The corridor of the northern castle greeted Julia with a damp and chilly silence.
Julia, the personal maid of the princess of the north, stood exactly three steps away from the heavy oak door leading to the lord's bedchamber. She had been here for a quarter of an hour. She stood, neatly folding her hands on her apron and staring at a single point — the silver wolf's head handle, the symbol of Nord Fortress.
Since her lady had not returned to her room the previous evening, Julia was now waiting here to be able to meet Remesis and escort her to her chambers.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that the morning was already quite late, her lady had still not come out of the bedroom.
Honestly, Julia was a little nervous.
Last evening, she had inadvertently witnessed some kind of quarrel between the Lord of the North and her wife... And after that, they simply locked themselves in the bedroom together.
So Julia could not help but worry that something might have happened.
Meanwhile, her thoughts were soon interrupted.
Footsteps sounded behind her. Too soft for a guard and too confident for a lower-ranking servant. Julia did not need to turn around to recognize that gait.
"Sir Adelfo," she said, without turning her head, continuing to hypnotize the wolf's muzzle on the door.
"Julia," the voice of the north princess's assistant sounded right over her shoulder as he stopped beside her. "Good morning."
Now she allowed herself to look. Heitz Adelfo, the right hand of the princess of the north in all matters, stood leaning his shoulder against the cold stonework. In his hands, he held a familiar leather portfolio, stuffed so tightly with parchments that the clasps seemed about to burst. His light hair was impeccably combed back, revealing a high forehead and attentive gray eyes, which were now looking at her with mild interest.
"Are you also waiting for the lady?" Julia clarified, although the answer was obvious.
"Bills from Farrhaven have arrived," Heitz explained briefly, patting the portfolio. "The grain supply contract for this winter. So I need the lady to approve this list."
Julia nodded almost imperceptibly. However, her thoughts were clearly far from the price of oats right now.
A peculiar silence hung between the servants. A silence filled with unspoken observations.
"Sir Adelfo, do you think everything will be alright with the lady?" the maid asked, lowering her voice to a barely audible whisper, although there was no one else in the corridor.
"What do you mean?" he looked at her in bewilderment.
"Yesterday, the lord and the lady seemed to have a fight... And they still haven't come out of the bedroom. I'm worried that something might have happened," she said just as quietly, staring at the floor.
Heitz Adelfo shifted his eyebrows slightly.
"It seems to me you're exaggerating. Did they really have a fight?"
"Of course!" the maid breathed out. "Didn't you feel the atmosphere yourself yesterday?"
Yesterday, Julia felt that even being outside the dining room, standing by the doors, she was ready to freeze to death. And besides, her lady seemed clearly opposed to the Lord of the North carrying her off to her bedroom...
No matter how you looked at it, the discord between the married couple was obvious even to her. Nevertheless, it seemed Heitz did not share her opinion.
"The atmosphere?" he repeated, confused. "No, not really..."
"What do you mean? They clearly had a fight!"
The assistant sighed.
"Actually, I don't really understand this... But even if that is the case, what of it? It's normal for a married couple to fight from time to time."
"Really?"
"Of course! Besides, the lord and princess have been married for so long. It's normal for disagreements to arise sometimes."
"...."
"And they say that the more lovers quarrel, the more they love each other. Ha-ha!"
Julia sighed quietly.
To some extent, she wanted the assistant's words to be true.
Because she was one of those who tried their hardest to maintain peace in the northern castle for as long as possible.
Meanwhile, at that moment, a heavy sound cut through the silence of the corridor. The silver wolf's head twitched. The door was opening.
Julia instinctively straightened up like a string, and Heitz took half a step forward and bowed his head slightly, assuming an official appearance.
The princess of the north appeared in the doorway.
Her crow's-wing hair, usually styled in an elegant updo, now fell loosely over her shoulders, tangled and tousled. She was wearing a heavy robe of blue velvet, thrown over her nightgown.
"Princess!"
Julia immediately rushed to her, but involuntarily froze.
All because the princess's face this morning was darker than a storm cloud.
Her lady's forehead was crossed by a deep furrow, and her lips were pressed into a thin, pale line. The gloomy expression was not meant for prying eyes, but maintaining this mask apparently cost her immense effort.
"Your Highness," Heitz also approached her. "Forgive the early intrusion... Bills from Farrhaven have arrived, which need to be processed as quickly as possible. Could you spare a few minutes?"
Remesis hesitated a little before answering.
"Is it that urgent?" she said calmly. "Wait for me in the study. I will freshen up and come in an hour."
"I... Alright."
In the end, the assistant only faltered and stepped aside.
Remesis meanwhile walked down the corridor, and her maid immediately rushed after her.
