Since Remesis began her second life, she had often wondered whether her new life was really so different from her old one. Lately, she had been asking herself this question particularly often. After all, some of the events that were happening now were truly perplexing to her.
In fact, although Remesis had not been close to the heiress princess Aveline, she was still stunned when she received the unexpected news of her death. Had the same thing happened in her past life?
The girl was not sure, as she had not been particularly interested in the life of the royal family in the past and did not know exactly what had happened to its members. The only thing Remesis was certain of was that in her past life, a coup d'état had been organised, initiated by the princess. Did that mean that the crown princess had died at that moment in her past life, or had it happened earlier?
The deaths of the crown princess and the youngest daughter of the leader of an astrological cult were events that left Remesis in a state of confusion.
Lately, the girl's head had been spinning with all these thoughts, and she just wanted to understand if everything was really as she had seen it. Were her current and past lives really that different...?
In search of peace of mind, Remesis had been lost in thought lately.
Asil had left the castle a few days ago, heading in an unknown direction, and had not yet returned. Remesis walked quietly down the corridor of the northern castle, her head filled with various thoughts. Eventually, her feet led her to this place.
It was the room of the master of the northern castle. It had not changed since his death.
Lüven Iter's study always smelled wonderful. The scent of paper and ink seemed to still linger here, making Remesis's heart flutter with nostalgia, just like in the old days. Remesis closed the door and looked around his neat room.
In the master's study, one could find books that were not even in the library, and Remesis often took advantage of this when she came here just to read. After all, no one in this castle loved reading books as much as the master himself. Besides, Master Leuven himself had said that his student could come and go from his study at any time.
Remesis quietly entered the room and sat down on the neatly made bed. It seemed as if the master himself had been there just a moment ago and was about to return. The princess of the northern castle smiled involuntarily as she looked around the room, which had not changed at all since she remembered it. The furniture was simple and comfortable, as the master did not like luxury. Although he had once been an imperial tutor and lived at court, the old man never boasted about it and always led a very modest life. This was one of the reasons why the people around him respected him.
Remesis wanted to linger for a while in this peaceful setting, which involuntarily took her back to her childhood. It seemed that only now could her soul find peace, at least for a while.
At moments like these, the girl wanted more than anything in the world for Luvin Iter to listen to her and give her advice that would surely come in handy, as he had done before. But, unfortunately, she could no longer do that.
Taking a deep breath, the girl suddenly noticed the drawer of his bedside table, which for some reason was slightly ajar. Perhaps one of the maids had not closed it properly while cleaning?
Hesitating, Remesis was about to do it herself. But at that moment, something lying in the drawer caught her attention. Although she had some doubts, Remesis opened the drawer anyway. At first glance, it looked like someone's personal diary. Perhaps it belonged to the master himself?
Although it wasn't entirely ethical to look at such things, the girl couldn't help herself because, for some reason, she felt that this item was very important. Remesis opened the cover of the diary.
She turned the first page, and it was indeed a diary. "Date: 21 September 291 in the Empire of Nadal. This is the day I became a mentor in the imperial palace..."
Remesis felt a little awkward reading someone else's personal notes, but since the title had already caught her attention, she couldn't tear herself away. Finally, Remesis closed her eyes tightly, then opened them and read the contents below.
The more she read the diary, the more questions and answers arose in her head at the same time. In the end, the girl couldn't take it anymore and, having read more than half of the diary, took a deep breath. What she found in this diary really didn't match her expectations.
It was truly incredible.
Holding her breath, Remesis couldn't bring herself to read the second half of the diary for a long time.
"Damn it..."
The girl couldn't have imagined that the proof of the words of the elder princess of Castrea, which she had been searching for for so long, had been right under her nose all this time.
***
The dungeon of the imperial palace was dark and damp.
At first, staying awake was pure torture for Fred Harper, as the wounds from the torture continued to bleed. But even now, when the bleeding had stopped and the wounds had healed a little, the pain from the aftermath did not subside.
The entire time the stableman was in captivity, he was tortured to find out his motive for killing the crown princess. Of course, Fred couldn't tell them anything and just kept quiet and endured the torture.
His body was so cold, but the man could not tell if it was because of the temperature in the dungeon or because his blood was not circulating properly.
Every few days, a guard would come and bring him food, but it was too difficult to count the days that way.
In the end, all this was done only to prevent the man from dying before his execution day. But Fred continued to refuse food, and there was almost no strength left in his emaciated body.
"How long has it been since I ended up here?"
He couldn't watch the sun rise and set because there wasn't a single opening to look out of. Fred Harper had no concept of time.
So he could only continue to waste away his days here, agonisingly waiting for the day for which he was being held. Perhaps the best way out of this situation would be to end his life.
But the guards, as if anticipating such an outcome, simply confiscated from his cell all possible items with which he could do so. Even when Fred was brought his food, they did not give him cutlery, forcing him to use his hands. This was a huge humiliation even for a simple man like him.
Fred Harper simply waited for death to finally come and take him away. And as he thought about this, on the verge of exhaustion, he thought he heard someone coming.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps on the stone steps made the man perk up.
And then, before he knew it, Fred Harper saw a woman he had never seen before standing in front of him.
Since this was completely unexpected, and the woman did not resemble any of the guards or other residents of the Imperial City he had encountered before, the stable boy couldn't help but be wary.
— Who are you? And how did you get here? — Fred asked cautiously, still trying to remain conscious.
— Do you really need to know?
— I want to know who I'm talking to.
Finally, the woman laughed. The sound sent a strange shiver down the groom's spine.
— Trust me, you don't need that information, — she replied with a slight smirk.
— Since you refuse to tell me your name, I see no point in continuing this conversation.
The woman laughed again, and Fred felt a strange coldness in her eyes.
— It's pointless. After all, I came here to offer you help.
— Help? — Fred asked.
— You want justice to prevail, don't you?
The groom's dull eyes suddenly flickered.
— If that's what you want, then take my hand right now, and I'll help you get out of here.
"......"
Looking at the hand stretched out in front of him, Fred Harper hesitated for a moment, then, without hesitation, grabbed it.