The Rose Of The South
Chapter 5: About L'intersection

Three days before the Day of Appointment of Crown Prince Nordhalbinsel

"I'm well. Yesterday I had a full day's rest. Anyway I have my sword, what else do I need to fear?"

The next day, Anna realizes that her rose necklace is missing. He asked Queen Isabella for permission to search for the necklace. Because if it falls into someone else's hands, they might try to track down Anna's whereabouts and end up endangering them all. But of course it is not that easy for Anna to get permission, both from Queen Isabella and from Leon and Louis who are still worried about her health condition even though Anna has said that she is fine.

At first Queen Isabella did not allow her daughter to leave, but when Anna said that Xavier would come with her, the Queen allowed her.

“I believe you're not a bad person. I can trust you, right?” The Queen said to Xavier.

“Yes, Her Majesty. I'll take care of it.”

"That Nordhalbinsel Crown Prince could have been intent on killing you." Leon says to Anna, but deliberately raises his voice so that Xavier can hear her.

"If I really wanted to kill him, why would I save him and bring him here?" Xavier Protest.

"Your Majesty, let me come with you. I'll slash his head straight if he gets you hurt again." Leon said, regardless of Xavier.

"You should wait here as planned, Leon. I need you to take care of our mother and our home. You have to trust me. I'm strong enough to fight him if he's willing to hurt me."

Leon's speechless. Anna asks him to believe her, and of course Leon believes her. Leon believes Anna can take care of herself. His sword skills had greatly improved since the last time he taught him. But that's not what he's worried about. Leon just doesn't like Anna to go alone with Xavier. But upon seeing the look in Anna's pleading eyes, Leon was unable to resist.

“Alright, Your Majesty. But if something happens to you—“

"I'll be fine. I promise it won't be long."

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

After Anna and Xavier leave, Leon and Queen Isabella chat while enjoying a warm tea in their little cottage. Meanwhile, Louis, as the only person whose existence will not be suspected by anyone, gets the task of shopping for daily necessities in the market and looking for news that might help them.

"You still thinking about it?" Queen Isabella asked Leon while drinking tea from her cup. It was not the ceramic cup used by the Queen for the royal tea banquet at Schiereiland Palace, but Queen Isabella was able to enjoy her tea in a graceful way.

"I believe in Her Majesty the Princess." Answer Leon, briefly.

But Queen Isabella knew there was still something Leon was thinking. So he sipped his tea and asked once again, "You still refuse him?"

Leon nearly choked upon hearing the question. "What do—“ mean

"Leon..." Queen Isabella looked at Leon seriously. "If one day I go far away, or go forever, I want someone to look after and love my daughter better than me. I've known you for a long time. I know you better than you know yourself. And I think you can do it."

"Baginda Queen, I'm not—“

"Mother. How many more times do I have to correct you? And also, I haven't finished talking. Please listen to me." Queen Isabella interjected immediately, before Leon continued the sentence of rejection that he had often heard whenever the Queen tried to discuss about it. "Right now I can see, there are two paths open for my daughter. And I'm not sure which path he's gonna take."

Leon listen.

"The one path is the path of peace, of absolute happiness on that path. And that's an easy road to take. She just needs to let go and let go of everything, forget that she is a Royal Princess, then live happily without having to look back. And you, my son, you are the key to that path." Said Queen Isabella.

"Then what about the other way, Mother?"

"I don't really want Anastasia to take any other path. I wish there was only one way and only one key. But now the situation has changed. The road is beginning to form. And it was a difficult and full of twists. Full of obstacles and dangers. This path would only be taken by him if he had considerable ambition for it."

"Attribution?" reset Leon.

Queen Isabella nodded. "Different from Alexis who had been raised from the beginning to become the heir to the throne, Anastasia had no ambition. He lives by the flow. At least, that's how it's been all along. But ever since Schiereiland fell, and he had no choice but to face reality, I think he's starting to have that ambition."

"You mean..." Leon did not continue his sentence, realizing what Queen Isabella meant.

