Chapter 13: Falling Flowers, Flowing Water (End)
“I know.”
Victoria said softly.
Her expression remained as calm as a still lake. But I noticed that her brilliant golden eyes had dimmed slightly after a couple of blinks.
“Mother, I know… you’ve always harbored resentment.”
“Of course you know. You’re so smart; you know everything… that’s exactly why I eventually distanced myself from you.”
The Empress, sitting across from her, had a smile that was increasingly manic, the kind that made me wary… it was like she was about to unleash some pent-up negative energy. She seemed eager to spill her guts in front of Victoria.
“Victoria, I watched you grow up, slowly, slowly… turning into your grandfather’s likeness. What a remarkable man he was, a hero in the eyes of the people of Ethanbel, huh? You’re as clever as he was, as domineering. So domineering that you think you’re above everyone else, in a completely deluded way.”
Suddenly, the Empress stretched out her hand.
What is she up to…
I jolted inside, instinctively wanting to get up, but then I saw her gently caressing Victoria’s cheek.
“My daughter…” she murmured softly.
Victoria looked surprised, but she didn’t resist, allowing the Empress’s long fingers to glide from her cheek to her forehead, playing with her smooth golden hair.
“You probably don’t understand… I’ve always hated the royal family of Ethanbel…”
“I understand…”
“No, you don’t.” The Empress shook her head slowly. “You won’t understand… the feelings I’ve carried to this day. Sometimes, I even wonder if I’m still alive. Many times, I’ve felt as if I’ve been dead for a long time, right from the day… when your grandfather stormed into the house, covered in bl**d, holding your uncle’s head in one hand, swinging a sword at my mother’s chest… bl**d splattered across my face, warm and sticky, and she fell… I still dream about that. It feels as though… my time stopped right there, my consciousness forever trapped… Victoria, I’ll never forget that scene… never…”
The Empress’s hand began to tremble.
Her eyes welled with tears, yet her lips still curved into a sickly smile.
“But… your grandfather thought I could forget. He’s that kind of person, thinking I should naturally understand these things. He told me, people like us are born bearing great responsibilities. For the stability of the kingdom, for the countless lives of the people of Ethanbel, for that laughable peace, I must forget my family grudges and peacefully marry his son as the first step to mending the north… I actually did it… because everyone thought I should… Hahaha…”
The candlelight and daylight flickered in the church, casting a kaleidoscope of colors through the stained glass windows.
Margaret next to us had closed her eyes again.
I saw the sad expression on Victoria’s face — her brows slightly furrowed, her thin lips tightly pressed, the skin between her brows creased… just like that, her expression didn’t show much overt emotional fluctuation, but I knew she was hurting.
“Mother…”
“No one has ever told you this, right, Victoria? It seems they all forgot about it, but I remember, very clearly, so I want revenge.”
The Empress’s hand fell from Victoria’s head, her tone suddenly growing harsh.
“I want them to pay for the glory they earned with bl**d, for the status, with their own hands! Starting with their pride, the German Knight Order, I’ll eat away at them step by step until those knights fall apart and scatter! Then, I’ll assist the Clive family, quietly reclaiming cut-down troops for the Iron Guard. They can’t afford wages, so I’ll give them coins! I’ll redistribute all the plundered coins! Ahahaha—”
The Empress seemed to have lost it completely.
She probably… had long been mad.
“I feel so great about this… the rapid decline of the royal family of Ethanbel, I’ve played a major role… Victoria, do you know, the happiest moments of my life weren’t when your brother was born, or when you were born… but that time when I achieved the unimaginable with my own strength.”
Victoria remained silent, just looking at her mother with sad eyes, watching her smile, waiting for the insanity in her expression to fade gradually, her lips beginning to tremble.
“At that moment… I truly believed that was my own power. I thought that as long as I gave them coins, they would listen to me. I was waiting for the moment to gather a million soldiers, when the northern nobles would become the true masters of Ethanbel, and I thought I could accomplish this.”
“Until later… when my son died.”
The Empress stretched out a hand, pointing vaguely at the ground.
“I saw him lying there.”
She slowly stood up, walked over, and crouched down, opening her arms wide.
“I picked him up like this… his body felt so stiff, his little face darkened and pale, his eyes lifeless… just staring at me… I remember it vividly. Suddenly I thought… Victoria… have I made an unforgivable mistake… did I k*ll him… I killed my own son… Later they reached out for my daughter… I remember that night they harmed you…”
The Empress stood up lightly, her red-rimmed eyes fixed on Victoria, her black attire flowing slightly, her golden hair cascading on her shoulders, like some spectral dancer at night.
