I transmigrated and got a husband and a son!
Chapter 849: Her world

Chapter 849: Her world

"So, who was that man earlier?" Leo inquired out of plain curiosity. "I went out to the garden earlier, and I saw someone with you. I’ve never seen him before."

Hera licked her lips as she put down the tart she had been eating. "He’s my uncle."

"Uncle?" Leo furrowed his brows. "Like... a real uncle or...?"

"Haha. He’s my uncle, though not biologically," she explained, keeping it short and simple. "He’s like a father figure to me, someone who would do anything for me."

"He sounds like a good man."

"He was."

Leo looked at her with conflict in his eyes. "I see."

"To be honest, I don’t know." Hera shook her head as she sighed. "He shouldn’t be here. He should be somewhere else, but seeing him here with Frank... tells me a lot."

Slowly, she raised her gaze to him and forced a smile. "He was the person I was hoping would help us get out of here. If only we’d met under different circumstances, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for his help. But alas, I can’t risk it. Dragon was once a trusted henchman of mine, but look at us now."

"I wouldn’t be surprised if Ram turned out to be like him," she continued. "I’m sorry, Leo."

"I already said it was fine. At this point, I’m not surprised by the changes in people in this place. But did you say Dragon was once your henchman?"

"Mhm."

"If you don’t mind me asking, how?"

"Leo, you don’t know me, or rather, you know very little about Hera Cruel. If you think Dragon is scary, then Hera is three times as crazy as him."

A wave of silence fell between them. Leo found it weird how she talked about herself in the third person’s perspective. But then again, Hera had gone through a lot and nothing normal had ever happened to him since getting abducted.

"In other words, Dragon betrayed his master. Talk about a dog biting the hand that fed it," she added, hoping that would clarify everything.

"Do you know... why he is so obsessed with you?" he asked, this question lingering in his mind for quite some time now. "Who was Hera Cruel before you fell into a coma?"

Another wave of silence washed over them as they stared at each other. Ever since they met, and even after he found out about her scheme, Leo never had the chance to ask such a question. Even during their prolonged time together, they hadn’t delved into her past much. Now that they thought about it, their conversations mostly revolved around Leo, not her.

"Hera... is someone you wouldn’t encounter in this life, even if you wanted to. And even if you were given a chance, unless you’re not scared to lose your life, you wouldn’t seize the opportunity," she said. "It might be hard to believe, considering our current situation, but Hera is truly an intimidating woman. Even Dragon wouldn’t dare to touch her in my prime state."

Leo furrowed his brows, finding it nearly impossible to reconcile this description with the person he knew. The Hera she was describing and the Hera he met were completely different. Was she even talking about the same person?

"The man you saw earlier, he’s one of her men. A trusted subordinate she sent out on a mission. He’s currently president of a country," she continued. "I hope that example alone gives you an idea of how powerful and influential she was. Sending someone out and guiding them to become a country’s leader, yet behind the scenes, he remains a subordinate under her."

Hera took a deep breath and then exhaled sharply. "She has many enemies. I can’t even count. And despite her good deeds, she never truly acknowledged them. Helping someone didn’t make her a good person because, at the end of the day, she still mercilessly took countless lives during her prime. That’s what she tells herself."

"She was ambitious, with goals beyond the grasp of any normal person. She aimed for the top, and even when she stood at the peak of the mountain, she still craved the sky. Perhaps the entire universe... all for the sake of her people," she added, lowering her gaze as she spoke of her understanding of Hera. "She was selfish and ruthless to the point where one would wonder how such a heartless person could exist. But if you looked closely, she never truly did something for herself."

"All her actions, her decisions, were for others. She never truly thought of herself or decided for her own benefit. It was always others before her. That’s why she never feared getting hurt in the process; she never truly cared about herself." A subtle yet bitter smile graced her face. "People would label her with different names, and if you didn’t know her, you’d see her as selfish and greedy. But if you looked a little closer, she’s actually one of the most selfless people you’d know."

Hera slowly lifted her gaze to him and smiled. "She doesn’t make excuses or justify her actions. She’s a woman full of contradictions. But I think that’s what sets her apart. That’s what made her special. It’s the reason she reached a height no one else could reach, even if they tried to emulate her ways."

"It’s also the reason why people wouldn’t leave her alone." Her smile faded as another sigh escaped her, her eyes locked with Leo’s. "Because she loved everyone else but herself, her people took it upon themselves to hold her in their hearts. You can consider it their way of assuaging their guilt, but that practice, rooted in innocent intentions, grew differently. Some nurtured it for the better, but for people like Dragon, that seed grew into something else—obsession. It all stemmed from guilt: her guilt for involving those children in her world and their guilt for being the cause of her misery."

Leo never diverted his gaze from her, absorbing every detail she shared. He parted his lips to speak, but no words came out. Yet, from everything he had just heard, there was only one thing he could articulate.

Hera’s world was undeniably complicated.

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