The Rose That Blooms In North
Chapter 17: Dans les Bois

Anna and Elias journey to cross the Forettire— river - the river that separates Montreux from Fiore which is part of Westeria— - runs well. The soldiers worked together to draw the attention of those infected so as not to attack the back door. So that when the back door opened, Anna and Elias could ride their horses smoothly to cross the bridge of the Forettire river.

The dust fog before them grew thicker and they rode further and further away from the castle towards Fiore which was a small town of Westeria that was directly adjacent to Nordhalbinsel. Fiore was an area of eighty percent forest so Anna and Elias had to be very careful in spurring their horses to avoid hitting trees. Fiore Forest felt very lonely gripping that night. There was no sound other than the sounds of wild animals. Anna suspects that the infected humans have gone all the way to Montreux so that there is not a single one left in this forest, but they still have to be on their guard and as much as possible not make an eye-catching sound.

"I had no idea that the General was on this trip. I'm completely unaware of your previous existence" Anna opened the conversation in a voice similar to a whisper.

"I had just arrived when a dust fog suddenly started to appear."

"That's what it looks like."

But various thoughts filled Anna's head as she said so. Because if Elias had not followed the journey in the first place, why would he have arrived on the same day as the Crown Prince and only a few hours apart. Anna knew something was hidden by Xavier because Anna herself noticed that Xavier had looked out the window many times when they were both in the workspace of Montreux Castle. And the few days of being in Nordhalbinsel made him start to think that everything that happened in this country was related to magic power. Anna's wild thoughts open up various possibilities about Elias arriving shortly after the arrival of the Crown Prince's group in Montreux. Anna initially thought perhaps Elias had indeed followed the Crown Prince Group from the start but a magic made his existence faint. And the second possibility is that Elias has just arrived, but he got to Montreux very quickly with the help of magic. And the last possibility that Anna herself would actually not have thought of was this possibility, but the story about the Winterthur Family that Anna knew of Leon suddenly made her start thinking about the possibility. Some time ago—which for Anna herself felt happened a very long time—when Anna asked if Leon knew Elias Winterthur, Leon once told Anna that he had heard a myth about a certain bond or an agreement in the past that occurred between the Royal Family and the Winterthur Family. And that seems to cause whenever a member of the royal family needs help, that's when a member of the Winterthur family will come. Perhaps Xavier needed Elias so much that the Young General came to use magic. And Anna thought of the third possibility that would be most likely if what Leon had told her was true.

"How can we find General Arianne?" Anna whispered back, trying to divert the topic from the previous conversation.

"I think we can find the horse first." Elias is about to blow a whistle to summon a horse, but Anna immediately prevents him.

"Don't we better not make an eye-catching sound? We can't know there's anything here. There could be wild animals or infected people."

"Don't worry. This whistle will only be heard by horses. Doesn't make a sound that can attract attention like you say." Said Elias.

Anna let Elias blow the whistle. And sure enough, the whistle made no sound other than the wind. Or at least that's what Anna heard. Anna then recalled that Elias was Eleanor's twin brother, which meant she was also the son of the Lilithier Grimoire. Anna suspects the whistle is one of the Grimoire treasures that has magic.

But after blowing the whistle many times, they did not hear the sound of the footsteps of other horses other than their own. Anna proposes that they go deeper and deeper towards the end of Fiore that may not be covered in a dust fog. Elias agreed to the proposal despite doubts they would be able to get through the forest quickly.

"We may not be able to complete this task quickly." Said Elias.

"I know that, but we have no other choice. Maybe we can meet with the Fioreans and ask if they see General Arianne."

"But according to Xavier the entire population of Fiore had been evacuated since news broke that there was an outbreak in the Montreux area." Then glanced at Anna for a moment before continuing, "By the way, Miss. You don't have to talk to me formally. Unlike my twin sister who is a Crown Princess and has been trained to be Queen since the day she was born, I am not used to formal speaking. And if you're not afraid of this desolate forest, of course we can continue our journey to the end of Fiore."