“You were poisoned by mandrake, paralyzed… yet standing there stiff, blackened bl**d soaking your nightgown, dead assassins piled up like a grotesque meat hill… how old were you then… Victoria… I was terrified… I knew that so-called ‘backing’ had turned into a pack of vicious wolves, ready to devour us…”
Victoria exhaled sharply.
“So Mother, you obeyed them.”
“Yeah. I ended up listening to everything they said. Because I wanted to live, I wanted you to live… I thought if I did this, they would spare us. Not long earlier, they promised me just as long as I could make you lose the favor of the people, they would let you… let you lose your throne without bloodshed. They wouldn’t k*ll you, and we could settle in the north, never stepping foot in the royal city again, and they wouldn’t bother us… Only they tricked me… today’s assassin…”
“I know about the assassin situation.”
Victoria said softly.
“Publicly disrupting a sacred ceremony, intending to assassinate the Queen and the Heroic Empress, collaborating with heretics… rumors like that will spread soon enough.”
She stood up, walked in front of the Empress, straightening her slightly wrinkled collar while continuing to speak.
“Actually, it’s the Clive family that has colluded with the heretics, and it’s been them letting people into the city over the years. They probably know about Teresa too, even secretly providing help. Now that Teresa’s situation has been exposed… Mother, they’re afraid the church will trace it back to them and want you to take the fall.”
The Empress looked a bit dazed, staring intently at Victoria’s face.
The two stared at each other for a moment, and then the Empress raised her lips again, revealing a smile.
“Very clever. My daughter, you’re amazing… If only I were as smart as you… no one would be able to trick me…”
She smiled, no longer mad, making me feel somewhat like Lady Catherine at distant Shanter Castle.
Suddenly, I longed for my mother.
Surely the news from the royal city would reach her soon. Once she knew, she’d be scared again for a long time…
Not long after, Margaret stood up, waving to the knights as she walked toward the Empress.
“Her Majesty the Queen, Your Highness the Empress. The situations you described, I will consider carefully, but I cannot make a judgment based solely on one side, please understand… and trust that our great Deity is always watching us, and will not allow any evil to escape justice.”
Victoria nodded.
“Your Highness the Saint, I trouble you with my mother.”
Margaret gave a slight smile, glancing at the Empress: “Your Highness.”
The Empress followed the knights toward the church’s grand doors.
I watched Victoria, standing still with no expression, rise from her seat and walk over to her.
Unsure of what to say, I felt… that speaking to her right now would be good.
The next moment, the Empress suddenly turned back at the door.
“Viki, earlier… I lied to you about something.”
I froze, then saw the Empress’s face suddenly lose all color, turning ashen.
“I was the one who poisoned your father.”
She collapsed.
Her golden hair spread out, carpeting the ground like flowers blooming in March.
What’s going on… this is…
“Mother!”
Before I could even react, Victoria shrieked, rushing to the Empress’s side, crouching down to lift her, checking her eyelids, prying her mouth open and probing inside, then turning to Margaret and saying: “Help her!”
Margaret needed no further prompting. She had already clasped her hands at her chest, her eyes closed as she chanted softly, dazzling golden light erupting swiftly to envelop the Empress.
“Viki… I’m tired…”
The Empress’s frail voice came from amidst the golden light.
“Don’t talk.”
I hurried over to stand behind Victoria, hearing her tone tremble.
I felt utterly helpless. I somewhat understood what this moment implied, but I could do nothing; I didn’t know how to heal anyone.
I could only stand by and watch, listening to the Empress’s fading words.
“Viki… Mother was too foolish… couldn’t outplay them… this poison… was left behind from killing your father… cough cough…”
“Mother, please don’t talk.”
Victoria turned her head, her eyes filled with a painful daze.
“Help her.”
“Viki… I killed… your father… I did many wrong things… just let me go…”
“No.”
She shook her head, turning to Margaret and saying: “Save her, please.”
The golden light burst forth, almost illuminating the entire church. I squinted, unable to see the figures in front clearly.
Only their dialogue floated into my ears.
“Mother, you don’t have to do this. They call me the Black Mandrake, they fear me…”
“Uh… IKnow… Viki… Mother knows… you’re very capable… but… I’m so tired… let me rest…”
“Mother. What you’re doing is very selfish.”
“I can’t hear… what you’re saying… Viki… I remember a boy I liked… cough cough… he was from the north… his shadow so slender… I don’t know… what happened to him… I was… the famous beauty from there, why… did I have to marry someone I don’t love… why… have ended up like this… it’s ultimately my… foolishness…”
“Mother.”
“Little Viki, just let me go… this way… you can unleash yourself… k*ll all those scoundrels…”
“k*ll them all…”
The Empress’s voice became increasingly faint.
Moments later, the golden light gradually dissipated. The entire hall fell silent, only Victoria, holding her mother, whispering softly.
“Mother…”
No one answered her anymore.
