The Rose That Blooms In North
Chapter 23: La Rose Qui Fleurit Dans La Neige

Anna notices Xavier, who now appears to be reminiscing about the late Queen. The Crown Prince looked bright. It was as if he was going back in time.

"I don't know, Your Majesty. It seems that my knowledge is still very lacking."

Anna is telling the truth. He had never heard anything about General Irene in the history she had learned in the Palace. King Eustacius was his grandfather which means father of King Edward. That means Queen Irene was once a General in her Kingdom when her father was still not King. Anna wondered why she had never heard of it and why there were no records in the library of General Irene when Anna was among the Princess who often spent time in the library of the Palace.

"He's from the Winterthur Clan." Xavier began to tell the story, "Irene Winterthur was his birth name. People used to know him as the illegitimate son of Grand Duke Winterthur with a prostitute from Westeria, whose identity is unknown, who died when he was born. Grand Duke Winterthur was the uncle of the current Grand Duke of Winterthur. In the past, people regarded Irene Winterthur as the disgrace of the Winterthur Clan so exiled her to Schiereiland before she could even speak, just because she doesn't have the blond hair and icy blue eyes that are typical of the Winterthur family, as you've seen with Lady Eleanor and General Elias.

“In Schiereiland, he managed to become a General when he was only 17 years old and made Schiereiland one of the Kingdoms with the strongest military. But when she was 20, she returned to Winterthur at the request of the Grand Duke Family to marry off to my father who had not yet ascended the throne. They finally got married. And Queen Irene died giving birth to me.”

Anna did not know what to say to comfort the sad-looking Xavier. So Anna just kept quiet and kept listening. Xavier might just need to be heard. Because whatever he's saying right now, it won't bring back the Queen who was dead.

Xavier continued, “Kris, the name written on this tree, was his lover before he left Schiereiland to marry my father. He seems to love Chris. If my mother had never returned to Nordhalbinsel and had not married my father, she might have been living happily with Kris and their children in Schiereiland. If only the Lilacier Grimoire Sand Clock still existed, I would have used it to change his destiny. Because I was born—“

“Why do you think like that? Why do you think destiny can be changed?” Anna cut her words.

Xavier was surprised to hear the question from Anna. He often thought of searching for Lilacier's Sand Clock, but he still wasn't sure if he could change his mother's destiny with the hourglass. Some things are destined to happen and cannot be changed in any way.

“Your Majesty is blaming fate for what happened. Isn't destiny something that can't be changed no matter how many times you repeat time? I think the members of the royal family should have learned the policy of destiny and time written by the saints in the book. Are you going to blame His Majesty King Vlad for marrying Queen Irene? Or are you going to blame yourself for being born? Will it bring Queen Irene back to life? You think the late Queen would be happy if you blamed yourself like this?”

Xavier was silent. Because Anna's words are true. All this time he kept blaming everyone and blaming himself for his mother's death even though he knew the Queen hadn't really died. Although he is not sure, but Xavier knows there must be a way to make his mother come back to life. Xavier just can't do it yet.

Xavier also felt guilty towards Eleanor. She doesn't want Elle to have the same life as her mother who had to marry a man she didn't love and then be cooped up in the cold and cruel Palace. Xavier, more than anything else, wants happiness and freedom for Eleanor who loves others. Because the girl had given up her whole life to accompany him and support him. Xavier finds himself being selfish by deciding to marry Eleanor when he finds out the girl's heart isn't for him. But he had no other choice because of this he did as well to protect the Winterthur Family. Xavier knew that the reason Wolfgang Winterthur and his family were not put to death was because of Queen Irene's request to King Vlad to make Eleanor their son's spouse. Eleanor is the only reason the Winterthur family is still alive. If Xavier refuses to marry Eleanor, even if it is to free Eleanor, the Winterthur family may be destroyed.

Xavier looked at Anna who was before him in astonishment. The girl was as beautiful as a rose that bloomed in the middle of the snowy land. Unlike the people in Nordhalbinsel who had cold snow-white skin, the girl looked as radiant as the sunlight in spring. Xavier himself did not know if this was because of the Great Fire Dragon's soul within him or perhaps he had indeed felt it himself without the influence of their past. No matter how much hatred the girl harbored towards the person who had ruined her life, Anna's gaze always made her feel warm. Xavier wondered inwardly, how could someone who was already so hurt, had suffered so much, be able to look at him warmly and even advise him not to blame himself.

She recalled Saintess Lucia saying that the girl would be her Queen. Being partner. Anna is the reborn Zhera. Their destiny was written long before they were born, a thousand years ago. Even at this moment, while looking at him, Xavier could feel his heart beating so fast. Lately he has been feeling that way every time Anna is around him so he is getting used to it. Even now it was fun for him because it meant Anna was around him. It feels painful and fun at the same time. Something very difficult to describe with words.

Meanwhile, Anna looked at Xavier who was still speechless with her words earlier. Anna, who realized that she had just been rude to the Crown Prince, hastily drafted an apology. “Pardon my presumption, Your Majesty. I just—“

Anna did not finish her sentence because just then, Xavier had already hugged her and twisted her body in the opposite direction. Anna doesn't understand what happened and why Xavier did it. But then he saw an arrow, going very fast, and stuck it in Xavier's back. Not far behind Xavier, someone was just about to shoot his second arrow. Anna quickly pulled Xavier to take shelter behind a large tree.

"Your Majesty. You—“

"Anna, I'm fine." Xavier said, gasping for pain. "Quick run. Call help. They're a lot."

Anna looked around. There were about five or six archers in different places. On top of the tree, behind the tree and a few steps away from them. Each one was aiming towards the two of them.

