The Rose That Blooms In North
Chapter 7: Les Yeux Qui Voient L'invisible

Anna sat on a large rock on the edge of a cliff not far from where the sturdy dam had previously stood. Now all that remains is the ruins. But Anna didn't even notice. His eyes were still fixed on the figure that saved him. He could not believe what was before him at this moment.

Anna did not believe in the existence of dragons, as there were no books explaining about dragons in the Palace library. Dragons exist only in children's fairy tales for him. Anna could even only imagine the dragon form from Leon's explanation who also heard it from his sword teacher's explanation. But the figure before him at the moment was very similar to what he had heard about the description of the dragon.

The figure resembled a ferocious beast that was the same size as the size of a castle. The color of his skin that looked thick like it was coated in steel was similar to the color of the red lava that had just come out of the volcano. The two wings stretched wide on the right and left parts of his body. Every time he breathed, there would be hot steam that Anna could still feel even though the distance with the dragon was not too close. But from its overall monstrous appearance, the dragon had a pair of extremely beautiful eyes in bright red.

At that time, instead of being afraid or trembling because he had just seen a figure that should only exist in fairy tales and delusions, Anna was stunned. His eyes were busy observing everything that was on the dragon like someone who was curious about something he liked.

Anna noticed that there were many scars all over the dragon's body. The largest scar stretched a long line from the right wing to the left wing. Anna wondered in her heart who could injure such a huge dragon. And how much the dragon must have felt in pain when it got the wound.

For some time, the dragon had only been silent and noticed it from a distance that could be said to be quite far away. However, as Anna grimaced in pain from the stab wound on her back, the dragon approached towards Anna and touched her back with the tip of its claw. The dragon touched her very slowly as if afraid of hurting her. In a short time, Anna could feel her back part feeling warmer. And the warmth finally spread throughout his body which had been cold since. Anna could feel the scar shrink even though her body was still limp and hard to stand.

Anna was just about to thank the dragon, but the dragon immediately flew away from her.

“Your Majesty!”

Anna turned to the sound and saw Leon riding one of Mr. Blanc's horses. The horse ran quickly towards him.

“Leon..”.

“Your Majesty! What happened?” Leon immediately got off the horse and ran to hold Anna's body that was about to fall while trying to get up to walk towards him.

"You seen him?" He asked, "You saw the dragon?"

"Yes." Yeah." Leon nodded seriously, "If the story my teacher told me was true, then it must have been the Great Fire Dragon. The most dangerous dragon was at once powerful among the other dragons. What did that thing do to you?"

Anna turned back towards the dragon that had flown away leaving her. He looked at her as if he missed her and wanted to see her again. "He was the one who saved my life, Leon" he said.

***

The enormous Schiereiland Palace is also known as the Palace of the Million Doors. That is because there are so many doors in the Palace that will lead anyone who is strong enough and curious to explore it into different rooms. At the same time, it also serves to confuse intruders. Not only intruders, even the Little Princess was often lost inside the Palace which was her home from birth.

That night, the little Princess was walking out to catch the purple-colored fireflies that entered her room. The little Princess had never seen such a firefly before, so her curious soul made her come out of the cozy and warm room unnoticed by anyone.

The purple firefly flew faster as the little Princess started walking down the long hallway with minimal illumination. The little Princess was not sure if she had ever gone through this passage before in the palace during the day, because that night the passage through it felt very foreign. Throughout the hall, the Little Princess saw no doors, only paintings from previous Kings arranged neatly and consecutively according to their reign. Most of the King's faces in the painting have been seen in the history books. But there was one painting at the end of the hall that he had never seen in any book. The painting managed to distract him from the purple fireflies that had already flown further and further away from him until they were no longer visible.

The little princess tried to look at the face in the painting up close. The lighting of the hallway, which was only a small lantern did not help him at all. But she could see the face of a woman with long red hair, just like hers. In line with her hair color, the woman had a pair of very beautiful eyes in bright red. The eye color was similar to the eye color of his younger brother, the Crown Prince. The woman in the painting smiled very prettyly, but the look in her eyes implied a deep sadness as if she had gone through various trials of life. The woman with red hair was wearing the royal clothes and crown that the little Princess' father often wore. Crown of King Schiereiland.

"You're sending that little boy to the battlefield?" there was the sound of someone more like a whisper from behind the painting. The little princess brought her ears closer to the painting to hear more clearly. From his voice, he knew it was his father's voice.

