Card Apprentice Daily LogCard Apprentice Daily Log
The path for Colleen to become the Southern Queen was filled with thorns and stones. It wasn't like in the fairy tales where the beautiful common girl gets married to the prince and they live happily ever after. However, the common folks, especially the citizens of the Southern region believed her life to be a real-life fairy tale.
Though the Southern Ruler's family might have accepted Colleen for the sake of the Southern Ruler the rest of the royal society and high society did not. They did not let go of any opportunity to mock and ridicule Colleen. They took every chance they got to remind Colleen that she did not belong among them. With Colleen being an ignorant commoner and straightforward soldier they never lacked the opportunity they sought.
However, Colleen did not get scared or give up. She devoted herself to learning the ways of the royal and high society. She was like a soldier on a mission. She did not do this to be accepted by them. She did this because she did not want to embarrass what she represented, the entire southern region especially the commoners. She took her role as the Southern Queen very seriously. One of the many qualities that her royal-in-laws had come to appreciate in her.
It did not take Colleen long to learn the ways of the royal and high society. She had conquered royal etiquette and whatnot just like conquering her enemy on the battlegrounds. No longer giving the snobs the opportunity to comment or mock her commoner background. She became a living example that it was not hard for a commoner to learn the royal ways but the other way around might bc.
As Colleen adapted to her role as the Southern Queen many in royal and noble society began to accept her but some could not stomach that fact. These people were mostly the pursers of the Southern Ruler whose hearts and dreams were shattered when Colleen married the man of their dreams.
Back in his youth, the Southern Ruler was quite popular for being a heartbreaker. Many stuck-up dames who looked down on the Southern Region were willing to lower their standards if it meant they could spend the rest of their lives with him. Even after they knew he had chosen Colleen some still did not give up on him and waited for him.
These were the people mostly why the royal and noble society were very unwelcoming to Colleen. Now that Colleen was changing their prescription of her in the royal and noble society with her ability, they could not sit by and watch. However, there was not much they could do except gossip and bad mouth Colleen behind her back. After all, Colleen was the Southern Queen and they were a bunch of nobodies in the royal and high society.
Now that Colleen had conquered all her flaws, there was next to nothing these jealous and love-lorn dames could do. However, they did not let it stop them and came up with the derogatory title 'Soldier Queen' for Colleen, highlighting the army grunt history of the southern queen.
Usually, the title given to the new Queens would be tailored to praise their beauty, compassion, or authority. For example 'Gorgeous Queen; 'Generous Queen, or 'Just Queen' but the one given to Colleen was tailored to mock her commoner background. It was as if they were denying all her praiseworthy qualities and achievements. Even those who had come to accept Colleen had a big laugh about it. As such, the title stuck.
When the Southern Ruler learned of the humiliation his dear wife had suffered, he was so enraged that he prepared to declare war on all the other regions. The entire Southern Royal palace supported his decision as they too could not stand by as their beloved queen was being subjected to such humiliation. However, Colleen stopped her husband and their loyal subjects from doing so.
When asked why and if was she not angry, Colleen revealed that she liked her title. She did not think of it as an insult as she wasn't embarrassed by her commoner and soldier background. It was the royal and high society who had a problem with it. They should be the ones to learn to deal with it not her.
Also, she believed it was a fitting title for her as it represented her perfectly. She wasn't the only one who felt this way, the Southern citizens and the citizens of the other regions too felt the same. However, it was worth mentioning that the Southern citizens and common people around the other regions did not know that this title was given to the Southern queen to mock her commoner & soldier background and not to honor her achievements on the battlefield and the Way beyond. This was for the best because if they knew then an unofficial war would have broken out in the streets of the southern region targeting the people from the other regions for their leaders had disrespected their beloved queen. This would soon spread to other regions where the immigrated Southern citizens would be targeted and forced to move back to the Southern region. This could further snowball into a full-out war between the five regions as the Southern Royal palace too was itching for war to redeem their queen's honor. Not to mention the other regions too had scores to settle amongst themselves.
Fortunately, because of Colleen's enlightened approach, the five regions were able to avoid all of this unwanted bloodshed. Especially, since they could not afford a war amongst themselves. After all, they were all united by their common enemies invading them at their borders from way beyond and inside their regions from dungeons. Right now they could not afford to be divided over something sparked by silly female envy.
This was the day, Colleen's royal-in-laws began to believe that the Southern Ruler's choice was correct and much better than theirs. They had come to fully accept Colleen. She had overcome all the difficulties in her way with devotion and hard work. Proving herself on every step.
Most importantly, she knew when & where to press on and when & where to retreat. Her sense of judgment had come to surprise and impress them. Gaining their full trust she convinced them that she, Colleen, was worthy to sit beside the Southern Ruler and represent them and the Southern Region.