The Flower Of Eternity
Chapter 20: Anger's

Main Palace, Noord, Nordhalbinsel, Imperial Schiereiland

Birth Day of Princess Xavierra...

"I remember now." Said Anna.

Anna had just finished breastfeeding her daughter and gave Xavierra to Irene to take to the princess' room. Irene asks Leon to come in and accompany her while Irene takes Xavierra. And now Anna was sitting in her bed rereading the contents of her diary. Recalling everything he had forgotten.

"He's really dead, isn't he?"

Leon nodded. Can't say anything. His eyes watched the change in expression on Anna's face. Find out if Anna can accept Xavier's death or will deny it again.

"I've remembered everything, Leon." Anna said again, as if giving him an answer. But his eyes looked bright. "When Constanza and Ludwig came to visit Eze, I asked Ludwig to bring in one of his magic students whom I knew. Name's Feyna. That witch has a rare magic talent of permanently erasing memories."

"You're not—“

Anna nodded. "true." Said. "I asked Feyna to erase my memory of the events in the Northern Territory. The moment Xavier was killed in front of me. Because I keep remembering it and it keeps coming every time I close my eyes." Anna turned her head towards Leon, her eyes sore from holding back tears. "That thing is torturing me, Leon."

"So you really forgot?"

"But now I remember everything. Clear memories of the day of the incident."

Leon also remembered it, as vivid as his memories of that day. The difference is, Leon won't be able to erase that memory. It's not impossible, rather he won't. Because he did not want to forget that day. It was as if that way, by allowing himself to be tormented by those memories, making his guilt towards Anna would diminish slightly. Guilt for making Anna lose Xavier. Guilt for making Anna sad.

Leon didn't say anything. He could not find the right words to comfort Anna's heart because he knew there were no useful words. Leon will let Anna grieve, at least now Anna has found a reason to live again after Xavier's death. His daughter will be the reason for a new life for him. And that alone made Leon feel relieved.

"I... I'm not crazy, Leon." Anna said after a long time the two of them were silent to each other.

"I never thought of you that way." Said Leon directly.

"But I actually heard his voice. He's really talking to me."

Leon nodded. "Sometimes I hear it too" he said, "On the night I thwarted your suicide attempt, it was Xavier who told me not to leave you alone. I wasn't drunk at the time. I really heard it. But he's dead, Your Honor."

"I know..." Anna couldn't hold back her tears. "It's my fault."

"Not."

"That's my fault!" Her crying. "He died saving me. My fault. I should have died. Not him."

"If you need someone to blame for his death, it's me. Eleanor wanted to kill me that day. I should have died that day. Not Xavier. Not yous. I should be the one to die. Are you sad and sorry now that I'm not the one who died?"

Anna shakes. His eyes widened in disbelief. The hurt of hearing those words coming out of Leon's mouth radiated from the look in his eyes.

He was confused as to why Leon had said such a thing. All this time Anna thought everyone might blame her for Xavier's death. If Anna had obeyed Xavier's words and entrusted the affairs of the north to Xavier and Leon, Xavier might still exist today. Her daughter had to lose her father, and Irene had to lose her son, she felt Leon had the right to blame her for making her mother sad.

"I'm the one you'll feel much better if I'm the one who's dead." Continue Leon. Her tone was cold.

"Don't be crazy! What do you think I was there for?" Shouted Anna.

"Yes. Why were you there that day? You should've kept what Xavier said. You shouldn't have been there! You should have let me die!" Leon yelled back at him.

Unknowingly Leon let out all the anger he had been craving for those two weeks. He was angry at Eleanor who killed Xavier. He was angry at Xavier who sacrificed himself and left Anna so Anna had to suffer like that. But more than his anger towards anyone, Leon was angry at himself. Because he felt that none of this would have happened if he had died that day.

"Leon!" Cry Anna. "How could you talk to me like that! I was there because I couldn't let you sacrifice yourself. Because I know exactly that's what you're gonna do!"

