The Flower Of Eternity
Chapter 43: The War

The journal of King Xavier:

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times…

In life after life, in age after age, forever.

My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,

That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,

In life after life, in age after age, forever.

When I hear old chronicles of love, its age-old pain,

Its ancient tale of being apart or together.

As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,

Clad in the light of a pole-star piercing the darkness of time:

*You came an image of what is remembered forever.**

***

Wisteria Palace, Oeste, Westeria, Imperial Schiereiland

After getting word from one of the Wolves, Eugene immediately summoned the Clan leaders to the Palace.

"Emperor stabs Tsarina. He was seriously injured and unconscious. He is still being treated and healed by Saintess. We can only pray for his recovery." Eugene said to the four Clan leaders who were already present before him. Everyone seemed to be afraid of the news. But at the same time they all burned with emotion because the Emperor wounded the Tsarina. Eugene saw those vengeful gazes in their eyes, he announced, "This is a declaration of war from the Orient Emperor against Imperial. We will not be silent as usual. This time we're gonna attack."

At that time, in front of him had gathered Orlando Ortiz, Enrique Salazar, Ignacio Torres and Andromeda Navarro. Orlando Ortiz looked quietly, he read the minds of the other Clan leaders. At that time, Ignacio Torres was ready with his troops and seven daughters who had the same strength as him. While Enrique Salazar was summoning beasts from the forests of Westeria as well as an army of mythical monsters he found in places no one thought possible. And although Orlando was reluctant to read Andromeda's thoughts, he knew the woman was already impatient to have fun unleashing her destructive power on their enemy. The enemy of Tsarina, the enemy of Imperial, means is their enemy. And they were all prepared to bring with them their troops to fight the Orient.

They don't seem scared at all. Instead, they seem excited. The last war they had seen had lasted so long that their comrades who had not lived as long as them, had all died inedible with age. So knowing they were allowed to take part in this war thanks to the Tsarina who took over Westeria and made it part of Imperial, they would not hold back. They will be ready to destroy their enemies. They will vent their thirst for a long-standing battle in the peaceful land of Westeria.

"Wait for what else? Let's go to Orient and destroy them." Andromeda Navarro said excitedly.

"Let me go with you all." Said someone who had just broken through the Palace guards and entered the room. The guards who had been trying to stop her were severely injured, trying to prevent her from seeing Queen Eugene.

That man is an Orient. He carried the two sword blades in his right and left hands, walking quickly towards the Queen. After getting close enough, he knelt before Queen Eugene and the four Clan leaders.

"Master Wu..." Eugene said his name. "Why—“

"Please let me come with you guys." His eyes stared earnestly at the clan leaders in front of him.

"Who is this man, Sire?" Ask Enrique. The entire Clan leader looked at the Orient man suspiciously.

Eugene immediately approached the Orient man and helped him up. The Queen introduced him to the Klan leaders, "He was the father of the late Empress Lee Yeon-Hwa. The famous Eastern legend, the Lightning God, Commander Wu. Don't worry, he's on our side."

Commander Wu saluted them all, explaining the reason, "Tsarina Anastasia once called a Saintess to heal my broken leg by Maharani Sae-Byeok's men, and healed my previously blind eyes. I am indebted to Tsarina and I will do whatever it takes to repay those Orientals for what they have done to her."

At that time, Orlando Ortiz was reading the contents of the Commander's mind. He nodded at his comrades, the other Clan leaders. "He was telling the truth." Orlando raised next to his eyebrows when he learned of something else, "And he has an unfinished personal grudge against the Emperor's family."

"Personal revenge?" Andromeda grinned, "Good."

Ignacio Torres smilingly greeted the Commander, "Welcome to join, Commander Wu."

***

Smirnoff House, Schiereiland, Imperial Schiereiland

Ludwig had just finished reading the letter sent by the representatives of the Wolf army who had accompanied the Tsarina to the Orient regarding the declaration of war from the Orient. He folded the letter neatly. He knew this was going to happen, so he didn't seem surprised at all. After all, it was for the time being that he had been sleep deprived and had forgotten to eat due to being too busy making his version of the Steel Dragon and at the same time, too busy, make sure his wife and the baby he has is okay.

The Tsarina had entrusted him to prepare the Smirnoff family troops that would be dispatched with the Steel Dragon. Unlike the Orient-owned Steel Dragon designed by the Queen Mother, this Steel Dragon of her creation would be able to be flown without the power of the Wind Dragon, but it uses a machine mechanism coupled with high-level magic that is only mastered by Ludwig and Selena. Morta bombs had also been made in large numbers to be dropped on the Orient big cities using Steel Dragons. Once his army is dispatched later, Orient will undoubtedly lose most of their population.

