The Rose That Blooms In North
Chapter 21: The Mariage Royal
"Thank you very much, Anna." Xavier said, breaking Anna's daydream. He stood in the doorway of the open room. Anna did not intend to sleep so she left the door open just in case of an emergency.
It was only a few hours ago that Lucielle requested that Xavier order Anna to rest because all night they had not slept and the situation was currently improving. The dust is completely gone. The patients had already been given the potion by Lucielle and were beginning to show signs of recovery. Some of the wounded soldiers have been treated and are in the recovery phase including General Arianne who has begun to wake up and Honey who is still unconscious. But Anna did not come to the room to sleep, because she could not sleep at all even though she was tired. Anna was also reluctant to eat Bloody Berry because it could lower her vigilance. So he asked the Castle maid to bring him tea and enjoy a warm tea which made him feel more relaxed.
"Can I come in?" Xavier asked doubtfully in the doorway.
"Please come in, Your Majesty." Anna said as she stood up from her seat.
"You don't have to stand. Sit down."
Xavier walked into the room, looking more tired than anyone. He sat down on the chair beside Anna. Fortunately, the maid who had brought Anna tea had prepared two cups to use as if she knew that the Crown Prince would visit her. Anna immediately poured the tea in the empty cup.
"Thank you." Xavier. He then drank the tea that Anna had just poured for him. "I thought you were sleeping."
"I don't feel sleepy, Your Majesty." Answer Anna. Anna herself wondered why she did not feel sleepy even after a few days of sleep deprivation and a night of no rest.
"You have really done a lot for the good of Nordhalbinsel, but this is not your kingdom. Though it is this kingdom that is colonizing your home country." He said in a tone of regretful speech. From the look in her eyes, Anna could tell that Xavier was indeed feeling regretful. It was as if he himself had killed King Edward.
"I didn't do it as a Schiereiland. Except as a fellow human being." Answer Anna.
"You found Bloody Berry, saved General Arianne, helped Lady Lucielle and saved me back then in the woods. I'm so grateful to you, Anna. Really am. Is there anything you want? If I could, whatever it was I'd get." Xavier.
Anna mentioned everything she wanted in her heart. Freedom country. Return of mother and sister. Father's life. But Anna knew she couldn't say all that. Xavier probably won't be able to grant any of that.
"Nothing, Your Grace. It is my duty that I should have done as your personal bodyguard." Anna finally answered. It was just a formality answer, of course.
Xavier looked very disappointed to hear Anna's reply. "really? You certain? You may not say it because you do not know, but in Nordhalbinsel, it is an obligation for the royal family to reward anyone who has contributed to the affairs of state. And rejecting the reward is tantamount to disrespectful or degrading acts of the King. I've even prepared a noble title as a Countess for you if you're willing to accept it later after we return to the Palace. I can give you a fief in Nordhalbinsel, any territory you want other than Grand Duke Winterthur's territory."
"I don't want that—“
"Your Majesty!" Suddenly Elias Winterthur came running in haste. He carried a letter in his right hand, waving a letter in front of them. "It's Princess Eugene."
Xavier looked surprised at the last sentence so he immediately stood up. "I understand. You can wait in my room, General Elias."
"Okay, Your Majesty." Elias said before leaving Anna's room.
Xavier turned back to face Anna, putting his teacup on the table. "Alright, maybe you don't know what you want right now. If you find what you want, tell me right away. I'll try to grant it. Now, rest first." Xavier said to Anna, then went after Elias.
Anna made sure Xavier was gone. He was eager to find out the contents of the letter from Princess Eugene. He suspected that the Princess had informed him of her condition and the current condition of the Kingdom of Westeria according to what Anna had heard from Leon. So Anna quietly went to Xavier's room not far from her room.
Arriving there, Anna could see inside the room had gathered Xavier, Elias and Prince Jeffrey. Crown Prince Xavier was reading a letter from Princess Eugene while leaning against the window ledge. General Elias and Prince Jeffrey sat quietly while waiting for Xavier to finish reading the letter from Princess Eugene.
