The Rose That Blooms In North
Chapter 12: The Palais

That morning, at the Nordhalbinsel Palace, which was strangely warmer than it seemed, Anna took off her thick coat, and was invited around the Palace by the Chief Servant.

Anna just found out this morning—after meeting Elias who greeted her at the gates of Istana—that she passed the Interview Test and thus had officially become the Personal Guards of Crown Prince Xavier. Anna was mixed up at the time, happy and relieved that she was finally accepted and her plan was going well, but at the same time she somehow felt worried because her plan was going well. Anna recalled Leon's words about the blizzard that came after a sunny day. But Anna tried to put that thought to rest when Elias performed a short ceremony of Anna's coronation as a personal bodyguard in the presence of other Nordhalbinsel warriors.

After that very simple short ceremony was completed, the, Elias seemed to rush away from the place and asked Anna to follow the butler who would introduce the parts in the Palace as well as inform him of his work schedule as well as the schedule of the activities of the Crown Prince. But before that, Anna was asked to immediately change into her uniform and Elias gave her a sword with a dragon engraving on its handle. A sword that was only given to the personal bodyguards of members of the royal family. Anna happily draped the sword on the belt on her waist.

The butler's name is Sebastian. He was a man who was around seventy years of age or so. His hair was all whitened, and there were many wrinkles on his face, but to the size of the old man he still looked dignified and looked fit like most butlers who served respectable families. Anna immediately recalled the extremely friendly butler at her palace in Schiereiland who might have been killed that night. Anna immediately dismissed those grim thoughts from her mind. He must be able to think clearly if he wants to carry out his plan well.

Nordhalbinsel Palace is divided into several parts, namely the Main Palace, Queen's Palace, Crown Prince's Palace, and Consort's Palace. However the Queen's Palace and the Crown Prince's Palace were currently empty and not occupied by anyone. The Queen's Palace should be occupied by the late Queen Irene as well as one of the women who was appointed the King as Queen, but King Vlad decided to let the Queen's position remain vacant after the death of Queen Irene so that the Queen's Palace was not occupied. Meanwhile, the new Crown Prince's Palace will be filled if the Crown Prince is already married. Although the Crown Prince should have married three years ago when he was twenty years old, but until now the Crown Prince continues to postpone his marriage because of his busyness or other things, so that the Crown Prince's Palace is not occupied by anyone. However, sometimes the Crown Prince will visit the Palace with his fiancee, Crown Princess Eleanor to spend time together.

The Concubine Palace was located at the very back and far from the Main Palace. The palace was occupied by the concubines of the king and the princes. Sebastian also explained to Anna that the King's current concubine there are more than ten people—Sebastian does not even know the exact number—and there are twenty-three princes, he said, but only one son of the king could be Crown Prince among the twenty-three, the only child of Queen Irene, Crown Prince Xavier. King Vlad did not have a Princess because of the prophecy read by Empress Selena who also served as the leader of the Witch of the Palace.

"What's that forecast?" ask Anna.

"A Princess will kill King Vlad and destroy Nordhalbinsel. That's about the point of his prediction. That's why every time a concubine gets pregnant, if the witch says the baby to be born is a Princess, then the King will kill the mother and the child if the mother does not want to abort the womb." Definitely Sebastian.

Anna shuddered in horror at hearing that. She was grateful to be born Princess Schiereiland instead of Princess Nordhalbinsel.

They continued the tour of this Palace to the Main Palace. The Main Palace is the largest building among the four palaces. The palace is decorated with intricate carvings of gold plated and decorated with diamonds. The Main Palace is currently occupied by King Vlad, the Crown Prince, Empress Selena, as well as three princes who are sons of the Empress.

"You don't need to memorize the entire prince's name for now, but you should at least know the names of the sons of Empress Selena as they live in this Palace with the Crown Prince. They were Prince Ludwig, Prince Wilhelm and Prince Heinrich. To make things easier for you, if you see a prince with a face very similar to Crown Prince Xavier but his eyes are not Emerald eyes but dark black with snow-white hair, then it must be Prince Ludwig. And if you look at a seventeen-year-old boy with eyes similar to those of Prince Ludwig, and black hair, it's Prince Wilhelm. and if you see a boy who often approaches the Crown Prince in his room when he's not busy, then it's Eleven-year-old Prince Henry." Sebastian is at length.

Anna listened intently to all the explanations and even recorded a few points from Sebastian's words that she thought were very important. But the most important thing for him has not been discussed by Sebastian.

"Sir, is there a place where criminals or prisoners of war are locked up in this Palace?" Anna asked after it felt like she had been walking around the Palace for an hour but the tour was still not over.

Sebastian, the Chief Servant seemed to think before responding briefly, "You don't need to know the place." Said. "Well, now over here is the library of the Palace. Only the members of the royal family and those envoys of the royal family are allowed to enter this place." Sebastian.

