why I didn’t cry, or beg, or expose Ceres on the spot. Because I know the balance is fragile."

"You think you’re in control," he said.

"Ha ha," Lara chuckled softly. "No. But I know how to pretend until the real power arrives."

Asael studied her again. She was young—but already too wise. He still could not believe that the sister she used to dote on had changed too much. She was tempered like steel. She no longer needed him to shield her like she used to.

Ahh..Jethru, what did you do to my sweet little sister?

But when he searched deep inside his heart, he knew that he was proud of what his sister had become.

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