"After all, his mother was a General. He had to start getting used to the battlefield. He was even born in the middle of a war, in a camp." Follow the same voice, with a quieter tone of voice. The little princess was confused because both voices were similar to her father's.

"Irene never had a son here because I managed to send her back to her family in Nordhalbinsel."

"Calm down, I know that. I get your point. But this kid has talent. His mother was General Irene the Slaughterer, and his father was a swordsman who had protected me and was loyal to me since before I ascended the throne."

"Leon is not your weapon! Leon is just a kid. Pull back your word!”

"Shhh! Keep your voice. Someone could hear you. I never thought of it that way anyway. He'll grow up well and take care of your daughter."

"The daughter of Anastasia is your son too."

The little princess heard footsteps from behind the painting. Then the painting opens like a door. The little princess was shocked and scared. Something within him said that it was not a good thing to remain still in that place, but he was unable to move his body to run away.

The door opened wide, revealing the figure of a reddish-brown man. The man was shocked when he saw the little Princess in front of the painting.

"D-dad..."

"Daughter of Anastasia, what is your little daughter doing here?"

"I was chasing purple fireflies." He pointed to the side. But when I looked there, there were no fireflies at all. Just a long dark hallway without end. "But it seems like the fireflies are flying too fast."

The little princess looked at the man before her. The man was King Edward, his father. He knows it. But somehow he can sense something is different from his usual father.

The King picked up the little Princess and carried her up to his room. Even the way you carry feels different. But the Little Princess remained silent until they reached her room. The king put him down and laid him on the bed.

"You should go to bed soon. It's late at night." Said the King while kissing the little Princess with affection. He smiled kindly. The same smile that the little Princess always saw. But somehow it feels like something is different. "Good night, my daughter" she said.

"Good night, Dad" he said.

The little princess smiled at her father's familiar smile. But that smile instantly faded when he realized what was different from his father. His father's eye color is not as bright brown as usual. His eye color was as bright as the color of the woman's eyes in the painting he had seen and the color of his sister's eyes, Crown Prince Alexis. The color of his eyes was bright red sparkling like fire in a jewel.

***

When Anna opened her eyes again, waking from her dream, it was already noon. The first person he saw was Louis who was washing his face with a wet cloth.

"Your Majesty, are you awake?" Louis looked surprised to see it. "General Leon! Hurry along! Miss is awake!" Louis shouted as he hurriedly ran out.

Anna doesn't really remember what happened to her, and how long she fainted. But the last thing he remembered was a dragon flying away from him that he believed was not just a dream.

The wound on his back still hurt a little, but it had almost dried up and left a sizable scar on his back. Anna tried to feel the wound on her back. He recalled how a dragon who had not previously believed in his existence saved his life and healed his wounds.

"Anna, are you okay?" Leon asked as soon as he entered the room. Louis, Bernard, Mr. Blanc and the Village Chief and his wife entered the room to see how things were going.

"I'm doing fine. How long have I been unconscious?"

"Full day. I think it's because you're exhausted and rained."

Anna immediately drank it, realizing she was feeling very thirsty. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Miss. You don't have to worry about anything. We're all fine thanks to you." Answer the Village Chief's wife.

"The water in the well is back, miss. Thank you so much for your willingness to help us." The Village Head.

"Thank God then."

Anna was relieved that everything was going well even though she had a slight injury. But at the same time, now he also felt worried if the Nordhalbinsel soldiers reported this incident to King Vlad. The villagers might not be safe if they stayed here. Anna also felt wary if the bandits came back and injured the citizens.

"Can I talk to Leon alone?" Ask Anna to the others.

They all nodded and left Leon. Leave them alone in that room.

"What's up, Your Honor? You feel sick?" Leon's forehead creased deeply, a sign that he was really worried about Anna's condition. It was as if it was her fault that Anna had the wound on her back.

"Not that." His entire worry of being one made it difficult to explain to Leon what he was thinking at the moment. "It was the Black Mamba that attacked me in the river, Leon."

"Black Mamba's? You mean, that bandit group of assassins?" Leon seemed surprised and worried when he found out that it was not the dragon that attacked Anna, but a group of bandits. He knew Anna could have died in that river. Knowing that made her feel even more guilty for leaving Anna alone. "Your Majesty... I'm really sorry..." Leon knelt before Anna. "Please punish me for failing to protect you."

"It wasn't your fault, Leon. Please stand up." Anna said as she tried to pull Leon to her feet. "I planned all this myself. It was my fault for not being careful. I still have a lot to learn so that in the future I will not let my guard down while fighting many people like that. And I'm telling you this not to make you feel guilty, but because I'm afraid the bandits will come back and destroy the whole village. We need to get out of here."

