Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2571: Demigod Norley’s Heir

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Jillians’ Pub

”I know this doesn’t change anything,” Jill said, sensing the conflict in my emotions. ”But I was hoping it would at least earn me a date with you. A proper date.”

”A date? You created a whole scandal just to get one date with me?” I asked, brushing my fingers through her silky hair as she rested in my arms. My other hand was intertwined with hers. We were curled together on the couch in her office, finally hidden away from the public eye. ”Aren’t you afraid you’ll never find a husband if I say no?”

As for Sean Brothwork, I had already compressed the limitless prison into the size of a marble and stored it inside the dimension card I’d borrowed from Lucine. He was the gift I intended to bring to the dinner party tonight—held at the Brothwork family’s Morningstar Manor—where I would attend as Jill’s plus one.

”If you say no,” Jill whispered, clutching my hand even tighter, ”I’m afraid I won’t be able to live... let alone care about getting married.”

”Wow, talk about no pressure,” I joked, though the truth was I did want to go on that date with Jill—wanted to see where this could lead.

I knew I had feelings for Susan and Anna, but nothing had ever truly moved forward with either of them. Susan had asked for space, and Anna... well, once she came out of seclusion, she might simply treat me the same way she treated her mother. She might not really hate me, but that didn’t mean nothing would change if she used her feelings for me to go further into the extreme path.

Was it wrong of me to pursue someone who was here, someone who was choosing me now, instead of waiting endlessly for people who weren’t? Was it selfish to accept love that came without chaos, without pain, without uncertainty?

That was Jill. No drama. No mixed signals. Just straightforward ambition—and desire. She took what she wanted and was willing to pay the price for it. There was a strange comfort in that honesty and greed.

”You know what? Let’s do it. Let’s go on a date,” I said as I lifted my head and pressed a kiss to the top of her head which laid against my chest.

”Really?” Jill blurted, rolling over and propping her chin on my chest so she could look directly into my eyes. Her disbelief was almost adorable.

”Yes,” I said with a nod, unable to hide my own small smile. ”And I already have the perfect place in mind. What are you doing tomorrow morning?”

A breakfast date sounded like the perfect start.

”Nothing. I’m always free for you,” Jill replied with a burst of excitement as she climbed up to my face and kissed me with fierce urgency. Before we realized it, we were both naked and finally finished what we hadn’t been able to back in that pregnant dungeon months ago—several times over. I had almost forgotten, but my Hive AI made sure I only fired blanks.

”It’s a lot more fun than I remember,” Jill murmured, resting her head on my arm as we lay buck naked on her office carpet. Finally tasting pure passion instead of the one induced by her carnivorous womb.

”I wish I could say the same,” I muttered softly. Jill jabbed an elbow into my ribs, prompting me to add, ”I’m kidding.”

”You’d better be,” she warned, pulling a comforter from her storage card and draping it over us before nestling comfortably in my embrace.

”So, what’s the deal with your uncle?” I asked now that our mouths were finally free—and too tired for anything else.

”So, why did you really come to find me?” Jill countered, ignoring my question. At first, she assumed I had come to confront her for stealing my idea about starting a pleasure-card venture. But now that things had escalated into this, she was beginning to suspect there was more behind my visit.

”It’s work stuff. We can talk about it after our date tomorrow,” I replied, choosing not to argue with her.

”Sean Brothwork is a bastard born to someone important in the Brothwork family—descendants of one of the founders,” Jill began getting a straight answer from me. ”He’s not actually my uncle. I only call him that to keep him from getting any ideas about me.”

”Hold on. You’re the daughter of one of the founders, yet you still have to be cautious of a bastard from an obscure branch of another founder’s line? Doesn’t that sound absurd?” I asked, startled to realize that Jill’s childhood had been far more complicated than I assumed. I already knew her birth had been tragic, but as the only child of a founder, I expected she wouldn’t need to worry about things like this.

”Well... Sean isn’t just a bastard of the Brothwork family,” Jill said after a brief pause. ”He’s also my father’s designated heir.” She exhaled softly before continuing, ”When my father wanted to step down and live a normal life raising me, the transition wasn’t simple. The other founders told him he could only retire if he chose a successor—essentially, his heir.”

”Because my father was a loner and deeply repulsed by his own past, he didn’t want any of it passed down to me. That left him with no one suitable to act as his heir. The other founders, of course, were more than willing to let him pick one of their descendants instead. Realizing exactly what they were plotting, my father chose Sean—a bastard—not as his disciple but as his brother and heir, purely to spite them.”

”Sean was honest in the beginning, but as he grew stronger, inheriting most of my fathers years of knowledge and hard work, faced with my father’s indifference toward him and his hard work, he became corrupt. He started developing ambitions toward me and my father’s fortune. But because he feared my father, he never dared to act openly on those intentions. At least, not until recently.”

Jill’s expression darkened.

”Lately, he’s begun conspiring against my father... openly.”