Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2970: Seraphina’s Truth

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

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

After dropping that truth bomb, Seraphina carefully monitored my expression as she continued her explanation.

“In fact, it was Anna who demanded that I become the Southern Heir in her stead. It wasn’t out of pity for what our family did to me, but because she genuinely believed that I would be a better leader than she could ever hope to be. Those were her exact words. At the time, I simply thought she was a silly girl being willful—after all, you can’t just step down as the Southern Heir just because you don’t feel like doing the job. But to my utter shock, when I returned to the Royal Palace, I discovered the decree had already been passed. I was the new Southern Heir. To this day, I still struggle to understand how she managed to pull that off.

“Since then, I have been trying my absolute best to prove to my family and our citizens that I am worthy of the trust Anna placed in me. However… the world and the people in it are far too different from what I recall. It’s a lot colder than I remembered.”

As Seraphina spoke those final words, she looked toward Veerott and Aqualas, a warm and gentle smile gracing her lips. The profound warmth radiating from her eyes stood in stark contrast to the harsh coldness she had just spoken of.

I looked at Seraphina, my suspicion giving way to genuine confusion. This time, I didn’t even need Petra’s confirmation—I could tell on my own that she wasn’t lying. She meant every single word. Anna was fiercely independent and absolutely not the type to be forced into doing anything against her will; because of that, Seraphina’s version of events actually made far more sense than the twisted rumors circulating in the outside world.

That meant the information I had received was dead wrong. Or, more accurately, the information surrounding Seraphina’s release and Anna’s abdication was being deliberately and systematically manipulated. Someone was spreading a carefully crafted narrative throughout the Southern Capital, the Southern Region, and beyond, specifically designed to paint Seraphina as a power-hungry villain.

What truly surprised me, however, was that Seraphina seemed to have absolutely no idea. It showed just how dangerously out of the loop she was regarding current affairs. This could only mean one thing: her own inner circle and sources of information were actively working against her. She was being systematically targeted, isolated, and vilified by the very people she was destroying herself to prove her worth to—and she hadn’t the slightest clue.

At least until now. She seemed to have deduced exactly what was going on based solely on my words and reaction. I watched as the gentle, warm smile she had worn just moments ago vanished entirely, her features contorting into an ugly mask of pure rage. She didn’t just realize what was happening anymore—she knew exactly who was pulling the strings behind it all.

The only person capable of orchestrating something on this scale was the Southern Princess herself. It had to be her. There was absolutely no way a prominent member of the Royal family could be targeted to this extreme degree without her catching wind of it. Either she was intentionally letting it happen, or she was the one pulling the strings from the very beginning.

But why? Clearly, Seraphina was far from her ideal choice to be the next Southern Ruler. However, Southern Princess seemed to disagree. Her actions merited that.

Yet, what completely baffled me was why the Southern Princess would go through all this elaborate theater instead of simply speaking to her father, the Southern Ruler. Come to think of it, without the Ruler’s explicit approval, it would have been utterly impossible for Seraphina to be designated as the next Southern Heir in the first place.

It turned out that the Southern Princess—a woman capable of calculating and controlling every variable and every soul in the Southern Region—was utterly helpless when it came to the Southern Ruler. Or perhaps it was merely a rare, minor disagreement between them, considering how the Southern Ruler had allowed her to do exactly as she pleased with everything else for so long.

“It seems you and I both need to be a little more thorough about the information we receive,” I said, offering a slight reprieve to ease the tension pulling at Seraphina’s brow. Now that we shared a common enemy, the dynamic between us had shifted.

Seraphina blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the sudden drop in hostility, but she quickly recovered. Nodding in agreement, she said, “Yes, you are entirely right, Your Highness. It has been centuries. All my old contacts and networks are basically nonexistent now. I could certainly use your help with that.”

Now, the pieces finally clicked. It became painfully clear to her why every door in the capital had felt so entirely closed to her—even the factions that actively opposed the current Southern Ruler and Field Marshal Lorn with her back in the days seemed to be wary of her now.

Her reputation had already been systematically sullied and dragged through the mud from the moment she was imprisoned. The second she was released, the Southern Princess had ensured that every single move Seraphina made perfectly reinforced the worst aspects of that dark reputation.

When Anna originally freed her, Seraphina had genuinely believed the Southern Region had encountered an adversary so formidable they desperately needed her military genius. She thought that was why they had broken her out and elevated her to Southern Heir. But now, a cold dread settled in. She was beginning to realize there was a far more afoot—and she was merely an unwanted pawn caught in the middle of it all.

“I think I can make some time for you,” I said, the grin on my face widening.

If it wasn’t completely obvious already, Seraphina’s very existence deeply irritated the Southern Princess. She was so thoroughly vexed that she was actively breaking her own family rules to get rid of her, going directly against her father’s decree. And as her dutiful would be son-in-law, I felt it was my absolute responsibility to ensure Seraphina continued to stay right under the Southern Princess’s nose.