"What do you think happens after we find Alexis? Will Schiereiland come back that easy? What if Nordhalbinsel refuses to hand Schiereiland back to us? Or what if we can never find Alexis? Will Anastasia just shut up and accept everything and give up? Leaving her life as the Princess of Schiereiland and living a new life? Or will he fight back and take revenge on them?"

Leon was silent for a moment, thinking of the answers to Queen Isabella's questions.

"Your Highness the former Princess will probably give up. And I will certainly support his decision and guard it, away from the possibility of him being involved in war." Answer Leon. "But I myself can even see it. Her Highness the Princess has changed. He probably would not take revenge on anyone because of his extremely soft heart, but he would fight back and fight for Schiereiland. He will do whatever it takes to reclaim Schiereiland from Nordhalbinsel."

Queen Isabella nodded in agreement. "That's the second road I'm talking about. That path, which he would most likely take, was a path full of danger. I don't really want him to take that path. I'd rather she go with you, marry you, and move away from her old life as Princess Schiereiland in order to live in safety and peace. Go, Leon. Take him, and secure him."

"I'm sorry, Mother. I will not let Princess Anastasia take the first path. The absolute happiness that Mother mentioned that the Princess can obtain by taking the first path, is not true happiness. Princess Anastasia would have been much happier if she had managed to reclaim Schiereiland from Nordhalbinsel and return to her life in the Palace. And I myself will help the Princess through the second path. Although it would be very difficult for him, and for all of us."

Queen Isabella smiled at Leon's reassuring words, but at the same time there was fear in her. There are only two possibilities. They could make it through that path, or die.

"So... I will still reject Her Royal Highness Princess' proposal." Answer Leon.

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

The sun was already high when Anna and Xavier reached near the cliff where the Black Mamba members attacked them a few days ago. Anna recalled the events back then, but it was hard to remember the details. He remembered swinging his sword against all the Black Mamba members. He remembered the many soldiers who died in the attack. But the events after him were not much he remembered. Though Anna thinks by returning to the scene, she will remember how Xavier saved them both.

Even so, Anna did suspect Xavier. Not because of anything bad. Not for bad things. Anna knew Xavier never really had any intention of harming Anna. Precisely as long as he remembered, from the beginning of being his personal bodyguard to the present, all Xavier did was protect and save Anna to make Anna even more suspicious of him. If Leon is protecting her, it's natural because it's his job and Anna knows how much Leon loves her like his own sister. But the more Anna thought about it, she couldn't find a reason why Xavier did all that for Anna.

Anna had been thinking about this since yesterday, ever since she opened her eyes after such a strange dream. Anna clearly heard Xavier refer to her as Queen Zhera. After being unable to sleep all night thinking about her dream, Anna asks Queen Isabella a lot about the history of their Kingdom that Anna cannot find in the book. One of them he asked about King Zuidlijk and King Nordlijk who were both sons of Queen Zhera.

"King Zuidlijk was the First Son of Queen Zhera with his legal partner whose name is not mentioned in history. But all I know is that her partner was the only knight to support her since her father's reign. She was killed by the Emperor while Zhera was still pregnant with King Zuidlijk. After King Zuidlijk was three years old, after he was made Queen, Queen Zhera remarried to the King of the Dragons, the Great Fire Dragon, one of the four Dragons who helped him defeat the Emperor. According to history, King Nordlijk was the son of that Great Fire Dragon."

The words of Queen Isabella continued to be remembered. Anna felt the dream as if she was telling him something. Because the dream felt very real and very in accordance with the history that his mother told him. Although Anna wasn't entirely sure, but all the evidence she had gathered all along was appropriate.

“Xavier." Call Anna at last.

Xavier who was still busy observing the place around them to find the necklace, immediately approached Anna. "What's the matter, Princess Anastasia? Did you find him?"

"It's weird that you call me Princess Anastasia." Anna said, awkwardly. "You can keep calling me Anna. Didn't I not call you formal either. It was easier, and the people around would not be suspicious. Also not to sound awkward."

"alright... Anna's."

