The Rose Of The South
Chapter 2: L'eau et Le Vent de L'est

At the same time...

Far east across the ocean, in the Orient Empire, Emperor Qin was relaxing with his concubines and his ladies and dancers. In contrast to the three kingdoms, the Orient Empire had the widest domain with the sea that held a lot of maritime wealth, very fertile land, coal mines as well as precious metal mines and a high level of welfare. The sky is always clear all year round. Warm and humid tropical climate. Day and night have the same duration. There was never any snow. That is why Orient is often referred to as the Land of Heaven.

So that afternoon, although in the other three kingdoms spring had just arrived so the air was still a little cold, in Orient the weather was very sunny and warm. The Emperor enjoyed a fresh drink made from pure honey and various pieces of fruit grown in the Orient. Beautiful dayang-daang sweetly fanned it and massaged her sturdy body that began to age. Young concubines looking like goddesses are vying to attract her attention by praising her. While the scantily clad dancing women curled their beautiful bodies shrewdly and flirted with him.

All looked delighted and enjoyed the atmosphere until finally the second son of the Emperor, Prince Yi came with his troops. The dancers abruptly stopped their dance and moved away from the road that Prince Yi and his troops were traveling. The maids looked puzzled, their hands still busy fanning the Emperor, shaking violently at the sight of Prince Yi's army. The concubines moved away a little, giving the father and son space to talk.

The emperor confirmed his sitting position. Prince Yi knelt before his father, followed by his followers prostrating themselves before the Emperor. The Orient Empire considered the Emperor to be on par with the Gods and adored him.

"O Father, Imperial Sun, Lord of the Seven Oceans and Son of Heaven, I have come to deliver the news I have heard from the North." Prince Yi's. His voice was loud but still calm and respectful.

Prince Yi was already over forty years old, yet his face and body did not look like that. People in the Orient were famous for having looks younger than their age. People believe it is because their ancestors once drank dragon blood so they are young.

"North? That Eternal Winter Kingdom? That Ice Country?" Emperor Mutters.

"Yes, Father."

"What do you hear, my son?"

"I heard the news that the Crown Prince of the Ice Country is dead and their King is dying." Said Prince Yi. He sounded very excited when he said it.

"Then what about the other heirs, my son? Doesn't their king have many sons?"

"The other "heir is the Son of a Witch, Father. But I don't think he has as many supporters as the dead Crown Prince has because the Witch is not the Queen. The dying king never raised a new Queen after the death of her Queen."

There was a long pause before the Emperor responded to the words of his second son. Emperor Qin was a calculating man. He does not like to tolerate mistakes and does not like to make mistakes. But his second son had already made the mistake of failing to seize Westeria from their Only Queen. The Son said at the time that his failure was due to the Queen's diplomatic relationship with the Witch Country, Nordhalbinsel.

"Then what about the Crown Princess?" Ask the Emperor. "Don't the late Crown Prince have a son who will be his successor?"

Prince Yi smiled broadly hearing his father mention the Crown Princess. The girl had been courting for a long time, but she could not get it because of her status as the fiance of the Crown Prince. "Only the title is Crown Princess, actually they have not officially married, Your Majesty the Great Emperor." Her speech. Now he started getting into the core of the conversation. The real meaning of his coming was to face the Emperor. "I heard that the Crown Prince's dead fiancee is the most beautiful woman in the world. I'm very curious and I want to have it, Ayahanda. The woman will be my woman and the land of ice will belong to the Father if that is what the Father wills."

The emperor fell silent again, thinking. The Kingdom of Nordhalbinsel was indeed not as vast as the Orient Empire, nor as fertile and beautiful as the Kingdom of Westeria. But the Nordhalbinsel Kingdom has witches who would be very useful if mastered. They also had full control over the Kingdom of Schiereiland since King Vlad killed King Edward, the previous ruler of Schiereiland. Having Nordhalbinsel means having two territories at once, North and South. If his son succeeds, then their territory will be wider and it will be easier to seize the power of Westeria which has been sheltered behind the strong military from Nordhalbinsel.

"All right." The Emperor finally said. "Do you know what to do, my son? This time don't make mistakes like you did in the West."

Prince Yi could not help his excitement. He smiled in satisfaction as he imagined the beautiful northern girl would be in his bed. After all, if he succeeded in shifting his brother's position and became the successor to his father's throne, he would rule the region. Orient, Nordhalbinsel and Schiereiland would all come under his control and seizing Westeria from the hands of their young Queen would be as easy as snatching candy from a child.

"I will not repeat my mistake, Your Majesty. For that, this time I want to ask for help from the Twin Dragons." Her speech.

Emperor snorted. There was clearly shock on his face. If his second son asked for ten thousand troops and war funds, he would easily grant them if it was for the sake of getting Nordhalbinsel and Schiereiland at once. But what he asked for was the power possessed by the Dragons.

