Not a huge fan of her either but I will point out that Helene was FORCED to ask her to stay. She doesn't want her there and would have kicked her out but the emperor requested (ordered) them to take her in. It was done in a round about way, politics, but basically she has zero choice in the matter. She can't take her anger at her hands being tied out on the emperor and she did acknowledge that the MC was a victim in the beginning. But she's also suspicious of her because the MC specifically used to study politics in the academy in the capital (MC says she didn't do well but she's been shown to downplay most of her abilities so it's unknown how accurate her viewpoint is).
Helene is basically being told that she has to keep an "enemy" of hers close to her family by a person in power. We see things from the MC's POV but this would be a completely different story if we're looking at it from Helene's. She was told to bring in this "enemy" who could be plotting against them at any point. She was then "taunted" by her "enemy" right after their first meeting (when MC called her admirable, that could be seen as a round about taunt, depending on tone). After that, this "enemy" has been claiming to stay out of their way but also secretly doing as they please behind the scenes. This person even went so far as to supposedly "turn her children against her" and then overstep and change up a planned ball on a "whim".
Sure, we know all the reasons behind all of this but she doesn't. However, that's why I don't like her. She's very narrow minded and singular focused. That could be helpful in some regards but when it comes to running a territory, that can be severely detrimental to the people. She only takes things at surface value, not delving deeper unless it's to confirm an already formed bias. Again, while many people are like this, as someone in charge of so many lives, she needs to put that above her preconceived notions. While her flaws make her a believable character, I still dislike them. Right now, it's only being used against the MC but if she doesn't break that habit (and she's mentioned to be incredibly stubborn, but that's from a biased source) this can leak into other aspects of her life and disrupt the balance. She's already struggling to create a proper work/life balance and this mindset will likely only make it worse.
What annoys me most though is that it's been hinted at that she has some kind of trauma. It's likely her attitude will be hand waved and forgiven because her "flaws" are only due to "trauma". That's something I can't stand in story telling. Having trauma, no matter how severe, doesn't allow you to the right to hurt others. I have a tiny bit if hope, but not much, that it won't go that way because of the young man she spent those days teaching. His actions had consequences and here's hoping that so will Helene's.
I’ve just started reading this (ch20) and I can honestly say I don’t like Helena or whatever her name is. Like yes mc is getting a good deal out of staying there basically for free and she is younger, but I feel like her being there is not her fault or choice at the end of the day (Helena is the one that asked her to stay). I feel like a bit of grace from Helena would go a long way, there’s no need to act like a B.