Leon seemed really sorry to have vented his anger on Anna. He immediately left before his anger on himself only added to the wound in Anna's heart. "I'll call Irene to accompany you. Take a rest."

...****************...

The snow had stopped falling a few hours ago, but the air was still too cold so there was no sight of anyone wandering in the Crystal Tulip Garden. The garden was so quiet and cold, a suitable place to be alone. Even though the night was already so late, but the moon still accompanied him above the sky. Leon looked at the moon blankly as he continued to chug at the wine he had taken from Xavier's wine cellar in his study.

Apologize to him!

Simultaneously with those words, the wind was blowing fiercely around him.

Leon threw the bottle of wine at him in any direction as if he could shake off the familiar voice he kept hearing in his head.

But of course the bottle of wine just hit the tree and broke into pieces. Not about anyone.

"Shut up." Leon said to the empty air.

That's wine.

"No need to protest. You can't drink that wine anymore. You're dead." He said as he opened another bottle of wine with his bare hands. When he said that, his tone was so flat and cold, but his eyes could not lie. "Stop talking to me. I don't want to hear you."

Leon closed his eyes to prevent his tears from spilling. The cold wind at night froze him.

I didn't know you'd be this emotional because of my death. I am confused to be happy or sad.

Leon didn't care about the sound. Hoping that if he didn't serve it, Xavier's voice would just disappear. He continued to chug the wine in silence. He did not realize how many bottles he had spent alone in the park.

Because now death is so far from him. Death was a luxury he could never achieve.

"Do you want company?" A voice shocked him, pulling himself into vigilance. A female voice with a very thick Westeria accent. The Westerians are not very suitable to use their language.

Leon turned his head to see who had come because he was not at all familiar with the voice. When he saw it, Leon looked straight ahead.

The woman could make any man bend his knees to her and plead while crying. Not because of her exotic beauty and charismatic charm, but because of what she can do with just one look.

And Leon knows it. Ignoring it is the wisest choice. But that woman was currently the guest of honor in Imperial.

"Go." He said, as cold as air.

The woman smiled hearing that. His Amethyst-colored eyes glittered under the moonlight. Without waiting for an invitation, the woman sat down beside Leon. "I think all northern men should be polite to women."

"I wasn't born and raised here. And I was deliberately disrespectful because I wanted to be alone." He said without even a single glance towards his interlocutor.

Andromeda Navarro held his chin on one hand, watching Leon's face up close. His eyes could not be separated from that face, admiring it in silence like an art critic admiring a high-art sculpture.

"You have a cold side typical of the people of the north, but also the warmth and hospitality of the people of Schiereiland. Also sexiness that only Westerian men have. No wonder, you have a fusion of those three countries, right? Your father was Schiereiland, your grandfather was the previous Grand Duke of Winterthur and your grandmother, if the rumors are true, was Westeria." Andromeda smiled, "You want to tell me what your problem is? What's the problem with women?" He said, after a long time of observing.

Leon moved away from her, looking very disturbed, "With all due respect, Lady Navarro—“

"Andromeda."

"Whatever."

"You don't look happy for the size of the man who just officially became the uncle of the heir to the three kingdoms, the Grand Duke." His voice was full of sight. But Leon was not provoked in the least to answer.

Knowing that Andromeda Navarro would not let him be alone, Leon immediately left the place. Engaging in anything on a Navarro is not a wise decision. Leon recalled the message from his fellow-colleagues who were also from the Navarro Clan. Riz once told him that the members of the Navarro Clan were not like the other Clans in Westeria. The Navarre do not wander around carrying swords. Even Riz was the only Navarro who learned to sword. Because Navarro did not need a sword to destroy his enemy. They only needed one look in the deadly Amethyst's eyes.

"Tsarina's mad at you?" Asked Andromeda who was now following in his footsteps from behind.

"It's none of your business."

