The Flower Of Eternity
Chapter 41: Negotiation

The journal of King Xavier:

Last night I dreamed of meeting Etherna. Goddess of Heaven, as well as my mother-in-law in a past life.

He didn't say anything. But he obviously doesn't seem to like me very much. It seems like my mistake a thousand years ago is still inexcusable for him. So I begged him for forgiveness, saying that I couldn't keep my promise to him a thousand years ago. I promised not to go near her daughter again. And I begged him to bless our relationship in this life. I promised the Goddess to take care of my wife, love her whole heart and make her happy. But the Goddess's answer turned out to be beyond my expectations. Even after waking up from the dream, his words continued to ring, this is what he said:

“In this life she was not born as my daughter. You don't have to ask for my blessing. Thank you Earithear for begging me that Zhera be reborn as her daughter so that you can be together for her blessing in this life.”

***

Anna immediately looked up upon hearing that familiar call. But of course saying it wasn't what people expected.

"Why are you crying here? Instead of being sad, come with us." Said the man. He's not an Orient guy. That was what caused Anna to look up to see him because the man was a northerner, complete with snow-white skin and a typical northern accent. But without the decency of the northern men.

His friend beside him who was also a northerner said, "Well, you have a pair of very pretty eyes. Red as blood."

Only then did Anna remember that she was in the form of Eri. Those people would certainly recognize his face if he took off his ring. All the northerners must have known the Tsarina especially with the characteristic red hair. But these tourists do not recognize Eri although most Orient people certainly know that red eyes are only owned by the Torakka, and they all respect Torakka and will not dare to disturb him.

"Come with us, beautiful. We can take away your sadness. We're gonna have fun." Said the other man who impolitely withdrew his hand. He gripped Anna's hand tightly.

Damnit. I forgot that this is Jungdo's red district. A lot of the trash lives here.

"Let go!" Anna said in her language.

"Ooh..he can speak our language!" Said the first man. He then held Anna's hand.

Anna tried not to take out the Eri sword she was carrying nor the power of the Dragons against them. But their grip grew so tight that it was painful and Anna had trouble breaking away.

"I don't want to hurt you because you're not that important. So it's better to get rid of your contemptible hands while I'm still talking good." He ruled like a queen.

But instead of feeling scared and threatened, the three northern men instead laughed loudly and dragged Anna to come with them. They take her to a narrow alley and corner her so that Anna cannot escape from them.

"Hold him. I started first." Said the man whose body was bigger than the others while starting to take off his trouser belt. He grinned as he saw Anna looking at him sharply. "Don't look at me like that, sweetie. You're making me even more excited."

"I warned you." Anna said calmly.

Anna made both her hands in flames. The two people holding it were instantly on fire. And with a single stomp of Anna's feet, the ground around them began to shake like there was a huge earthquake so they all fell to the ground, losing their balance. Anna then brought out her rose tendrils from every crack in the ground she made. The roses wrapped around and tied the hands and feet of the three men. His thorns stabbed them, making them cry for help and cry.

"Who are you?" Ask one of them who almost took off his pants.

This time it was Anna who grinned, "Take a guess." And along with that, Anna controlled Kaze's wind so as to blow away the surrounding boulders, ready to befall the three northern men. "There's a last word?"

"Punish us! Please don't kill us!"

"Please promise not to repeat your actions against any woman." Anna's orders. "You are northern men! Didn't your mother teach you how to treat women with respect and tenderness?"

"Punish us!"

This time Anna took out Eri's sword and made the sword in flames. Tricks that Xavier had taught him. "It doesn't really affect your sword skills, but at least you'll look more cool and terrible. And that's a good effect. Your enemies will be afraid of you. And fear will diminish the ability of your enemy." Anna recalled Xavier's words back then. And Xavier was right, the effect of the flame running through the sword instantly scared the three northern men to death.

"We promise!" They said directly. "We promise not to repeat our actions! We will treat all women like a Queen and will not demean and harass women again!"

And with that, Anna sucked their energy using her thorns, making them faint. After making sure the three fainted, Anna immediately tidied up the mess she had made. He then stepped out leaving the three men in an unconscious state.

