The Rose Of The South
Chapter 23: Yeux d'Aletheia

Leon's hope of feeling out of the Palace was not granted as it turned out that the Winterthur Residence was another version of the Main Palace. Blueer and cooler because it is located in the coldest region in Nordhalbinsel. Elias and Eleanor were not with him and would arrive before dinner. One of the Queen's Guards is assigned to escort her, explaining that General Elias has an urgent task while the Queen must welcome Prince Yi of the Orient.

Leon wondered if he was going to meet the famous Wolf King, but his curiosity was immediately answered after seeing the more luxurious house of the Palace looked deserted. The butler explained that the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess lived in their other residence further away from the house. The Winterthur family had more than five residences in different areas but this house was inherited by Eleanor Winterthur. Leon is then released to explore the house on his own while awaiting the arrival of Queen Eleanor.

Hearing that explanation, Leon did not waste his time. He found out what he could find in such a vast house, one day would not be enough to surround him. But after an hour he was disappointed to realize there was nothing strange. There are no strange things that indicate that the house is one of the most historic and most wary family residences in Nordhalbinsel. Beyond the extravagant and spacious appearance of one of the houses passed down for their daughter, the Winterthur family seems quite normal. Although not as normal as the actual 'normal.

Leon knows the Winterthur family's secret from the history lessons he received at Schiereiland Palace. Among the famous families in various countries, Winterthur's family history is the most interesting one he has ever learned. It is said that every son of the Winterthur family can turn into a wolf on certain nights. Their food is not just human food, they can also eat humans even though they can survive for months without eating humans. They are generally beautiful, have icy blue eyes and blond hair and snow-white skin. They also used to marry their own brothers to preserve their privileges. Even the marriage of fellow family members is highly recommended for them. Leon remembers that Xavier is the son of Queen Irene. General Irene. Irene Winterthur's. A Winterthur too. Her marriage to Eleanor was probably arranged because of this.

Leon also knew about the Wolf army. On the battlefield, they are called Wolves, not just because wolves are the emblem of the Winterthur family, but because all the knights who swear under the leadership of the Winterthur family can change their form into Wolves at any time if desired by the family leader. They will also always be obedient and loyal to the royal family like the royal family's pet dog. Leon is grateful not to have to face one of the troublesome Wolves in the house.

While looking around the house, Leon arrived at one of the long hallways leading to a room. The room was not closed. The door's wide open. The only room whose door was left open and without guards. Leon felt voices calling and hands pulling him into the room.

The room was not very spacious, not as spacious as his room in the Main Palace nor his room in the Schiereiland Palace. The room was more like a strange antique storage warehouse. The walls are covered by tall shelves that rise to the ceiling. On one of those shelves were very many books that were very old. There was a long table in the middle of the room, similar to the dining table that Leon had seen in the family dining room on the ground floor. On the table, there are various trinkets that fill the table. Jars with sadistic killing paintings, wolf masks, rusty knives, colorful empty glass bottles tied together, several pine cones of various sizes lying in various places, some pieces of gold coins that look very worn, glasses filled with candles and gemstones. Everything seemed strange and unusual to be on that table. The room also had an unusual smell. Like a mixture of wet soil in the rainy season and lemon and vanilla. The room was like an unsolvable puzzle.

But among all the strange and strange objects in the room, there is one thing that interests Leon the most. A glowing blue crystal ball located in one corner of the room. Leon heard the same voice calling him into the room from the direction of the crystal ball.

"Other Winterthur sons..." Whisper the crystal ball. There are so many voices— women's voices— that Leon can hear from the crystal ball. They whispered very loudly.

"These eyes are not as blue as ice. Her hair is not blonde either."

"The last handsome guy here was different too. Who has eyes like emerald gems."

"Not a pure derivative!"

"It's not pure blood!"

"Dign mixed blood!"

"Who cares! What matters is handsome!"

"Really... I want to devour all of his secrets."

"Come, son, let us see your secret. Show us all the hidden truth. We'll tell you all the truth about you that you don't already know."

"Let's go..."

"Let's go..."

"What are you doing here, General Leon?" Leon heard a sound as cold as the snowstorm. As he turned his head, he saw Eleanor standing at the door. Hands crossed in front of the chest, a gaze full of suspicion that seemed even more fearful than frightening. "How did you get in here?"

The noisy voices were instantly silent as soon as Eleanor stood there.

"The door is unlocked. Not even closed." Leon said, glancing towards the only window in the room and realizing that it was dark. He had unknowingly been standing in the room, doing nothing for hours. Magic, thought Leon.

"How did you get in here?" Eleanor repeated her question. This time he didn't even bother being as friendly as a Queen to his guests. Eleanor stepped in. The tip of her long black dress swept over the blue marble floor. In each step, an icy wind blew fiercely out there. Those icy blue eyes seemed much colder than before.

