The Rose That Blooms In North
Chapter 19: Dans la Cabane Sainte

"So you're Crown Prince Xavier? How long have I been on this mountain until you, who were a little snow-white baby when I last saw you, have now become a manly and beautiful young man. You look a lot like your father. But I hope you didn't come to kick me out like he did."

Xavier kneels before Lucielle. "I sincerely apologize for what my father has done to you. I had no idea before that you were actually Saintess Lucia who had helped Grand Queen Zhenra to summon the Dragons hundreds of years ago. The entire royal family has treated you very badly and I deeply regret that. Is there anything I can do so you can accept our apology, Saintess?"

"Stand up, Your Majesty. I've forgiven you all." Lucielle said while helping Xavier stand up. "Please come in, Your Majesty."

Xavier followed Lucielle into her house. The house was no wider than Xavier's room in the Main Palace. There is no room whatsoever, only large furniture such as cabinets and wooden shelves that separate the bed with the living room sofa. Almost all the furniture in the house is made of wood. On the ceiling of the house was hanging pastel—-colored flowers some were almost dried— which made the small house filled with a pleasant aroma like the scent of spring. On one side of the house was a huge shelf filled with books. In front of the shelf, there is a long table on which there are many glass cups and glass jars filled with various colors. Around the table are two tall wooden chairs. Lucielle invited Xavier to sit on one of the chairs.

"May I ask, Saintess?"

"Please, Your Majesty."

"Are the liquids in the glass cups certain herbs?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Looks like you're pretty familiar with things like this. Did Selena also make potions in the Palace? Oh, I'm sorry if I didn't call it proper. Is she the Queen now?"

"No. She is now Empress Selena. But the King did not make her Queen. He was not allowed to rule with her. My father ruled alone and vacated the Queen's position."

"Thank God then. That woman is sneaky and dangerous. You must be careful of him, Your Majesty." Lucielle said while busy mixing some of the liquid in the glasses into a container. The red-colored liquid was mixed with a clear liquid that suddenly turned into a bright purple color. Then he put in a thick, moss-green liquid that looked like a disgusting vegetable juice and the liquid turned golden yellow. Then Lucielle put a little golden yellow liquid into the cup and gave it to Xavier. "Please drink, Your Majesty. That will restore your strength. That change must've consumed most of your energy and made you very tired."

Without hesitation, Xavier immediately downed the potion. "Thank you very much, Saintess. Elle used to make me a similar potion like this every time I've been to every day after I changed. Youknew... Like that."

"Elle? Who is this kind woman, Your Majesty?"

"Lady Eleanor Winterthur's. My fiance."

"Oh, a Winterthur? But as I heard before I was banished from the Palace, the King ordered the execution of all Winterthur Clans on charges of treason and attempted murder of Queen Irene. Even though I know it's not true. The Winterthur clan desperately want their power back, but they won't kill Queen Irene."

"They were all put to death, except Wolfgang Winterthur and his wife and children."

"Young Duke Wolfgang Winterthur? Oh, I'm sorry I said that because he was the youngest Duke in Nordhalbinsel. At that time he was twenty-five years old. Then, your fiance is a Grimoire? A witch?"

"Yes, Saintess. She was the Princess of the Lilithier Grimoire and the niece of the Lilacier Grimoire. That's why I'm quite familiar with these herbs."

"Ah, Lillithier... I remember that girl. She was very smart and beautifulEven though all the Grimoire girls had good looks, but Lilithier and Lilacier had beauties that were beyond reason. And Lilacier, her dead twin sister was a charming girl who was very innocent and soft-hearted. Then this Lady Eleanor must have been a very powerful magician since she was able to concoct potions with such high level of difficulty at such a young age. Of course, a Grimoire must have extraordinary magic talent."

"Saintess was the one who gave the first holy magic to the first witch, the Griselda Grimoire hundreds of years ago."

