The Rose Of The South
Chapter 1: Le Debut d'une Fin
That afternoon the Empress was enjoying her tea in her study in the Tower. The magician disciples were shut down that day and the Tower was closed for a while, so there was only himself inside the Tower. As he grew tired of being inside the Palace continuously, the Tower was the perfect escape for him. At the very least, in the Tower, he had the highest authority and the King could not interfere in the affairs of the Tower.
Not yet finished his first cup, someone knocked on the door of his study. It certainly ruined his mood. But he was indeed waiting for the arrival of someone he had sent as a spy to watch over the Crown Prince's Palace. So he allowed that person to enter by opening the door using his magic.
The door opened wide, revealing a woman wearing a headscarf that made her face invisible. But the Empress already knew who it was. It was a spy that he had sent to the Crown Prince's Palace. The Dayang Crown Princess, Jane.
The woman knelt before the Empress. "I'm facing His Majesty Empress Selena."
"Please talk." Selena said without really noticing.
"I heard some interesting news this morning, Your Majesty." Jane said.
"What's more exciting than the news of the death of our beloved Crown Prince?" Selena asked with a smile watching her teacup. The announcement regarding the news of the Crown Prince's death last night made him so excited that he felt sure nothing could change his joy that day.
"His Highness the Crown Princess seems to be carrying a baby boy."
Hearing that, the teacup he was looking at suddenly broke into pieces. "What's? Baby boy!" Selena looks hysterical. "I thought all this time they were just pretending to be close in public. But they had a baby before they were officially married?"
When everything seems to be going well for Selena, when the plans she's had for years are almost fully realized, the news of the possibility of a baby boy being conceived by the Crown Princess seemed to tear everything down.
"Yes, Your Majesty. That's how I heard." The woman said, looking calm as she said it even though Selena before her seemed ready to tear down the entire Tower at any time.
Selena stood up from her seat and took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Lately this way is always effective to regulate his emotions that are always overflowing. It was his second son who taught him how to regulate his emotions. "alright. You can go." Selena.
The woman bowed low before leaving the room.
"Grave!" Call Selena. His voice echoed throughout the Tower.
"I'm facing The Mul—“
His words instantly came to a halt as the teapot that had been on the Empress's table was thrown towards the newly arrived man. But of course the Empress had no intention of hitting it, so the teapot hit the entrance and was smashed. It succeeded in making Argus, who was using transformation magic into General Orthion, look surprised and not dare to speak. She knew the Empress' mood was not good.
"What'sthis? You said the slave had seduced the Crown Princess. But why am I hearing news that I don't want to hear?" The Empress vented her anger. His eyes glared like they were almost out while staring at Argus.
Argus kneeling. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I also don't know will—“
"Enough. I don't want to hear your apology. Bring the boy here."
"You mean, Dylan?"
"Yes. The Northern Palace's slave. Find him and bring him in front of me right now. We must know whose baby the Crown Princess conceived before the appointment of the new Crown Prince."
...****************...
Two days before the appointment of the Crown Prince. Two days after the announcement of Crown Prince Xavier's death...
News of the death of Crown Prince Nordhalbinsel spread to the Wisteria Palace in Westeria.
Wisteria Palace is the palace where Queen Westeria lives. The magnificent palace located in the middle of the clear water lake is made of precious metals such as gold and silver, but also decorated with vines on the walls and ceiling. The plants sometimes produce flowers and fruit. The flowers were so fragrant and clung to the clothes of the people in the Palace that the servants never put perfume on the royal family's clothes. Fruits that grow from these plants become a dessert that can be enjoyed at any time. It is said that the Queen of Westeria only needs to open her hand to the ceiling of the palace hall, then the tendrils on it will bear fruit and fall right on top of her palm.
After the official marriage of Princess Eugene and Prince Jeffrey, Prince Yi retracted his plans to take over Westeria. In exchange, the Orient Emperor signed a trade alliance to strengthen the bond between the Westeria Kingdom and the Orient Empire. A few days earlier, Queen Elizabeth had stepped down from her throne for undisclosed reasons and decided to leave the Wisteria Palace after occupying the Queen's position for over twenty years. No one really knows the reason for leaving the throne, but Princess Eugene knows. The former Queen asked him to keep it a secret for the good of the Kingdom. Princess Eugene eventually ascended the throne as the new Queen of Westeria.
Queen Eugene presided wisely and fairly despite being only nineteen years old. Sometimes the Queen will ask the opinion of her husband who is still titled Prince Nordhalbinsel for some state affairs. They help each other and strive to be good leaders. Their new life in the Wisteria Palace was as serene and blissful as a happy ending in a fairy tale.
But that morning brought about a change in their peaceful life. That morning, after hearing news of Crown Prince Nordhalbinsel's death from his personal bodyguard, Theana, Queen Eugene hastily disbanded her morning meeting and went to Prince Jeffrey's room. Upon seeing her husband sitting sadly on his bed, Queen Eugene immediately hugged her and tried to calm her down. It was the first time she had seen her husband look so sad and devastated.
"You heard that too?" Queen Eugene asked in perfect Nordhalbinsel while tightly hugging Prince Jeffrey.
The royal couple always appreciated the differences between them. Language differences are never a barrier. Queen Eugene has been learning Nordhalbinsel since she was a child and has developed her language skills through frequent letters in Nordhalbinsel with Crown Prince Xavier. And although Prince Jeffrey was just learning Westernia, the official language spoken in Westeria, the Prince learned quickly and as much as possible to always use Westernia when talking to Queen Eugene, although the Queen will respond with Nordhalbinsel.
