Beast King's Crippled Mate-Chapter 237: A Change of Heart

Anastasia was even more surprised now. She knew her daughter quite well and knew that caring for the peasants was never part of her priority.

Aria seemed to detest those villagers the most as she saw them as dirty and uncultured.

"Did something happen to you? Are you sick?" Anastasia asked her daughter.

Aria pouted, "Why would you say that, Mom? I’m healthy. I just think that we need to help those villagers because it’s winter, and they must’ve been struggling to survive in this cold."

"I’m sorry, Aria. I’m just shocked since you have a sudden change of heart," Anastasia said. "But I’m happy that you have finally embraced our life here in this village. Those villagers will be really happy to eat meat, since they can barely afford bread, let alone meat and spices."

Aria squeezed tears from the corner of her eyes and said, "I’ve been reflecting on myself this whole time, Mom. I finally accepted my new life. I know I’m not a princess anymore, and I’ve been humbled after seeing the struggle of the peasants in this village. Maybe this is truly the time we let go of everything in the past and start anew, right, Mom?"

Anastasia also wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes, but hers were true tears, not fake ones.

She had been reflecting on her situation as well, and the more she lived in this solitary lifestyle in an isolated region of Holy Achate, the more she liked it.

She didn’t have the same luxury as before. She still had her jewelry which would fetch a high price, but her monthly income relied on the farmers instead.

She was nothing but a small landlord of a small farmland, and her money would only be enough to get by every month, paying a few servants, buying ingredients, and maintaining the old mansion they had.

Yet, she finally felt peace for the first time in her life. She could sleep at night without worrying about a single thing, and when she woke up, she wouldn’t get a headache over so many things she needed to handle.

All she did every morning was drink coffee while reading some books she purchased from the traveling merchant.

It was truly a life full of bliss.

However, she understood that it was difficult for Aria to accept this new life, so she never pressured her daughter to change her way of thinking. It was almost like a miracle to see Aria suddenly have a change of heart.

She didn’t know what caused Aria to lose her grudge over their current condition, but as a mother who had been yearning to make up for all the neglect ever since Aria was young, Anastasia should fully support Aria’s decision.

It’d be even better if Aria would start talking with the villagers as well, it would keep her grounded and humble.

"I’m so happy, Aria," Anastasia said as she opened her arms and hugged her daughter. "I never knew that our abdication was a blessing in disguise. Had I known that we would finally have peace when we lost the throne, I would’ve abdicated long ago."

...

Aria said nothing, but she was seething with rage in her heart. She couldn’t believe that her once ambitious mother—who would be more than ready to toss anyone as long as she could stay in power—would say something so weak and pathetic.

Aria once respected her mother for her wits, and even went as far as idolizing her. She wanted to be like her mother who was ruthless and wouldn’t spare a glance at anyone that’s not worth her time.

’And now, she sounds genuinely happy, even tearing up just because I said I want to help the peasants with a banquet. How pathetic,’ Aria sneered in her heart. ’You were once my great mother, but now you’re nothing but a frail old lady with a weak heart. But oh well, I guess we can keep doing this. I want to harvest your soul at its highest quality.’

’Keep being a good person, Mom. It will make your harvest ten times more effective in the future.’

Aria was trying hard not to giggle as she imagined harvesting her mother’s soul. It was almost like a fantasy for her because Madam Harsetti kept saying that she would become the Ultimate Witch once she sacrificed someone dearest to her heart.

So, Aria needed to love her mother, or at least her mother needed to love her back. There must be a taste of betrayal and despair when the sacrifice happens.

Thus, Aria decided to continue playing as a good girl in front of her mother.

Anastasia slowly released her hug and said, "I still have all of my jewelry. I can sell one of them and we can hold a banquet for everyone in the village."

"And how long would it take for you to sell your jewelry, Mom?"

"The traveling merchant would come by spring—"

"That won’t do," Aria interrupted. She couldn’t wait that long as waiting for Swan’s downfall was excruciating for her. She wanted Swan to die as soon as possible. "Mom, this winter is very cold. If we wait until spring, then many people will die because they can’t eat anything! It’s an urgent situation!"

Anastasia bit her lip. She didn’t expect Aria to be so kind that she got distressed thinking about the lives of the innocent villagers. It made her happy, but her request would require Anastasia to take out some of the gold coins she had in the stash.

Of course, she still had plenty, but the gold stash was meant to be an emergency fund in case something bad happened, as she needed to survive with her daughter.

"I-I don’t know, Aria. This is too sudden. We need a lot of money for it..."

"Then, please take this," Aria took out her pearl necklace and handed it to her mother. "This is the newest pearl necklace I have. I’m sure it can be sold for a high price, right? We can use it to fund the banquet!"