Heleny on her chaise longue, her heart burning with resentment towards Carissa.


    Her attendant, Gillian, stood beside her, trying to offerfort.


    "There''s no need to be so upset, Your Highness. Prince Rafael is a man with his own thoughts. He''s merely infatuated with Lady Sinir''s beauty at the moment. I''ve heard she''s the most stunning woman in the capital.


    "When Madam Sinir first nned to marry her, many noble


    families sought her hand. It''s a mystery why Madam Sinir ended up marrying her to General Warren."


    As she dabbed Helen''s tears away with a handkerchief, she continued soothingly, "After all, she is merely a secondhand item. There''s no need for you to be so enraged. If Prince Rafael insists on marrying her, so be it. A beauty from afar is pleasing to the eye, but living with her every day can be tiresome.


    "No matter how beautiful a woman is, if she bes petty and jealous, which man wouldn''t grow weary of her? Prince Rafael will have many concubines. Once her fierce demeanor is revealed, she. may end up being disliked by the prince himself without you having to say a word."


    Helen seethed with anger. "That may be true, but how can a


    dignified prince marry a discarded woman-especially one cast out. by a decayed family? How can I hold my head high in the pce?"


    She had always been strong-willed. In thete king''s entire harem, apart from her sister, she had looked down upon all the other concubines. Even the noble concubine, Dakota, she regarded as insignificant. Dakota''s son, Kendrick, had married a niece from the queen, Kylie''s


    family. Kylie''s natal family, the Quinton family, came from a prestigious background and held significant power in the court.


    Helen''s own daughter, Klera, was also in the midst of ant


    engagement discussion. The list of potential suitors included the sixth son from the Quinton family. The sixth son was from the third branch of the Quinton family.


    Though a legitimate son headed the third branch, he had suffered a fall in his youth that left him with a damaged mind. Now, at forty. years old, he behaved like a child of about seven. Fortunately, he married a kind-hearted woman. She epted his ondition and treated him like the child he was, and also gave him a son and a daughter.


    The sixth son of the Quinton family wasn''t a schr. He couldn''t even pass the state exams. His days were spent ying polo, flying kites, skating, and throwing darts. Recently, he had taken up gardening as a hobby.


    Helen, of course, looked down upon him. She hoped Kiera would marry someone knowledgeable and respectable, not someone frivolous and inept like the Quinton family''s sixth son.


    However, the Quinton family was willing to marry off their sixth son to Kiera because once she was married to him, he could no longer hold a significant position in court. He could either find a minor official post or live out his days in idle leisure, wasting his life away.


    Previously, Salvador spoke about this, indicating that he was satisfied with Quinton''s family''s sixth son. Even Kiera had stolen. nces at him, and had fallen for him.


    Helen found herself torn. She wanted to ally with the Quinton family, but she didn''t want her daughter to marry a wastrel.


    With both her children''s marriages proving unsatisfactory, how could a woman as strong-willed as her bear it?


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    Consumed with anger, she ordered, "Summon Carissa to the pce tomorrow! I want to see what kind of enchanting vixen she''s be. Even as a discarded woman, she dares to aspire to enter the royal family?!"


    Since convincing Rafael was proving futile, Helen hoped Carissa would retreat upon realizing the difficulty of her situation. Carissa shouldn''t assume that a few military achievements made her exceptional.


    If it had been in the past, Helen might have supported this marriage. Back then, Hector was still alive, and his family hadn''t been


    destroyed yet. The Duke of Northwatch''s family was prominent in the military, and Hector had also supported Rafael.


    But now, times had changed.


    Carissa wasn''t a virtuous woman, nor had a powerful family to back her. What use did she have, apart from her beauty?


    Moreover, she had been sent to Meadow Ridge for training, and had developed a rough and unruly nature.


    How could such a person possibly be the matriarch of Hell


    Monarch''s Estate?


    The thought of it only fueled Helen''s disdain.


    "Also, investigate whether she still has any contact with the Warrens. If she has ongoing interactions with them, it would be a breach of propriety. Such a woman must never be admitted into our family!" "Understood, Your Highness. I will send someone right away," Gillian responded, and withdrew.