As soon as the carriage arrived, the princess of the north and her wife were about to leave the funeral ceremony.
Due to the crowd outside, it was quite noisy. Nevertheless, even in such a situation, Remesis still shuddered and looked towards the noise. A familiar knight was running towards her.
— I apologise for being late!
Rigori Shutgall. He had recently been appointed deputy commander of the northern fortress, but was currently serving as an escort for the princess and her wife, who had come to the capital for the funeral. This man was primarily responsible for the safety of the carriage.
The man, who was participating in such an important event for the first time, looked embarrassed.
— I apologise again! The thing is, I didn't think you would return so soon, so I didn't have time to prepare properly...
Although Asil gave the man in front of her a disapproving look, as if wondering whether he really deserved his current position, Remesis just sighed and waved her hand.
— It's okay. Actually, I also thought we would be there for at least another hour.
— Then... — The knight opened his mouth and closed it again.
— Let's just go now.
— Yes.
At that moment, the knight was about to offer his assistance to help the lady into the carriage, but the princess beat him to it. She gave the man another cold stare that sent a chill down his spine.
He swallowed and stepped aside.
Remesis stepped onto the footboard as Asil offered her a hand to help her. Remesis said nothing and simply accepted it as a tribute to etiquette.
As soon as they took their seats, the carriage started moving.
— Your Highness, have you always been so impatient?
The princess, receiving a remark from her wife, replied in a quiet voice.
— Wife, it's just the funeral of some woman. Is it worth making such a big deal out of it? — she muttered.
— That woman was the youngest daughter of the chief astrologer.
— Even if that's true, I don't care.
— Your Highness, I think you are the only person in this empire who thinks that way.
At that moment, the woman's beautiful face contorted as if she had heard something terrible.
— Wife... Are you angry with me? — she asked.
Remesis sighed.
— Why should I be angry?
— But then I don't understand... Why are you acting this way?
The princess faltered as she spoke these words. From the moment Remesis spoke to her in a serious tone, she couldn't look Remesis in the eye and stared only at her fingers. Remesis felt exhausted by it all.
Ultimately, this situation arose every time Remesis tried to have a serious conversation with the princess about an important topic. As a result, the woman either avoided her or behaved like a child being scolded by an adult. But this time, Remesis was not going to give in to her manipulation and calmly continued:
— Your Highness, that is not what is really bothering me.
— Then what is it?
— I want to know what really happened that day.
After this statement, Asil shuddered and raised her head. A slight ripple ran across her golden eyes as she looked at Remesis's face. Then she bowed her head again.
— Wife, I don't understand why you're bringing this up again... — she muttered.
Remesis, who was watching her at that moment, sighed heavily and said:
— I'm not asking this to scold you.
At these words, Asil sighed briefly and bit her lip. The confused expression on her face seemed to reflect the woman's true feelings. If, of course, they could be called that.
— Then why?
— You know why. I just want to know if you really told me everything about that day, without leaving out any details.
— But how could I lie to my own wife? — Asil objected.
— Are you serious?
— Wife, I always speak seriously to you.
Remesis exhaled deeply and massaged her temple, as if she were experiencing a sudden headache.
Meanwhile, Asil hesitated, then continued uncertainly:
— Wife... Do you really think I could have hurt that woman?
— I didn't say that.
«I didn't say that, but who said I don't think so?»
After all, Remesis knew better than anyone that the behaviour of the deposed crown princess was sometimes more than unpredictable. So she was just experiencing justified doubts.
— Wife, I am willing to put up with many things, — Asil said in a trembling voice, — even the prejudices of the nobles and the insults of the imperial family are not so important to me. But... I really cannot bear your suspicion.
The princess who said this covered her face with her hands, and her shoulders shook as if she were about to cry. It was truly an incredible sight to see such a cruel woman tremble like a small child after receiving a mere rebuke from Remesis. At times, the duke's youngest daughter wondered if it was all a figment of her imagination.
At such moments, Remesis couldn't help but remember her past life.
She had seen with her own eyes a demon-like man covered in blood. This man could take the lives of innocent people without hesitation, without batting an eyelid. To be honest, even in this life, the princess was not particularly soft-hearted. It was only because Remesis had asked her to that Asil spared the elderly and children when she participated in wars. But even then, she sincerely did not understand why she should do so, and did it only to fulfil her wife's wish. In other words, Remesis had no illusions about her wife's character from the very beginning.
And it was for this reason that, at moments like this, Remesis realised the extent of her dissociation from the princess. The scene that was unfolding now was simply strange to observe.
'.....'
Finally, Remesis simply couldn't take it anymore.
— All right. So you really didn't do it?
Asil looked at her with a troubled expression.
— Wife, I would never go against your will.
Silence fell in the carriage as Remesis stared intently at her face for a long time.
At that moment, Asil, sitting opposite her, was visibly agitated. It was as if Remesis's gaze alone was more frightening than a field full of enemy soldiers.
Finally, the girl sighed softly and looked away.
— If you say so, then I can believe you.
At these words, the confused expression on the princess's face seemed to finally clear. She met Remesis's blue eyes again and declared with a completely different expression than before:
— Wife, whatever I do, it will always be only for you.
'........'
Remesis sighed.
Undoubtedly, given the princess's nature, there were still things that Asil could be hiding from her. However, Remesis decided not to dwell on it any longer and not to build a wall of misunderstanding and suspicion with this woman. In the end, that was not her original goal.
And even if the sudden death of Gardenia Dehsin was an event that was completely outside her original plans... Well, there was nothing she could do about it now.
— All right. That's enough, — Remesis finally said.
— You're really not angry with me anymore?
— Yes.
Remesis, who had been forced to say so, was confronted with the fact that the princess had very quickly come up beside her. The woman's shoulders, which had been very tense until that moment, seemed to relax again. As if she had been waiting for this moment all along, the princess clung to her like a dog lying at its master's feet.
But unlike an animal, the princess did not seem satisfied with this and was ready to continue the indecent behaviour that had previously outraged Remesis at the funeral ceremony. The princess's lips, which had been exploring her neck, slowly rose higher and higher...
But Remesis stopped her at that moment.
— Your Highness, this is not the first time I have warned you not to do such things, — she remarked dryly.
— But why?
Remesis sighed in exasperation. After all, she had had to remind her of this too many times over the past twelve years.
— Our marriage is a sham, and we must pretend to be husband and wife only in public. Is it really so difficult for you to abide by this agreement?
Every time Remesis brought up the subject of their agreement and the fact that this marriage was only a cover for their hidden purposes, Asil reacted a little strangely.
Finally, she said quietly:
— Then, wife, what do you want from me?
— That you keep all your agreements. Just as I do for you.
In just a moment, the image of the woman sitting in front of her, seemingly nervous and fidgety, seemed to disappear. The princess, who had been acting innocent and playful the whole time, opened her mouth. Her previous playfulness was gone. Remesis felt as if a veil had been lifted from the princess's eyes. A vague memory came back to her.
The Northern Devil. It was exactly the same tone as the man Remesis feared most in her past life.
— In that case, I really must try not to disappoint my wife.
The princess smiled faintly. But that smile seemed darker than the darkest night.