But Leon didn't seem distracted at all. He was still standing in his place. "I think I answered that earlier, Your Majesty. If this room is off limits for entry, you'd better lock it."

"We don't need a key. This room is equipped with hundreds of years old ancient magic. Only members of the Winterthur family or those of Winterthur descent can enter this room."

"Then the magic must have been very old and broken."

Eleanor shook her head. "Magic is not the key of iron that will rust after hundreds of years have passed. Magic is not like that, General Leon. “Eleanor approached, observing each inch of Leon's face. His brows were linked as if he was reading something difficult. "You look familiar. Which family are you from? Maybe I know your parents. I know almost all noble families in different countries."

"I don't know." Answer Leon honestly.

"I don't intend to interrogate. I just feel like I've seen a face similar to yours somewhere. Or maybe in a textbook."

"And I have no intention of hiding anything. I really don't know."

"Oh..." Eleanor was silent. The look on the calm face of the Queen returned. The daughter of a historic family who suspects her guest of disappearing in one blink of an eye. "sorry. Although I've heard rumors that you were adopted as a child by the late King Edward since you were a child, I don't know if you really don't know who your parents are."

Leon snorted in annoyance, stepping out first, "That's it. Let's quickly start the lesson." he said grimly.

But when Leon is not far away from the room, when Eleanor has started to come out of the room, Leon can still hear their annoying voices.

"What a hell!"

"Lady we don't like to be treated that way. Talk well to him."

"See you again, Son of Winterthur..."

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

Leon knew he should have been scraping through information regarding the outcome of Queen Eleanor's first meeting with Prince Yi. But when he saw the Queen's visibly unsettled face during the dinner which he didn't touch at all, Leon undoes his intention to find out.

Elias was late for dinner. He immediately took his place beside Eleanor, in front of Leon.

"Eat. You're like a corpse." Elias comments when he sees his twin sister not touching his food. "We're home, Elle. No one's going to poison you here."

"I can't." Eleanor then called one of the servants, "Please bring me the fruit."

"That one from Xavier?"

"That's all I can eat now." Eleanor said a few minutes later, devouring small pieces of fresh yellow fruit after the waiter brought it and seemed to enjoy it. "So has he reached the residence of Nicholas Francis? Or was he in the Schiereiland Palace?"

Elias did not put the piece of meat in his mouth when he heard the question. "Where do you know?"

Eleanor smiled wryly. He then glanced at Leon who had just observed the two brothers in silence. "This is our relationship, General Leon. Xavier will plan everything, tell Elias everything and keep everything from me. I will always succeed in guessing. So you don't have to worry that I'll be offended because you're suspicious. You are free to wander around this house and find out our evil plan if it can make you learn magic faster. You are free to suspect me. I know everyone suspects me."

"Xavier doesn't suspect you, Elle. He protected you. The less you know, the better." Said Elias. "So who told you?"

"I don't need to be told. The leaves you brought in a few days ago were from a rare plant that could only grow in the Cleteland region. So he must have arrived at Schiereiland that day. He would definitely head straight for Duchy Francis as only Nicholas the Schiereiland noble could trust him. So he may have reached Duke Francis's residence today. Regarding his plan or what he did there, I don't know anything yet."

A moment of silence between them. Everyone was busy with their dinner. But then Elias broke the silence by asking his twin sister. The question Leon had wanted to ask.

"So how did you meet Prince Yi?"

Leon waited for Eleanor to answer the question, wondering. He watched over the Queen's face that suddenly paled.

"I can handle it." Eleanor said at last. But his paled face said otherwise.

"What does he want?"

Eleanor swallowed the fruit she had put into her mouth, then said quietly, "I."

Elias chokes. Eleanor immediately used her magic to clear up the mess.

"I'm not done talking." Eleanor. "He wants to marry me. And become King. I said I needed time to answer his proposal. I said I was still grieving, and he believed. It's just to buy time, of course. Take time until Xavier returns."

Elias looked furious, "Where are they staying?"

"Patience a little. It's not time to kill him yet." His voice was as calm as ever, but even Leon could see the young Queen's hand trembling as she put the fork she used to eat the fruit. "He seems to have prepared his army if I refuse that proposal. After all, he was determined to rule this kingdom."

"Don't worry, Elle. Xavier has already assigned me to prepare the troops as well. I've contacted Generals Arianne Montreux and Tyros. Tyros is ready. General Arianne still has not given a reply. Montreux is still recovering after the outbreak. But the Wolves are ready. Recently I also recruited some new Wolves. They are very young, but quite skilled. And if the situation really gets bad, Father and Mother will go to the Northern Palace to ask the Grimoire elders for help."

"What about Orthion Richterswill?" Ask Leon. He could not help but talk about this emergency. Of the four Generals in Nordhalbinsel, he had only ever come face to face with Orthion Richterswill and he knew Orthion's abilities could not be underestimated.

