Chapter 3
***
The new Emperor of the Empire was a tyrant who had brutally taken the lives of his own father, his brothers, and hundreds of others. As hard as she'd been holding it together, Isis's tears finally broke free.
"If he ever does anything to you... Rosette. It's not too late. Let's fight to the end, if that's what it takes to save you......."
"I've already made a deal with him."
“Or, how about doubling the annual tribute? Raise the tax rate, or offer all of our wealth, and if that doesn't work... we'll live as vassals of the Empire."
Isis grabbed Rosette's wrist and began to drag her away. It was unacceptable to her that her daughter, who she believed would become one of the noblest women in the kingdom, would be sold away as if she were a pawn.
"Go to him and tell him you can't do that. Go."
Rosette said, shaking off Isis's hand that was leading her away.
"No, I can't. I can't, Mother. The Emperor will do what he always does, he'll kill every last royal or imperial person he can find, and he'll harm innocent people and turn this place into a sea of fire, and do you really want that to happen?"
"But selling you so we can live?! What......."
"I said if I help the emperor with all my heart... he’ll give me a way to live later, so don't worry. Mother."
"Then what about Julien... he's out on the battlefield right now, and he won't even be able to see you......."
"When Julien comes back, tell him well, he's not a child anymore, he'll understand, you have to have today to have tomorrow."
Standing by the queen's side and comforting her as she wept was Rosette's father, the King of Hercia. Henry Demianne, with his faded silver hair and bushy beard.
His wrinkled eyes, filled with the marks of time, crinkled sadly at the corners. He was a king who ruled over a nation and showed no emotion, but he was also a father, and his grief at losing his daughter was no less intense.
But his position of having to make a cold decision made him analyze the situation a little more objectively. His daughter's plan was the best and perfect solution to the situation, and it made him even more sad.
"I don't deserve to face you."
"It’s an act of God... And that Emperor. He didn't seem as bad as I thought, after all, he said in his own words that the deal was sealed."
"Yes. You have to live, Rosette. You have to live before there is anything else."
"Yes. And take care of Elliot... take care of him, Father and Mother."
"Don't worry."
Isis wiped the tears from her eyes as she thought of her young son and Rosette’s little brother, the only heir to the kingdom, sleeping soundly, and her heart sank at the sight of her daughter's concern for their well-being. This was going to be the longest night of her life.
* * *
Dawn was unusually dark due to the heavy cloud cover. It was a wild time, with inky blackness swallowing everything in sight.
Rosette's closed eyelids twitched uneasily as she slept, fragments of a story flashing through her consciousness like frozen scenes. At first it was a peaceful scene, but soon it turned into a nightmare filled with dark shadows.
After what seemed like an eternity, her head jerked from side to side as if the dream was frightening, her gestures becoming more and more violent, until she gasped for air and woke up.
"Ha... Ha......."
She jerked to her feet, grabbed the glass jug on her bedside table, and took a giant swig of water without even bothering to pour it into a cup. As if that weren't enough, she emptied the entire bottle before getting to her feet, pulling on a thin muslin robe and opening the window wide.
A cool breeze caressed her sweat-drenched skin. The thin lace curtains floated, ventilating the room and her head.
A dream so vivid, so real. She absentmindedly rubbed her goosebump-covered arms.
In her dream, Rosette had traveled to the Kaisen Empire and boldly attempted to kill Theodore. Her failed assassination had ended horribly, with her death at his hands. As if that weren't enough, she heard the screams of Hercia's royal family and the people as they were engulfed in flames.
It was a scream so real it still disturbed her to no end.
The acrid smoke and floating ash made it impossible to see. Even though it was a dream, it was a horrible sight, one she never wanted to see again.
Her body, drenched in sweat, was growing cold. Even though she had been breathing the dewy, humid air of dawn for hours, the dream had been so vivid that it was indistinguishable from reality, and the after effects of the nightmare did not fade easily.
Even worse, she remembered Theodore's sword, which had been in his barracks not so long ago, emitting a foreboding sound.
She realized that she had dreamed the dream for nothing more than anxiety, as she would soon be living away from home. With that, Rosette stroked her neck to calm her nerves.
* * *
Rosette's face was strangely pale as her dreams from last night had kept her awake all night. The face of Queen Isis, who had dined with her every day since her departure for the Empire was decided, was tinged with concern.
"Why aren't you eating more, Rosette?"
In response to her concern, Rosette cut a large piece of the steak that she couldn’t eat and began shoving it into her mouth. She didn't want to worry her parents before she left, so she tried to force the steak down, but for some reason it wouldn't go down. Eventually, Rosette let out a series of racking coughs, grabbed the glass of water next to her, and downed it in one gulp.
“Chew it slowly and thoroughly.”
Rosette shuddered at Isis's worried advice, as if she'd been told something she shouldn't have heard. She felt a strange sense of foreboding. But she forced herself to put on a brave face and answer her.
"Yes, Mother."
This time, she placed a relatively easy-to-swallow slice of bread on the plate. It was to be topped with shredded meat and cooked vegetables. Rosette picked up the knife next to her and began slicing the bread.
"Ouch!"
She had been distracted throughout the meal, and now she saw blood. She had cut her finger, not the bread, and immediately grabbed her wounded finger, which was dripping with crimson blood onto her white dress.
"Oh, my God. Are you okay, Rosette? A healer... Get a healer."
At the same time, Rosette's face became contemplative.
Her mother's worried words, the cut on her finger. And the crimson drops of blood that had spilled onto her white dress. It all matched what she'd seen in her dream last night.
Rosette's heart began to beat faster and faster.
"Hurry up and get her treated......."
"Mother, let me go to my room for a minute, I need to check something."
"The healer will be right here, but first you need to... Wait, Rosette-!"
Rosette started up to her room like a madwoman. She didn't care about the cut on her finger. Her heels echoed loudly in the palace hallway, as if she didn't care that she was bleeding.
She practically ran up the stairs to her room.
With an impatient gesture, Rosette opened the luxurious velvet box on her bedside table, which contained the item her mother, Isis, had given her yesterday evening.
"It is an heirloom and a treasure from the palace. Only those with Hercian royal blood may possess it. Keep it with you in the Empire. It will protect you. Rosette.”
The small, impractical-looking dagger was said to be made of pure gold from the scabbard down, and was adorned with a variety of ornate jewels. Her mother said it was priceless, beyond measure. It was an object of such extravagance and strangeness that even Rosette would stare at it for a while. She removed the dagger from its golden scabbard, only to find that the blade inside was so sharp that she quickly put it away.
"Rosette. What the hell is going on......."
Isis asked, her voice trembling as she approached Rosette, who had suddenly disappeared.
"Mother, this dagger. You said it was a family heirloom of the kingdom, that it would protect me."
"Yes, it will. I've heard it was forged by the first King of Hercia."
"Does that mean it has magic, or a divine aura, or something?"
"Well, I don't know. I can't confirm any of that, but I do know that the stories have been passed down. That it will protect us Hercians, but why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing, Mother."
Rosette could only be more convinced by her mother's words. What if all the events and tragedies she had seen in her dreams hadn't been just a dream... what if they had been meant to show her the future of herself and the kingdom of Hercia, to warn her?
If not, then that didn't explain this situation she had just been through.
A healer entered her room and tended to her cut fingertip. Perhaps the cut was deeper than she thought, and the bleeding from her hand stopped after a while.
Rosette's expression as she was healed was that of someone in a trance, but Isis could only look at her daughter with concern.
***
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