Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2663: Anna’s Great-Grandaunt: Seraphina Heatsend

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, Teleportation Hub

With Susan openly announcing my bid to become the ruler of the Central Region, and with Anna backing that claim, the crowd remained frozen in silence, struggling to process one shocking revelation after another. Even as understanding slowly dawned, no one dared to cheer or jeer. Graveyard silence once again filled the venue.

Meanwhile, many of the unfamiliar faces who had come hoping to meet me, such as the family members and party companions of Agong Young, began to slip away quietly. They no longer wished to be associated with me. As maddening as that realization was, I understood their perspective.

With a few words, Anna and Susan had turned me into the world’s enemy, a singular existence threatening the established order of the five regions. The Emissary of Light no longer mattered. Nor did Gideon Grim. Neither did the looming second demonic invasion. From this moment on, they would want to eliminate me first.

Even Conard, who was known for always asking the right questions, was left completely stumped. The revelations were simply too much for him to process. He had been prepared to die to report the truth, but this was different. Faced with this, he would rather quit than report it.

At first, he had been overwhelmed with pride at being singled out by the Southern Hope. Now, that pride curdled into regret. He should have kept his mouth shut. Yes, as a journalist, he had always pursued the truth no matter the cost, but this cost was far too high.

What unsettled him, and many other Southerners, even more than the Southern Hope declaring his appetite for World Domination, was the revelation that the Southern Heir would be only one of his queens. She was the Southern Jewel. How could she be one queen among many instead of the sole queen? The very idea felt absurd.

If his strength had allowed it, he would have seized Southern Hope by the collar and demanded, ’How dare you corrupt our princess, you beast?’

Finally, suppressing his turmoil and forcing his thoughts into order, Conard asked solemnly, ”Your Highness, Southern Heir, is this the will of the Southern Royal Family and His Highness?”

”No,” Anna replied firmly. ”My family and grandfather know nothing about this. This decision is mine and mine alone. Once again, it has nothing to do with my family.” To drive the point home, she added without hesitation, ”Also, I am no longer the Southern Heir. My great-grandaunt, Seraphina Heatsend, will soon be holding that position.”

At Anna’s declaration, Conard’s knees nearly gave out. Still, knowing the capricious nature of their Southern Heir, he immediately pressed on. ”Then... is this the will of His Highness?”

”No,” Anna said lightly. ”But I’ve sent him a message. I should receive confirmation once he reads it. Grandpa never says no to me.”

Hearing that, I could only slap my forehead in sheer frustration.

After realizing that everything he had heard so far was driven entirely by Anna’s personal whim, Conard stopped treating her words with the same weight. He promptly bypassed both her and Susan and turned instead to Jill, shifting the topic.

”Madam Jill,” he asked formally, ”do you also believe that the Five Regions should unite under a single banner to confront external threats such as the demon invasions? And if so, who do you believe should lead a united Five Regions? The current central government?”

”I don’t know about uniting the Five Regions or confronting external threats. Because I’m not a fighter but an innovator,” Jill said bluntly, ”So, according to me, what is needed is a regime change. Because of the monopolies enjoyed by the Royal Families and the major noble houses, the economy of the Five Regions has stagnated for far too long. That only changed when Wyatt introduced the VR-Universe.”

She didn’t slow down, her words gaining momentum. ”I say free the market for all. How long are you going to keep crippling the wheels of innovation? The VR Universe is the perfect example of how innovation can boost the economy. And as its creator, I believe Wyatt is the best choice to lead a new regime, one focused on economic growth rather than old grudges and outdated traditions.”

As she spoke, Susan and Anna stared at her as if silently asking, ’This isn’t what we discussed.’

Jill didn’t care in the slightest. She raised her voice and shouted, ”Free the market to all! Let innovation breathe, and capital will follow.”

Finally, someone gave the crowd something they could cheer for. They quickly forgot the outrageous revelations Susan and Anna had made earlier and began to applaud and shout in unison, the celebration resuming as if nothing had happened. That was the nature of crowd mentality. They neither dared to oppose nor openly criticize Anna, after all, she was the Southern Jewel. Instead, they chose to latch onto something safer and more appealing. Profit for all.

”Madam Jill, aren’t you from one of the major noble families?” Conard pressed on, continuing to do his duty despite the overzealous crowd already bent on cheering and celebrating. ”Is your family willing to relinquish its monopoly and truly open the market to the common folk?”

Jill’s true background remained a mystery to most of the Five Regions. Given the audacious schemes she had used to amass vast wealth, and the fact that she had emerged from them without so much as a scratch, rumors had naturally spread that she belonged to a major noble family. She had been asked about this many times before, yet she had never confirmed nor denied those claims. Solidifying this misconception.

”Don’t lump me together with those bigots. I am the sole descendant of Demigod Norley, the unnamed founder of the Five Regions,” Jill declared, her voice carrying across the venue. The cheering crowd gradually fell silent, shock rippling through them.

Without waiting for Conard to ask another question, she rose slowly into the air, her presence commanding every eye and ear. When she spoke again, her voice was clear, resonant, and impossible to ignore.

”Look at the people beside you. Look at your loved ones,” Jill said. ”Speak your wishes without fear. Speak them without financial chains, without inherited limits, without invisible hands choking your potential. For too long, your dreams have been measured by what you were allowed to want.”

She spread her arms wide. ”From this moment onward, begin to imagine a future where innovation is not punished, where ambition is not taxed into submission, and where talent is not buried under tradition. A future where the market is free, where ideas rise or fall by their own worth, and where progress belongs to everyone, not just a chosen few.”

Her gaze swept across the stunned crowd. ”We promise you the dawn of a new age. An age where opportunity flows as freely as will itself. An age where the Five Regions no longer crawl forward, shackled by the past, but surge ahead, driven by possibility.”

Jill smiled, sharp and unapologetic. Susan, clad in her armor, and Anna rose into the sky as well, coming to stand behind Jill. The three of them positioned themselves back to back, facing the crowd from different angles.

In unison, their voices rang out across the venue.

”Welcome the new era.”

”Welcome the age of innovation.”

”Welcome your hope, the true ruler of the Card World, Dalton V. Wyatt.”