Elias did not answer. He seemed to be wondering if it was wise to talk about military strategy with the enemy country. But now Nordhalbinsel and Schiereiland are arguably already one country and if you remember the words of Xavier, they have the same enemy. So he said, "Orthion is dead. The Orthion that exists today is a follower of Selena. We can't trust him."

"Xavier has to go home. Soon." Eleanor said slowly. Now his voice began to shake. He had already lost that calm Queen mask. His eyes looked teary as he stared at his twin brother. His ice-flake-like voice was no louder than a whisper as he said, "All that preparation will be for nothing, Elias. This kingdom will be destroyed. Man cannot fight the dragon."

"What do—“ mean

"Prince Yi came with the Twin Dragons. Water Dragon and Wind Dragon. They're gonna destroy everything. We don't have much time."

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

They don't have much time.

Eleanor tells Leon that she will give some of her magical abilities to speed up the learning process. But before that, Eleanor determined there was an important thing they had to do first.

"This is Aletheia's eyeball." Eleanor said as they returned to the room filled with the magic item. The blue-colored crystal ball was now in front of them. This time the crystal ball was silent, not making any sound while in Eleanor's hands, as if scared and bowed to her.

"Goddess of Truth?"

"true." Eleanor was amazed that Leon knew who Aletheia was. "I didn't know you studied the book either."

"So what does this ball do?"

"He devoured secrets and revealed the truth. My mother's family called her Aletha. This ball just shows the truth. There is no truth that can be hidden from Aletha."

"Then what do you want to do with it?"

This time Eleanor looked at him seriously before speaking, "General Leon, we will cooperate. For that, you need trust. There is no trust without honesty. How can I be sure you won't kill me after I teach you and give you some of my magic? No one can guarantee it."

Leon shrugged his shoulders, "It's true."

"I'm going to show you all my truth and you should do the same. Through Aletha."

Leon did not agree. All truths. He repeated those words in his heart. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell the Queen of an enemy country all the truth he knew. But she also understood that Eleanor could not believe her just like she did not trust Eleanor. They suspect each other, but for this they must work together. In return, Leon will also know all the truths the Queen may be hiding.

"Did Crown Prince Xavier also do all these things before starting to cooperate with you?" Ask Leon later.

Eleanor did not answer her question directly. Know that Leon is bargaining for this. He smiled in response, "It's weird to hear you call him Crown Prince while I'm the Queen. For the first time, I finally got a higher position than him." Leon waited for the Queen until her question was answered. Eleanor said, "No. Xavier can tell me any lie and I will still have to accept it as the truth and believe it. That's how we are. But he never lied. Just hide the truth if you have to." There was bitterness in his tone. But the Queen was good at hiding her disappointment. "Well, I've already told you one truth, now it's your turn. Do you indeed always question the entire request for you like this or is Princess Anastasia the only exception?"

"Not really." Answer directly.

But as he said that, the blue crystal ball turned red and a hissing sound was heard. Leon did not know Eleanor heard this or not, but the crystal ball was like laughing. A liar! The crystal ball ridiculed him, making him want to instantly break it.

"Look, Aletha detects lies even from the two words you say." Eleanor smiled cynically. He then rubbed the crystal ball, and whispered to Aletha, "Elias once cried for an entire week for being dumped by a girl." then the crystal ball again turned blue after devouring a secret. Eleanor turned to Leon. "Now, in order to shorten the time, we must jointly lay hands on Aletha. And whatever truth it is, it will be a secret between us. I'm not going to tell anyone so much with you. You swear?"

If Leon had a lot of time, he would not have immediately accepted the invitation. If Leon had any other choice he would have rejected it. What secrets did he hide, which no one had ever known, Leon didn't really know either. And whether the secret would be dangerous if the witch in front of him knew this, Leon did not know. But just then, Leon remembered Princess Anastasia whom he had reluctantly left behind. He did all this to keep his promise to Xavier who had already saved the Princess' life when Princess Anastasia was dying and like he would never open his eyes again. If he manages to break the black magic that binds Queen Irene with Selena, then Xavier will kill Selena without hesitation and free Schiereiland. The life she will save is the life of Xavier's mother, an unknown Queen. Queen Irene. General Irene. People he never knew except from his senior stories. But that's not why he did all this. It's all for Princess Anastasia and for Schiereiland.

"Trust us..."

The voices reappear. This time the voices did not sound like annoying gossip. The voices sounded friendly. Aletha twinkled in Eleanor's hand.

"Trust our Lady..."

"You may find a truth you never thought of."

Leon looked back into Eleanor's icy blue eyes. No tricks, no tricks there. He knew Eleanor would not do this either. But Leon finally said to her, "I swear."

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