Leon nodded in agreement. Although Leon initially thought that they would have to stay another day to let Anna rest until she completely recovered, Anna's words led him to establish that they should indeed leave immediately. Anna's recovery is very important to her, but Anna's safety and the safety of the current Villagers should be prioritized.

"One more thing..." Anna said as she recalled what the bandits had said. "The Black Mamba group said this to me when they were about to attack me. I didn't believe it at first, but somehow it bothers me."

"What's that?"

"They said, Crown Prince Xavier ordered them to arrest me. What say?"

"It's hard to believe the bandits' words. But, for now it is good if we are careful. We have to watch out for Crown Prince Xavier. He's probably up to something." Said Leon. "And it's very likely it's not something good."

***

The sound of footsteps filled the entire dark passageway. It was already evening in Nordhalbinsel when the Crown Prince returned to the Palace. In the long hallway of the Palace, Xavier could hear everything on his way to the room where he was resting. The heavy voice of his father, the Great King Vlad the ruler of Nordhalbinsel and Schiereiland was talking to his trusted General, General Orthion Richterswill.

"I got word from the spy I sent to the Grotestadt area, Your Majesty the King." His loud and blaring voice could be heard throughout the room. General Orthion was one of the four Nordhalbinsel Generals tasked with guarding the southern border.

"What news?"

Xavier stopped his footsteps in the middle of the hallway leading to his room. His breath seemed to be held in order to really listen to what the General who was said to be the only living person who had ever come face to face with Leon, the Lion of Schiereiland, said, on the battlefield.

"The Scheine River dam has been destroyed by a group of villagers."

"What!" King Vlad threw something so Xavier could hear a loud clanking. Xavier suspected it was the sound of another glass urn that his father had broken because after that there was the sound of terrified screams of concubines around the enraged King Vlad. "How could a group of villagers destroy that huge dam? Do you know how many soldiers I've deployed to make sure everything goes well? What did those soldiers do that they let the dam be destroyed?"

There was the sound of another shard of glass at the end of every sentence spoken by King Vlad. Xavier held a satisfied smile upon hearing his father's rampage before General Orthion and the concubines.

"Sa-I don't know for sure, Your Majesty. But some soldiers said they saw a figure who was no stranger to them. Although I'm not sure what they're saying is true or not."

"Who is this stranger? Say it!"

"Leon, Your Majesty."

Xavier was surprised to hear the name called. He stopped his steps again. Also breath. If he could, he would order his heart to stop beating. He needed to listen to this from close range in order to know everything clearly.

"That boy who was nicknamed the Lion of Schiereiland? Is he alive?" His father asked to make sure. It sounded doubtful of the truth of the General's words.

"True, Your Majesty."

"Investigate further. And make sure you catch the lion as soon as you see it." Pause for a moment before the King continues his word. "No. Don't just get arrested. He is dangerous in life. If you find him, kill him!"

There was a thunderous roar along with the end of his father's sentence. Xavier sped up his steps towards his room. Inside, his loyal bodyguard Elias and the servants were waiting for him.

"You came very late as always, Your Majesty." Greet Elias as soon as Xavier walks into his room.

"Your twin sisters won't be angry just because I'm late for a dinner she never expected."

"No. Of course not. Crown Princess Eleanor was not such a person. But my parents will protest if you make their beloved daughter wait too long."

"You heard that?" xavier asked Elias, referring to the conversation between King Vlad and General Orthion. Xavier threw his sword at any direction and took off his clothes which were the clothes of ordinary people, which he only used while sneaking out of the Palace. The servants took her formal royal attire and put it on. Her burly body, which is covered with scars she has had since she was a child, is now covered in luxurious gold-plated clothes and gems worn only by the Crown Prince for royal dinners.

"The person you sent to the area just gave the latest news, Your Majesty." Said Elias. This time he changed his style of speech to be more formal. He picked up the sword that Xavier had thrown and gave it to the servant to clean it and put it in its place.

"I hope this news surprises me more than I just heard from Orthion."

"Right, this might surprise you even more." Said Elias. "The person who led the riots at the dam was not just General Leon. There's one more person leading them."

Xavier looked at Elias seriously. "Who is he?"

"His Majesty Princess Anastasia. The daughter of Schiereiland who is rumored to be dead."

Xavier was silent for a moment. The expression on her face indicated that she was trying to remember something. Shortly after, he smiled. "Oh, so he? So apparently the woman was the Princess of Schiereiland."

***