The Flower Of Eternity
Chapter 42: The Declaration of War

After a while, Haru turned his eyes to Anna. The dark eyes of the Emperor stared at Anna coldly. He said, "That doesn't prove anything to me. I remain not—“

"Then what would you believe if the truth itself were a lie?" Cut Anna, while pounding the table between them, causing Aletha to slightly shift from her place.

Aletha is a way for Haru to know the truth and agree to her negotiations. Aletha was a way to prevent the outbreak of war between them. But if Haru decided not to trust Aletha, then there was no other way. And although Anna didn't want it, war was inevitable.

Calmly, Haru said, "That's not what I meant. The Goddess of Truth's eyeballs may not lie, but I still won't compensate you, because the detonation of Morta's bomb in Jungdo is still your fault."

"Didn't you see it in Aletheia's eyeballs, too? Suri's mother sent her man to take—“

"Yeon-Hwa is dead no matter what your reason. My son is still dead because of that magic bomb!" This time Haru also raised his tone. His hands clenched on the table. His eyes looked at Anna intently as if all the misfortune that had befallen her was Anna's fault. And Anna was pretty sure, back then, all of Haru's bodyguards were hiding were pointing their arrows as well as their swords at her. With a voice that vibrates because it stifles his emotions, Haru added, “You won't know what it's like to lose your loved ones—“

"I know what it's like to lose someone I love. More than anyone else, I know very well about it, Emperor." Cut Anna right away.

It was unfair for Anna, because Haru said it as if Anna had not suffered all this time. Losing her entire family one by one, then losing Xavier just when she needed him most, was the hardest thing for Anna. But Anna can't show it to anyone. He should look like it was nothing to him. And it was here that Haru, in front of her, said that Anna did not know what it was like to lose the person she loved. Those words burned his emotions.

Haru was speechless when he heard the mounting emotion of the Tsarina's tone. She soon realized that the woman before her had just lost her husband.

Knowing that Haru would still refute her, Anna added, "But Yeon-Hwa is not the one you love. And I'm pretty sure you already know that the kid he's carrying isn't your son."

Those words managed to silence Haru. The affair of Empress Yeon-Hwa with Elias must have been a public secret at the Emperor's Palace. Haru did not deny it. But he said something else that was surprising to Anna.

"Yeon-Hwa is my son."

"No..." Said Anna. In her mind she recalls everything she knows about Yeon-Hwa. And he knows that Yeon-Hwa is the only child of Princess Seo-Hwa with Commander Wu both leaving from the Palace when Emperor Qin staged a coup. Yeon-Hwa shouldn't be Haru's son. "Cannot be. Yeon-Hwa is not—“

"Princess Seo-Hwa is a person I love very much." Haru cut his words. And the way the Emperor said it, Anna knew that Haru really loved Princess Seo-Hwa. A love that persists even though everything has happened in one's life. As Leon had said. Like Irene's love for Leon's father. And like Anna's love for Xavier. Haru continued, "He is the only person I love more than the rest of the world. It was for her sake that I lied to my own father for years until his death to pick him up. To secure Princess Seo-Hwa from my father. And when she gave birth to Yeon-Hwa, I already thought of her as my own child because she was the son of the woman I loved. From afar I guarded her since she was a child, I made sure her whereabouts were unknown to anyone. But you sent him to Orient and put him in danger. You're the cause of Yeon-Hwa's death!"

"Yeon-Hwa would not have been killed had Queen Mother Reina not decided to steal Morta's bomb from Smirnoff's residence and detonate it in Jungdo!" Deny Anna. Of course Anna feels guilty and deeply sorry for Yeon-Hwa's death. Yeon-Hwa is her best friend. The jolly girl who greeted him during the selection of Xavier's personal bodyguard and tried to get along with him who did not know how to start a friendship because he always locked himself in the Palace. Yeon-Hwa will forever be remembered by Anna as her first female friend. And considering Yeon-Hwa was killed before she got married to Elias, Anna felt even more guilty. Even so, it was not Anna's fault. With teary eyes in remembrance of Yeon-Hwa, Anna added, "You certainly know that Yeon-Hwa was about to return to Noord with Elias. If only then you did not ask him to be Maharani—“

"You're just looking for excuses. You don't want yourself to be blamed for your friend's death."

"No. That's because Empress Dowager Reina wants you to blame Imperial. Do you even know about the Steel Dragon? Your mother is about to complain to us. You are in mourning and need someone to blame for Yeon-Hwa's death, while the Queen Mother wants power over the entire region. So when you decide to take revenge for Yeon-Hwa's death on Imperial, the Queen Mother is ready with the war vehicle she's been designing for a long time."