Taking out the strength of the three Dragons at once made him exhausted. If only she had not had breakfast porridge first and had left her stomach empty, perhaps Anna would have fainted by then. So he continued on his way while holding on to the towering walls of the buildings around him. While continuing to pant, Anna forced herself to walk.

But someone has been watching it since. Anna was so surprised to find that someone had noticed everything she was doing using the power of the Dragon. And that person, despite wearing ordinary folk clothes and disguising himself by covering his face with a heuklip hat, Anna was instantly able to recognize him. Because Anna had predicted it. But Anna did not expect that the man would see her when she used the power of the Dragon.

The man was much more surprised when he saw her—looked at Eri.

"Eri Torakka..." He said slowly, still recuperating from his shock at what he had just witnessed before his eyes. Anxiety and confusion emanated from the look in her eyes as she looked at Eri's face.

Anna was pecking for a while, confused at what she should do or say. So he decided to act as Eri. He deliberately allowed himself to fall to his knees before that person. "Baginda Emperor—“

"Follow me." The Emperor told him.

***

Haru invites Anna who is undercover as Eri to a quiet place to talk. And that place is Dong-gung, the tavern where he used to live in the Orient.

Although the outward appearance was still the same, Anna realized that many changes had occurred to the place after being abandoned by its owner for quite a long time. The former Dong-gung is the most popular tavern for foreign tourists and upper-middle class people in the red district of Jungdo because it is the only place that provides directly imported Carina wine from Schiereiland and because in that place the tourists can use their own language. The old dong-gung is a beautiful place, which is so alive with the cheerfulness of its customers and the blooming flowers. But now the place is so quiet and dead. The flowers in his garden had withered and died. No one lives there at the moment. There were only Haru and Anna, as well as a few of Haru's bodyguards standing guard from a distance, hidden from Anna's sight. But Anna was convinced that there were about twenty heavily armed men watching her at the time.

Haru immediately told her to get up and help Anna stand up. He smiled at her and said,

"And me..." Haru bowed before him, "Facing the Queen of Dragons. Tsarina of Imperial Schiereiland."

It was no longer surprising to Anna considering that Emperor Haru was indeed an intelligent person and not easily lied to. Moreover, Haru had already seen him using the power of the Dragons. So Anna also did not intend to evade.

"I thought the Emperor was a smart man." Anna said as she took off her ring. Showing his true form in front of Haru.

At the sight of the change, Haru seemed to be looking at his ring with curiosity. Orient is famous for its advanced technology and great scholars whose work has been known throughout the world, but Orient does not have great witches like those in Nordhalbinsel. And magic, even though it was no stranger to Orient, was still something magical and rare for Orient people.

"Magic thing?" Haru asked, still paying attention to the ring.

"Transformation ring. Can change a person's shape by taking a blood sample." Anna explains, but she accidentally doesn't say anything about the teleportation magic that Ludwig has also put into the ring.

"Made by Prince Ludwig, I guess."

"Grand Duke Smirnoff." Anna corrects. "He preferred that title since he married my cousin."

Haru nodded in understanding. Haru himself had met and talked to Ludwig. And he knew about Ludwig's genius who could make various magical objects.

Haru then allowed her to sit in one of the customer's seats. And just like a man who knew manners, Haru helped him sit down before he himself sat down on the chair in front of Anna. For a while, no one started the conversation. Each seemed to judge the person before him. The Emperor was guessing at the Tsarina's thoughts, while Anna more or less knew what Emperor Haru was thinking.

Haru's presence around Jungdo's red district was part of Anna's plan. It was impossible to meet the Emperor in his palace even though he was already disguised as Eri. Eri was not the one who used to meet with the Emperor without any appointment. And Emperor Haru wasn't that stupid as to let himself talk one eye to the Dragon Tracker who was more loyal to his mother than he was. So Anna creates a scenario Haru can read.

