Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Southern Capital, The Heatsend Royal Palace

"This better be good," Anna said aloud as she entered her mother’s personal garden, where the Southern Princess appeared to be enjoying late-night tea, with Ann serving her like a palace maid.

Seeing her mother gracefully sip her tea without sparing her a glance, Anna did not grow furious. She was used to it. Instead, she turned to the middle one of them triplets and remarked in disgust, "He trusted you. I trusted you."

"You trusted me? That’s rich—" Ann replied indifferently, but stopped mid-sentence, unwilling to start something that would ruin her mother’s late-night tea. She then glared at Anna, warning her to remain quiet and not disturb their mother’s rare free time.

"Fine, maybe I didn’t, but he trusted you. He trusted you because of me. Was all of that an act? Were all those memories fake?" Anna grew emotional. Though she and Ann had their differences, having shared their most beloved and darkest thoughts, emotions, and secrets with one another, Anna had come to accept her as more than her origin card, as her sister. The thought that Ann had only been following her mother’s orders all this time unsettled her deeply.

The only reason Anna was able to process and adapt to this truth without crashing out was that this was not the first time her mother had pulled this kind of crap. Back when she was a little kid, her mother had demigod guards morph into children and become her friends, all while guarding her, keeping tabs on her, and, most disturbingly, using peer pressure as a teaching tool. Her mother had pulled such stunts so often that they felt more manipulative than relatable, and it only stopped when Ann was born—

’Why didn’t I realize this sooner?’

It finally dawned on Anna that her mother hadn’t stopped pulling that crap because she trusted her or because Anna had grown, but because she had found herself a very loyal double agent: Ann. Realizing this, Anna glared at Ann, wondering if everything Ann had shared with her was fake, fabricated to give her a false sense of closeness. Thinking this far, Anna shook her head hard, stopping herself from overthinking and spiraling down that rabbit hole.

"He trusted me because of you? Don’t kid yourself. Besides, he didn’t trust me. That’s why I had to give him all that attention, and that was all it took. After all, every boy or man wants one thing, and it’s disgusting," Ann said begrudgingly, trying to imagine how she could have used all the time she had wasted on Anna’s fiancé on her mother instead. Then she decided it had all been worth it, since it had helped her mother a great deal. Ann no longer dwelled on it and was even glad that it had finally come to an end. Now, she could focus entirely on her mother while thinking about how to trick Anna into letting her out permanently before her four-month term was over.

"Then wash it," a familiar yet distinct voice commented on Ann’s remark.

It was Anne, the third and youngest of the triplets.

Ann was both shocked by the former’s presence and bewildered by the latter’s response, blurting out, "What?"

Even the Southern Princess, who had been trying to enjoy her tea while ignoring her daughters’ bickering, nearly spat it out through her nose and mouth, completely taken aback by the reply and breaking her perfectly graceful yet nonchalant vibe.

"I said, if yours is disgusting, then you should wash it," Anne repeated, then added with clear disdain, "They write poems about virgins’ pussies, calling them pure and all that shit. But you say yours is disgusting. Lord only knows what you two, mother and daughter, have been up to behind closed doors."

"How dare you sully our mother like that?" Ann thundered, dashing at Anne, forgetting all her previous poise and grace. However, before she could even reach her, an invisible force smashed into her face, caving her skull in as her body was launched backward like a cannonball, only coming to a halt after crashing into the palace walls.

Anne was far from done. She rushed forward, planning to finish Ann off for betraying and exploiting her beloved’s trust. She now blamed Ann for her beloved’s disheartening rejection of her heartfelt confession. In her mind, she justified his reaction to her and her love, thinking that she would have responded the same way after learning how Ann had betrayed his trust by spying on him and helping their mother stay one step ahead of him.

However, before Anne could reach Ann, a figure flashed between them, catching Anne in time and stopping her from killing Ann.

It was Colleen.

She had rushed over after sensing Anne’s killing intent. Quickly realizing that her granddaughter’s physical strength far surpassed her own, she was forced to mobilize her divinity’s innate ability, freezing Anne within her embrace. Her hard-earned cultivation did not compare to the unparalleled bloodline’s physical prowess. Leaning close, she whispered into Anne’s ear, "Calm down, baby girl. You can’t kill her. What if Wyatt wants a foursome with the three of you? You wouldn’t deny him that opportunity, would you?"

Anne stopped struggling in Colleen’s embrace, apparently accepting her logic and finding it sound. Colleen knew her youngest granddaughter had been born from Anna’s extreme fixation on their beloved, so she tailored her persuasion accordingly.

Seeing that Anne was under control, Colleen signaled the royal and palace guards to return to their posts at once and not speak of what they had witnessed. That part went without saying, but what Colleen specifically meant was that no one was to spread word that there were now three Annas.

Still holding Anne in her embrace, Colleen walked toward the gazebo where her daughter was having tea, while her daughters had nearly killed one another. Turning to Anna, she asked, "So, what did you name this one? Don’t tell me it’s... Anal? But it would suit her foul mouth though."

"Unfortunately, no. I saved it for the next one, but this one is called Anne Heatsend. She will kill us all for Wyatt. And as you just saw, she has the strength to do exactly that. So watch your backs when you go to sleep tonight," Anna remarked, delivering the last sentence while staring at Ann, who walked over as her face healed at a visible rate. Anne’s extreme shattering punch had done a huge number on her. Anne had created and mastered this fist technique to break the Mystic Dimension seal and meet her beloved.