"No. I'll protect you." Anna took an arrow that did not hit them and observed it. The end of the arrow is not metal but is black. Anna had learned from Leon that the metal exposed to the poison would turn black. "Your Majesty. You should be treated immediately. The arrows are poisonous."

Xavier immediately pulled out the arrow stuck in his body and threw it towards one of the aiming archers. The throw was on target so that made the archer fall and immediately ran away.

Anna obeyed Xavier. He immediately called for help by firing fireworks into the air. It was used during their time in Montreux, and Anna remembered she still kept hers in the coat she was wearing. In an instant, the group of soldiers who were indeed on guard duty at night, came with their horses.

"They tried to kill His Majesty. Catch 'em!" anna's orders pointed towards the archers.

The soldiers immediately chased after the archers who had started running. Anna enlists the help of one of the soldiers to take Xavier to the castle.

"Xavier, please hold on." Whisper Anna. His voice was mixed with crying. Anna herself could not understand why she was crying like that.

Upon their arrival at the Castle, Xavier loses consciousness. If it was just an ordinary arrow, he was already used to it and the wound would probably heal quickly even if it still left a mark. But the arrow was poisoned. Although since childhood Xavier has been given poison to make himself immune to various poisons, but this time the poison feels new to him. Within a few seconds his eyes began to blur. Then his whole body began to be paralyzed. Soon she began to have trouble breathing as if she were in a room without air. The last thing he saw was Anna's tearful face which made him feel such excruciating pain that it made the marks of the arrow stab as if they were nothing.

***

Anna stayed up all night in the room Xavier occupied until morning. Last night they did not manage to catch the archers because once the soldiers found them, they immediately committed suicide by plugging their own arrows right into their respective hearts. George, one of the leaders of the warrior group said that they were the shadow killers— murderers created from the magic— sent by someone to kill the Crown Prince. But Anna, who knows the truth, knows that they were initially targeting Anna. The first arrow was aimed at him, but Xavier saved him so that he was the one hit by the arrow.

They called the doctor from a nearby town last night. The doctor says that miraculously, Xavier is fine. Though the poison in the arrow is the most deadly poison that can directly damage the internal organs with just one drop. His body had indeed reacted to the poison, but since the Crown Prince already had immunity to some kind of poison, the effect of the poison would not be lethal to him. And luckily the arrow didn't go too deep so it didn't hit his vital organs. Even so, because Xavier had not slept for a long time, his endurance had decreased drastically and he had a high fever throughout the night. The doctor gives Anna a drug that Xavier must take immediately after waking up.

While waiting for the entire night, Anna's mind was filled with many things. About what Xavier told her that night. Xavier blames his father and himself for the death of Queen Irene. Anna also blames King Vlad and hates the people of the Kingdom of Nordhalbinsel for the death of King Edward. He tells Xavier that destiny cannot be changed. But why does it feel like Anna is still angry at the fate that has cost her her father and her kingdom. Anna realized that she had no right to say that to Xavier. He should have said the same to himself.

Anna had several times thought of revenge against King Vlad who had killed his father and he had also thought of killing Xavier when the man who finally saved his life. If Anna had been hit by a poisoned arrow, Anna would have been dead. At Schiereiland, only the Crown Prince would be given poison immunity training. So Anna won't be immune to the poison. Anna imagined that if she died, who would save her mother and sister? What about Leon and Louis? Will they continue to wait for Anna without certainty. Anna had not heard Leon's answer to his second proposal at the time. Anna wants to know if Leon is thinking about her and misses her as much as she is thinking about and missing Leon right now.

As all those thoughts entered her head at once, Anna began to feel overwhelmed and dizzy, so Anna closed her eyes. Darkness embraced his tired soul.

***

Xavier woke up when the sun was already completely shining. The sunlight coming through the window of the room was blinding. For a moment, he was unable to see clearly because everything was too bright for him. She began to see the ceiling of the room decorated with roses. Xavier finally recalled that he was not in his room at the Palace, but rather in his room at the holiday Villa belonging to Queen Irene.

The first thing he felt was the head of someone sleeping on his arm. Xavier was surprised to find Anna sleeping in a chair beside her bed and her head leaning against her arm. Then Xavier started to remember last night. Someone—about five people—hide behind a tree while aiming their arrows at Anna and herself. At that time Xavier could think of nothing but a way to keep the arrow from hitting Anna. Either his own instincts or because the Dragon soul within him made him block the arrow from hitting Anna with his own body, which if he thought back now was a very reckless act. He did not want Anna to die, but of course he himself did not want to die. There are still a lot of things he wants to do and there are still a lot of mistakes in life that he wants to fix. That is why Xavier always tried hard to stay alive even though death seemed to keep chasing him.

Xavier would consider it natural if they only intended to kill him because it had already happened so often. There were many people who wanted her death from the day she was born. But he clearly remembered that they also intended to kill Anna. The first arrow shot by the archers was aimed at Anna, not her. Xavier begins to think others might find out that Anna is Princess Anastasia. Even so, she could not think of a single person who might know Anna's true identity as Princess Anastasia who was thought to have died. Thinking too hard, his head started to hurt again. So Xavier just stared at the ceiling with a blank stare for a few minutes.

Xavier began to feel thirsty, his throat felt dry and burning. But he didn't want to wake Anna. She knew Anna was also sleep deprived during the trip. The girl looked very good in her sleep. Her red hair covered her closed eyes. Xavier tries to touch Anna's hair so as not to cover her eyes. Anna's hair felt very soft and smooth. The girl's face looked very calm and peaceful while asleep. Xavier involuntarily smiled as he watched her sleep.

“Leon..”.

For a moment Xavier almost thought Anna was awake. But the girl still closed her eyes while calling out that name. Anna is delirious in her sleep.

“Do not go, Leon..”

***