The horse suddenly halted as it stopped flying.
It was already too late for her to realize where she was. She was now at the entrance of the forbidden mountains outside their kingdom where many wild beasts were present.
The mountain was also covered with thick clouds of miasma and she herself could not stand the oppression effect caused by it.
Entering there was suicidal as she should be dead if she was an ordinary person, but she wasn't.
Violet didn't hesitate to enter the forest and thought that she would rather be killed by these beasts rather than to be killed in the hands of the people she used to protect.
Living in seclusion? Nah. It was more like banning her to come back in the capital for the rest of her life. It also meant death. Enchanto was the mountain with many dead souls living in it. It was full of spirits of the dead which could not cross to the other side and got the chance for reincarnation.
She really never thought that the man she loved was capable of doing like that.
She had heard from people of how ruthless he was to his enemies but she never dared to imagine he could do that to her, too.
She, whose only sin was to love him wholeheartedly.
When she was walking through the cloud of thick miasma, Violet saw a Hermit with a silver cane on his right hand with a pouch bag tucked on his left shoulder.
The Hermit then stopped as he saw her coming towards his direction.
"If this is not the Queen coming towards me, then who would it be?" The Hermit stated.
"I'm no longer the queen old man. I am just a simple lady who is wandering this forest waiting for my death." Violet answered him.
"Oh! Then, may I ask why do you want to die?" The Hermit asked.
"The Kingdom where I am from had given up and abandoned me as their Queen. I am no longer qualified to live." Violet said in a depressing voice.
"Then, if I say there's a cliff at the heart of this forest where you can jump and bring your spirit into another world when you die, do you want to try? Or you can continue your journey and wait for any demonic beast to attack you and die miserably? You choose? Either ways, you'll still die."
This sent Violet into a deep thought.
"But, I'm sure those beasts will come at me while I'll make my journey there, no?"
The Hermit smiled when he realized that Violet had chosen the former over the latter.
"Don't worry. I'll guide you there. I am the keeper of this mountain."
"Who are you?" Violet realized that she really didn't know this Hermit yet she trusted him. Maybe because she'll die anyways. So she didn't care if this person would harm her.
"A friend of the abandoned soul," was his only reply.
True to his words, no demon beasts nor magical beasts came to attack them when she was on her way towards the heart of the forest.
When they finally arrived, Violet gulped when she looked down at the bottom of the cliff.
It was so dark down there as it was covered by the thick miasma coming from the bottom.
"Are you having any second thoughts now? Do you want to go back and continue living the life that the idiot King wanted you to have after leaving the Royal Capital?" The Hermit asked her. Taunting her.
But instead of answering him, Violet asked when she felt that something was definitely off with this Hermit.
"Wait. How did you even--" but before she could even finish what she was trying to ask him, he cut her off.
"How did I know? All of the elements are my friends. And news such as the Royal Decree sure travel fasts. While you were listening to the throne room, the nearby Kingdoms received the news too."
"Oh." She opened her mouth weakly as she wanted to say something but stopped when she could not find anything to say to him at all.
"So, do you want to go back?" The Hermit asked her for the nth time.
"No! I'd rather die and be free from the cause of this pain than staying here and continue tormenting myself." Violet answered him firmly.
"Then, what are you waiting for? Jump." The Hermit teased her.
"Wait, what kind of world am I going into?" Violet asked. She had the rights to know it, right? After all, death caused by suicide would not grant her soul a chance for reincarnation.
"I have no idea where you're going. The place where you're heading woill depend on the dead soul's true desire."
"Oh." Violet said as she wanted to say something but decided not to. She's going into an unknown world.
"Then, can you please leave me alone? It's so awkward to have someone watching me while I'm trying to end my life." Violet requested.
"Can I take it as your death wish, Lady Violet?" The Hermit asked and Violet nodded silently.
But before she left, he then took a gold ring from his pocket and gave it to Violet.
