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Chapter 245

After tidying up, it was already half an hour later.

Everyone had gathered in the dining room, and all eyes were on Annie. They found it a little hard to believe that the foxgirl was actually a princess. In their minds, a princess was supposed to be elegant, dignified, beautiful, and gracious.

Now, Annie had shattered their image of what a princess should be. This petite foxgirl didn't exude any semblance of elegance or dignity.

"Hey, hey… what kind of looks are those? I am a princess! Are you disappointed?"

Annie bristled, shaking her fox ears as she exclaimed, "This is the real me! Acting like a perfect lady? I can't pull that off. I'm not that vicious woman either."

"Vicious woman?" Lucas raised an eyebrow. Who's that supposed to be?

"Ahem… Your Highness, please watch your words," Freya, standing obediently behind Annie, gently reminded her, "I've often rested at Miss Bella's place."

"Tch! She's obviously trying to win you over. Don't think I don't know what she's up to."

Annie pouted. As someone who had been outsmarting and outmaneuvering Bella since childhood, she understood that woman all too well.

"Uh…" Freya awkwardly closed her mouth. Bella had indeed been trying to win her over for some time. In truth, she knew full well that both Annie and Bella cared about each other—they just refused to admit it aloud.

"Miss Bella has already gone to the Land of Chaos." Freya said softly. She was quite content that the princess hadn't been emotionally scarred and remained as lively as she was in her childhood.

"That woman is risking her life? Though, with her abilities, she might end up wreaking havoc for plenty of people," Annie squinted her eyes, clearly familiar with the infamously lawless place.

"Bella? Isn't that Ayesha's eldest sister?" Lucas suddenly recalled that rather unconventional letter.

"What?" Annie blinked her brown eyes, staring at Ayesha in surprise. She asked, "Your eldest sister—is she a serpent beastkin?"

"Y-yeah," Ayesha scratched her head. She realized she hadn't mentioned her elder sister's name before. Had she known it would save Freya so much trouble, she would've said something earlier.

The last letter Bella sent to her didn't have a signature, and Ayesha had no idea that Bella's letter to Lucas was signed. Since no one else had read that cheeky letter, all these subtle oversights led to many unexpected outcomes.

"Seriously…" Annie's mouth twitched. Could things really be this coincidental?

"You all have quite the connection," Nicole said, covering her mouth as she laughed softly. "To think you'd all cross paths here."

"Um…" Helen hesitantly raised her hand and spoke in a gentle tone, "I'm a little confused. Isn't the Valtoria royal family supposed to all be lion beastkin?"

The books she had read and the teachings of her parents all seemed to state that the Valtoria royal family consisted of lion beastkin. How, then, was there a fox beastkin among them?

This didn't match Helen's understanding of the world. Could it be that the information in the books was wrong?

"…" Annie's mood dimmed slightly. Her brown eyes reflected a sense of nostalgia as she softly explained, "My mother was a fox beastkin, and my father was a lion beastkin. When they had children, the offspring would generally inherit the father's traits. However, there's a small chance they could inherit the mother's traits instead."

At this, everyone understood. Annie had inherited her mother's fox-like traits, something none of them had ever heard of before.

Helen quickly pulled out her notebook to jot this down—it was a valuable piece of knowledge. She hadn't expected such variations to exist among beastkin.

"…" A faint shadow passed through Freya's amber eyes. Having grown up by the princess's side, she knew just how much this rare trait had hurt Annie.

In the royal palace, where nearly all the children were lion beastkin, Annie's sudden emergence as a fox beastkin drew discrimination and ridicule. She was ostracized by other royal children, which made her reluctant to appear in public.

As a result, many people were unaware of Annie's existence as a princess. If not for the Valtoria King's evident fondness for her, Annie might have been cast out of the palace entirely.

Only a select few, like Bella and the Valtoria Grand Princess, got along well with her. Most others preferred to bully her, though Annie always fought back fiercely. This history shaped the strong-willed personality she had today.

"By the way, Your Highness, I saw Prince Santner earlier," Freya reported immediately. "He's been searching for you, seemingly to get your..."

"Heh..." Annie let out a cold laugh, finishing the sentence that Freya didn't dare to utter. "That disgusting guy must be after the Valtoria treasure map, right?"

"Y-Your Highness, please be cautious with your words..." Freya was stunned, not expecting the princess to blatantly reveal the existence of the treasure map.

"What's there to be afraid of? Everyone here is one of us," Annie replied nonchalantly.

"But..." Freya wanted to protest further—after all, that treasure comprised the entire wealth of the Valtoria Beastkin Kingdom.

"Alright, don't worry about it," Annie waved her hand dismissively, pulling a wooden box from her backpack. She opened it and took out half of a parchment map.

"This… it's only half a treasure map?" Freya and Nicole were both stunned.

"Yes! Father only gave me half," Annie said, pushing the treasure map towards Lucas. Her tone grew serious. "With only half of the map, it's practically useless. In fact, having it is more of a curse than a blessing."

This was precisely why Annie had kept the treasure map hidden all this time. Once news of it leaked, countless factions would swarm in, bringing endless trouble.

"Put it back where it belongs!" Lucas waved dismissively, not even glancing at the treasure map. It held little appeal to him—especially since it was only half of the map. If it had been the complete map, he might have considered digging up the treasure.

"Got it, got it!" Annie nodded obediently, carefully placing the treasure map back into the wooden box. As she did, she added, "The other half of the map was given to the Grand Princess by my father."

Seeing that Lucas wasn't interested, Freya finally relaxed. That map was the hope of the Valtoria Kingdom—how could the princess so casually let a human see it?

"Huh? The Valtoria Grand Princess? The one known as the Valkyrie?" Helen's light red eyes widened in surprise. "She's the idol of the Valtoria beastkin!"

"Yes! That's the Grand Princess, Perry!" Annie sighed, a trace of sadness in her voice. "I have no idea how she's doing now. We were separated back then, and I never got to see her one last time."

Perry was one of the few people in the Valtoria royal palace who didn't discriminate against Annie. She was also one of the rare individuals who got along well with her.

Unfortunately, Perry became increasingly busy as she rose to prominence, earning the title of Valtoria's Valkyrie. She led the wolf-beastkin knight brigade on countless campaigns across the land, leaving little time for personal connections.

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