The Flower Of Eternity
Chapter 22: Forgiveness

The Queen Mother's Rest Room, Sun Palace, Shina, Orient

The sun was shining brightly as usual that afternoon in Shina. The cool air scented with flowers blew the white curtains in the room, bringing out the view filled with the luxury of the Sun Palace. Queen Mother Reina who never looked old was enjoying her rest time accompanied by young men of her choice who came from various countries.

No one dared to bother him, but Yi-Zhuo was the only exception.

The red-eyed pomegranate girl barged into the Queen Mother's resting room while pulling a chain sheathed into the neck of a brown-haired, pale-skinned woman. The woman cries, begging Yi-Zhuo to let go of her in Nordhalbinsel language. But Yi-Zhuo ignores her and even pulls the chain tighter on purpose, not because she doesn't understand the language, but because she enjoys making others beg her.

The Queen Mother told all her lovers to leave the room immediately. He tidied up his kimono before starting to observe his guests. Next to his eyebrows raised, his red lips formed a disdainful smile. Yi-Zhuo knelt before him and dropped his captive to bow down to the Queen Mother.

"So..he?" Ask Reina. He sat on his chair with his legs crossed. His skirt was half-blasted showing his smooth legs. Next to his eyebrows raised, his gaze was full of judgment. His fingers tapped on the handle of the chair, forming a thrilling rhythm.

Yi-Zhuo got up to his feet, yet did not really dare to look at the Queen Mother. "Yes, Sire. This person was a magician whom the Wind Dragon had encountered before he disappeared."

Reina immediately left her seat and walked towards the Witch who was still prostrating before her.

The Witch looked up at Reina as the Queen Mother's feet touched her head. He looked at her with hatred. Reina smirked happily when she saw that look. He gripped the Witch's chin with one hand, dunking his long, well-groomed nails into the Witch's face until it bled. The Witch could only grimace in enduring the pain. Her tears flowed, mixed with the blood on her face.

"Why did the Wind Dragon meet you?" Reina asked in perfect Nordhalbinsel. Her tone was so gentle as a mother to her child.

But the Witch had no intention of answering. He had already promised not to reveal the secrets of the Wind Dragon. All the witches appreciated their agreement.

Yi-Zhuo pulled the chain around his neck so that the Witch felt suffocated, "Are you mute? Answer the Queen Mother's question!"

The Witch thrashed and cried, feeling helpless, "Punish me... Ampuni—“

Those words came to a halt as Reina slapped into the Witch's face. The slap was so loud that the witch's face was injured.

"Why did the Wind Dragon meet you?" ask again. "On the third question, you will lose your husband and children. I-i know... You're married to a man from the Ilbon tribe, right? And you have two children, a son who looks a lot like you and a daughter who looks like her father. Perfect happy family." Reina smiled as she looked at the scared expression on the Witch's face.

The witch had no other choice. His family's life is at stake. If he did not uncover the secrets of the Wind Dragon, he would lose his family.

"He asked me to move his heart into a pinch with a jewel ornament he had." Said the Witch.

"Wind Dragon Hairclips?" Yi-Zhuo looked pensive, "I haven't seen Kaze for a long time wearing that hairpin when it was the proud hairpin of the Wind Dragon. If it is not wrong it is the gift of the previous Emperor" he told the Queen Mother in Orient.

"What do you mean by moving his heart?" Reina asked back in Nordhalbinsel because the Witch, despite having lived in the Orient for a long time, still had difficulty using the Orient language.

"The heart of the Wind Dragon holds its power. The heart core can be moved into certain gems that have a long history or are considered sacred by using magic. A few months ago, the Wind Dragon came up to me and asked me to move his heart core into his hairpin." Evidently.

"So that hairpin has the power of a Wind Dragon?" Reina asked to make sure.

"Yes, Sire."

"Whoever wears that hairpin can master the power of the Wind Dragon? Even if the Wind Dragon is gone?" Ask again.

The Witch was shocked to hear those words. He never thought that the little girl who met him while trembling in fear that night a few months ago was dead. The little girl was the same age as her daughter, so young and skinny as if she had been starving for days. That was why he couldn't refuse Kaze's request back then.

"Java!" Yi-Zhuo again pulled the chain around his neck.

"Truly, Sire..." The Witch replied in a stammer, imagining the little girl dead made her feel even more sinful had exposed her secret. In his heart he prayed for the spirit of the Wind Dragon and begged her for forgiveness for revealing his secret to the little girl's enemy.

Reina caressed the Witch's face with her sharp fingernails, leaving a long scratch on her bleeding cheek. As he asked, his voice was as slow and as smooth as death, "Then where is that hairpin now?"

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

Anna was in her room that night holding her sleeping daughter. According to royal rules, the Princess should have slept in her own room, but Anna still could not be far from her child. His son needs him and he needs his son to stay strong. Anna nailed her gaze out the window displaying a view of the crystal Tulip garden at night. So quiet and soothing.

"Vierra, honey..." Anna called her daughter by her nickname. "Do you think your father and mother weren't meant to be together?" Anna asked in a whisper to her sleeping daughter.

The words of Orlando Ortiz this afternoon continued to fill his mind. He had indeed made it through one more day without Xavier. Anna managed to occupy her mind with Imperial affairs and take care of her daughter. But at the end of the day, all the things he had wanted to ignore from his mind were now back to fulfilling it.

"If you are meant to be together, you will be together."