"Wear this. This way, no demon beasts will attack you while I am away." He then placed the ring into Violet's palm and watched as she wear it on her ring finger.
"Good. Now, I'm good to go. Goodbye Violet, I hope to see you soon." The Hermit meaningfully said.
Violet watched as the Hermit slowly disappeared in front of her.
When the Hermit was finally gone, she then turned her attention back at the cliff.
How desperate could she be, to make the decision of giving up on her own life?
She then looked up above and prayed to the deities up above that if what the Hermit was saying was true, then she was wanted to be in a world where she could live a normal and happy life. No more heartaches and pain caused by betrayal.
Closing her eyes, she slowly made her way until she reached the edge of the cliff.
She could also feel all the remaining energy left in her body as it faded away.
When she felt that she's going to collapse, that's when she decided to jump.
When the Hermit saw that Violet had finally jumped, the Hermit who had stayed invisible all this time smiled and made his way back to the entrance of the forest.
He then made a knowing smile when he felt someone's presence coming towards his way.
When he finally saw the person, the Hermit flashed a polite smile.
"To whom do I owe this unannounced visit, Your Majesty?" The Hermit asked.
"Where's my wife?" King George II didn't beat around the bush. Sensing that The Hermit was silent, he emphasized, "The Queen."
"Oh whose Queen? If I am not mistaken, the Kingdom no longer have a queen as of the moment, right?" The Hermit answered him.
"Don't play me as a fool. Damn it!" King George II cursed.
"Didn't you pass a royal decree of your decision to divorce her? Isn't it irrevocable? Is what you are doing now, an example of eating back what you already spat?" The Hermit could not help not to throw sarcastic comments to him.
He deserved it for being a bullsh*t towards Violet.
"I made a mistake. A terrible mistake and I wanted to make it up to her." King George II said. He was being remorseful now.
"You're already late. She's already dead." The Hermit didn't beat around the bush.
"What? Why did you not stop or even help her?!" The King asked him angrily.
"Why should I? She came here so down and broken-hearted. And besides, people come here to commit suicide, no?" Seeing that the King had become silent, the Hermit then continued.
"A wild beast attacked her while she was roaming around the forest. Having no magic made it easier for the beast to kill her. And besides, her body have already been weak the moment she arrived here. She was already losing a lot of blood and it was clear she's suffering from fatigue."
"No! That should not be. Why did she leave me?" The King could only ask himself.
"Ask yourself, why should she stay? Have you given her even a single reason to stay? You were never good to her to begin with and earlier, the whole Kingdom have abandoned her as its Queen. Its mother. She had already lost a child and you let the people to abandon their queen. Aren't you cruel?"
"Can I at least see her body?" He asked after being silent.
"There's no body. The beasts have devoured her whole. You can't feel any trace of her, right?"
"Now, I guess, the best thing for you is to go back and take care of your pregnant Mistress. And don't think of visiting the mountain of the dead souls (Enchanto), you'll never see her again in this world."
"What do you mean?"
"She asked to be not reincarnated." The Hermit was obviously lying. Of course there's no way he would let him know that she had decided to go into another world.
Though he could no longer open the portal because Violet now had the ring. The ring of destiny. There was another way it could be opened.
The Hermit wanted to punish the King for being such a bullsh*t husband to Violet.
Just because he had discovered the truth about everything he would allow him to know Violet's whereabouts? It's not going to happen!
It's too late for him to apologize. No. There's no room for him to apologize anymore.
King George II could not even stop the Hermit from leaving him.
He could not believe that Violet could be so cruel to decide not to be reincarnated in this world again.
"No. That's not…you're lying. She loves me. She won't do such a thing."
But deep down, he could not blame her. What she did was to love him but what he had given her in return was cruelty and betrayal.
He was hoping to meet her reincarnation and that way, he could at least repay her. But even that was taken from him now.
With a melancholic expression, King George II left the mountain and went back to his Kingdom with deep sadness in his heart.