Like Nordhalbinsel, Orient also believed in the legend of the four Dragons who helped Great Queen Zhenra in the past. There are several different stories from the legends told in the north, but at least the point is the same. That is why, since the beginning of the reign, the emperors of the past hunted the child who was born special. They would test the child to see if the child was one of the reborn Dragons. They would even gather children born with Dragon Eyes to search for the existence of Dragons in all corners of the Country. But Dragons are not considered a threat in the Orient. They were revered as the wings of the Emperor to make their military invincible. During the reign of Emperor Qin, the Emperor managed to find two Dragons, they were the Water Dragon and the Wind Dragon or known as the Twin Dragon. The dragons were pampered and treated like gods. But at the same time, they were also treated as Orient's secret weapon.

"Twin Dragon? They are my loyal servants. I won't allow you to use their powers carelessly." Emperor's Decree.

"I won't disappoint you, Father. I would be beheaded in front of the entire Orient if I failed this time. Therefore, please allow this son of yours to take the Twin Dragons with me." Pinta Prince Yi.

The new emperor was about to speak up, when suddenly two young men and women entered the Palace hall. The Youth is a young teenager in his teens, not known exactly his age because the people in the Orient always look young. Her stature is slim and tall. The parasites were so beautiful that one could think she was a girl if not wearing a man's clothes. His movements were calm and his carriage was as calm as flowing water. Her skin was pure white like the petals of a white lotus flower. His hair was long black, as was the hairstyle of the other noble men in the Orient. What makes it different is the eyeballs. If normally the people in the Orient had black eyes, the young man had clear blue eyes like lake water. He was wearing a kind of hanfu in color with his eyes which was the customary clothing of one of the tribes in the Orient.

"I am willing to go to the North, O Imperial Sun." Her speech. He used the same language as the Emperor, but with a slightly different accent as he was from a tribe in the countryside.

As he spoke, a fresh breeze blew gently into the entire room, flying the cherry petals that had just bloomed. "So much as I." Said.

The moment the two dragons came, everyone kowtowed at them. Even the Emperor bowed respectfully to them.

"Shuu, Kaze, are you sure?" Ask the Emperor to the Twin Dragons.

Shuu the Water Dragon and Kaze the Wind Dragon exchanged glances. They can communicate without moving their lips so that no one knows what they are talking about. They then nodded at each other.

"We are sure, Son of Heaven." Shuu. A soothing smile adorned his face.

"This time your son will give an extraordinarily good thing to this empire." Kaze. His eyes flashed with excitement as he said so.

"All right, then. Son, go with the Twin Dragons and take the Ice Country." The Emperor's.

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The Rapture of the Crown Prince Nordhalbinsel

"Dad.stop. Please." Crying Eleanor.

"Wolfm! Enough's enough! He is your son. The only one who will be the leader of the family in the future."

The Grand Duke of Winterthur paid no heed to the words of his daughter or wife. His sword and Elias's sword fought each other endlessly. Despite not holding a sword for a long time, the Grand Duke had no trouble fighting his son. It was precisely Elias who seemed to have trouble against his father.

That morning upon reaching the Crown Prince's Palace, Wolfgang Winterthur called his son to a duel with him. They had already conducted a sword duel for three hours without rest inside Eleanor's room in the Crown Prince's Palace. Eleanor ordered the guards and servants to leave her room because no one wanted to know about this. If the people outside the Crown Prince's Palace knew that the Grand Duke was in a rage, they would be suspicious and find out what was going on exactly.

"If she really deserves to be the leader of the family in the future, she should take good care of her sister." The Grand Duke.

"Dad, it's my fault, not Elias's. I'm gonna fix everything so please stop."

With a single move, Elias' sword slipped out of his hand. The next move, which happened very quickly, could make anyone his opponent instantly die on the spot. But the Grand Duke's movements just stopped. Eleanor managed to stop him with magic.

"Now you dare to use your magic on your father? Did you learn that magic against your own father?" Wolfgang Winterthur looks angry.

"I'm sorry dad, but I'll be sorry if Elias dies at my hands."

"We'll all die right after everyone knows whose baby is in your womb!”

"This baby will be Winterthur's son."

"His father was a despicable Northern Palace Slave!”

"His father was a man I loved very much."

"Would that love keep your family alive for years? After all I did to keep this family whole, you just destroyed it because of your childish feelings!" Wolfgang Winterthur used to look gently at his most precious daughter, but now, none of her love overcame the wrath she felt knowing that her daughter was cheating on her from the Crown Prince and even carrying a baby from her affair. "Download your womb and act as if nothing ever happened. Your choice is two, your family's life or the son's life."

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