Haru laughed cynically, "I know. I've known that my mom's been planning it for a long time."

"So you already know about your Mother's actions? And you'll just shut up?"

"I can't care about anyone anymore. Everything I love, everything that matters to me, Seo-Hwa and her daughter, is gone."

Anna no longer saw the wise Emperor who had the ambition to make the empire a republic. Who has a noble dream to change the system of government for the sake of the people. Who love the people and care about the people. The emperor was gone by the trials of life that continued to destroy him and his love that did not end happily.

Anna knows what it feels like. The moment in which his pain is so overpowering that nothing else matters enough or means anything to him. At that time, he decided to commit suicide. Without thinking about the fate of his daughter who was still in the womb, without caring about the people who loved him who would be very devastated if he died, regardless of the fate of millions of people who are on the verge of destruction if he does not survive and stop Orient.

But at that time Anna still had Leon ready to remind her that she had to keep getting up. The destruction of a leader is the destruction of the nation and its people. Haru had no one to remind him of.

"The people will suffer, Emperor!" Anna said firmly. His eyes turned as red as the flames. Back then, being so angry at Haru who was unwilling to open her eyes to the effects of the war between them, Anna accidentally used the power of the Wind Dragon that strong winds whirled around them, fly some furniture in Dong-gung. Anna knew that using the power of the Dragon would consume her energy even more after she had already used the power of three Dragons at once. He could have fainted, but at that moment, due to being carried away by emotions, Anna was the one controlled by the power of the Wind Dragon. "I know what it's like, how things don't matter enough to you when someone precious to you dies. I understand your pain. But at least care about your people! The war will affect both sides. Not only my side is hurt. Orient will also be harmed. When war breaks out, many people will lose their sons, their husbands or their fathers. There will be a lot of expenditure on war and the effects of damage after the war so that it affects the people's economy. Think of the fate of the empire and the people!"

"Tsarina, are you threatening me with the wind of the Wind Dragon right now? Do you have any idea how many people are pointing arrows at you right now?"

But the wind is not something to control. Wind is free and irregular. And Anna's heightened emotions made her lose control of her wind. The wind began to destroy the buildings around them. Flying rocks, uprooting trees from their roots, breaking window glass and all flying around them. The storm heard the call of its ruler. And just then, with her red eyes burning, her hair fluttering like flames and various objects flying around her, Anna looked like the Goddess of Storm and Destruction. It was like a big threat to the Emperor.

An arrow was passed towards him. Another arrow followed, pointing at Anna.  But all those arrows can't hit him. All the arrows turned towards the sender. All the bodyguards that shot arrows at Anna immediately died on the spot. And soon the other bodyguards came to fight Anna with their swords.

But before any of them got close enough to Anna, someone came and very quickly bulldozed the entire Imperial guard. His movements were so fast that no one had ever dodged him. They were all so badly injured that they could not fight him anymore. Some died immediately because the person did not like to make others suffer for too long.

"Leon?" The storm's wind instantly subsided once Anna realized who had just come to her aid against the Emperor's bodyguards. Anna did not want Leon to get hurt because of the Wind Dragon's growing power, so Anna immediately regained her senses and stopped the storm.

"Look at the situation to be chaotic, Your Majesty. So I decided to step in." Said Leon. Every word was accompanied by a movement to paralyze their enemies. At that time, so quickly, Leon was like an angel of death who was taking human lives. King Zuidlijk's sword is like an extension of his hand. His enemy's blood dyed his clothes like dark red paint, but he looked indifferent even though his face was full of splashes of his enemy's blood. Leon has been trained since childhood for this. "Well, it's been a long time since I last used this sword."

"Stained in his bed." Leon replied casually while beheading the two people who were about to attack him.

"Chained!" Anna was shocked to hear it. That wasn't in their plans.

Leon turned his head for a moment towards Anna, frowning confusedly, "You didn't say that I should have killed her."

"No indeed! I mean.. why—how could he be chained?"

"That's it." He seemed to be holding back a laugh. But a second later his expression returned serious as Haru's other bodyguards ran towards him to stab him. Leon immediately swung his sword and put an end to the life of the attacker. Without turning her head towards Anna, she added her explanation, "It seems a bit strange, in my opinion. I don't like to explain."

