“Jaskier West 3-2 3-1, targeted.(1)”
Queen Ymelda lightly moved the pieces, her deep eyes of age and experience looked at Andriandel. The girl in front of her was the daughter of the advisor Walter, and also the wife of the eldest son Augustus. This marriage caused a big stir in the kingdom. It is said that foreign forces are deeply rooted in the Royal Family. But considering that the Queen gave birth to Gerrad the Eighth, moreover, Andriandel's father was a close advisor to the Emperor, so the controversy surrounding this marriage was quickly extinguished.
Andriandel pondered his move thoughtfully, but the Queen took every step, quickly putting her in a restrained position, forcing her only to repeatedly withdraw. She sighed heavily, deciding to withdraw Levith to avoid the presence of the Jaskier.
“Levith East 4-1 3-2.”
“Soldier East 4-2 4-1, advance Jon. Targeted."
Andriandel's face began to show tension. With the withdrawal of Levith, the Queen successfully promoted the weakest piece to the most powerful piece on the board. The right side is blocked by her pieces, going left or diagonally up or down to the right will meet Jon's army. If she advances to capture Jon's army, she will be immediately attacked by the Jaskier waiting. The only move that can still be used is to continue to withdraw below.
“Levith East 3-2 3-3.”
“Jon East 4-1 3-2. All captured.”
Andriandel looked at the chessboard that had reached the end. Her Levith was surrounded with no way back. Andriandel sighed, forced a smile, then stretched out her hand to flip the Levith across the board, saying:
"You won, mother."
Ymelda did not show any joy at the goal, taking it for granted. She calmly said:
"You lost this game since you didn't take my Soldier."
"I underestimated it," replied Andriandel.
“Sometimes aiming for a higher position is not always a good choice. Sometimes… it's these little worthless pieces that destroy you.”
Ymelda took the small Soldier piece that had summoned the most powerful Jon, and placed it in Andriandel's hand. Without waiting for her to learn anything from it, she stood up, fixed the wrinkles in her skirt, and said:
"Well, it's time, my child. I want to visit my sister. You can follow. After all, it is she who is your mother-in-law.”
The Royal Catacombs were built deep under Glamgmar Palace. The path leading down to the catacombs has torches on both sides, but they still had to be careful when going because the humid air makes the road slippery. Queen Ymelda brought Andriandel to visit the resting place of the late Queen Sana, the biological mother of Augustus.
Queen Sana is the eldest daughter of the McQuoid family. She is two years older than her sister, Queen Ymelda. On that day, King Gerrad the Eighth and his entourage traveled to North Sandringdom for a hunting trip. The two sisters Sana and Ymelda also joined the entourage. Sana is an agile, hyperactive girl. She was not shy or weak in front of the Emperor, but on the contrary even challenged him on a hunting trip. Ymelda has a stereotypical expression, more withdrawn than her older sister. One day early in the morning, Sana and the new Emperor left the gathering place to hunt antelope. Only now did they let their guard down, and they had many opportunities. Fascinated by this young woman's freshness and dynamism, Gerrad accepted the challenge without hesitation. However, an unexpected event happened, He was injured and had to return to the capital immediately. Lord Bertie of North Sandringdom took his daughter, Sana to the King's Land to ask for forgiveness, but unexpectedly he kept her to tie the knot and became Queen of Gaversia.
In fact, that day, fearing that Sana would not marry him, Gerrad was forced to take a risk to get her in the relationship. At first, she also objected a lot, but when she saw that he had to lie on the bed because of her, Sana who took care of him day and night also felt moved. After the royal marriage, Queen Sana became pregnant three times, but all miscarriages or stillbirths. Later, she became pregnant again, but her strength also diminished. In the 2000th Howmen year, on Arglohandre's Independence Day, the Queen gave birth. That year was also the only year in history that the National Day ceremony was not held due to the phenomenon of total solar eclipse and continuous thunderstorms. The whole country just flew the flag and rang the bell instead of the ceremonies. At the exact moment Lapunta was destroyed, Prince Augustus was born. Ironically, Queen Sana due to bleeding should also die soon after. Too sad because of this loss, but the Emperor also has to think about public opinion. Absolutely the people could not know that Augustus was born on that day, nor that the Queen died. Therefore, he decided to announce the next day, which is one day later than the actual event.
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Coincidentally, Augustus was also there. He has special eyes when one side is mysteriously black, the other is blue like the ocean, always on his face there is a sad expression. Perhaps, Augustus always blamed himself, he always thought that it was because he was born that the mother had to pay with her life.
Augustus noticed the appearance of the Queen and his wife smiled slightly. He walked over, his left hand behind his back, and bowed to her. When the Queen saw her son, she was overjoyed, and prevented him from doing the ritual, saying:
"You don't have to, Agas."
"I didn't think we'd come at the same time," he smiled wryly.
"On this day we both lost the person we loved the most..."
At this point, Ymelda suddenly burst into tears. Whenever she visited her late sister, she could not contain her emotions. She walked step by step to Sana's tomb located below the statue that was built by the Emperor in the model of the late queen. Sana in that statue is very kind. An exemplary Queen, a wife and mother that everyone desires. Yet the gods could take such a woman from the earth. Sometimes wonder if the gods are really entities worth emulating?
Ymelda took out a towel and wiped away the tears that were streaming down her sides. She sobbed like a crying child.
“I remember her always giving in to me. Once your mother and I met a wolf in the forest, she chased it away and ended up losing the little finger on her left hand."
“Is she that brave?” Augustus stood behind Ymelda, viewing the only portrait of his late mother through a statue that had been somewhat worn down over the years.
“She is more than brave. She's all I have," Ymelda said, becoming more emotional, so much so that she had to turn around to keep the tears from falling. But she couldn't, she turned to look at Augustus, then suddenly fell into his lap and wept incessantly. “But in the end she left me alone… Augustus, your mother left me alone…”
“M… Mother…”, Augustus was a little awkward. He didn't know how to comfort her when the person who should be in pain the most was himself. Augustus could only hug her tightly, as a fulcrum so that she could pour out her sufferings. Andriandel was now the spare among them. She didn't know what to do or say, so she could only stand there and watch.
It took a while for Ymelda to come to her senses. She let go of Augustus, wiping the tears from her eyes. Smiling and wiping, he said:
"We're not always this squishy."
“I know…” Augustus replied.
"Agas, I want you to know this," she said, pressing her hand to his chest, her face serious. “I never wanted to take the place of your mother. But I have a promise to your mother. Only you are the most important, Agas. The most important to her, of course, the most important to me.”
“Yes, mother. I understand," he replied with a smile.
“I will never be able to replace her. I could never do that firefly dance. Never…"
Ymelda sighed, then tried to gather her spirits. She didn't want anyone to notice her weak face. Ymelda looked at Augustus with the look of a mother, and calmly said:
“I want you to know I love you more than ever.”
Augustus smiled in response. She continued:
“Well, we have to go. Stay a little longer, I'll probably cry out both of these old eyes. Kiss me goodbye, darling."
Augustus stepped forward and planted a kiss on her cheek. He was much taller than Ymelda, so he had to bend down, and she had to tiptoe high. With that, she and Andriandel left, leaving Augustus alone with his mother's coffin. Andriandel was like a dumb puppet who couldn't say a word, before she followed her out, she could only turn her head to look at Augustus once.
Augustus silently watched the backs of the two until they disappeared. He turned to look at the statue of his deceased mother. That face was so kind. His father once told his mother that she had a voice like the one from heaven, but now it's just a plaster of silence.