"really. Griselda who ultimately created black magic is cursed from the holy magic I gave her. I can't believe they've finally evolved into one of the greatest wizard clans to date." Lucielle seemed to ponder for a moment as if she was thinking of something. "But the Great Zhera could not have come back to life as a witch. Chances were that she would be reborn as a Princess or a knight or swordsman."

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh, no. It'sit's nothing. I was just thinking about the words of the Great Fire Dragon before."

"Saintess, technically I'm the one who said it. I did mention that the Great Zhenra had been reborn. But that's just my assumption. Somehow I felt that it was him. Although I'm not one hundred percent sure."

"Your Majesty... There are sky rules about this. The Great Zhera did not have the blood of a witch in his body. She was the daughter of a Goddess with a knight who became emperor. So if she is reborn she will not become a witch. But you said that your fiancee was a witch, even more so from the Grimoire Clan."

Xavier was silent for a moment. He wasn't thinking about Lucielle's words because he already knew the answer. She was just wondering if she should tell Lucielle this now or postpone it. In the end, Xavier decides to tell anyone what he never told Eleanor and Elias.

"Saintess, I wasn't my fiance. The girl I thought was the Great Zhera, not my fiancee, but someone who might hate me for my father's actions. He had red hair just like Zhera. And every time I was around him I felt that bond, you know, that only the dragons of the past could feel against the presence of Zhera."

Lucielle nodded and smiled understandingly. "I see what you mean. The four Dragons in the past loved Zhera very much. Especially you, the Great Fire Dragon. If you're around, you'll feel very happy but your heart will beat so fast that you think it'll die soon. If you know he's in danger you'll worry until that worry weakens your own body. If anyone hurts him you'll be so angry that you feel like you can take out anyone who hurt him. And if he's away from you, you'll feel great loss and pain." Lucielle.

Xavier was too embarrassed to admit it, but she herself knew that was how she felt all along even though she always tried not to show it because she felt she should not have such feelings to any other girl other than to her fiance who would soon to be his wife later.

"Then, is she a princess or a knight or a swordsman?" Ask Lucielle.

"What's? Sorry, Your Honor, I don't understand. If she's a princess, then why would she be your personal bodyguard?"

"The story is quite long, and I promise to tell you everything, Saintess. But right now we are facing a very serious pressing problem in the Montreux region under the foot of this mountain. There was an outbreak that caused people in Montreux to lose their minds. Their nerves are damaged and they're all crazy. I suspect this is caused by the explosion of an active substance that is the main ingredient of the maker of stamina strengthening drugs owned by Westeria—“

“Wait first. Stamina booster? Then... Alderiostonin substances that exist only in the roots of Aldeer plants that only grow in the Westeria?” area

“Saintess knows the plant?”

“Who found the plant? That's the last rare plant I found when Queen Zhenra ruled. I thought the plant was gone. If processed correctly it will indeed be an excellent stamina booster without side effects. But if detonated it will create a substance that damages human nerves.”

“The inventor seems to be Princess Eugene of Westeria. He intended to make the medicine for the Westeria soldiers and sell it to other countries in need.”

“Thank God if the inventor is a member of the royal family. Because if someone else, it might be possible to abuse that plant and monopolize the market for its own benefit. Things like this have happened in other countries and caused the destruction of a Kingdom because of monopoly politics.”

“Is there a way to cure those people, Saintess?”

“No.” Lucielle replied directly without hesitation thus making Xavier completely suspicious.

“What? Doesn't there really exist? Then what about plants that can calm the nerves?”

“Where did you hear about that?" Lucielle's tone of voice was slightly elevated as if Xavier was forbidden to mention about the plant. But Lucielle noticed it and immediately added. "The plant was long since destroyed by King Vlad. I also have trouble finding the plant.”

“But the King just wiped out the plant in Nordhalbinsel. The King has no right to destroy crops in other Kingdoms right?”

Lucielle was silent because she knew what Xavier meant. “Bloody Berry's. Your Majesty, you are talking about a plant that only appears in the Nordhalbinsel lowlands whose trees bear fruit only once every ten years. The plant could not grow in any other area besides Nordhalbinsel, Your Majesty. Bloody Berry needs a wet and cold environment.”

