Chapter 2212 The Indifferent Mother
Chapter 2212 The Indifferent Mother
"What are you doing here? Are all the preparations complete?" the Southern Ruler asked his daughter, seeing that she did not follow his instructions to wait in her personal garden.
"Your Majesty, the preparations have been made as per your wish. I was personally overseeing them as you wanted me to but with my daughters causing a ruckus loud enough to awaken the entire palace I had to come to check on them," the Southern Princess said eyeing her daughters with a mixture of disappointment and scrutiny before quickly masking it with indifference. However, her mother's words and gaze served as a trigger to an already pissed Anna. They resurfaced the most painful memories in Anna's mind that she thought she had forgotten after creating her origin card and becoming the bad daughter. Memories such as, how her mother manipulated her since her birth to get her way, how she went above and beyond to please her mother without any regard for health only to receive a 'you could have done better' look from her in return, and so on.
All those painful memories hit like a wave to Anna's psyche transforming all the pain she felt into wrath toward the person that caused her pain. Her rage intensified, knowing that the person was none other than the one she trusted the most in the world, her mother. With her judgment clouded by anger, Anna rushed toward her mother screaming. 'I will kill you, you manipulative bitch!" However, before Anna could even launch toward her mother, she was tackled to the floor by her origin card. It instantly immobilized her and yelled, "How dare you swear at our mother? Apologize!" "Let go of me. I will kill that manipulated shrew today," Anna shouted as all her struggles to free herself from her origin card's grasp proved useless as everything she could do the youngest could do better and much more.
"Not until you calm down and apologize to our mother, the youngest demanded tightening her grip on Anna.
"You dumb baby, how can you keep defending her after knowing everything she has put us through? We have the same memories. Do you remember, when we were ten years old, we burned our right wrist trying to cook a special birthday breakfast for her? In the end, she did not even cat it nor care for our burn injury. If not for the royal chef reacting quickly, we would have a burn mark the size of a spoon on our right wrist reminding us of that day and our naivety till the second we die. When we asked why she did not eat the breakfast we prepared, what did say? You remember it right, doesn't it boil your blood? Yet, how can you still side with her?" Anna asked her twin sister with wild bloodshot eyes, they looked like they were starving for vengeance for decades.
"I remember what she said. It doesn't enrage me as she was right. Princesses should not be cooking but doing their best to become capable and outstanding in making their ancestors and subjects proud, showing them a promising future lay ahead. Besides, we have royal chefs and cooking cards for that,' The youngest once again sided with their mother, agreeing and defending her words. Seeing both his granddaughters rolling on the floor, the Southern Ruler did not stop them as he finally understood why Anna hated the youngest. It was Youngest's blind love for their mother that caused Anna to repel the Youngest. The answer was that simple but for reasons unknown his male brain could not see it during his retreat. Then, he glared at his daughter as he mentally communicated with her, "You did this on purpose, didn't you? Aren't you taking it too far just to understand her heart and learn her thoughts? Thanks to your mind games, she has already been through enough. I am warning you, change your ways or else I will be forced to send you to Way Beyond and have your brother fill your shoes in the Southern Capital!
'Father, don't threaten your enemies with something you can't do. It only showcases your desperation and weaknesses to them. Sometimes, I wonder how you managed the Southern Region before me. And also you need to work more on your poker face. Right now your eyes are like an open book to me! the Southern Princess's indifferent face made a subtle smile being warned by her father.
The reason she was so confident that her father would not make her switch places with her brother was because if her brother were to become in charge of domestic and foreign affairs the Southern economy would collapse in the next twelve hours of him taking charge.
Maybe even faster, as in his unilateral pursuit of a higher power, he would not have time to manage the affairs of an entire region and also because the Southern economy was that volatile and weak. She has spent several decades trying to figure out a solution to stabilize and strengthen their economy but she hasn't succeeded yet. So, it was obvious that someone uninterested in worldly affairs like her brother would fail horribly where she saw defeat for several decades. 'Enough!' the Southern Ruler thundered trying to prove to his daughter that he was being serious. Seeing her calculative father care so much for Anna and her origin card, the Southern Princess's eyes shone brightly as she mentally exclaimed, 'I see you have finally confirmed her as your heir. I was worried that the stupid daughter of mine would find a way to screw my efforts up. But it seems you and mother like the new Anna over the one I raised. I don't understand why but I am happy for my daughter. So when are you going to announce it?"
Though the main branch knew the Southern Ruler had set his sight on Anna as his heir nothing was set in stone yet. After all, Anna was still a child, by the time she came to age many things could happen. However, now it was different. The Southern Ruler had set his heart on Anna as his next heir. That was to say once he announced his decision, it would be hard for one to change it, especially with the presence of the Southern Princess.
'No rush. At least not until I think Anna is strong enough to shoulder the burden of being my heir. I don't want her to die young because of your lack of patience. Now that you know, lay off her. I am warning you, don't force me to take drastic steps against my daughter to safeguard the future of the South. You know better than anyone, if have to I will not hesitate, the Southern Ruler warned his daughter to no longer mess with his granddaughter while assuring her that the throne belonged to her daughter after him.
'Sure. I will even reward her for achieving the goal I set for her faster than I thought. Besides, I have a new interest now, the Southern Princess said as her eyes lingered on the youngest.
The Southern Ruler noticed his daughter's thoughts but did not say anything to stop her knowing that the Youngest would happily be her mother's guinea pig. Not to mention, he believed that the Youngest ought to be trained to support her twin sufficiently when Anna sits on the Southern throne.