When the baby in Asil's arms quietly and serenely fell asleep, the princess handed him back to his mother with particular care.
"This child is truly charming," she said with a warm smile. "What is his name?"
Seyla was momentarily stunned, meeting the Lord of the North's gaze. In their first encounter, she had felt only fear and awe towards this woman. But now... when the princess looked at her with such a kind-hearted expression, even Seyla involuntarily felt calmer and relaxed.
"H-his... his name is Gavin," the maid replied, slightly embarrassed. "He recently turned one year old."
"Is that so," Asil's smile became even softer and wider. "Then please accept my sincere congratulations. I wish this little one to grow up strong, healthy, and happy."
"Th-thank you... thank you so much for such kind words, Your Highness!"
Seyla was deeply touched; she had not expected to hear so many warm words from the Lord of the North.
Meanwhile, Asil's gaze involuntarily slid towards Remesis. A look of bewilderment was frozen on her face. The princess looked at her intently, and a mischievous expression suddenly appeared on her own face, exuding an almost innocent mystery. Remesis frowned even more.
"What is it, wife?"
"Nothing... I didn't say anything."
"But you are looking at me like that," Asil noted, tilting her head slightly. "I have the feeling you want to tell me something."
Remesis tensed for only a moment. Then she pursed her lips in displeasure.
After all, the spectacle she had just witnessed was too unusual. No matter how hard she tried, she simply could not maintain a completely impassive expression.
"...It's not like that," she answered reluctantly.
Although, to be honest, one or even two things she wanted to say were already on the tip of her tongue. The words were about to spill from her lips, but she stopped herself in time.
Perhaps now was neither the right time nor the right place for such questions.
Finally regaining her composure, Remesis cleared her throat slightly.
"Your Highness, how much longer do you intend to stay here?"
From the outside, this question might have seemed overly abrupt. But Asil didn't even bat an eyelid. Her face remained calm, and her voice was as soft as ever when she replied:
"Wife, before I leave, I will take you with me."
"...I already understood that."
"In that case, can we go now?"
"..."
Remesis opened her mouth, then closed it, frowning in displeasure. This woman... She seemed not to have paid any attention to what her companion had said just a moment ago.
"I already said I want to say goodbye first..."
"Ah, right," Asil drawled with a barely perceptible smirk. "So you want to do it without me? Very well, I won't interfere. I'll wait outside."
"..."
"And also. I think before we leave, you had better change your clothes."
Remesis frowned.
Change clothes? Into what?
She didn't even have a change of clothes.
But before she could properly consider this issue, at the snap of the princess's fingers, a stranger silently entered the room. He appeared as if from nowhere, and Asil didn't even bother to ask permission from the owners of the house. She seemed to feel completely at home here.
The newcomer was dressed in dark clothing and most resembled a soldier.
Apparently, this was Asil's servant. He looked exactly like those people who had suddenly appeared in the village of Morka and engaged in battle with the northern soldiers. Of course, Remesis didn't recognize him, but after a brief glance at the stranger, she decided that asking about it now was pointless.
In his hands, he held a neat box tied with a ribbon.
"What is this...?"
In response to Remesis's puzzled look, the princess merely tilted her head slightly towards the box.
"You can change into this."
Puzzled, Remesis opened the box and found a sparkling, expensive dress neatly packed inside.
She was momentarily taken aback.
"This..."
"This is my gift for you, wife," Asil smiled slyly. "Of course, how could I go on a trip and not bring gifts for my wife? That would be completely unacceptable. So I bought you something from the best shops in the capital. No, to be more precise, there is a little more than just 'something'... The rest has already been sent to the northern castle by a separate carriage."
Remesis pressed her lips together tightly for a moment, then, after a slight hesitation, replied:
"Alright... Thank you, Your Highness."
"You're welcome," Asil beamed. "Well then, I will wait for you outside. Take your time."
After that, Asil left the house with her servant, and the door quietly closed behind them. Remesis was left holding only a light box — so light it was hard to believe anything was inside.
She exhaled noisily, then soon went into the room to change.