“Saintess, you've been on this mountain for twenty-three years. You don't know about the climate change that's been going on for that period of time. The Westeria and Schiereiland regions directly adjacent to Nordhalbinsel now have winter temperatures similar to the Nordhalbinsel lowland temperatures. Schiereiland was already under Nordhalbinsel's rule, and I was good friends with Princess Eugene of Westeria, if I sent all my soldiers to search for Bloody Berry in those two countries, he said, I'm sure we can find him. But we don't have herbologists. Even if we find him, without your help, we can't save those people. Everyone is now struggling in Montreux. Even the Princess mentioned by me earlier, she was there fighting alongside my troops. We need you, Saintess."

Lucielle was silent for a moment. He watched Xavier who seemed to be begging him earnestly. Xavier looked at Lucielle with both of her Emerald eyes so as to bring Lucielle back to the memories of the past as Queen Irene looked at her with the exact same gaze. Lucielle exhaled then said, "Before that, I want to know to what extent your trust in me is. Because I won't repeat the same mistake of helping people who don't really trust me." Lucielle refers to the incident twenty-three years ago when King Vlad asked her to save the Queen. Xavier who understood his point, immediately nodded in agreement. "I'll ask you a question and I hope you can answer it. Do you know who tried to kill your mother many years ago when you were born?"

Xavier was shocked to discover that Lucielle would ask him that. Even Eleanor and Elias who were the closest to her never asked about the death of Queen Irene because they thought it was inappropriate - there were too many assumptions circulating in the community about the cause the Queen's death because the King had never really officially declared the cause of the Queen's death - and they feared it would make Xavier sad to think of his mother. So Xavier never talked about this to anyone.

"Everyone in the palace told me that my mother had been very ill while I was in bed and her condition worsened when she was nine months pregnant. She died giving birth to me. You tried to treat him while he was sick. But your treatment is considered unsuccessful. And the King asked Selena for help who was then the leader of the royal witch. His condition did improve at that time, but when I was born, he still could not survive." Xavier paused for a bit before continuing. "But I know that's not exactly what's happening."

Lucielle smiled. "Forward, Your Majesty."

"My mom's not dead yet." Xavier paused for a moment to see Lucielle's reaction. But just as he had expected, the Saintess already knew that so did not seem surprised in the least. "I only found out when I was seventeen. Queen Irene was still alive and was under the influence of Selena's magic so it looked like she was in a long sleep without breath and heartbeat. But because of the black magic Selena used on my mother, if Selena dies, then my mother will die too. It is likely that the King also knew this so that he had no choice but to obey all Selena's words."

Lucielle nodded her eyes looking a little shady. "Thank you for knowing the truth, Your Majesty. All this time I have been slandered, even the entire Winterthur Clan has also been slandered and faced death because of Selena's magic. I would have refused to help if you had not known the truth even though the Great Fire Dragon himself had asked me. But it turns out you already know who your enemy really is."

Xavier kneels before Saintess. "I swear on my mother's behalf, I will return everything to how it was after getting rid of Selena. I'll find a way to wake the Queen from her long slumber, and punish those who deserve punishment."

"The Gods and Goddesses will be with you, Your Majesty. I'm sure you can do it. You'll be a great king with your partner." As she said that, a ray came out from both of Lucielle's palms. For a moment, Xavier was able to see the true figure of Saintess Lucia who had lived for hundreds of years. The golden radiance was given directly by the Saintess to Xavier who would help him in living his destiny.

"Now rise. I'll pack up some of my plants, and then we'll head to Montreux. Where's your horse, Your Majesty?" Tanya Lucielle who has now returned to become the figure of the Herb Expert Lucielle.

"My horse is under the foot of the mountain. This mountain is impassable so I left it there."

"Then how—“ Lucielle was silent for a moment when she found out what she was going to ride towards Montreux.

At that time, Xavier had already gone out and changed his form into a Dragon.

***