Years living life as the cold and heartless Northern Prince, the son of the ruthless wizard who rules the Magic Tower, have Ludwig manage to get rid of his conscience at this urgent time. War is not for the weak-hearted. There were times when he could completely dispel his human taste. Especially at a time like this, when the negotiations that had been attempted by the Tsarina were not welcomed by the Orient Emperor.

But his calm demeanor was instantly scattered by the sight before him. His beloved wife had already changed her dress to a military uniform complete with her armor. Grand Duchess Constanza Smirnoff is examining her long-standing bow.

"Darling, what are you doing?" Ludwig asked, trying to keep his tone as calm as possible.

"Checking my bow." Constanza.

"But... You're pregnant."

"Yes. I was pregnant. You got a problem with that?" This time his tone was so tight that Ludwig did not dare to say anything more.

But Ludwig recalled how only this morning Constanza complained that he was feeling weak and powerless. Constanza felt nauseous and vomiting throughout the morning and did not even feel able to leave her bed. So it was clear that Constanza was not in a prime condition to wear military uniforms and set out with the Smirnoff family.

"Constanza—“

"Ludwig, look, I won't be able to calm down if I don't participate. Haru stabbed my cousin! This is a declaration of war from the Orient! My whole family will fight with me. We're all gonna fight them with life bets." He said sharply. "And you can't ban me." She added.

"You're pregnant! You can't go to war. You and our son could have died—“

"You don't believe me?" Cut it, half yelling. "You doubt my archery skills? You doubt my ability to ever nearly kill your brother with just one arrow?"

"It's not so, honey. I'm just—“

"Then support me, baby. Tell me you'll protect me and you'll always be with me. We'll handle it together."

"Of course I will protect you and always be with you. But—“

"That's enough for me. Don't say anything more. Let's go." Constanza then took her bow with her and prepared to head to where their Steel Dragon was to set off for Orient.

"Daughter-in-law, you forgot your poison!" Call Selena. He walked quickly to Constanza. Constanza stopped and turned to face Selena.

"Mother?" Ludwig looked so unfamiliar with the sight before him. His mother and wife looked very familiar.

Constanza received Morta's poison from Selena. The poison he would later apply to his arrows. "Thank you, Mother-in-law." She said, bowing politely to the mother of her husband.

"And this..." Selena then gives a glass of light purple liquid to Constanza. "Drink away. I drank this potion every day as long as I was pregnant with Ludwig first. It's my own concoction. Can make you stronger and eliminate nausea. I've given him wine because Ludwig said you like wine."

Constanza was silent for a moment as she looked at Selena. How strange, the man she hated so much was now so attentive to her after she told Selena that she was pregnant with Ludwig's child.

"There's no poison in it. I just want my granddaughter to stay healthy and be born safe later." Selena added.

Constanza finally received the glass filled with light purple liquid and without hesitation drank up its contents. He smiled happily when he knew that the liquid actually tasted like wine. "Thank you very much, Mother-in-law." He said sincerely while handing back the empty glass to Selena.

Ludwig was still stunned by the scene before him. Since Selena's arrival at Smirnoff's residence, only this time has she seen her mother seem to treat her so well. They now truly looked like a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law who had a good relationship. It's as if Constanza forgot that because of Selena, an army of witches killed her parents. It was as if Selena had forgotten that because of Constanza, she had failed to gain control of Schiereiland.

"When are you familiar?" Ludwig asked in surprise.

"We're not familiar." Selena. He then turned around and re-entered his room to prepare to leave with the Smirnoff family. But before getting far enough out of his sight, Ludwig had a chance to see his mother smiling happily. A smile she hadn't seen in her mother's face for a long time. A smile that comes from having managed to do something good for others.

Constanza, who saw Ludwig still confused, added Selena, "We are only working together against Orient as we should have done. And you better be prepared, too, baby."

***

That afternoon, just as happened in the other residence led by the Imperial nobles who had received a notification letter from the Wolf envoys of Grand Duke Winterthur, the people in the Engelberg House were preparing. All were asked to gather in the meeting room to talk about the strategy of war. Duke Engelberg, the uncle of General Tyros Engelberg, presided over the meeting.

The war strategy meeting had previously been held when the Tsarina decided to fight the Orient if negotiations did not go well. But this time they went back to discussing it because now they have a new ally, Westeria. They will cooperate with the Ortiz Clan troops from Westeria. For that was the representative of the Ortiz Clan, as well as the fiancee of General Tyros, Theana Ortiz participated in the meeting.