When Remesis finally put on the dress the princess had prepared for her, she involuntarily lingered on her own reflection in the mirror.
In the mirror's reflection, she saw herself — in a stunning dark blue dress that surprisingly complemented the color of her hair and eyes. The fabric was sprinkled with diamond sparkles, making the garment resemble a scattering of stars in the night sky. It was truly... a beautiful dress. And it seemed made for Remesis.
Yet the expression on her face in the mirror was more tense than joyful from receiving the gift.
Because what she wanted most in the world right now was to understand what the princess was planning. Why had she appeared here at this moment? And what was she doing in the capital anyway? Remesis firmly decided to ask her about it at the first opportunity.
Meanwhile, Seyla, who had helped Remesis into this luxurious dress, finished with the laces, stepped back slightly, and looked at her with undisguised admiration.
"My lady... this dress suits you so well!"
"Really?"
"It looks as if it was tailor-made for you!" the maid could not contain her enthusiastic reaction. "Who would have thought that Her Highness would be so attentive and able to choose such things for you with such exquisite taste!"
"..."
After Seyla helped Remesis with the dress, she began to tidy her hair. And all the while, the maid, inspired by what she had seen, did not stop talking softly, repeatedly casting admiring glances at her mistress.
"Actually... before, I had many doubts about your situation in the North. And I was very worried," Seyla admitted. "After all, very unkind rumors circulate about the Lord of the North in the empire. Even when you told me everything was fine, I didn't immediately believe you — I thought you were just trying to comfort me. But now... now I truly believe it."
Remesis remained silent.
"Now that I have had the chance to meet your spouse in person, I am finally convinced," the maid even wiped away a tear. "I realized that all those rumors were actually lies. Her Highness is truly a wonderful person and treats you wonderfully!"
"No, in fact, those rumors are not lies at all."
Remesis smiled inwardly to herself.
This was precisely that rare case where all the rumors circulating around one person turned out not to be embellished or fabricated, but the pure truth. Asil Nara Ashelot was exactly the monster she was described to be. In other words, Seyla had not been mistaken in her initial concerns at all.
And yet...
Remesis could not understand why the princess had suddenly felt the need to put on this performance for them today. But since she had decided to do so, Remesis simply chose to play along to the end. After all, there was no point in revealing the truth now.
She calmly listened to the praises of Asil that flowed endlessly from Seyla's lips.
"...Ah, and besides everything else, Her Highness is so skilled with children! Even our fussy son, whom nothing usually calms, she so easily soothed. I was simply amazed!"
"....."
"My lady, forgive me for asking. Perhaps it is too personal a question, but... You and the princess have been married for a long time. Have you ever thought about having children of your own?"
"...What?" Remesis, who had been only half-listening to Seyla, snapped to attention at this sentence and looked at the maid in surprise.
"Well, I just meant..." Seyla became even more embarrassed. "Children in marriage are a normal thing. Besides, the situation in the North is stable now. Even more stable than in the South. Perhaps this is the most suitable time for you and the princess to have children."
Remesis was so taken aback that she didn't even know what to say for a moment.
This was perhaps the most unexpected thing she had ever heard in her life.
"...And it seems to me, Her Highness would make a very good mother," the maid continued with a warm smile. "She is so gentle even with someone else's child, let alone her own. I am sure that child will be bathed in love and care!"
Remesis didn't even know how to respond to that.
A child... hers and Asil's?
The very thought seemed so contradictory and strange that it couldn't fit in her head.
Remesis had never even thought about it. Not to mention that their marriage was a contract and completely excluded such an outcome...
After thinking for a moment, she decided not to delve into this topic and answered dryly:
"...Yes, perhaps."
Fortunately, she managed to smoothly steer the conversation towards Seyla's own affairs, and they spent the rest of the time talking about the maid's life.
When Remesis was finally fully ready, she left the room and almost immediately encountered Michel.
Her older brother looked at her with an inscrutable expression.
"Have a good... journey," was all he said.
"Aren't you coming with me?"
Remesis decided to ask this just in case.
But Michel just shook his head and grinned with a slight bitterness:
"I think if I actually did that, I probably wouldn't even make it to the castle."