Anna paused for a moment to pretend to pay attention to the entrance of the Palace's library, the truth was that she was starting to feel tired going around the palace and because she had not eaten anything this morning.

But just as Anna was about to continue traveling around the palace with Sebastian, someone opened the library door from the inside. The high door reaching to the ceiling of the Palace was partially opened revealing the small contents of the library room. And from inside, someone walked out. It was a man that Anna originally thought was Crown Prince Xavier due to the resemblance of his face, but his eyes were dark black and his hair almost looked like snow-white. But other than that, his face was completely similar to that of Crown Prince Xavier.

"That Second Prince, Prince Ludwig. The First Son of Empress Selena. Give him my regards." Sebastian's whispers quickly before Prince Ludwig realizes the existence of the two of them.

"Greetings My respect to His Highness the Prince." Anna said while looking down respectfully.

Sebastian beside her did the same, then introduced Anna, "Your Majesty, this Miss is Crown Prince Xavier's Personal Guards, Miss Anna."

Ludwig who had initially not noticed her was now staring at Anna. But the moment their gaze met, Anna could see Prince Ludwig's dark-colored pupils widen like she was seeing something shocking to her. His breath was blocked and he opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but was soon undone. Ludwig hurriedly left them without a word and threw a cynical look at Anna before turning away.

"He was so. You don't have to worry. All the sons of Empress Selena were not very fond of the new people in the Palace." Obviously Sebastian immediately.

***

After half an hour later, Anna finally arrived at the last place she had introduced. "I introduced this place last because this is where you're going to start working. This is Crown Prince Xavier's private room. He's waiting inside." Sebastian said before leaving Anna.

The door of the room was white with intricate ornaments made of pure gold. There were two guards at the door of the room, each of them wearing a warrior uniform and holding a spear and shield with a dragon symbol in their right and left hands. The two guards then opened the door for Anna and let her in.

"Why is it so long?"

It was the first sentence from Crown Prince Xavier that Anna heard as soon as she started stepping into her room. At that time the Crown Prince was changing clothes assisted by the ladies. For a moment Anna wanted to take her eyes off because it was not proper etiquette for a Princess to see a man who was not a member of her family changing clothes, but then he remembered her coming not as a Princess but as a personal bodyguard. And the personal bodyguard should not take his eyes off the person he should protect.

"I'm sorry for my delay, Your Majesty" Anna said, while not really looking at the Crown Prince's body. Anna was still not used to seeing an unclothed man before her.

"No. No. gabe. You're not late at all. I'm sure Sebastian took you around too long. You can sit there waiting for me." Xavier.

Anna immediately complied. He immediately sat down at the spot designated by Xavier. From that place he could see Xavier's back that was filled with scars that seemed to have been very long but still imprinted. The scar extends from the upper right shoulder to the lower left shoulder. It was a sword incision scar, Anna was sure. And there are other, smaller scars that look like lashes. Anna wondered who the person who dared to injure a Crown Prince of Nordhalbinsel kingdom was.

"Do you look so bad?" Xavier asked who was watching Anna from the reflection of the mirror before her. “Shocked? You certainly don't expect to work for the King's son who has a lot of injuries. At least you understand why I need a personal bodyguard, right?”

"No, Your Grace. Forgive my sass." Anna hurriedly lowered her gaze.

"You can be relaxed with me especially when there's no one else. Elias always does. I'm not some kind of honorary lunatic or anything." Xavier said as he started wearing his clothes instead. "And this scar is no secret. Everyone in the Palace already knew that their Crown Prince had many scars. I don't intend to hide it. You should get used to seeing it anyway. In the future you'll see him more often."

"Elias hasn't told you? We'll be heading for Montreux soon. Our border with Westeria. The king assigned me to go over the problem of the plague of mysterious diseases there."

***

Anna never expected that being the personal bodyguard of the Crown Prince of Nordhalbinsel meant that she would travel a lot and be away from the Palace for quite a long time. Xavier said that the trip to Montreux would take at least four days, at the earliest three days. If he knew he would be directly assigned out of the Palace on his first day working as a personal bodyguard, he would not have applied for the job and would have preferred to be a Palace maid only. But of course Anna couldn't do anything. He only hopes that this task can be quickly completed so that he can immediately return to the Nordhalbinsel Palace to find Queen Isabella and Crown Prince Alexis.

Xavier, Anna and Prince Jeffrey have been leaving since the sun began to rise at around nine in the morning in Nordhalbinsel. It was the sunniest day in Nordhalbinsel because the Sun usually only rises at ten or eleven. The clear weather seemed to have a huge effect on the mood of the Crown Prince as Anna watched Xavier from earlier praising the good weather today with a smile. Some of the Nordhalbinsel warriors who had taken part in the journey whispered to Anna that the Crown Prince usually never smiled happily like that.

"I'm sure the weather in Schiereiland is always this bright. Lucky for those who can always see the sun." Xavier.

