Cecilia expected Lucien and his sisters to feel as much anger towards her as they did towards Michael upon hearing her story. However, while their hatred for their father grows, the looks they give her are more of pity.
She was already used to such looks, having seen the sa in the faces of every citizen of her country when she accepted Michael’s terms. But seeing her own daughter look at her that way is very painful.
"Don’t look at like that," she requests of Alia and then the others. "You don’t know how manipulative Michael can be, you have no idea how he used his dark magic in cruel ways..."
The group remains silent and listens to Cecilia’s story with an open mind.
She explains how Michael couldn’t convince the more powerful independent kingdoms all at once, so he focused on each of them individually and their main descendants while his troops delayed the advance of the Silver Legion.
Having reached the Sky Realm, Michael was already the strongest person on that side of Belor, but his dark magic was even more impressive.
Cecilia casts a sorrowful look towards Donna when talking about that. "Your mother was already known at that ti as the Blue Lady of War due to her strength and determination in defending her people, so Michael focused on her first..."
"I don’t know exactly what happened because our kingdoms weren’t close, nor were our families, but Michael probably used the sa thod with all of us."
Cecilia doesn’t hide her resentnt towards Michael as she speaks of how he used his dark magic to enter her mind after her parents died in battle against Silver Legion troops.
He forced her to relive that scene in macabre visions and made her believe that all her people would suffer the sa fate or worse.
Michael made her believe that only by allying with him and, most importantly, giving him a child, which he made clear he would raise with his own insane thods, could she save her people.
It’s evident what happened next, leaving Lucien and his sisters with a bitter taste in their mouths.
While Alia feels even sorrier for her mother, Donna grows angrier at the entire situation.
"So you accepted his offer even knowing what he would do with your children? Your own flesh and blood..." Donna grits her teeth, struggling to contain the urge to lash out at Cecilia.
Lucien understands well how Donna is about to explode with anger along with Wrath, so he hugs her tightly from behind, sending his pleasurable energy to her and receiving her furious energy.
Both Donna and Wrath are grateful to Lucien for being able to share their rage in this way, and it’s only because of them that they manage to calm down.
Cecilia is again surprised by the way Lucien handles his sisters and the Sins, but she tries not to show it and continues telling her story.
"What would you have done in my place?" She asks them but continues imdiately. "I was just a stupid young girl who had just lost her parents..."
Cecilia details how Michael tornted her with his dark magic and made it clear to everyone that she only needed to make one choice to save her people.
"I just needed to sacrifice my family, which besides would be a single individual who hadn’t even been born yet..." She looks at Alia with tearful eyes.
"How could I choose between my happiness and the salvation of thousands of families made up of many individuals... my people, the people who were my responsibility to save..." Cecilia exclaims emotionally.
"..." The room falls into an uncomfortable silence, as no one can truly grasp how dreadful Cecilia must have felt at that ti, and such silence is anything but comforting for her.
Lucien and his sisters can only feel more pity for her, and even Ludmila and Svetlana share similar emotions.
Feeling increasingly worse under all those pitying gazes, Cecilia makes an effort to continue providing the group with all the information they seek.
She recounts how she accepted Michael’s proposal, after which he took control of her kingdom, reducing her to just another one of his servants, obeying all his commands.
"What happened next?" Lucien asks. "Did you know what Michael planned for us? Was soone helping him from the shadows?"
Cecilia looks at Lucien with a curious and even doubtful expression. "Do you think Michael treated like a beloved wife? Or even a damn loyal servant???"
Her emotions are evident as she recalls those dark days, and Lucien tries to contain his feelings, bombarded with furious energies from Donna and Wrath.
He manages to control himself and speaks to Cecilia in a more friendly tone. "Any information can help us understand what happened then and what’s happening now."
"I see," Cecilia also tries to be more amicable with Lucien. "I too have many unanswered questions, but Michael simply won’t tell anything even if I question him."
She tries to calm down and explains how she and the mothers of Lucien’s other sisters always suspected that Michael was being manipulated by mysterious forces just as he manipulated them.
But he never allowed them to be close to their daughters or to each other. All they did in the years Michael trained his children in the solitary fortress was fight on the front, inspiring their soldiers and buying more ti for Michael.
Cecilia again can’t help but cast a sorrowful look at Alia. "He only let see you on a few rare occasions on your birthday, and it was never out of love..."
"I’m sure it was just so you wouldn’t forget about and feel even more upset about our separation."
As Cecilia speaks, everyone in the room grows increasingly angry at Michael, clearly influenced by Wrath’s aura.
Cecilia resists the insane pain in her heart and continues her story. "Then things got even stranger when you disappeared..."
She explains that Michael never told the mothers of Lucien’s sisters about his plans, and one day just said that they had gone away with the Sins.
Cecilia becos more emotional as she rembers that, but she manages to contain her urge to cry in front of everyone.
"What was I supposed to do?" She asks. "Michael had destroyed from inside just like my daughter, and I didn’t even know where she was anymore..."
"I was alone and broken..." She speaks in a sad tone and looks at Lucien, specifically at his hair. "That’s when she appeared..."
"The woman with red hair?" Lucien can’t help but think aloud.
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