"I'm sorry, my husband. The late Crown Prince Xavier was a very good person. She was the one who had helped me all this time until I could become your wife and become the Queen of Westeria."
Prince Jeffrey agreed. "My brother is my role model. I have always admired him for a long time. The last time we met was in Montreux before I decided to marry you. I didn't know it would be the last time I saw her. Though I heard she's getting married after all these years of her marriage being delayed. I thought I could see her again and be happy on her wedding day. I didn't think it was not a wedding invitation letter I received but the news of his death."
"My husband..." Queen Eugene looked at Prince Jeffrey seriously as if he was going to say something very important. Queen Eugene knows this is not the right time to talk about what she wants to talk to her husband about, but there seems to be no other time. And he must immediately convey what has stuck in his heart ever since he learned of the news of the death of the Crown Prince Nordhalbinsel.
Seeing that look in his wife's eyes, Prince Jeffrey seemed to be watching with all his heart.
"I heard after his death, the usurpation of the throne as Crown Prince will reopen."
Prince Jeffrey nodded. "That's right. Besides me, there are twenty-one sons of the King who will fight over that position. They would even kill each other to obtain the position of Crown Prince. Nordhalbinsel Palace was a place where the sons of the King would kill each other to reach the position of Crown Prince. Even my own father managed to obtain his position after killing his other brothers."
"That's terrible. You're not gonna take part in the throne fight, are you? I mean, I'm not going to ban anything you want. But if it jeopardizes your life, I won't let it." Queen Eugene looked at Prince Jeffrey with worried eyes. Her fear of losing the person she loved so much was evident in her eyes.
Prince Jeffrey kissed his wife's forehead and said, "What am I doing, my Queen? I feel so happy to be your partner. I'm so happy to live in Westeria with you. There's nothing else I want."
Queen Eugene smiled happily at her and kissed her husband. More than anything else, Queen Eugene loves Prince Jeffrey. She did not want her husband to return to Nordhalbinsel and take part in the usurpation of the throne if it would only make her lose the man she loved. More than anything else, he was very afraid of it. Queen Eugene knew she was being selfish if she forbade her husband to return to Nordhalbinsel especially since the deceased was her brother, a person who meant a lot to both of them. But now after hearing her husband's words, she became calmer.
"My husband, actually last night I got this letter." Queen Eugene showed me a letter with no sender's name and no stamp. "But the one who gave it through Theana said I could only open it after hearing the sad news from Nordhalbinsel. At that time I still did not understand what was meant by sad news."
"Who's the sender?"
"I don't know. The name of the sender was not written and Theana seemed to have gotten it from someone else, not the original sender. I want us to read it together."
Queen Westeria and her partner prepared to read the letter. But as he unfolded the paper inside the envelope, there was nothing there. There was not a single drop of ink on the paper. The paper was clean without the slightest stain. Only blank paper was in front of them.
"No writing whatsoever." Queen Eugene said, looking very confused.
Not so with Prince Jeffrey. Although he has been living in Westeria since marrying Princess Eugene, who is now Queen, Prince Jeffrey is still Prince of Nordhalbinsel. He had lived in Nordhalbinsel long enough to know enough of the secrets of the Kingdom known for its magic.
"It seems I know how to read it, my Queen." Said Prince Jeffrey. "I've heard of the Grimoire Pen. One of the magic objects of the famous Grimoire Clan as the oldest witch Clan in Nordhalbinsel. The pen had magic that allowed only the person who was allowed to read the letter to read it. And you're gonna have to get that paper closer to the fire."
Queen Eugene obeyed her husband. The Queen walked away from Prince Jeffrey and approached the fireplace in the room. The fire from the fireplace spread out and slowly burned the paper in his hand. His guard, who he ordered to watch from afar, was shocked to see the fire. The guards were about to approach their Queen to get rid of the fire, but Prince Jeffrey hinted at them not to.
"Don't come near. The fire is harmless. The flame only burned magic on the ink and showed the contents of the writing on the paper." Prince Jeffrey said, explaining to the guards in Westernia that they would all understand what he was saying.
The bodyguards nodded obediently to her just as they would obey if the order came from their Queen.
The flames on the paper did not hurt Queen Eugene and did not feel hot. Queen Eugene was shocked when she saw the clean paper she was holding before was now filled with writing. The writing was a writing that he was very familiar with because the Mailman had been his correspondence friend for a long time. The writing was so beautiful that he was sure no one else could imitate the handwriting. The handwriting belonged to Crown Prince Nordhalbinsel, who is said to have died.
...****************...
Greetings My Respect to Her Majesty Queen Eugene of the Kingdom of Westeria.
I've heard the news that you've just been crowned the new Queen of Westeria, I congratulate you on your coronation. May the Kingdom of Westeria always be peaceful and beautiful and receive blessings from the Goddess of Heaven.
Please forgive my impoliteness for writing this letter in such a hurry. I, the Crown Prince of Nordhalbinsel, need the help of the Queen of Westeria. I implore Her Majesty to come to Nordhalbinsel and give my fiancee, Lady Eleanor Winterthur the support and blessing to be the Provisional Queen of Nordhalbinsel.
I hope Her Majesty can keep this letter a secret from everyone including Prince Jeffrey. I'm trusting you.
Respect to Me, though,
Xaviers
...****************...