The Rose That Blooms In North
Chapter 20: The Cheval Blanc

Very quickly, Xavier in the form of the Supreme Fire Dragon managed to bring Lucielle down from the top of Reux mountain. They soon reached the forest under the foot of the mountain. Xavier accidentally landed in the forest because he did not want anyone to see the Dragon flying in the Nordhalbinsel sky. He didn't want to make such a furore. He's been training this many times over the years. How to control yourself not to turn into a Dragon at inappropriate times or in public places. Initially Xavier himself found it difficult because every time his emotions overflowed, the fire within him would simply appear uncontrollably and he would turn into a Dragon. That was why he spent more time alone in the forest or other remote places than in the Palace. So that if he one day turned into a Dragon, no one would see him. But over time he managed to adjust and was more able to control his emotions. Usually if there was Elias or Eleanor around him, they would warn him if they saw his eyes begin to turn red as an early sign of his change. But if he was alone, he would run as fast as possible towards the forest or any other place that was deserted and there were no people.

After Xavier and Lucielle reached the forest under the foothills of the Reux mountain, they had to slightly walk out of the forest to head for the small village near downtown Montreux. Xavier did not forget to wear his mask and put on a mask to Lucielle because at that time even the dust fog still filled Montreux. During the trip, according to his promise, Xavier told Lucielle about how a Princess from Schiereiland became his personal bodyguard. Lucielle listened to him well without interrupting though.

"Maybe until now he hasn't known that I already knew about him." Xavier said after telling me everything. "But maybe he's already started expecting it."

"I don't understand, Your Majesty. So does Princess Anastasia already know that Her Majesty knows who she really is?"

"Let's go, I just feel like he's starting to figure that out. That I already knew about his secret. I did try to give her a little hint but I wasn't really ready to tell her everything."

"You're afraid he can't forgive you because your father killed his father. And he probably felt like he had been framed all along." Lucielle said, trying to understand what Xavier was feeling.

"But it's true. My father killed his father. And I did trap him for my own purposes. I know for a fact you think I've done a very bad thing."

"No, Your Grace. I never thought of it that way." Lucielle. "But it would be nice if you told the truth to the Princess."

"I'm really going to tell you the truth. From the reason why his father was killed that night, why I made him my personal bodyguard, I will explain everything. But not now. And I hope our current conversation remains a secret between us, Saintess."

"All right, Your Majesty. I understand."

The longer they walked, the thicker the dust fog became. Their visibility was only one meter.  Xavier asks Lucielle not to walk too far away from him.

It was almost morning, but the sun still had not appeared and the sky was still very dark. Xavier can sense the presence of some people not far from them even though he himself is not sure whether it is humans or people affected by the effects of Westeria dust. Faintly, he also heard the sound of horse footsteps from a distance. He asked the Saintess for permission before clasping her hands to keep them from being separated from each other. Lucielle who did not know the condition of Montreux was holding Xavier's hand.

Suddenly came a voice that sounded like a monster from behind them. Everything happens very quickly. Xavier's right hand was already preparing to hold his sword, but the other person who had just come up on a horse managed to cripple the creature first. Xavier saw her fall right in front of him. It was one of the Montreux residents who was exposed to the effects of dust. He still looked like a human, but his pale complexion was almost blue.

Lucielle behind Xavier, immediately went forward and checked the person's condition. “She is alive, but her breathing is irregular. Her pulse is also irregular.”

"Your Majesty! Thank goodness you came back safely." The one on the horse who had just saved Xavier and Lucielle from the creature's attack was Anna. Anna immediately got off her horse and approached Xavier. “Don't worry, I remember your orders not to kill them. So I sheathed my sword against him earlier.”

“Thank you very much, Anna.” Xavier shifted a little so Anna and Lucielle could see each other “Lucielle, introduce, she's Anna my personal bodyguard. Anna, this Lady is a Montreux Herbist who used to work for the King, Lady Lucielle.”

Anna looked at the Lady before her who looked to be the same age as her. His skin was white shining like there was sunlight beneath the surface of his skin, unlike the snow-white skin of the Nordhalbinsel people. Her long, golden hair looked shiny under the moonlight. Lucielle was wearing a mask, so the friendly smile on her lips was nowhere to be seen, but Anna could see that smile from her bright yellow eyes. The lady, Lucielle, lowered her head briefly to greet him. For some reason, Anna's tears just flowed when she saw Lucielle. She felt as if she had met someone she had missed so much when Anna had just met Lucielle for the first time.

“Anna? You okay?” Xavier asked directly when he saw Anna crying for no reason. A part of him felt the pain of being stabbed by thousands of arrows when he saw the tears running down Anna's cheeks. But Xavier managed to hide the pain by holding his breath and biting his own tongue so as not to scream in pain. Xavier had never felt that way because it was the first time he had seen Anna's tears flowing right before him. He remembered not to let it happen again in the future.

Anna hurriedly wiped away her tears. “Jeez, why am I like this? Forgive my impoliteness, Lady Lucielle. Nice to meet you.” Anna said while looking down to greet her. He turned back to Xavier. “Your Majesty, the dust fog is getting worse. Now some of the villagers who disobeyed your orders not to come out have turned into creatures of a kind but more vicious and dangerous than before. On the way here, I already faced about ten people. I don't know how much more we have to deal with. We must return to Castle.” Said Anna.

"alright. But I have to get my horse first."

"I brought it, Your Honor. Your horse is very obedient, so he doesn't hesitate to follow me on the way here."