A large map was held on the round table of the meeting room. The map shows the landscapes of Imperial Schiereiland and the Orient Empire. Whichever places would benefit them in attack, which places would be safe enough to set up their army tents, whichever places they should avoid as well as the places where they would evacuate the population if the Orient troops entered their territory, were all marked with certain points. All eyes were so fixated on the dots already marked by General Tyros. But as they were discussing something very important, suddenly the sound of the meeting room door being knocked.

Pintu dibuka dan menampilkan sosok kepala pelayan kediaman Engelberg yang sudah berumur. Wanita itu membungkuk penuh hormat dengan ekspresi wajah takut bercampur tegang karena tahu dia baru saja menginterupsi rapat penting majikannya. Tapi wanita itu tidak punya pilihan lain. Karena tamu yang baru saja datang juga orang yang tidak kalah pentingnya dari majikannya.

"T-tuan—“

"Not now, Marry. We're discussing the assault strategy this time." Duke Engelberg said before Marry could say anything about their guest. The Duke's gaze continued to be glued to the map before him.

With hesitation, Marry tried once more. "But, in the living room there—“

"Mary..." Again the Duke cut his words. With forced patience, this time he turned to Marry and said, "Not now. You can drive away a guest, whoever it is, at a time like this."

"Uncle..." Tyros touched his uncle's shoulder, calming him down to be more patient and calm. Tyros knew his uncle was being very tense as this was the first time Duke Engelberg had been given the confidence by the Tsarina to deploy his troops in the war against the Orient. Tyros then turned to Marry, the butler. "Who's in the living room, Marry?"

Marry replied, "Queen—I mean, General Irene Winterthur."

Hearing the name being mentioned, all of them seemed surprised and wondered why the former Queen and General who led the Imperial elite troops actually visited their residence at this crucial time. If it were not for the urgent matter, it would be impossible for General Irene Winterthur to come to them.

Then the assumption was immediately justified by Theana Ortiz who seemed to capture the thoughts of their guests from inside the meeting room. Theana immediately turned her head towards her fiance with an indecipherable expression.

"What's Theana?" Ask Tyros.

"The General does not come alone. There's someone else coming with her."

"Who?" Ask Sir Engelberg, Tyros' father.

Again Theana seemed silent, a sign of trying to find out who the person who came with General Irene by reading his mind. He then replied, "He's a Westerian. I'm not sure, but..." Theana then turns to Duke Engelberg, "This guy might be able to help us."

Duke Engelberg nodded in understanding. He then gave the Marries orders, "Get the General into this room." Said Duke.

***

Irene entered the residence of Engelberg, following the orders of the butler of the House of Engelberg. The last time she passed through such vast passages, was twenty-four years ago, as Queen of Nordhalbinsel. He came to the residence with King Vlad for political affairs with the previous Duke Engelberg, the father of the present Duke. Twenty-four years passed and this residence still looked the same to him. It seemed that the son had no interest in changing anything left behind by his father. The Engelbergs were known to respect their parents and were so obedient to the family leader that the Duke was now, even though his father was dead, respect him and do not change any details in the house.

Irene seemed to admire the interior design of the old building. Everything looks antique and historic. Every piece of furniture such as its urn and chandelier is thought to be older than its age, but it does not detract from the beauty of the house. But it seemed like the person beside him did not agree to it.

The woman walked beside Irene. Her emerald eyes seemed bored at the sight of all the excessive luxuries that were all around her.

"Who lives in this ugly house? The style is too. north." His comments. He uses Westernia because he cannot use any language other than his language—except some swear words and swear words in various languages that he deliberately memorized. He insisted there was no need to learn another language and that it was someone else who had to learn it.

"Teacher, please don't be so frank. Not everyone has the same taste as a teacher who likes to live in a haunted castle for hundreds of years." Syndir Irene who also uses Westernia every talk with her teacher.

"You're still being disrespectful to me!"

Irene laughed in response to the scathing reprimand. "I know, the teacher is so happy I was able to return to this life safely. Otherwise, the teacher must feel the loss of the only student who can bear to argue with the teacher. It's all thanks to the teacher."

The teacher snorted annoyedly at her, but Irene knew that it was a sign that her teacher really loved her.