"..."
"To be honest, I don't think your wife likes me."
This was hard to deny, because it was true.
More precisely, there was a mutual antipathy between the two.
So Remesis merely nodded briefly and said:
"Alright, I understand."
"I'm grateful that you're worried about me, but..." Michel hesitated for a moment, as if searching for words. "I don't deserve to ask for your help right now. I'll manage somehow on my own."
Remesis just nodded again. She had no intention of insisting.
"...And also. We didn't finish our conversation."
"What?"
"If we meet next time, I think we should finish that talk."
Michel's brown eyes paused for a moment. Of course, Remesis meant their night conversation in the Carter mansion — the one that had seemed far more important than one might have thought at first glance but had been interrupted by Seyla's appearance.
"...Alright."
Finally, the young man nodded.
Hugging goodbye would have been too awkward, so their parting with Michel was limited to just these few phrases. Besides, it couldn't be said that they had completely reconciled. The atmosphere between them was still tense and uncomfortable, as if they both felt ill at ease.
Nevertheless, in parting, Remesis hugged Seyla, thanked her husband for his hospitality, and paused for a moment with her hand on the child's head. With a slight smile, she removed her hand from the peacefully sleeping infant and left the house.
When she stepped outside, a carriage was already waiting for her at the entrance. It was not hard to guess who it belonged to, so Remesis silently got into the carriage.
As expected, the woman with silver hair and golden eyes was already waiting for her inside.
"Wife," Asil called her quietly. "Do you really have nothing to tell me?"
"..."
"Are you sure nothing else happened?"
The princess's eyes formed crescent moons, but from the shadows dancing in the depths of her pupils, Remesis could easily tell: Asil was not in the mood to smile. She was clearly waiting for an answer, one she perhaps already knew.
And now... her mood was clearly different from what it had been in the house. As if she was no longer playing a role. Remesis noticed this immediately.
"What do you mean..."
"Wife."
Asil's voice became sharper, a cold note appearing in it that brooked no objection.
"I'm not joking. If you have something to tell me, say it now."
Remesis hesitated for a moment. What exactly did she mean? The incident at the Carter mansion, or something else? In truth, it was too difficult to predict, just like the princess's true thoughts at that moment.
Finally, after a pause, Remesis opened her mouth:
"Shouldn't I be the one asking questions?"
The princess looked at her without flinching.
"You appeared out of nowhere... And what were you even doing in the capital?"
"I told you I was leaving on business."
"So what business could you possibly have in the capital?" Remesis insisted.
On the one hand, this was a way to change the subject. On the other, she genuinely wanted to know.
For several moments, the princess did not answer. And when she finally spoke, her golden eyes were half-closed, like those of a lazy, sated beast in no hurry to reveal its true intentions.
"Wife, you are so eager to know about my affairs. Yet you yourself do not answer any of my questions... This is disappointing," a soft but tangible reproach sounded in her voice.
"....."
"But I will tell you. After all, this is something I did for you."
Remesis did not initially understand what the woman sitting opposite meant. But soon...
"Ah."
"This thing... Does it remind you of anything?"
Remesis flinched, and her body involuntarily tensed as she looked at the object in the princess's hand. It was a bloodstained brooch belonging to a dignitary of the Astrological Order. A special identification mark by which the title and position of its owner could be determined. And this brooch... belonged to Iliana Alseid.
A precious brooch, drenched in blood.
Remesis could easily guess what that meant.
As she involuntarily tried to pull back, the princess, half-closing her eyes, abruptly grabbed her by the wrist.
She slowly leaned in.
Her lips approached Remesis's neck almost completely — to the distance of a barely perceptible breath, but they never touched.
Instead, her warm breath, heat, and a strange, too-familiar numbness covered the girl's skin.
"What? Are you scared? Or..."
Warm breath slid beneath her earlobe.
In the dim light of the carriage interior, Asil's low voice penetrated her ear:
"...Are you afraid that you will end up like this too, wife?"
Remesis could not move.
The breath of the Northern Devil, neither rough nor gentle, held her as if with chains.