The King froze in shock at my statement, forcing me to stifle my laughter at his expression. I had him exactly where I wanted him. Just like a deer caught between the headlights. But my question was legitimate, I didn’t know anything about my ‘mother’ other than what she had told and shown me. I wanted to know a little more now.

“I must ask. Did you just say that the Elder of Frost is your mother? The Elder of Frost?” The King asked, his tone far too eager for my comfort.

“Well, unless there are two Elders of Frost, it is her. Though I didn’t catch a name, so it could be someone else.” I answered, grinning inside.

“No, no one would dare to use her title. The Elder of Frost, Altura, is a legendary woman. Almost as legendary as her mother. The Grand Elder Arctica. Do you even know what it means if what you say is true?” The King exclaimed.

“No, your majesty, though I suspect that I am about to.” I said, not sure what I should be feeling right now.

“Well you're right in that at least. I am sure that you are aware that there are nine Grand Elders that rule the lands. The Grand Elder Artica is one of the most quiet among them. And also one of the most powerful. Rumor is that the Grand Elder never spent all of her chances to break through, instead deciding to bide her time and learn more.”

“But that is far from the only thing she is known for. The Grand Elder’s bloodline is known for being born with good Seeds, and being able to level them quickly. Not only that, but her ice arts are renowned to be better than even the First Warrior’s, something that has sparked the jealousy of more than one competitor.”

“The only reason the Grand Elder isn’t a more powerful force is because of how hard it is for her family to have children. The Elder of Frost is, to date, her only living relative. The rest of the Elder’s family was hunted down and killed for their Seeds. The Elder of Frost is living proof of the family’s talent.”

“Reaching the Grand Tree stage and winning the Elder Tourney at 17, breaking all records, she proved herself to be one of the most talented people in the world. No one will dare to oppose you if you claim that particular family name Altura.”

“Not in the Elder Tourney. Not in the Land of the Six Jewels.” The King said, visibly excited. I could practically see him counting his chickens before they hatched.

I just had my first experience of ‘Suddenly a Princess’. Even a King wasn’t immune to going straight to the mooch off. Did no one notice the underlying danger here? I could really see how that woman got so demanding. No one here would dare so no. I didn't know if I dared to do it.

And that brought me to a sudden realization. The spirit dysphoria. The transmigration. What would happen when she found out that I wasn’t who she thought I was?

Adreia, Elder of Frost, Altura’s Mother.

Adreia was anxious. How long had it been since she was so anxious? A decade? Longer? The last time was when Mother had called on her to take a suitor. Thankfully, that particular suitor hadn’t been up to par, and she had been able to reject him easily.

But she had always known that her mother was thirsting over having more family members. A common misconception was that every child born to someone of her family would have the bloodline, a misconception spread by her family’s hunters on purpose, but that was not true. The bloodline was extremely hard to pass down. The only way to truly know if a person had the bloodline was their element.

A person with the bloodline would have at least two elements, one of which would be Ice. Altura had, initially, shown no indication of having more than one element, causing Adreia to presume her to be but a normal child and leave.

Imagine her surprise when she sensed the bloodline on Altura. The only reason she had even been close enough to do so was luck, she had been heading back to her continent when she sensed Altura break through to the Treeling level.

And surprise surprise, there it was! Mixed in with some kind of spirit issue that had her remembering memories from previous lives, the bloodline was right there, boosting her growth.

What the bloodline actually did beyond increasing Seed quality was debatable, but it was a known fact that every person with it was, without exception, extremely talented. Of course, it could just be that the hunt for her family had provided a large enough body count that it gave an illusion of talent, talent itself was, after all, questionable with the System.

But that was enough of that. Adreia had to figure out what to do about this daughter of hers. The duchy she had irritated her greatly, it was too small, too remote, too Qi deficient. Standing on the wall of the ‘fortress’ had her sighing at the bleak landscape.

The commoners were clearing away what remained of the surrounding forest, the horribly inept Medical Association was trying to heal its charges and there was a constant influx of farmers looking for land.

The entire thing was a mess. What fallacy had them using neutral Qi to heal? The only way to efficiently heal was to use Healing Qi or herbs. Was this duchy of her daughter’s so poor that she could not even afford some herbs? Well it did make sense. The Qi here was too scarce.

Adreia sent her senses outward, spreading them across this continent. Truly, this was a barren land. The only place where such herbs seem to exist was a valley in the south…ah and in a little green building in those plains! Wasn’t that the Confederacy or whatever? Hmm…how angry would her daughter be if she got a few herbs from her enemy?

Altura did tell her to not interfere. But it was just a few herbs…she wouldn’t care so much right? Adreia teleported the building away, making sure to get its caretakers too. The herbs would die without their caretakers, and she was loath to take care of them.

Teleporting herself beside the Medical Association’s head, someone named Argus, she said, “I got you a few herbs. Now you can stop using that neutral Qi of yours.” Argus just stared at her for a second, apparently puzzled at her statement.

“I am sorry, your uh eldership, but what exactly are these herbs you speak of?” Argus asked. What? How was it that these people hadn’t even heard of herbs? Didn’t Reinar use them too-Actually she didn’t remember him using them during her stay at his place. But at the time she had assumed it was because there were no injuries.

Ugh. How was she going to explain herbs to them?

“Just use them to heal, the blue berries are good for cuts and wounds, the red cone thingies are good for common infections and the pink fruits will cure mental problems caused by the war.” Adreia said, recounting what she remembered of herbs. The three herbs were the most common types in the world and a quick check told her that these were the only type in the green building.

“Um, your eldership, where will I get these herbs?” Argus asked, hesitantly.

“Oh, I teleported a building right outside your fortress, some of your soldiers should have noticed it by now.” Adriea said. Why did her daughter have to get stuck with such incompetents?

“A building, your eldership?” Argus said, shocked, as he gestured to one of the cronies to go check.

“Yes, it was in what you call the Confederacy. I saw that you needed it, so I teleported it over.” Adreia answered.

Argus’ face suddenly turned serious as he said,” I am not sure her grace would appreciate you stealing a building from a Jewel, your eldership. Even if they are our enemy.”

Oh, right. Payment. Ugh, how many spirit stones did a building like this need? A few hundred million? Fine whatever. Adreia teleported a pile of spirit stones from her Spacial ring into the space that used to be occupied by the building.

“I left payment.” she told a stern looking Argus. Seriously, what was the Confederacy going to do if she didn’t leave some payment? Demand it? Oh, she would like to see that. The idea of a tiny Grand Tree force asking her to pay was laughable.

No Grand Tree would dare ask a Spirit Tree for money, it was the Grand Tree's honor that they could aid the Spirit Tree in some manner. Though most Spirit Trees did leave some reward for them. Reputations had to be maintained. Even she did that.