"I—I mean" Anna immediately improved her way of speaking, decided to approve Elias and began speaking a more informal language, "I'm just afraid of failing to carry out this quest and failing to protect His Highness the Crown Prince." Anna's Refutation. He was actually a little afraid of the forest.

"Xavier's? Oh, you don't have to worry about it. I myself felt like the most useless personal bodyguard while still in that position. I was often sent away from him instead of going with him to protect him. He doesn't need protection from anyone. No one can hurt him. If people call me a Wolf, then Xavier is a Dragon."

"Dragon?"

"I mean... It was because he was very strong and not easily injured so he was like a Dragon. Not that he's a real dragon. Are there dragons today?" Then Elias laughed awkwardly as Anna suspected him for saying the opposite.

"There's still." Anna finally answered.

"What's? Whatchu mean?"

"Dragon. I mean, there are still Dragons even in this day and age. I also did not believe it at first because in Schiereiland there were not many even almost no books telling about Dragons. But I've seen it firsthand." Said Anna.

"really? What's Dragon like?" Ask Elias. His horse is now walking slowly.

Anna also slowed down her horse's steps while recalling the Dragon she had met near the Scheine river. It was not difficult, because even until now—after a lot of things happened in his life his memory of the Dragon figure he met is still very clear. Anna even felt she could describe it if someone asked for it. "He's very big. Probably as big as Montreux Castle. His figure was extremely terrifying with thick, lava-red scaly skin and extremely large and sharp claws. A pair of wings stretched wide on the right and left sides of his body, I saw there was a long scratch wound between the two wings and there was another wound on his body but that long scratch wound was the biggest one. And from the entirety of her monstrous appearance, she had a pair of extremely beautiful eyes that even looked very humanly glowing red. I really couldn't forget the dragon's gaze back then."

"He didn't attack you or hurt you?" Ask Elias.

"No. He just healed my wounds. At that time I was seriously injured. The dragon saved me and healed me. But I haven't seen him since."

"That's so weird. Usually he in the form of a dragon will attack anything or anyone in front of him especially without Elle magic, he will not be able to control himself but why—“

"What?"

Anna agreed.

Anna and Elias return silent to each other and race their horses faster while trying to avoid the trees in the forest. But Anna kept thinking about that Dragon and the wounds on his body. At first he felt very foreign when he first saw her. But the wound pattern that was on the Dragon's body, now that he had recalled it, was very similar to the scar on Xavier's body. Anna did not want to think about that because it felt so strange to think of a Dragon that was as big as a castle having the same scar as Crown Prince Xavier. Finally he tried to shake the mind away by spurring his horse to be even faster.

Elias was far behind Anna. The Young General also spurred his horse to catch up with him but Anna was further away until his existence was completely invisible due to the dust fog around them.

Anna did not realize how far she had separated from Elias and was still racing her horse quickly. Avoiding every tree he nearly hit. He thought of nothing but a way that his horse could race fast without hitting a tree. Even the voice of Elias calling out to him from a distance was not heard by him due to being too focused. Until finally Anna felt very tired after an hour more to drive her horse very quickly like a person who was in a horse race.

Looking back, he finally realized that Elias was not around. Anna wanted to shout out to the Young General, but she knew it was not to be done because she did not know what was in the forest.

Finally Anna decided to get off her horse and rest for a while under a large tree she had never seen before. Unlike the Nordhalbinsel forests which are entirely covered by thick white snow and the trees have no leaves because they are very rarely exposed to sunlight, the forest in Fiore is a type of forest filled with weeds, he said, shrubs, various wild plants with wide leaves and various flowers that are strange and colorful shapes are also trees with shady leaves. So Anna allowed her horse to eat the grass in the forest while she straightened her legs and took a breath. Riding with a mask is not an easy thing because it will make him feel as tight as out of breath. But of course Anna did not take off her mask.

Anna looked at the conditions around her. If previously in Montreux the visibility was only about one meter, in this forest, the visibility was increasingly extended by about two meters. The dust fog was still all around her, but now the dust fog was thinner so Anna could see more clearly. He could see that the forest was not as terrible as he had imagined. Even the forest looked better than the forest in Schiereiland where he had been hiding with Leon for some time before. This forest is indeed silent, but not a gripping silence. Vaguely Anna could hear the sounds of night animals that she thought were owls and bats and also the sound of a waterfall that sounded not far from her current place.