"This is not good. No. gabe. It's so bad." Xavier said after reading the letter. He sighed heavily, frowned, closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking hard.
"What did Princess Eugene write that made you seem so frustrated, Your Majesty?" Ask Elias. He also frowned looking at Xavier who looked dizzy.
But Xavier did not answer immediately. He looked at General Elias then at Prince Jeffrey in turn.
"Princess Eugene is fine in his hiding place." Xavier. He was immediately greeted with a sigh of relief from Prince Jeffrey.
"Hidden ground? So Princess Eugene wasn't at the Palace?" Ask Elias.
"Then what about Queen Elizabeth, Your Majesty?" Ask Prince Jeffrey.
"The Queen is in a very healthy condition thanks to the potion that is sent regularly by Lady Eleanor. There is no poison in this world that can make him sick." Xavier answered with conviction.
"Then it seems like everything is safe and sound. What made you so frustrated after reading the letter?" Ask Elias.
Eventually Xavier decided to tell him what he knew from the letter. Anna is listening. But he already knew everything from Leon's previous stories. The contents of Princess Eugene's letter to Xavier were more or less the same. The Princess tells the story of how Prince Yi wanted to take revenge for the refusal and wanted to kill Queen Elizabeth by sending fake healers who routinely poison the Queen. From what Princess Eugene knows, Prince Yi wants to take control of Westeria by killing the Queen and marrying Princess Eugene.
"So Queen Elizabeth pretended to be dying?" Ask Elias again.
"really. We also know how intelligent the Queen is, which is why she was made Queen, not her half-sister and Mother of Princess Eugene. Queen Elizabeth knew that if Prince Yi knew of her health condition, Prince Yi would soon follow through on his next plan. Queen Elizabeth deliberately did it because she wanted to dismantle Prince Yi's plan."
"That means after this Prince Yi will look for Princess Eugene, force him to marry her and declare himself King of Westeria?" Ask Prince Jeffrey.
"true."
"I'm sorry, I don't understand." Elias said, still with a frown. "But as we all know now, the Queen is in good health and well. So Prince Yi's plan is bound to fail, isn't it?"
"That's true too." Xavier said, then continued. "But that means the Orient Party has indeed intended to take over Westeria. Starting from the healer sent by the Orient who turned out to poison the Queen, then Prince Yi proposed to Princess Eugene with the aim of becoming the King of Westeria. They've been planning this for a long time. I don't know if the Orient Emperor knew of this or not, but to my knowledge, Prince Yi has a large army. The number of loyal followers of Prince Yi was even more than the followers of Crown Prince Orient. He had the most political and military power in the Orient Empire. And if he finds out his plan failed, he might launch an open attack on Westeria. And when that happens, we as allies of Westeria must help and participate in the war. We just took over Schiereiland and did a lot of rearranging of the Schiereiland areas that cost so much that the budget for the war would not be enough. We're not ready for war."
"And you will not make all the people of Schiereiland an impromptu soldier. You don't want to sacrifice them to die first." Elias concluded.
"That's never gonna happen. The people of Schiereiland will not be sacrificed." Xavier. It was clearly seen holding back anger. "Never say that again."
After hearing that explanation, none of the three of them spoke up. Anna was silent and thought. If a war really took place between the Orient and Westeria, and Nordhalbinsel as an ally had to help in the war, then perhaps many of the Schiereiland people would be made additional soldiers. Even if Xavier had said that, it was not impossible for King Vlad to have a different opinion than his son. It was not Xavier who had the right to decide the fate of his people, but the King.
That means that many of its people will suffer as a result of the war, if the war will indeed occur. Anna could not imagine another bloodbath after her father's death. But at the same time, Anna was unable to do anything. Anna felt extremely frustrated at her helpless self. Even if Anna participated in the war, she was not sure that she would be of much help. He also did not want Leon to take part in this kind of thing, which he would have done if he knew Anna was in the war. Leon will endanger himself for Anna and that is the thing Anna doesn't want the most.
"Your Majesty, may I ask you something?" Prince Jeffrey asked, breaking the silence.
