Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Morningstar University Campus, Garden of Beginning, Time Vestige, Morningstar University 2nd Campus

While Lucine sat there drowning in guilt over how Morningstar University had treated the Southern Region in recent decades, I was still trying to process the revelation that the first card apprentice with the unparalleled bloodline was actually Bloodettes adoptive brother. It was a stunning twist. .

But when I recalled the vision Bloodette had while helping Sarah and me subdue Demigod Redfall and lock him away in my calamity daughter gem within a heathen stone prisonback when he used Sarahs bloodline as a bridge to slip out of the river of reincarnation and force his way into the Card World in an attempt to seize her bodyeverything suddenly started to fall into place.

In that vision, it became clear that someone from Annas bloodline had been the one to seal Bloodette inside the dungeon seal. And now, after learning about the connection between the unparalleled bloodlines progenitor and Bloodette, I was starting to lean toward the idea that he was the one who had imprisoned her there.

Aside from figuring out who had sealed Bloodette, the more pressing question was why they had done it. They hadnt just locked her away in a harsh dungeon for centuries to followthey had stripped her of her prowess and memories as well. If they were truly that closely related, how could they bring themselves to treat her with such cruelty? Even someone driven by deep-seated hatred wouldnt normally resort to something so extreme.

I wondered if Lucine knew the answer. Maybe her ancestors had passed it down along with the stories of how they first acquired the time vestige. And if that was the case, why did no one in the Southern Royal Family have even the slightest idea of how Morningstar University ended up with it? Information like that should have been preserved and handed down through every generation.

Damn it, the Southern Royal Family really was in shambles. The current generation didnt even know a large portion of its own history. I couldnt help but question who was responsible for such a mess. Then again, judging by the last few generations in their family tree, it was clear they were nothing like the other royal families and noble clans.

The Southern Ruler had married a commoner soldier, and together theyd had two children.

The Southern Rulers sister, Field Marshal Lorn, married a commoner academician and had three children of her own.

The Southern Prince was still single, showing no intention of starting a family anytime soon.

The Southern Princess had married a commoner as well, had a daughter, and eventually divorced.

It was as if none of them cared about preserving their bloodline or heritage. They lived however they wanted, offending plenty of people in the process. If not for their unparalleled bloodline, I had no doubt the number of royal families in the five regions would have already dropped to three.

Lucine, does the Southern Royal family not know about this piece of history? I asked, despite knowing that if they did, Southern Princess would have long used it to fix the attitude of Morningstar University toward her family and Southern Region, maybe more.

No, they dont. It was the Unparalleled Bloodline Progenitors idea. He believed the time vestige should never belong to a single person or family. Otherwise, they would eventually use it to elevate themselves instead of serving the greater good, turning it into a tool of oppression when it was meant to be a symbol of hope in times of crisis.

He was a remarkable man. He entrusted my ancestors with the responsibility of recruiting talents from all five regions and selecting the best among them to form a councilone that would oversee the time vestige and ensure it was always used for the people, not for any single organization.

My ancestors wanted to give his bloodline a permanent seat on the council, but he refused. He said, If my sins are not my descendants sins, then my glory should not be their glory either. You may invite one member of my bloodline each generation, but only if they prove themselves worthy and swear an oath: never to reveal the councils existence or its secrets to anyone who does not already know of it.

He was stubborn like that. So my ancestors could only agree with him, granting the Southern Royal Family additional quotas to attend Morningstar University so they would have more opportunities to produce someone worthy of joining the council.

They also believed that the descendants of such a great man would likely be remarkable as well. So, as a gesture of gratitude to the Unparalleled Bloodline Progenitor for all he had done, they unanimously decided to give the Southern Royal Familys vote greater weight than the votes of other council members.

For centuries, everything went according to plan. But in the last couple of centuries, none of the Southern Royal Family members who attended Morningstar University proved worthy of a seat on the council.

The current Southern Rulers aunt was the last to hold the Heatsend seat, but for reasons known only to the Southern Royal Family, she was imprisoned in their heritage land. With her gone, her seat has remained vacant.

The current Southern Princess was a promising candidate, but she married Gainover. Everybody except her could see he was a snake. And honestly, even as a woman myself, I still cant understand why the best and brightest among us fall for treacherous jerks and idiots.

Then came Anna Heatsend. She wasnt even being considered at firstuntil we discovered her origin card, Ann. With their combined intellect and strength, she suddenly became a serious contender. And then she went and massacred the entire Davis clan.

After that came Luna Lorn. She wasnt a Heatsend, but since their seat had remained vacant for so long, we chose to bend the rules a little. In the end, she betrayed all of us and defected to the Freedom Fighters.

Its not that weve forgotten the kindness of the Unparalleled Bloodline Progenitorits just life, Lucine said, trying to explain herself and ease the guilt weighing on her voice.