Anna tied her horse's rope to a tree trunk and began walking through the forest. Having lived in the forest for a few days, it seemed that Anna was not afraid to explore the forest itself even without the help of any illumination other than moonlight in the night sky. Moreover, now the dust fog was getting thinner and he could see what was around him. Anna walked closer to the sound of the waterfall.

After passing through various large trees, and various other plants that he did not recognize because the plant did not grow in Schiereiland, Anna arrived in front of the waterfall. Anna could see things more clearly. The waterfall in front of him that fell into a swift and clear river. Along the river, there are dark gray rocks that fence the banks of the river like someone had deliberately formed a fence for the river. Around the waterfall, various trees grew tall. Some had red-colored fruits and were shaped like wine, but Anna knew it was not wine because the vine was not like that. Some of the red fruits fell to the ground covered in weeds, and the black and gray forest rabbits that Anna could now see picked up the fallen fruits. Anna could see all that clearly because now, around the waterfall, there was no more dust fog blocking her view.

The dust fog seemed to just disappear as he began to set his feet about five meters away from the waterfall. Even at night, now that the fog was gone, Anna could see how beautiful the Fiore forest was. In contrast to the cold, moist and dark Schiereiland forest because the trees growing close together block the moonlight, as well as the forests in Nordhalbinsel which are all white covered in thick snow and leafless trees. Fiore Forest is so rich and colorful even at night. The wildflowers are purple and pink and pastel blue, the small fruits on the tree are red, and there were even some vines around the trees that had green colors mixed with yellow and orange.

Anna took off her mask and breathed in the forest air that she somehow missed. But that forest air felt different from the air he breathed in the Schiereiland forest. He could sense the refreshing sweet scent he had suspected came from various unfamiliar wildflowers or perhaps from the falling red fruit. But before long Anna enjoyed the fresh air of the Fiore forest, someone from behind covered her mouth with a big hand yet soft and warm.

"Don't yell, Your Majesty" said the man.

Anna turned around and found Leon behind her.

"Leon?"

"Sorry I—“

Without waiting for Leon's next words, Anna hugged him tightly. Anna misses him so much that she doesn't know what to say. It's been a long time since Anna last met Leon. Although Anna was often left behind by Leon in the days when Schiereiland had to fight with other countries, but Anna felt as if she had been separated from Leon for longer than those moments even though it was actually only a few days. But in those few days, a lot of things happened to him.

"I miss you so much." Said Anna who unconsciously her tears were flowing. Anna hurriedly wiped away the tears before releasing her embrace to look at Leon's face.

Leon is much taller than Anna, although Anna is quite tall for an ordinary girl. Leon was almost two meters tall, so Anna had to always raise her head to look at him. Anna realized how much she missed that look from Leon's pair of Hazel eyes. Leon always looked at her affectionately. Although Anna knew it was not the gaze of a man to a woman, but the gaze of a sister to her sister.

"I miss you too. You look like you've grown up in just a few days." Said Leon.

"What do you mean I'm getting old?"

"No. Of course not.” Leon hurriedly corrected. “You look more and more enchanting with the typical clothing of Nordhalbinsel warriors."

"I should have worn this outfit long ago if I knew your favorite type of woman was a Nordhalbinsel warrior."

Leon laughed at hearing that. "My wife remains Schiereiland's woman in a dress, Your Majesty. But anyone who forces you to wear those uncomfortable dresses should see you wearing these clothes, exuding a completely different charm. You look more... It's amazing."

"You're saying that because you've never seen the most beautiful woman in the world." Anna said, recalling Eleanor Winterthur. "By the way, did you get my letter? But why so fast. Oh, naw. You must not have gotten my letter. But how did you get here? and where's Louis?"

"I'll explain everything if you want to come with me first, Your Majesty. There's someone you seem to have to meet."

***