"When a member of the royal family from Nordhalbinsel married Princess Eugene, would that make Westeria a more powerful kingdom than Orient and prevent the outbreak of war between Westeria and Orient? Wouldn't if Princess Eugene married a member of the Nordhalbinsel royal family then Prince Yi wouldn't be able to force the Princess to marry him?"
Anna could see Xavier looking surprised as well as amazed at the question coming out of her brother's silent and thinker's mouth. "You're right, Prince. There's such a way. That would be a very strong reason for Princess Eugene to refuse marriage to Prince Yi."
"Wait first. Xavier-sorry, I mean, Your Majesty, you didn't mean to break off the engagement with my sister and marry Princess Eugene did you?" Ask Elias. Although Anna could not see it clearly, but from her tone Anna knew Elias was holding back anger.
"Calm General Elias. You know I love your sister very much. I won't cancel our engagement for any reason."
"Then you're going to marry both? Nordhalbinsel's law does not restrict the marriage of the King or King Candidate to any woman and any number, but-"
"I wouldn't marry Princess Eugene if that's what you mean." Xavier said calmly. "King Vlad does have a lot of partners, but I wouldn't do the same if it would hurt your sister's feelings." That answer alone made Elias calmer. Xavier continued his words, "But thanks to that, the King has many sons. You should remember that including myself, there are twenty-three sons of the King and nine of them are already of married age."
"Ah, so it seems. Forgive me for my sass, Your Majesty." Said Elias.
"Prince Ludwig who was the eldest son of Empress Selena as well as the second son of the King already had a fiancee as well. So I can't ask her to marry Princess Eugene. What about you, Prince Jeffrey? You are the son of the third king. You're twenty years old and to my knowledge, you don't have a fiancee yet."
"Yes, Your Majesty. If allowed, I will go to Westeria to ask Princess Eugene for a hand in hand. And also if it's allowed, if Princess Eugene wills it, I'll marry him soon."
Xavier smiled hearing that, he felt a little calm with the words of his sister. But he asked to be sure. "Are you sure of what you said just now, Prince? Political marriage is an obligation for the sons of the King and you cannot marry another woman if you marry a Candidate Queen."
"I am very confident in my words, Your Majesty. In fact, I have long admired Princess Eugene from what His Majesty has often told me. Although I had never met her myself, I knew from what His Majesty had told me that the Princess was a wise, intelligent person, brave and independent despite his age. That's the kind of woman I've always wanted to be my life partner. I was only worried that Princess Eugene already had someone in her heart. But if that were true, I wouldn't force this marriage."
"Daughter Eugene does already have someone in her heart, Prince. That was one of the reasons he rejected Prince Yi's proposal."
"Really?" From her voice, Anna knew that Prince Jeffrey must be very surprised and disappointed to hear the words from her brother. Anna felt the same shock as the Prince.
"really. The Princess often mentioned about the man she liked in her letters to me. He often asked what he was doing and how he was doing but the Princess was still too embarrassed to ask him directly to the person. So the Princess asked me to tell her about herself to the man." Xavier smiled looking at the confused face of his sister. "That man is you, Prince Jeffrey. That's why I used to tell you about Princess Eugene. Princess Eugene has liked you secretly for a long time and she would definitely not reject you if you proposed to her. You seem to be destined for each other."
Anna smiled happily at him. Usually Anna did not like the political marriage that the sons and daughters of the King had to do for the sake of the Kingdom. As with any political marriage Anna had to do before with Duke Francis that turned out not to run smoothly. Anna is grateful not to have married the Duke because it turns out that the man already loves another woman. A political marriage usually does not go well because it is something that is forced for purely political gain. But hearing Xavier's words about how Princess Eugene secretly liked Prince Jeffrey and asked him about it through Xavier made Anna feel confident the Princess and Prince's political marriage would be a happy marriage.
Anna then quietly walked away from the room. The happy news was enough for him. And he started to feel tired and sleepy. The settlement of the matter with the upcoming royal wedding between Princess Eugene and Prince Jeffrey had left her feeling able to sleep in peace.