Anna was in the same carriage as Xavier while Prince Jeffrey was in another carriage. So inevitably, even though it felt a little awkward for her, Anna should be able to become the Crown Prince's chatting companion during that four-day trip.

"The weather is not always bright in Schiereiland, Your Majesty. But we often see the sun when it's not snowing or it's raining." Obviously Anna with formal language even though Xavier had asked her repeatedly to speak informally to him when they were alone. But Anna rejected him on the grounds of not being used to talking like that. In fact, back when she was a Princess living in the Palace, Anna and Leon also used informal language if there was no one else around them. But that was because the relationship between the two of them was already very close like siblings.

Anna suddenly thought of Leon and Louis. She'll be away from Noord for a few days and maybe more than a week, but Anna hasn't told Leon and Louis anything yet. Leon will probably start to worry about her not hearing from him for days. Anna thought of finding a way to send Leon a letter as soon as they reached Montreux.

In the hours that followed, Xavier kept asking about the atmosphere in Schiereiland and Anna as much as possible to tell from the point of view of an ordinary folk. Anna tells the story of the four seasons at Schiereiland and what crops were grown by farmers in those seasons. Xavier was intrigued by the story because in Nordhalbinsel there is only a perennial winter and no plants can be grown other than grass in the border area and crystal Tulips. The two of them exchanged stories about their respective home regions. About the sunny summer sun of Schiereiland and about the cold snowstorms of Winterthur. About the beautiful colorful flowers that bloom in the spring of Schiereiland and the magical color of the Northern Lights in the sky Noord at midnight. The story of the two very different empires continued to fill the chatter of the two of them for hours.

Without feeling, somehow, Anna began to feel comfortable talking to him.

Every now and then the horses get tired and they are already quite far away from Noord, when they can find a good resting place in the middle of the snowy forest, the company would stop for a moment to feed the horses. Meanwhile Crown Prince Xavier, Prince Jeffrey and Anna will step out of the carriage to straighten their legs and feel the cold air in the forest. Anna did not really understand how the trees in the forest could live even though they were rarely exposed to the sun and were always covered in snow. But then Xavier explained to her about the habit of living things to survive under the most difficult circumstances. The trees are seeded from Schiereiland and hundreds of years ago were planted in Nordhalbinsel. It took longer than ordinary trees, but in the end the trees managed to grow even though they had no leaves. at least their branches continue to extend and branch out to be then taken and used as firewood or furniture from wood.

Prince Jeffrey joined them as they set up a tent for the night in the forest. Anna had only seen Prince Jeffrey once when he was giving a speech at the Second Stage of the Crown Prince's personal guard selection, so now when he can see him again from a closer distance, he said, Anna realizes that the Prince is very tall despite being only a few inches taller than Crown Prince Xavier. As the Crown Prince and Prince sat together before her, Anna was finally able to see a hint of their resemblance. They both have very perfect snow-white skin and the same nose shape.

"Greetings to Your Highness the Crown Prince." Prince Jeffrey said, saluting Xavier. The Crown Prince nodded to him.

"Is your trip comfortable enough, Prince Jeffrey?" ask Xavier.

"It's very convenient, Your Majesty." replied Prince Jeffrey. "But if allowed, I would like to express my opinion, Your Majesty."

"What's up, Prince Jeffrey?"

"I have noticed that some days the sun is shining very bright even though in other countries winter is at its peak. The air is also getting colder. So I thought maybe a snowstorm was coming. It would be nice if we didn't spend the night in the woods tonight, Your Majesty." Said Prince Jeffrey.

Anna noticed the two different sisters the mother spoke to each other in a very formal language. Anna remembered her sister, Crown Prince Alexis. Anna and Alexis also often talk formally if they are in a public place. But when they were just chatting in private, the two of them agreed not to use formal language so that their conversation could be more familiar.

"You're right, Prince. The snow storm is coming soon. But not tonight. If my calculations are correct, according to the Nordhalbinsel calendar, a blizzard always occurs after five to seven days the sun in the North area shines brightly. Because at that time other countries that have four seasons are experiencing winter freezing. And that means a blizzard will be around tomorrow afternoon for a full day. For tonight, we will rest in this forest and tomorrow morning we will continue our journey towards the Winterthur family Villa to take shelter from the blizzard." Xavier.

***

That afternoon Leon and Louis were spending their dinner at the soup shop while stealing the talk of some of the people in the tavern.

"I heard a blizzard is going to strike Noord tonight."

"really? You know where it's coming from?"

"Everybody in town talked about it. Don't you think it's weird that lately the sun's been shining brightly but the air's colder than usual?"

"You're right. I remember the snowstorm last year. It's really terrible."

"Last year, many animals died from the blizzard. Many houses are also damaged."

"Not only that, many people do not know there will be a blizzard so they roam outside the house. None of those who were outside the house at the time survived the blizzard."

"It's better tonight we lock up all the farm animals inside. No one's out of the house."

"You're right. Let's go home soon."

***