"He loves you." Andromeda. And with those words he managed to make Leon stop his steps. Knowing that his tactics worked, Andromeda continued, "It is not the love he felt for the late King Xavier. That's another thing. Not exactly like that. But he loves you sincerely. That's why. You've been her own family, a part of her life. He doesn't want to lose you. He would be willing to die if it could save you. You should understand that better considering you've been together since you were born."

Leon looked towards him. His face was implying a question he was not asking. How Andromeda knows all that. Why did Andromeda say that. What purpose.

Andromeda doesn't need all those questions. He answered everything without being asked. "I gave Orlando Ortiz the authority to make Letticia and Arizona Navarro members of the Ortiz Clan to get that information from him. You know, Ortiz can read other people's minds. A woman as complicated as Tsarina Anastasia was no exception to him."

Leon just silently listened for Andromeda to continue his explanation.

"I think it's worth it if I can get your attention even if it's only a few seconds." Said. Leon was confused. "Oh, come. Don't pretend you don't know. I'm interested in you."

"Sorry, I'm not interested." Said Leon directly.

"Women, relationships, or me?"

"Your squad."

Andromeda laughs. "Is it a Winterthur family member's custom to reject me?" He said as he walked slowly towards Leon.

After getting close enough to Leon, he stopped his steps. The Amethyst's eyes looked hypnotic. It was so beautiful and glittering in the darkness of the night as it stared at Leon up close. But Leon didn't avoid it at all. Andromeda appreciated that courage. Usually the men would turn their gazes away if they were stared at up close like that. Not for fear of temptation, but for fear of going mad and broken. They all remembered what a Navarro could do with a single glance.

"Your eyes are beautiful." Andromeda. "There's both courage and fear there. There is plain honesty and deceit in your eyes. Something that is both strong and fragile. Something no one can have." Andromeda's voice is as slow as a whisper, yet as beautiful as a sleep-conducting song. "I want to have it."

Leon didn't say anything. He can't. Even if he wanted to run from there, he felt it would be useless.

No. gabe. He doesn't need to run from Andromeda. It would only make him happy and increasingly challenged to chase after him. One more thing he learned from Riz, when dealing with a Navarro, do not make them feel challenged, do not run, and do not let them master.

"You know what I can do with those beautiful eyes? I can adore him all my life..." Andromeda can hypnotize anyone who hears it. Capture and take him prisoner. But Leon listened reluctantly. "...or I can destroy it" he continued.

"Or you can get away from me and my eyes that you want to worship." Leon said at last after he had managed to get out of Andromeda's influence.

Andromeda looked surprised. His pupils widened, seemingly at a loss for words for a moment. But then he grinned happily, as if he had just found a new toy that was very interesting. "I didn't make it, did I?"

Leon ignored.

If he wanted to, he could avenge that Navarro Clan leader. Andromeda just wanted to destroy it for fun. And Leon felt entitled to reply. But world peace is far more important than his personal vendetta.

"Today I failed to destroy something." Andromeda. "You can explain to me why you didn't die just now? Do you even know what I just did?"

"There is something far more terrible than death and destruction you bring, Lady Navarro..." Said Leon. Andromeda silently listened, curious at the meaning of Leon's words. Knowing Andromeda was waiting for the continuation of his words, Leon finally continued, "That is eternity."

"I thought..." Andromeda said, half pensive, half stunned as he looked at Leon. This time he no longer looked at Leon as one of his prey or target. Now he looks at Leon as a fellow predator. Equivalent to. Equally deadly. "I like you." Andromeda smile. Not the kind of smile that teases her even though Andromeda does want to tease her. "But since you're not interested, I'll give up. Let's just end up here, then. Have a good rest, Grand Duke Winterthur. That's if you can rest in peace." Andromeda turned around before actually leaving Leon, "Eternity is not that bad, Grand Duke. Try to start accepting your situation. And..." Andromeda blinked one eye, "If you need a friend, I'm in my room."

...****************...