Xavier himself felt awkward calling Anna by that name even though he had called her that often before. But calling her Princess Anastasia also felt awkward. Especially because the Kingdom of Schiereiland has been taken over by Nordhalbinsel. As the son of the King who had colonized his kingdom and made Anna lose her title as Princess of a Kingdom, making Xavier feel guilty every time he called Anna Princess Anastasia because it reminded Xavier of what Nordhalbinsel had done to Schiereiland. And it would feel much more awkward if he called Anna by her real name alone, Anastasia. So Xavier felt quite relieved when Anna allowed him to call her by Anna's name. Xavier himself was delighted when Anna started calling him by his name without his title. It was as if it was making them closer than before.

"I'm just curious. You still haven't told me how you saved me when we fell off this cliff. Isn't this very high. Even if we are not injured, falling from this height alone we are definitely dead, right?”

Xavier followed Anna's gaze. Looking back deep down to where they both fell before. The cliff is very high. A very deep abyss as if there was no bottom. But of course they did not fall all the way to the bottom of the abyss back then. Xavier manages to transform himself into a Dragon and takes Anna before the two of them completely fall.

"You don't need to know. That's not important. What matters now is that you're alive. We're both still alive."

"really? You don't think that's important?" Ask Anna. He walked back a few steps away from Xavier and closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Anna, what are you doing?”

"I need to make sure of something."

As he said that, Anna was already at the end of the cliff. If he retreated backwards again, he would immediately fall into that bottomless abyss. Maybe even with the wind alone Anna could fall from the cliff. Xavier held his breath as he looked at what Anna was trying to do.

"Sure what? You wanna jump off this cliff?"

"Tell me, who are you? Who am I really? Who's ours?"

"Whatchu mean? Quickly get away from the edge of the cliff. Too haha—“

Before Xavier finished his sentence, Anna fell down. No. gabe. More precisely he dropped himself. Falling far down towards that bottomless abyss. Even so, Anna did not feel the slightest hesitation when she decided to fall. He knows what he's doing. He fell to get the answer. An answer he won't get easily from Xavier.

The incident happened very quickly, because not until a second after Anna fell, a pair of wings so wide spread that it covered the sky above Anna. Anna was flabbergasted when she saw the creature. Very big and grand. Even the bravest knights would definitely tremble if they saw him. But Anna smiled with satisfaction upon seeing the creature. Instead of fear, a feeling of relief as well as pleasure filled his mind. His guess was right all along. The curiosity is now answered. Quickly the large winged creature caught Anna with its claws. That creature was the Great Fire Dragon. Finally Anna learns that Xavier is the Great Fire Dragon, the King of all Dragons.

When he realized that, suddenly pieces of memories sprung up in his mind. But those memories are memories from a long time ago. Not a memory of his current life. It was a memory that had been buried for a thousand years.

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

In her memory, Anna sees herself standing barefoot and a dress that has been burned in some parts. But Anna felt herself looked different. He looked thinner and more fragile, perhaps also younger. Her skin was pale and transparent as if she was sick. And his eyes, which looked like they were crying out, were bright red.

“Who are you? Why did you save me? You should have let me die!” He shouted furiously at someone in front of him. Anna realized that she was not using her language. It is an ancient language that has long been forgotten. No one uses that language anymore.

That person, looked like Xavier, but had eyes that were also fiery red. He bowed respectfully to her, “Sorry for having to make you wait a long time. I am the answer to your prayers to the Gods and Goddesses. I'm the one who's gonna help you.”

“Why did you just come now? Isn't it too late? Too many people have died at my father's hands. I also lost my husband, the only person I love.”

“As long as you're alive, we're not too late, Zhera.”

“We?”

“Not just me, the other three Dragons are on their way here. Maybe they have arrived somewhere in the hemisphere. They're looking for you too. They are the Earithear of the Earth Dragon, my younger sister. And there are also my twin sisters, Aquinier the Water Dragon and Aerinear the Wind Dragon. We'll do whatever you say. From now on, you are our Queen, Zhera.”

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