Leon continued to swing his sword here and there, like dancing, he easily knocked down everyone who was trying to attack him or trying to get close to Anna. His task is quite simple, which is to make sure no bodyguard Haru injures Anna and let Anna finish her affairs with Haru. Leon was not allowed to interfere in their affairs, according to Anna's decree. Even if the Tsarina's life is threatened, Leon is not allowed to fight Haru. But he was allowed to attack and even kill the bodyguards who intended to injure or kill Anna. There were about thirty or so Emperor bodyguards against him. But very easily as if it did not take a great effort for him, they were all overthrown by Leon. Screams of pain and fear filled the air around them. The ground became red with blood. But Leon was so dissolved in his battle that he could not think of compassion for those who pleaded for his life. Because they all almost killed Anna with their guns if only Leon hadn't intervened. There is no mercy for those who want to kill the Tsarina.

Until finally there is a scream that can divert Leon from his battle. Anna's Screams.

"Your Majesty!"

Leon immediately turned his head towards Anna who had now fallen injured. A knife was stuck in his stomach. But Leon realizes the knife did not stick in Anna's vital organs. Painful, but not deadly unless Anna is not immediately helped and runs out of blood. Anna's blood dripped forming a river before her eyes. Leon saw who had dared to harm the Tsarina. Haru, behind Anna, was restraining her movements and pointed the other blade at Anna's neck. The tip of the knife had touched his skin and made a scratch that was able to make Leon's anger overflow.

Even though Leon already knew that Anna would get hurt, he still could not calm down to see her like that. Anna had previously told Leon that she would let Haru hurt her so that it could be proof that Orient started a war with them. That way, if war is completely unavoidable, at least they are not the ones who started it. And after the war ended, they could ask for compensation to the country that had started the war.

"Stop it, if you don't want the Tsarina to die in my hands." Haru threatened.

Leon clasped the handle of his sword very tightly, refraining from immediately beheading the Emperor. But he turned towards Anna who looked calm even while grimacing in pain, "Your Majesty, do you need help?" yummy, panic.

Back then, the rest of the Emperor's surviving bodyguards had already surrounded Leon and unsheathed their swords at him. Leon could have spent them all straight, but right now his whole attention was on Anna.

"Your Majesty quickly give me permission to help you!"

Instead of asking her for help, Anna giggled amusedly as if the question was strange enough to her, "Make me? Just take care of your business, Leon. I know you're a little busy." Her speech. Haru was surprised by the words. Anna glanced at him, in a very cold tone, as if instead of coming out of her mouth, she asked Haru, "You forgot who you're attacking, Emperor? You forgot who I was?"

And with one stomp of Anna's leg, the Emperor fell behind her, releasing Anna, leaving a small scratch of her knife on Anna's neck. The earth shakes violently and ruins Dong-gung slowly. Anna manages to escape Haru while the Emperor and his guards seem to have trouble standing due to the shaking on the ground. Anna then turned to face Haru, then pulled out the knife stuck in her stomach while groaning in pain.

Still gasping for pain and her body starting to lose balance, Anna returned the knife to Haru while still pressing her wound on the abdomen with one hand, "This, Your Majesty, is a declaration of war from you. Remember that you started by attacking me first. I warned you."

After that, Anna immediately took back Aletha from the table and put her in the bag she had just brought. Anna clasped Leon's hand and teleported away from the place that was almost destroyed.

***

The journal of King Xavier:

Since before marriage, I have known that sleeping with Anna in my arms can make me sleep soundly. My insomnia is completely healed.

During my insomnia, I didn't sleep so I never dreamed. So, since I was able to sleep, I started to dream more. But I've never felt this scared because of one dream. A very bad dream.

In the dream, I saw Anna being in Dong-gung with someone. But Dong-gung looks so different in my dream it's as if no one's been cleaning his tables for a few months. The dust is thick!

Then I saw someone who was with Anna stab her. Anna lost a lot of blood because her wounds were not healed immediately. Then Anna died. And I wondered why I couldn't cure him and save him.

Until I woke up, the dream kept bothering me. I haven't told Anna that sometimes my dreams are the future that hasn't happened yet. I didn't want to worry her so I didn't tell her that dream. But all day Anna kept asking me what woke me up last night. In the end I gave up and told her everything without telling her that it was likely something that would actually happen in the future.

He didn't seem to feel the same fear as me. He just looked at me for a while, then he suddenly hugged me.

He tried to calm me down by saying it was just a nightmare and I didn't have to worry. He'll try to stay alive for me because he won't see me grieving. And my worries are completely gone because of it.

I hope it's really just a dream.

***