Helen's Change

When Si Man asked that question, Helen's expression carried a trace of suspicion and wariness.

"Lady Si Man, why have you suddenly taken an interest in Lord Pat?" Helen asked cautiously.

Si Man narrowed her eyes slightly. Looking at Helen's expression, an unpleasant premonition quietly rose within her. "Why do you care so much about my question?"

Helen cleared her throat, her gaze shifting away. "I was just curious. In the past, Lady Si Man never seemed interested in whoever was stationed aboard the Cloud Conch."

Helen's evasive manner made Si Man's face darken. "Don't tell me you've fallen for that boy?"

Helen instinctively waved her hands in denial, but when she saw Si Man's silent gaze, she slowly lowered them again. "I admit that Lord Pat possesses certain qualities that draw me in."

Helen turned her head and leaned against the railing. She looked toward the rising sun amid wispy clouds and pale mist, her gaze utterly candid.

"I wouldn't call it love. After all, although we are on the same ship, we have met very rarely. It's simply that he has things I have never seen in other extraordinary individuals before—erudition, generosity, kindness. I admire those qualities very much."

Si Man said, "So this liking is merely an illusion."

Helen shook her head. "Not necessarily. But... it doesn't matter now."

"Why not?"

"Different horizons reveal different sights." Helen recalled the banquet on New Year's Eve, and her nighttime conversation with Lord Pat by the ship's rail. She had come to understand many things, and in that instant, she had seen herself clearly.

Si Man did not know what Helen was thinking at that moment, but from the changes in her expression, Si Man saw a sense of release—and the carefree ease that then radiated from her body and