Xavier looked at the other horse behind the brown horse Anna was riding on. A white female horse that was a birthday gift from her father when she was ten years old that she named Iris. Her father said Iris was the last daughter of a She-horse who was a warhorse belonging to her mother, Queen Irene, when she was a General in Schiereiland. Xavier has known Iris for a long time so he knows that Iris is not a submissive horse. Iris just became a submissive horse for Xavier, and became a fairly difficult horse for others what else for the new guy she knew.

"Iris followed you? Didn't you pull the reins, but he himself followed you behind?" Xavier.

"Yes, Your Majesty. So her name is Iris? What a beautiful name for a beautiful horse, strong and graceful." Anna said as she stroked Iris' neck. The horse neighed small, looking very happy as Anna did it.

"Hard to believe."

"I'm sorry? You said something Your Majesty?"

***

Arriving at Montreux Castle, Xavier immediately approached General Arianne who was still lying in her room. On the way, Anna tells Xavier how she found the wounded General and then gives him emergency first aid with plants she found in the Fiore forest.  Then he handed General Arianne to Elias to be taken immediately to the Castle while he followed Xavier to Mount Reux. Anna does not tell the whole story of the actual incident that the one who treated the General was Louis.

Lucielle immediately examined General Arianne's condition, which was fraught with injuries but not serious. Lucielle calmed Xavier down by saying that his condition was not severe thanks to the first aid. Xavier was very grateful to Anna.

Lucielle then made a potion for General Arianne with the medicinal herbs she brought. Meanwhile, Xavier pulled the entire army standing guard in front of the Castle to gather immediately inside the Castle.

At that time the sun was almost up and slowly the dust fog began to thin out before finally completely disappearing because the night wind had begun to stop blowing from Fiore to Montreux. Some people who have been affected by Alderiostonin, namely those affected by 'plague', slowly one by one began to move away from Montreux Castle to the depths of the Fiore forest. Xavier observes that they dislike the sunlight and hide in dark places like the forest.

Until finally the sun has really risen, shining Montreux with a ray of hope a new day. The soldiers who were tired from not resting all night were allowed to take turns sleeping. Meanwhile, Xavier and Prince Jeffrey, Anna and Lucielle gather in the study. They recorded one by one the behavior of people affected by the Alderiostonin effect.

In his paper, Xavier wrote down their traits such as skin discoloration, behavior changes and wrote at the very end of 'dislike of sunlight'. Xavier later referred to them as 'patients'.

Xavier had previously asked the soldiers to bring in 'patients' who had fainted or were unconscious outside the Castle. They were completely unconscious so it would not attack just like that. Then Lucielle observed the 'patients.

"I can make a potion that can remove the effects of Alderiostonin from their bodies. But I still need Bloody Berry, Your Majesty." Lucielle.

"I will soon send some soldiers to start looking for him in the Fiore region of Westeria. The region is closest from here so the climate is still the same as Nordhalbinsel although not as cold as Nordhalbinsel. If I don't find him there, then I'll ask General Orthion to send his troops to search for Bloody Berry in Schiereiland." Xavier.

Anna who heard the name of the fruit was called immediately remembered some of the Bloody Berry she had brought. "Your Majesty, sorry to interrupt, when I searched for General Arianne, I found this." Anna said as she showed the fruit from her pocket.

The first Lucielle looked very surprised to see the red fruit. "Here we go. This is what we need, Your Majesty."

"It's so good Anna. Where'd you find him?"

***

Thanks to the Bloody Berry Anna discovered, Lucielle was able to immediately make a potion to heal the patients. The herb is given to patients who are unconscious. While waiting for them to improve, Anna helps Lucielle to treat the wounded soldiers and take care of General Arianne's wounds. Anna also took care of Honey who was still unconscious due to a stab wound that made her lose a lot of blood. Anna had not known Honey for long, but somehow she felt very sad to see her first friend in Nordhalbinsel lying helpless like that. Without her noticing, Anna shed tears. Lucielle who saw that immediately approached him.

"Don't be sad, he'll be fine. Indeed, his condition is very critical because he lost a lot of blood and medical equipment in this castle is incomplete. But I can cure him. We can only wait." Lucielle.

"Sorry to make you worry. He is my close friend. He's a very nice and cheerful person so I feel sad to see him like this." Anna said while wiping away the tears on her cheeks.

"rest. You must be so tired. Here, take some Bloody Berry and eat it if you have trouble sleeping. Sometimes if your heart and body are so tired you'll have trouble sleeping." Lucielle said while handing over some Bloody Berry to Anna.

"Thank you." Anna accepted and went from the room where the medicine was to her room.

Sometime ago when Anna learned of the effect that Bloody Berry had on her, Anna asked Louis and Leon to take as much Bloody Berry as she could in the bag she carried on her horse. Leon asked Anna why she did this.

"They're not my people, but they're hurt. And if I can help Xavier solve the problem here as soon as possible, then we'll be faster to get back to the Palace and that means faster to save my Mother and Sister." Anna replied at the time.

Finally, Anna asked Leon and Louis to take some Bloody Berry for themselves to be sold in Nordhalbinsel markets. Anna guessed that in the future the Kingdom would need a large supply of Bloody Berry fruit, so Anna also asked Leon and Louis to plant it in the Cleteland area of Schiereiland bordering Nordhalbinsel where Bloody Berry can grow due to its cold climate.

Leon asks Anna for permission to reunite with Princess Eugene and make sure the Princess is safe because she promised the Princess. But Anna did not allow it because Xavier himself would have sent his troops directly to Princess Eugene's residence if Xavier had known about the Princess' condition and whereabouts. And if Leon was on Princess Eugene's side, it might be Leon who would be in danger. So Anna asks Leon not to see Princess Eugene and not to pass through Westeria. Leon and Louis went to Cleteland in Schiereiland and away from Westeria.

***