Stepmothers Are Not Always Evil

Chapter 111 “…….”The loneliness of young Helios was evident in every single letter he wrote.I seemed to know what kind of heart he had when he drew this picture.Because I also lost my mother, too.‘Helios said he lost his mother when he was younger than me…’Come to think of it, I knew very little about Helios.Even if he pretended to be strong on the outside, but vulnerable on the inside.“Oh my God, when did this…”Mrs. Rotney sighed long as she looked over the worn painting over my shoulder.“After the former Duchess passed away, he never talked about his mother, so I thought it was okay….”Tears welled up in the corners of her wrinkled eyes. I handed her the handkerchief without saying a word.“Let’s pretend we didn’t see this.”Helios would be ashamed to know.I nodded as I asked Mrs. Rotney with a faint smile.“I will do as you say.”I said, putting the paper back in between the books.“You had a hard time showing me around, you can go now. I’m going to look around a bit more.”“Call me if you need anything.”Mrs. Rotney took the handkerchief I had given her and left the room.Left alone, I squatted in front of the collapsed bookcase. The bottom drawer door was half open as the bookcase crumbled.I carefully opened the interlocked drawer and saw a small box. Inside the box were an old doll, a toy sword, and a small card.The card, embroidered with colorful flowers, was engraved with the words ‘Happy 7th birthday to my son’.… How did his little son feel?My heart was pounding, and after fiddling with the card for a while, I put it back into the box.I wanted to move it to a safe place because it should not be thrown away when changing the bookshelf, so I put the box on the bookshelf and looked around the library.‘There’s graffiti here, too.’Behind the curtains, on the bookshelves, next to the couch. Everywhere I looked, there was Helios’ graffiti.Apparently, this place was the refuge of Helios.Looking for traces left by Helios in every corner of the room, my eyes stopped at the graffiti written on the inside of the fireplace.‘Hungry.’What, did you starve him, too?“No, why does this family starve their children?”Do you say eating is the worst thing in the world?I was so angry that I wanted to swear at the portrait of the dead Duke.Just when I was about to leave the room, thinking I’d tell the kitchen to make a very nice dinner.“What are you doing?”Helios entered the room.“He-Helios. You’re home already?”“I wanted to see you, so I came quickly.”Helios whispered softly and took a step forward.As if to prove that he had just returned, I smelled of dirt from his outdoor clothes.Helios, who stood in front of me, looked down at me and asked.“What were you doing here?”“I looked at what books there were.”Helios stared at me slowly, as if judging the truth of my words.“Is that all?”“Then what else are you going to do in here?”“But why is Mrs. Rotney like that?”He asked me, I pretend I didn’t know, but he couldn’t stand it.“Wh-what about Mrs. Rotney? When she was with me, nothing happened.”“She had your handkerchief.”“…….”Oh no.When I shut my mouth at the frank look, Helios narrowed his eyes and urged me on.“What happened? Tell me.”“Well, it’s just that…..”I don’t know. I grabbed his hand and led him towards the fireplace.“Come here.”I asked, standing him in front of the fireplace, pointing to the graffiti on the inside.“You wrote this, right?”“… Right. When I was young, I was bored and wrote it down.”“You scribble about being hungry because you’re bored?”“…….”“Did the Duke starve you?”Helios smiled bitterly, the tide of battle turned. I grabbed his hand to keep him from running away and questioned him.“Tell me, did the Duke lock you in this for being a troublemaker and not feed you?”“I……”Helios continued with an embarrassed smile, like a child who had been caught red-handed.“I was 13 years old, and after fighting with my father, he locked me in the study room for three days for rebellion, that’s when I wrote it.”“What did you fight about and starve yourself for three days?”“I don’t remember, just that it was a small thing.”Helios avoided an answer, perhaps because he didn’t want to think about it. I glanced at him like that, and suddenly put my hand on his cheek.Looking back, it seems that I never wondered what kind of person Helios Anthemion was.All I knew was that he was the indifferent father for Escal, who turned a blind eye to Lenia Evelyn’s evil deeds.I was sorry beyond words that I hadn’t realized sooner that he was pretending to be okay didn’t mean you really were.“I think I’m glad I came to this castle.”“Why?”“I got to know you a little better.”I lifted my heel and kissed Helios’ lips. Blinking at the unexpected surprise, he grabbed my shoulder and lowered his head.A strong scent different from last night hit me like a wave.His teeth brushed against my swollen lower lip. He bit my lip just enough to hurt, then released it, sucking in my breath hungrily.“Lena.”A tingle ran down my spine at the sound of his voice. Helios loosened the straps of my dress and pushed me back against the desk.He ripped off the gloves I’d been wearing, biting into the hem of the clothes.Unlike my ignorance of him, Helios knew me too well.“Ugh…”A long finger touched a sensitive area.Every time the stiff knight’s sleeves lightly touched my thighs, which had a lot of strength, a moan leaked out through my teeth.The sweltering heat rushed to his lower abdomen became tense as if it was about to explode.I hugged his neck like a lifeline and closed my eyes. The sound of unbuckling stimulated my extremely sensitive hearing.This is, too, dangerous.It feels like my brain is melting. All of a sudden, my back was completely on the desk.Just a little more. Please, stop. Stop, no, don’t stop.I couldn’t tell if the words were coming out of my mouth or running through my head. In a fierce battle between instinct and reason.“Ah…!”My vision went white, and the pleasure swept over me like a wave.Eventually, the collapsed upper body pushed the books stacked on the desk. Old books spilled under the desk, but neither Helios nor I cared.“… Hah, Lena.”His voice split in several directions. I tried to answer, but all that came out of my mouth were fragments of an unclear moan.This wasn’t the plan..I bit my tongue and lifted my closed eyelids. There was a feral gleam in his eyes, an obsession for lack of a better word.He wouldn’t let me go so easily.I thought about it even though I couldn’t make up my mind. Tears streamed down the corners of my eyes, unconsciously. Helios licked my wet cheeks.“He…Helios… now stop… Ah..”“Not yet.”Seriously, it was one of the scariest words I’ve ever heard. As soon as I took a short breath, the stimulation started again.I clung to the hem of his robe, barely able to hold on, and Helios nibbled on my earlobe and whispered.“So, who cares about other people’s boxes?”“T-that’s explain… ah!”“It’s a punishment. Be patient.”I squinted at the box that had fallen on the floor with the book and held back tears.Helios pushed me wildly without giving me a chance to make an excuse. The old desk creaked and started to shriek.What if someone sees me like this?Mrs. Rottney knows I’m here, and if Dustin finds Helios, or if Mary comes to call for me…“—Mom.”“……!”Worst.I stiffened at the sound of Escal’s voice outside the door.“Mom, can I come in?”When there was no answer, Escal called me again.I looked at Helios with a feeling of wanting to cry. Unlike me, who didn’t know what to do, he smiled softly.“Uh, what should we do? Helios.”“Don’t worry. The door is locked.”“That’s not going to solve it!”I pushed Helios away with all my might, and clasped the ragged strings with my hands, shouting.“Es-Escal, would you like to go to your room for a second? Uh, Mom’s will be right there!”“Yes.”As soon as I confirmed that the sound of footsteps had gone away, the strength in my legs was relieved. Helios gently hugged me as I sat on the floor and lifted me up.“Next time, we’ll finish it at night.”