***
After Anna's departure, talks in the room continued. Xavier asks Prince Jeffrey to write a letter to King Vlad regarding his plans to marry Princess Eugene. Although Xavier knew his father would not oppose the marriage because basically a political marriage with the allies would benefit the Kingdom and strengthen good relations with Westeria, But Xavier wanted the King to know about this. Prince Jeffrey followed his brother and went to his room to write a letter and prepared to leave for Westeria with his army.
Now in the room there are only Xavier and Elias. Elias is about to say something, but Xavier hints at him holding back anything he wants to say. Xavier just stood still as he closed his eyes and held onto his heart that had been racing since. Then he exhaled a sigh of relief as his heartbeat had returned to normal.
"You sick? Does the Dragon's heart burn you from the inside? Or are you going to turn into a dragon again now? Don't tell me you're gonna die soon."
Xavier could not answer. He just shook his head while enduring the pain.
"Then what? Say something."
"Since then my heart has been beating so fast that I thought I was going to die. I tried to hold him back because there was Prince Jeffrey and I had to look fine in front of him. Otherwise, my sister would be very worried." Xavier. Now that he opened his eyes, he saw the look on Elias' face that looked very worried. Just like that, Elias actually looked similar to Eleanor to the point of making Xavier almost laugh at their incredible resemblance.
Xavier sat on one of the chairs and leaned back. "Today it's always been so whenever he's around me. But it looks like he's now quite far away from me so my heart is already beating normally back."
"He who do you mean?" Elias asked, but then hurriedly answered it himself. "Oh, you mean that daughter of Schiereiland? So he's been hearing our talk since? Thank goodness I haven't said anything so secret."
"really. I mean, it's Anna. And that's why I asked you not to say anything earlier. I have to make sure Anna's really far away from here." Xavier.
"This is not good. In the future Anna will always be around you because she is your personal bodyguard. Should I give up my title and return to be your personal bodyguard again? I wouldn't mind. Being a general is not so much fun. I have a lot of duties and responsibilities. Not to mention those teenage wolves were really troublesome."
"No. We have to stick to the plan. So what did you just say?"
"Elle sent me a letter." Elias said as he took out the scroll he had been hiding. "I've read it, I know you won't mind. And he seems to be angry that you took the Grimoire Pen despite the fact that technically I took it on your orders. But other than that, he was as usual, asking about your condition, and there was some interesting news that you had been waiting for so much. You better read it yourself."
Xavier looked at Elias with a fierce gaze. "Why do you keep reading our letters? You may forget but I am still your superior because I am the Son of the King you serve. And Elle, even if it's just a formality, she's still my fiance. Aren't you supposed to give us a little privacy?"
"But Elle is my twin sister. You said it like Elle was gonna write you a personal letter. It's ridiculous." Elias laughed cynically. Of course he already knew the real connection between his twin sister and Xavier. He added, "And so, I'm three years older than you. Aren't you thinking of starting to treat me as your sister-in-law?"
"No, thank you. You're a few minutes younger than Elle anyway. You're supposed to be my sister-in-law."
"I'm three years older than you, Xavier."
"Alright, you don't have to treat me like your boss. So I also don't need to treat you like someone three years older than me. You can read those letters as long as they're not private."
"agree. Is there a personal letter between you?" She laughs. But then his laughter faded as he suspected something, "Wait, don't tell me you—“
"No. It's not. I told you I didn't expect anything from him. There is nothing between us. Elle deserves to be happy with the man she chose even if it wasn't me. You know for yourself that's why I've been delaying our marriage for the last three years."
"But Elle said in the letter that you can continue with your plan." Elias smiled broadly as he said so. "Please announce your marriage soon, Xavier. Elle's found 'him'." His words made Xavier surprised.
"So, you're saying, Elle found the Lion from the South? Then our plan goes perfectly. We just need to go back to the Palace, let Anna save Queen Isabella and Crown Prince Alexis, and by then, definitely Leon will have appeared by himself." Xavier. As he said that, he smiled in satisfaction and his Emerald eyes seemed to flash sharply in the dim light.
***