They Hated Me in My First Life, But Now I Have the Love System

Chapter 405: This Kingdom… Will Have to Find Another Heir

“Have I ever forced you to do anything in the past? Ever? I have let you make your own choices since you were old enough to speak. Can’t you do this one thing for me? Just this one, can’t you find someone else to marry?”

Somto exhaled slowly. She was his mother. And he did respect her. But no matter how many years passed, she still did not see it, didn’t see her.

So he decided to try. One more time. Maybe, just maybe… if he explained it clearly, she would finally understand.

“Mom,” he began softly, “you think this is about infatuation? About attraction? It’s not.”

Queen Chioma crossed her arms, silent but tense.

“When I was broken and sick, Nnenna did not pity me, she took care of me. She stood with me. When I doubted myself, she reminded me of who I was. She doesn’t know these things. That just hearing of her exploits motivates me! And when everyone else saw her as nothing, she still chose to give everything.”

He stepped closer, his voice deepening with emotion.

“She reminds me of the kind of king I want to be. The kind of man I should be. She’s… she’s not just someone I love. She’s someone I admire.”

Queen Chioma’s eyes flickered, just for a moment, but she said nothing.

“You say she’s the reason Dad is gone,” Somto said, his voice tight with old pain. “But you weren’t there when she cried for him. When she blamed herself. When she risked her life to help Abuchi save his fiance.”

He took a step back, swallowing hard. “You hate her. But I… I’ve seen her heart. And it’s the purest thing I’ve ever known.”

Silence stretched between them like a sword drawn and waiting.

finally. “But I won’t lie about how I

old enough to talk,” Somto

agreement, Somto,” Queen Chioma replied, her arms crossed. “Or have you

should marry someone of even higher

Chioma snapped. “So why is Nnenna even

his gaze steady. “Because I know what I’m

Chioma’s lips thinned into a hard line. “Fine. If you think you know better than your own mother, then listen to

she declared. “I will never allow that girl to become your wife. I will never let her be Queen

words hit like cold steel, but Somto didn’t flinch. Instead,

hatred ran so deep, she couldn’t see anything else. Not reason. Not growth. Not

who had risked herself to protect others, who had quietly

Chioma saw was

nothing he said would

Not now.

Maybe not ever.

quiet sigh and stepped back. “Then I guess we’ll see,” he said

him down to explain the full story, but Somto was no fool. He had long since dug through the shadows, asked the right questions, and uncovered the truth his mother never

why she hated Nnenna so

the version Queen Chioma clung to…

in love with someone else. Love, genuine, unpredictable, inconvenient love. Something that couldn’t be controlled. Something that

someone had

man, his father was promised to someone. Not to mention that she was

had rewritten the tale, turning betrayal into a vendetta. She needed someone