Location- Sky Blossom City, Southern Watch's temporary military base.
"Thank you." hearing Anna agree to her demand, Cortney thanked Anna genuinely.
"Listen here little girl, by agreeing to your demand I am breaking thousands of protocols, it will take time for me to arrange you a meet with your mother. While I am at it I want you to behave and not increase the workload of my soldiers. Can you do that?" Though Anna sounded stern, she felt good breaking the chain of her doing anything for the family's interest. It may seem like Anna was a rebel in her family but there was a reason why her grandfather chose her as the next leader of the southern region instead of many other capable candidates, Anna cared about the family the most and despite her wild shell, her core will sacrifice anything for the interest of her family. Despite her shortcomings, nobody would go as far as Anna was willing to go for the family. This wasn't just about making the tough choices but the capability to see it through.
Anyone can make tough choices at the expense of others, only a true ruler will participate in the struggle and hold the resolve to see it through to the end. Anna's grandfather saw that in Anna, so despite her obvious flaws he choose her as the next heir. A craftsman can polish iron to remove is flaws but he cannot turn it into gold. Anna was the gold with flaws, these flaws could be polised. A nobody who was a flawless iron compared to Anna's flawed gold, it couldn't be cultivated into gold, but Anna could be cultivated into flawless gold. Instead of choosing the competent bums in the family as the next family head, Anna's grandfather preferred a quirky talent like Anna to lead the family to its future any day.
Despite all his calculations Anna's grandfather never considered what if the gold gets ruined during the refining process. Why would he? Someone with an unparalleled bloodline was not easy to break. Anna's grandfather was right about this but he failed to consider the wild card known as love. Which has been the reason for the downfall of many nations and the start of new revolutions.
Right now the Anna her grandfather had cultivated to prioritize the family interest first over anything else had chosen to do the opposite. Caving to the reasoning of her heart she turned a deaf ear to the reasoning of her mind that was cultivated by her grandfather. Doing so, Anna felt a refreshed feeling. Anna has been lazy, incompetent, and rebellious but never dared to harm the interest of the family, today she did against the teachings of her grandfather.
This feeling that came with doing what she felt right was a refreshing feeling for Anna, it has been a while since she had put her interest first over the interest of her family. It was addictive. As for the guilt, she didn't feel it. The shame that she used to feel whenever she thought about putting herself first before the family interset was nowhere, that is when Anna realized that the shame that would always hinder her decision-making process did not appear today because today she didn't just put her interest first but her love first, In her books it trumped everything even if meant she would have to end the entire world thrice to get her love.
Thinking of this Anna turned to look at her young lover, for some reason he looked more handsome than usual. Then without giving it much thought she took him in her embrace and gave him a passionate kiss. She tried to move her tongue into his mouth but met with resistance, which was nothing for someone of her prowess.
"Sigh, couples." looking at Anna's sudden but bold action Cole who claims to be single by choice couldn't help but sigh.
He knew Anna claimed to love this boy but this moment was when Cole knew how passionate she was about this boy. From breaking the protocols to passionate public kissing, Anna has shown that this boy wasn't just any other fling of hers but this was serious. This called bad news for the vessel families who planned to marry their progeny to Anna to climb the social ladder or gain a voice in the royal family. Their Wilson family was one of them.
"..." Cortney looked away in shame but a blood pseudopod head extended out of her body and said, "What are they doing? It looks like fun."
Hearing Bloodette's comment, Cortney's shame soared to another level and she hurriedly held her hand out covering Bloodette's eyes and said, "You are too young to see this kind of stuff."
"I am thousands of years older than you." Bloodette protest.
After a good long minute Anna finally let go of her young lover who gasped for air and before he could say anything she said, "In my defense, you seduced me."
"..." Wiping the lipstick print on my lips I looked at Anna in annoyance and said, "The venue for the dinner better be good." The reason I did not get angry at Anna's sudden public display of love was that I enjoyed it.
"Say no more, you are going to love what I have planned for the evening." giddy Anna assured, she was ready for a cold shoulder from her young lover but contrary to her expectation he showed no such reaction. It seems she has worn him down and torn a hole in his dense heart. This made Anna enthusiastic and even lust for more, but she knew if she did that then she would be overplaying her hand.
"Cough, cough… I think we should head to your workshop Master Wyatt." faking his cough Cole remind me that it was getting late and they should head back and call over the client.
"Fatty, watch it, you seem to be getting bolder." Anna glared at Cole for butt-in her sweet talk with her love.