Julia followed the princess down the corridor towards the lady's private chambers.
"Princess, are you alright?" she asked worriedly.
"...Yes."
Nevertheless, the tone in which the answer was given did not please Julia much. She worried a little more before speaking again, carefully choosing her words.
"Princess, I..."
"Everything really is fine," Remesis sighed. "Just prepare a compress for me."
"...A compress?" the other asked, puzzled.
"Yes. I have pain in my entire lower back. I need to do something about it so I can sit properly in the study."
Although Julia did not understand the meaning of her sudden request at first. But soon...
"Ah!"
The maid's face instantly turned bright red.
"I-I... Alright. In that case, I'd better prepare a medicinal bath for you with the addition of frost herbs! That will work better than a regular compress."
"...Alright," Remesis did not say anything more and just sighed.
Honestly, at that moment, once again this morning, she felt the urge to kill Asil.
***
An hour later, Remesis was sitting behind a massive desk in her personal study.
Not a trace remained of the morning's disheveled woman in a robe.
The dress of dark grey wool with silver embroidery on the collar fit perfectly, her hair was gathered in a strict low hairstyle, and her face had regained that expression of habitual calm detachment.
Before her lay the bills from Farrhaven. And not only them.
Remesis quickly scanned the stack of papers.
Before her eyes lay a mountain of various documents requiring approval.
Tax reports, vassals' petitions, financial ledgers of the trade guild under the direct management of Nord Fortress, repair work plans... Not a single one of them had been completed on time.
And all because Remesis had been away from the castle all this time.
In the end, the girl just sighed heavily and set to work.
Since Asil had locked her here anyway, she had no other occupation besides work anyway.
"Princess, let me help you with the work!" Heitz volunteered.
Remesis only nodded slightly.
Heitz Adelfo sat opposite, having laid out the parchments in neat stacks. For a while, they simply worked in silence.
Remesis, casually leafing through documents, began to sign them.
At first glance, it seemed she wasn't even reading, so sluggish she looked, but upon closer inspection, her processing speed was surprisingly fast.
Meanwhile, her thoughts at that moment were actually far from work.
The girl was once again filled with regrets about how her current life had ultimately turned out. Although she had thought that in this life she would be the victor, in the end... she had merely fallen into Asil's trap.
Remesis snorted quietly.
If she had known from the very beginning that everything would turn out like this... would she have acted the same? Now Remesis seriously doubted it.
If, in the end, everything had turned out this way, it would have been better not to get involved in this revenge venture from the start. In the end, she had had another option back then. If she had agreed to Professor Hasher's proposal and ended up working at the Imperial Institute...
How would her life have turned out now?
Remesis found it hard even to imagine.
Well, in any case, all these thoughts were still meaningless now... After all, the past cannot be undone. Now she only had to deal with the consequences of her own actions.
At that moment, Remesis reached for the next document and suddenly froze.
A feeling of slight nausea washed over her suddenly.
The girl froze, catching her breath convulsively.
Heitz, noticing the long pause, looked up at her.
He immediately noticed her strongly pale face.
"...Your Highness?" the assistant's voice sounded worried.
She did not answer. Her breathing became shallow, rapid — he noticed how quickly her chest rose and fell.
"Your Highness, are you alright?" he repeated then and stood up from his chair.
"Yes... I'm fine."
Remesis answered, lightly tapping her chest.
For some reason, she suddenly felt a wave of nausea, although she did not understand what exactly it was connected with.
Heitz Adelfo, meanwhile, acted without hesitation.
"I will call a physician right away!"
And at the moment when he was already heading for the door, Remesis called out to him.
"No, don't. I'm really fine. Just a little weakness."
"But you have turned very pale!"
"...I must have just gotten too nervous."
At least, Remesis herself thought so. Besides having gotten very nervous this morning, she saw no other reason for such a sudden fit of nausea.
In the end, Remesis talked him out of the idea of calling a physician. Nevertheless, the assistant, feeling concerned, still could not just leave it like that.
Thus, Heitz Adelfo called the maids and ordered them to prepare chamomile flower tea as soon as possible.
"Drink this," he said, returning to the desk and handing over the cup.
Remesis looked up at him. She did not resist, and her hands themselves reached for the warm porcelain.
She took a sip. Then another.
The warm liquid went down her throat, spreading a soft warmth in her chest.
After a long minute, Remesis raised her head. There was still perspiration on her forehead, but her gaze had noticeably cleared.
"Thank you," she said. "I feel much better now."
Heitz Adelfo merely nodded silently and returned to his chair.
Remesis took another sip of the brew, put the cup on the desk, and straightened up. After this drink, she indeed felt much better.
Work continued.
And soon, Remesis, thinking it had passed, no longer remembered this incident.