Anna had previously ordered the Wolves to appear in the red district of Jungdo and scare away foreign tourists. Wolves are forbidden from harming them. Anna only wanted to create a furore there because of Jungdo's red district, despite containing illegal places such as gambling, brothels and illegal bars, she said, it was one of the large-income places that contributed high-value taxes to the Empire. In that place, black market traders can do their business without being disturbed by the government, fraudsters reap huge profits from foreign tourists who they managed to fool, he said, as well as the pimps peddle prostitutes who are also good at stealing the property of their customers or stealing information to then be sold to nobles who are looking for certain information. In short, the red district of Jungdo was an illegal purse for the empire that, despite being condemned for its existence, was one of the empire's secret treasures. And if there were rumors of the appearance of wolves in that place, then that information would reach the ears of the Emperor.

Haru whom Anna already knew was very intelligent and not easily fooled would know that the Wolves appeared at a certain time and only frightened, not harming anyone. After all, there were no wolves that were the size of the North Wolves in the Orient. So Haru finds out that the Tsarina is trying to lure him out of the Palace. So that's how Haru came out of the Palace disguised as a commoner—and was escorted by dozens of Palace guards in a place that couldn't be seen—to find the cause of the Tsarina luring him to the red district of Jungdo.

What Haru did not take into account was that the Tsarina would appear before him in the form of her mother's trust Dragon Tracker. And that the Tsarina has now mastered three of the four powers of the Dragon. It was quite surprising for Haru, knowing that the woman who was the same age as Empress Yeon-Hwa had dared to meet him with preparations that could be said to be quite mature.

"What's it like to return to this place after all this time, Tsarina?" Haru finally opened up a conversation between them. Anna already suspects that Haru already knows about Dong-gung and that the place used to be where Anna and Xavier lived. That place meant a lot to him. But he did not expect that the Emperor would be so cunning as to take him to the place to talk and reopen his wounds as the beginning of their conversation.

"Fun." Anna answered briefly. He did not want to let Haru feel that he had successfully opened the wound he was covering. The wound of coming back to a place full of memories but already looked so different it was.

Haru smiled at the reply, "That's why you cried earlier?" Ask. "I originally wanted to come up to you and give you my handkerchief, but then I saw the three northern men. And it turns out you're better able to handle them yourself. So I'm not helping you. I hope that my act of ignoring a woman who is grieving and not helping her is justified."

"That's why you brought me here? To apologize for ignoring me earlier, Emperor?"

"No. But aren't you the one who wants to see me, Tsarina?" Haru was silent for a moment to look at Anna's expression. But Anna did not look surprised, because that was the case. He's the one who lured Haru to come to the red district. "So, what made you go undercover as one of the Torakkas, Tsarina Anastasia?" Ask again.

"I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to freely meet His Majesty if I come as Tsarina Imperial Schiereiland." Anna was being frank with him. Because if Anna comes as Tsarina Anastasia, complete with her guards and all the formalities that they have to pass through like a meeting of two great imperial leaders who are in dispute, their meeting will not go well. Suri Reina's mother may have blocked her encounter with Haru or even harmed her during the trip. Or maybe there is another party who will hinder his goal. Too much risk. That is why, Anna meets Haru as Eri and is far away from the Palace.

Haru nodded in confirming. But he just kept quiet to listen to Anna's explanation further. Of course he knew there was a reason why Tsarina Anastasia who now controlled the Imperial which was built on the union of the three kingdoms wanted to meet him.

"I want to negotiate with you over the Montreux and Schere bombings carried out by Orient—“

Haru raised his hand, and immediately cut off his words. "I am not guilty of this. How many times do I have to explain? Didn't the delegates I sent also explain it to the late King?"

"You may not feel guilty, but it was Queen Mother Reina who dropped bombs on the two cities."

"There's no evidence." Answer directly.

"There's."

Anna then took out something from the small bag she had been carrying. A bright blue-colored crystal ball that seemed to glow even during the day. Eyeball Aletheia. Aletha's.

Haru could not hide his surprise when he saw the object. He was so stunned as he stared at Aletha that he lost his words.

"As a well-rounded and highly intelligent Emperor, you certainly know this." Anna said as she placed Aletha on the table between the two of them.

"The Eye Ball of Goddess Aletheia? I thought it was destroyed—“

"The goddess Aletheia had two eyes that she gave to mankind. One of them is already broken. But this one is clearly still intact." Obviously Anna. "You may not believe me, but Aletha only knows the truth. Look at the truth, Emperor."

Haru also saw Aletha. And Aletha showed everything to the Emperor.

***