Orlando Ortiz said that he and Xavier were not meant to be together.

Maybe it's true that way. Anna herself remembers her dreams about her past. After he died in his previous life, Xavier asked the Goddess of Heaven to come back to life. And they shouldn't be together in this life if they don't want to repeat their destiny.

But I love you. Said Anna. Was it wrong of me to love you?

I was wrong. Xavier answered.

Don'tdon't... Continue your life. Open a new page. Forget me.

Just then, Anna felt a touch on her shoulders. It was as warm and familiar as if the one who touched it was really there. As she looked back at the window, she swore she could see Xavier's face in the reflection of the window glass, hugging him from behind.

Can't do. Anna answered the shadow on the window. I won't be able to forget you. I won't be able to open a new leaf. No new sheets. You're the last chapter in my book.

Anna, honey... There are still a lot of books in your library that you haven't opened yet. Xavier said, if it was him and not just Anna's delusion. But Anna did feel his presence. You haven't tried it yet, don't say you can't. You can live happily before you meet me. So you can be happy without me too.

That was before you became everything to me. Before I realize how much you mean to me. Now wherever I step I can see your shadow. In the crystal tulip garden where our first kiss was, along the hallway of the palace where we used to walk together, in the dining room, in the meeting room, in our room, here today... You're all over the place.

Then realize your plan to move the seat of government in Schere. Move to a new palace where I've never been there. Start a new life without me. You can do it.

Suddenly the sound of the door being knocked down slowly. "Your Majesty, can I come in?" That's Leon's voice.

"No." Answer Anna directly. Slowly and carefully she put her daughter on her bed, worried that her daughter would wake up. "I'll come out. Vierra just went to bed."

Anna goes out to meet Leon. He asked the guards and his ladies to keep Princess Vierra inside. After making sure the Princess was kept safe by her confidants, the two of them walked towards the crystal Tulip garden.

Anna grabbed her thick coat, driving out the cold night air at Noord. He rubbed the ruby jewels on his ring to feel the warmth from the Great Fire Dragon's heart inside.

For a moment, none of them spoke up. They simply walked down the crystal Tulip garden in silence.

"I'm sorry." Leon said, breaking the silence between them.

Anna stopped her steps, turning her head towards Leon beside her. "What's up?"

"Everything."

Anna folded her arms in front of her chest, "All what? What's wrong with you?" Ask without mercy.

Leon seemed to feel very guilty and did not know where to start. "Your Majesty, please don't be like this." Said. His gaze begged. "I was wrong. I was wrong for yelling at you. Because of the fight that night. Due to Xavier—“'s death

"Not that." Cut Anna straight away.

"What?"

"You must apologize for what you said." Anna tells.

Leon looked down again, looking really sorry. "Yes. I'm sorry for what I said."

Anna shook her head, "You don't understand."

"Then, please explain." Leon Pinta.

"I'm the one you'll feel much better if I'm the one who's dead." Anna imitated Leon's speech complete with her cold tone at the time. Leon finally understood his point. "Where could I feel better if you were the one who died? How can I be okay if you die? You underestimated the meaning of yourself in front of me who for years, since I was a child, thought of you as my whole world! It was your fault that really hurt me."

"Your Majesty—“

Anna raised her hand, forbidding Leon from cutting off his unfinished talk. "I love Xavier with all my heart. I never felt so loved when he loved me. I've never been happier than whenever. And when Xavier left my life, he took away all my happiness and all my heart. He is everything to me and can never be replaced by anyone. He has forever my heart. But you..." His voice became hoarse as he declared all of that. Anna refrains from shedding any more tears in front of Leon. He took a few breaths before finally continuing, "You once had a special place there, Leon. As the only person who broke my heart twice by rejecting me. As the one who taught me pain before Xavier taught me how it feels to be loved. And you should know that your life means a lot to me, too. You mean a lot to me."

Leon's speechless. Can't find the words to say.

Anna continued, "Xavier's death is not your fault at all. It was my fault. And I feel the sadness of Irene, your anger, and the loss of the father figure that my daughter has to endure and the loss felt by the entire Nordhalbinsel people. I thought you must be mad at me because it was my fault."

"No. I'm angry at myself. I was wrong for taking it out on you." Leon said immediately, before Anna increasingly misunderstood his anger at the time. "I'm angry because I made you and Irene sad, because of Xavier's death. Because when I saw Princess Xavierra, I could see Xavier. That he was born without a father because of me."

Knowing Leon needs her, because he needs her too, and if he doesn't start then no one will, so Anna hugs him. Giving him the comfort of a friend, a sister, a family member. It is not a hug based on passionate love, which has been held for a long time between the two a long time, not a hug between a man and a woman who have an interest in each other, it was a hug based on the same wound. Because they both feel lost, both feel guilty for Xavier's death, both grieving and do not know how to treat or get out of the feeling of suffering.

"It wasn't your fault. Not at all. So stop feeling guilty and angry at yourself." Anna said as she patted Leon's back. "It's not your fault..."

"It's not your fault either." Leon said in his arms. She held Anna tightly, and let her tears fall onto Anna's shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Anna said, crying in Leon's arms. "I'm sorry."

And when the two of them had calmed down together, the wounds in their hearts had already improved and their tears had dried up, they released a hug and returned walking towards the Palace together.

"Your Majesty..." Call Leon. Anna turned to him, waiting for the continuation of her words, "There is one more person who wants to apologize to you. Will you meet him?"

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