"No. It's thanks to your two sons." Said the teacher. "Your first son won King Zuidlijk's sword from me after proving his abilities were indeed worthy of that sword. Your second son brought your first son with you and convinced him to save you. Too bad your youngest son is gone." The sword master was silent for a moment, observing Irene's expression which now looked sad as her second son was again mentioned. The teacher clasped his student's hand, giving him strength. "It's unfortunate that he died at such a young age. He's not my best student, but he's a good young man. From the beginning I knew he would be a good King, though not the best swordsman."

Irene nodded and smiled in memory of her dead son, "Right... He's a good boy."

Their conversation soon came to a halt as soon as they reached the door of the Engelberg family meeting room. The butler of the Engelberg residence hinted at the guards to open the door for the distinguished guests. The door was opened wide. Everyone in the meeting room welcomed their arrival by kneeling before the two emerald-eyed female guests.

Irene who was tired of all the respect she received as the Queen Mother, immediately allowed them to rise to their feet.

"Oh. an Ortiz." The Master grinned as he looked at Theana Ortiz who was looking at him in surprise. Not only surprised, Theana looked scared like she had just met a ghost, to the point that Tyros seemed confused by her reaction. "You know who I am?"

Theana hurriedly came to her senses from her shock, she walked up to the teacher and knelt before him. "Greetings to Her Majesty Violetta Reyes, First Queen of Westeria."

Violet, the Master, approached him and helped him stand up. "If you call me who has passed my throne to my stepson as Queen, then you should call this woman Queen as well." Violet said as she glanced towards Irene.

"no need. I'm not the Queen anymore." Irene.

"Mother Suri?" Bargain Violet.

"General Winterthur."

Violet snorted, "Ha! What is so great about being a general. You married a King and gave birth to a King. You are a mother-in-law who is highly respected by the Tsarina."

"Guru—“

"alright. Alright. You've always defeated my misfortune. I don't know who you're descended from."

"I'm a descendant of the Reyes Clan. Indirectly that means I'm your descendant too." Irene. And before she forgot her manners to greet the owner first, Irene hurriedly turned away from her teacher and faced Duke Engelberg who had only been watching them in amazement. "Honored Duke Engelberg, let me introduce the First Queen of Westeria, as well as my sword teacher who has been known as the Westeria Swordsman, Lady Violetta Reyes."

"Violet is just." Violet said in a bored tone. He used Westernia language, but all in the room were people who were given higher education since childhood so they all understood Westernia language. Violet then mentioned her main reason for coming to that place. "I'm here to tell you the best strategy with future observations I've made. That's if your army's ready, Duke Engelberg."

"We're ready to listen, Lady." The Duke replied as he bowed respectfully to her. He treated Violet like honorable nobles treated a Queen.

"good. Then, quickly gather your troops and go to Noord." Violet's Command.

The Duke looked puzzled by the order, "Noord? Not to the Orient?"

"No. You will be more useful if you go to the Main Palace right now." Answer Violet. And as he said so, his emerald eyes seemed to shine brightly, a sign that he was using the power of the Reyes Clan to see the future. Unlike Irene and Xavier, Violet can control her powers at will. He can see the future whenever he wants. And that was what caused Violet to be invincible in a sword duel. Aside from her sword ability, it was also because Violet could read the movements of her opponent in the nearest future that she saw.

Duke again asked, "But why—“

"Because that's where the real war is going to be. All of you need to know, I agreed to assist you at the request of the Queen of the Dragons, Tsarina Anastasia. So you don't have to doubt me and you don't have to question my orders." Cut Violet straight out.

The Duke also obeyed the words of the First Queen of Westeria. He obediently ordered his troops to immediately go to the Main Palace.

"Me too, Teacher?" Ask Irene.

"No, Irene." Answer Violet. "You, the Ortiz, and... What is your name young man?" Violet asked General Tyros who had been silent since just now.

"Tyros, Lady. General Tyros Engelberg." Tyros introduced himself while bowing respectfully to him. Seeing how his fiancee from a respectable family in Westeria had gotten to her knees before Violet, Tyros concluded that she should also respect the old lady before him. Tyros also recalled that the owners of pure-blooded jeweled eyes in Westeria usually only began to age at the age of two hundred years. While the woman, Violet, already looked as old as her grandmother, so she assumed that Violet must have been hundreds of years old.

Theana seems to be reading Tyros' mind. He turned to Tyros and nodded, confirming the assumption in his mind.

"Yes, you, General. You three go to Shina, and join forces with Wolf and Leon." Violet commands Irene, Theana and Tyros. He then added, "Ortiz, you know what you have to do there."

Theana nodded obediently.

***

(Poetry by Rabindranath Tagore 'Unending Love')*