Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

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

Agatha was taken aback when I didn’t even flinch at her words.

The world could have been ending behind me in neat, flaming rows, and I would still look like I was deciding what to have for lunch.

"Are they now? What else?" I asked, a trace of amusement slipping through.

The answer landed harder than any shout. She blinked once, then twice, as if her mind refused to accept what it had just heard.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" she demanded as her disbelief sharpened into anger. "Are you patronizing me?"

I looked at her. Not hurried. Not alarmed. Just... steady. Like I had all the time in the world. Everything had already been weighed. Already decided. The storm had come and gone inside me, leaving only stillness behind.

Then I spoke, my voice stripped of any human emotion, "They’re not attacking the city. They’re walking to their graves." Because there was nothing humane about genocide.

For a moment, even the wind seemed to hesitate. And for the first time since she stepped into this city, Agatha didn’t fear the enemy beyond the walls... she feared me.

She had fought alongside me. She knew what that meant. No matter what the world threw in my path, I would carve through it. Devils, demigods... it hadn’t mattered. I had killed them all as a mortal.

So when I said the armies marching toward us were walking to their graves, she believed me. Not just her. Every soul present felt it settle into their bones, heavy and absolute, like a decree written by the heavens themselves.

"Now," I said, a gentle smile touching my lips as if those cold words hadn’t just passed a couple of seconds ago through them, "Cindy, lend Agatha our best seclusion chamber."

Agatha wanted to refuse. I could see it—the resistance rising, clawing for air. But when her eyes met mine, it withered before it could take shape. She forced it anyway, dragging the words out like they burned. Only when my gaze shifted away did she finally manage— "No, Wyatt. We are leaving!"

"No, we’re not," Aba shouted before I could respond.

Agatha had had enough of her defiance. She grabbed Aba’s right wrist and reached for Laura, preparing to drag them both back to the Southern Royal Palace. She knew that with me present, none of my people would act without my permission, and that I would prefer to stay out of their drama. She had planned this from the moment she asked to meet me.

But she underestimated her princess’s resolve. A metallic glint flashed in Aba’s left hand as she swung. Blood sprayed into the air. Agatha, Laura, Aurelia, and the others stared in disbelief. They couldn’t accept what they were seeing. Aba had cut through her own right arm to free herself and shouted, "I’d rather die than abandon my friends when they need me!"

Without letting her horror freeze her, Agatha moved. She pulled out an elixir, pressed the severed wrist against arm, and tried to connect it back into place pouring the elixir on it. But Aba refused, pulling away, "No! Take the severed wrist and go. Guard it in the palace. Do your duty. The only way you’re taking me back there... is as a corpse."

Agatha’s mind was in chaos, unsure how to react. Being Aba’s full-time butler and bodyguard had never been easy, but she had managed it with little trouble as they had always wanted the same thing—Aba’s happiness and safety. But now, they still wanted the same thing... but envisioned it in completely different ways.

"Fine. You want to fight the world for your friend? How admirable. But do you understand what that means?" Agatha shouted, finally losing control. "Your father, me, his other subordinates, your friends—we’re all part of the world that your friend declared to conquer. Will you fight all of us for him? Will you harm all of us for his ambitions of world domination?"

It was her breaking point. As an orphan no one had wanted, the one thing that had always defined her was her duty. And now, even that seemed to reject her. Something in her mind simply... snapped.

"What’s wrong with wanting to dominate the world? It’s time for a change," Aurelia said, stepping in when Aba couldn’t answer.

"Where should I even begin?" Agatha shot back. "How about the countless innocent people who will die for your ambition?" She swept her gaze over the demigods and the others watching her outburst.

Aurelia grinned. She beckoned Agatha closer, as if sharing a secret, then spoke loud enough for all to hear. "Hey Agatha, let me tell you a secret, countless innocent people are dying everyday and guess what it’s not a secret." Her smile sharpened and she landed her punchline, "Duh, you dumb bitch!"

"I knew it the moment I met you," Agatha said, her voice turning cold. "There was something about you I couldn’t stand. I hate people like you—people who hide behind hypocritical ignorance until it’s their own ass on the line."

Aurelia slipped off her blazer and tossed it aside. She unbuttoned her cuffs and rolled up her sleeves, slow and deliberate, saying, "Come, let’s settle this with a bloody fight."

Her eyes gleamed with challenge, as she wagered, "I’m willing to bet my life. Are you willing to kill for yours?"

Agatha’s eyes narrowed. She understood now—Aurelia was willing to face a semi-card demigod as a mortal, fully aware it would cost her life, all just to prove her point.

Just as Aurelia stepped forward, a bloodied half-arm stretched out in front of her. It was Aba, she shook her head saying, "No, this is my fight."

Then she looked straight into Agatha’s eyes, sternly declaring, "Come. Take my corpse back with you, because I, Aba Windsor, swear I’m not leaving this place as long as I’m still breathing."