Helena's Gift

I did what the instructions said about how to use the Speculum but I'm worried that I might've done something wrong. It is getting foggy as we wait. Then it flashes. We can see Zaori's face now. She looks bored, lying on her sofa.

"Well, hello," she says, her voice echoing.

"Say hi to her," I whisper to Helena.

"H. . . hi," she greets shyly.

"Oh, if it isn't my daughter." She forces herself to smile. "You look beautiful, my darling. Just like me."

I want her to know what I named her so I say, "Her name is—"

"No, let her say it."

"Alright then," I agree, a little bit annoyed. I forgot how annoying she is.

"What's your name, darling?"

Looking to the side, Helena timidly says, "I. . . my name is. . . Helena." Her voice was so quiet when she uttered her name.

"Don't be shy. Say your name a little louder so I can hear."

"Helena," she says twice as loud but it was still too quiet.

"What a beautiful name your father thought of." It was Nisha who thought of it but it is unnecessary to say. "Very fitting for a beautiful flower." She smiles at Helena but then turns dead serious. "But I want you to be a thorny flower, darling. As my only daughter, you must live up to my expectation. Don't be a disappointment."

Helena trembles and gets out of my lap. She runs back into the room and Nisha tries to console her.

Meanwhile, I talk to Zaori. "Easy there. You scared her."

She sighs and rolls her eyes. "You called me at the worst time possible, my hubby."

"I'm not your 'hubby' anymore. And what's going on with you? You look wasted."

"Just fought a neighbor, got injured pretty badly." She shows me her abdomen with a fiery gaping hole. "But I won, of course."

"Bloody hell! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine, relax. It just takes longer to heal."

"When will it heal?"

"About a decade, I think."

"Ugh, that sucks."

"I know."

"So, what do think about our daughter?"

"She's adorable and I want to speak to her more but not now. I don't wanna show her this. Also, my mood is swinging every now and then because of the pain. Good job killing that Carmilla, by the way."

"It was nothing," I lie to sound cool in front of her.

"As if," she scoffs, not buying it. "So, what did you do to her body?"

"I took it as my Frame."

"Don't be dumb, you can't use her yet. She's hundreds of levels higher than you. You could've destroyed it so it won't fall into the wrong hands."

I transform into her to show her I can use it. Her eyes widen.

"What is that Frame?" she asks.

"It's Carmilla's Frame."

"Then you must be high-level now."

"Nope. I'm level 86. And this Frame is level 86 too."

"What about your other Frames?"

I tell her the levels of my Frame and she calculates them.

"But that would give you more than your Frame User Level," she reasons. "What did you do?"

"I don't know, I just discovered it after I took Algron as my Frame."

"Maybe it's a bug."

"Bug? A roach or something?"

"No, you imbecile. The 'bug' I am talking about is an error in the system."

"Oh. . ."

"I've never heard of this before." We think hard about it for a few seconds. "I'll think about that later. Anyway, how are you?"

"Fine but worried."

"Is it because I'm gonna obliterate you when we duel?"

"No. It's because of Helena. Do I have to bring her along with me?"

"Of course. I thought Lucy already explained it to you."

"She did but—"

"She's stronger than you, you know. I blessed her with the power of the Crystal Lily. I bet you already witnessed it yourself."

I think about the times when Helena tantrums. "There have been some cases, actually."

"How is it?" No doubt that face of hers want me to tell her the trouble I went through so she could laugh.

"I have nothing against her barrier. I eventually give in to what she wants that's why she's so spoiled. But Nisha can make her listen."

"Who's— Oh, that vampire. Lucy told me about her." She half-smiles. "Found a new 'toy', haven't you?"

"Shut up, I don't treat her that way. We're party mates and that's all."

"Party mates? You didn't marry her?"

"I didn't."

"Why?"

"I don't like that idea."

"I suggest you create a harem to level up faster."

"I won't resort to that. I will beat you with my own strength."

"Suit yourself. I won't hold back, you know."

"Whatever." She doesn't scare me one bit. I believe I will beat her. Just give me time.

"I will send you a file on how to train Helena. Train her well. You will need her power someday."

"I don't know about that. She's just a child. I can't use her for my own gain."

"Of course, you can. She's your daughter."

"As far as I know, parenthood doesn't work that way."

"Alright." She rolls her eyes.

"So, is that all that you want to talk about?"

"Helena always wanted to talk to you, you know, and you just brushed her away like that."

"Right, I'm sorry." She's frowning in pain while rubbing her eyebrows. "Can I talk to her again?"

"Helena!" I call for her. "Your mother wants to talk to you. Come here." Nisha has to carry her all the way here. She's too scared now. How will Zaori talk to her now? "Sit here," I say as I leave the chair. She takes my place.

"I'm sorry about earlier, my darling," says Zaori, smiling widely. "Pins and needles were bugging me but it's okay now. How you've been doing, Helena?" She's not answering and looking somewhere else. "I wish I could touch your cheeks. You're so chubby. And your hair, I bet it's so soft. Oh, your dress too! It looks good on you. Where did you get it? Can you tell me?"

Helena looks at me for a moment. I nod, encouraging her to talk.

"Papa made it," she says.

"He did?"

It was easy to make, to be honest. All I had to do is buy a blueprint from a seamstress, collect the necessary items, and convert them into a dress.

Both of them talk a lot after Zaori regained Helena's trust. She unlocked Helena's mode which I like to call, "Speech mode" where she would just talk about anything that comes into her mind. Sometimes, she repeats them unconsciously. I could only entertain her for a few minutes while Nisha could do so for over an hour. It seems Zaori is doing good as well. Is this normal for girls or it's just that I'm the only one not used to this?

"Be a good girl and train hard, okay?" says Zaori.

"Mhmm!" Helena nods.

"I will meet you and your Papa on your 95th birthday." That's the time of our duel. "And don't worry, we'll talk once a year." A year is quite long in the real world, but here, it's not a very long time. "Love you, bye!" They kiss each other goodbye even though it's only through the mirror.

"I love you, Mama," Helena byes.

"Bye," I say, showing my face in the mirror.

"Your Majesty," Nisha bows.

She smiles before the mirror fogs up. And that's the end of it. My little girl leaves the chair, jumping around the house. She's very happy. Oh, she already sent the file.

"Papa, Helena wants to get strong!" she demands, pulling me to the door.

"That can wait. You also need to eat a lot to get strong. Let's eat first and we'll train later." I have to read the file first, after all.

At the table, while eating, I read the file. Wait a minute, is this it? It's only one paragraph. She said she knows the basics because she knew someone who used this power before. The rest is up to Helena to discover. Also, if I want to know more, I can go to the Prudentia Library not far from here. Though we have to pass by two islands to get there.