Remesis knew this would happen.
The first thing the Emperor would do when they arrived in the north would be to try to get rid of his daughter. There couldn't be a better chance to do so. While in the capital he was kept from a direct assassination attempt by the oath of the first emperor, in the north it was a different matter.
If the cursed children died in a place full of monsters and barbarians, no one would guess that it was the Emperor's doing. At least, officially it would look that way. In reality, even if one of the courtiers thought so, no one would make a fuss about it.
The devilish offspring living in the servants' annexe was poisoning the pious Imperial Palace with its mere existence. There was no one in the court who didn't want Asil Nara Ashelot dead. Therefore, everyone would simply turn a blind eye.
Even though Remesis knew this, there was nothing she could do about it. How could an eight-year-old child be able to prevent an assassination attempt by a powerful force like the emperor? Even if the girl told her father everything, he wouldn't give her words any importance.
Therefore, Remesis had no choice but to make it up on her own. As a child, she had very little physical strength in her. While she couldn't help Asil in a fight, she at least took a knife with her to at least have some defense.
Remesis was prepared for this and only waited, holding her breath, for the carriage door to open.
But for the first time in her life, of course, everything that happened came as a complete surprise to her.
A small child could not expect to be killed for literally nothing. The girl was so frightened that she cowered in a corner, just waiting for her death. At that moment, she didn't even realize that the breathless bodies wouldn't be them at all.
It was after this incident that Remesis developed a fear of Asil. She could no longer look at her as a normal person.
In this life, the girl's behavior was no different from her previous life. Asil showed not the slightest sign of panic. She had a frozen, motionless expression on her face and her eyes narrowed. The princess clutched at her seat with her hands, ready to rush out of her seat at any moment.
It was at times like this that Remesis clearly realized how different she was from ordinary people. Compared to her, Asil was really just a child now. But her reactions told a different story.
Every second in the carriage seemed to last an eternity.
Finally, a creak was heard from outside, and one of the mercenaries pulled open the door.
Remesis stopped breathing.
— Damned brats, let's just keep it quiet…
The guard's speech was interrupted as someone sank his teeth into his throat. Blood rushed from everywhere as the other guardsmen didn't immediately realize what had happened.
The pale man was only able to resist for a few seconds. Death came instantly, after which the body collapsed to the ground in convulsions. The bloody corpse in the middle of the snow looked horrible.
— What the hell…!
The guards were stunned. All of them had fear mixed with confusion on their faces without exception.
The man looked like he had been brutally mauled by an animal. But in reality, it was a child. The cursed crown princess. Her mouth was stained with blood and her eyes glared like an enraged bear.
When the guardsmen saw the girl covered in their comrade's blood, they were horrified.
— You monster!
All three pounced on her with furious screams. Remesis realized it was time to act. After all, even if Asil was unimaginably strong, it was hard to deny that this was an uneven battle.
Last time, it had ended roughly like this.
Although all the mercenaries were killed, Asil was seriously injured during the fight. Remesis was too scared to help her in any way, so she could only watch helplessly as she dealt with them herself.
Right now, Remesis was still scared. At least because she was only a child. However, she was now able to pull herself together.
So as the guardsmen pounced on Asil, the girl stealthily crept up from behind and plunged her knife into the back of one of the mercenaries. She was weak, but she pounced on the knife with her whole body.
When something small pounced on it, the guard went into a rage. He grabbed the girl by the hair and began to shake her. Remesis, however, tried to scratch at least his face with her claws.
But it proved too difficult to fight the two meter tall knight. His grip on her throat was tight, and the mercenary had already drawn his sword, about to strike.
Just at that moment, another man's blood splattered on Remesis.
Bang!
In the next instant, the mercenary's arm lost strength. The man collapsed to the ground, and fresh teeth marks of Asil's teeth appeared on his neck. She had no weapons of any kind, and the girl had indeed fought like a beast.
Remesis fell to the ground as well, breathing heavily from suffocation. After recovering a bit, she sat up and stared at the black blood oozing from the body beside her. It was a gruesome sight. Nausea always came up to her throat once Remesis smelled blood. Even after so many years of living in the harsh North, the habit had not been eradicated.
Remesis felt like she was going to throw up.
She slowly raised her head and saw Asil standing beside her. As it turned out, by the time she came to her senses, all the mercenaries had already been killed. Dead bodies were lying on the ground, attracting the real predators that were everywhere.
To avoid running into them, one had to leave as soon as possible.
Remesis trembled, experiencing real fear. The girl in front of her was covered in someone else's blood. Her amber eyes were still filled with anger, and her bloody mouth moved soundlessly. Asil was breathing heavily, her strength was running out.
Remesis managed to stand up and walk over to her. Asil stared at her impassively. Though the sight could have frightened anyone, Remesis didn't hide or run away. She was afraid of a child who easily mauled four people. But she pretended that she wasn't.
«…»
The silence between them was only interrupted by the north wind and Asil's intermittent breathing.
It was only then that Remesis noticed that she was hurt. Though Remesis was able to divert the attention of one of the mercenaries to herself, it didn't stop her from eventually getting wounded. However, the girl herself
the girl herself was not all-powerful. She knew that one way or another, they would not be able to come out of this fight completely unscathed.
Asil watched silently as Remesis took her things from the carriage. It was a good thing she had asked Seila to only take the essentials. At least now she wouldn't have to leave her large luggage here.
Remesis slung her bag over her shoulder, which shouldn't slow her down much on the road. She then walked over to Asil, who was still watching her. Her gaze was cold and wary. Perhaps if she were truly a beast, she would be grinning and growling at Remesis right now.
The girl sighed as a cold vapor came out of her mouth.
It was already getting dark. They needed to get to the nearest shelter as soon as possible — before they were stranded in the middle of the snowy wasteland.
Remesis took her hand. Asil stared at her in silence. A look of exasperation appeared in her once blank expression. She could have easily wrenched her hand away, but Remesis held it tightly.
It was like trying to train a puppy to a collar. At first, it doesn't want to obey you at all.
But Remesis remained unwaveringly calm. If she had been the same, she would never have dared to do such a thing. She would never have approached such a dangerous man. And certainly not take her hand.
But right now, Remesis only said:
— Come, Your Highness. It will be dark soon.
«…»
Asil hesitated, but still moved as Remesis led her along.
They were walking through a snowy field, and nearby, as far as Remesis could remember, there was supposed to be a cave. The girl led her there to rest and heal her wounds.
Remesis felt strange, doing things that were completely out of character for her. She still couldn't believe she had the courage to take Asil's hand so easily.
After all, in her first life, Remesis had simply abandoned her…
After witnessing the shocking sight of four guards dropping dead in front of her, Remesis ran as far away from her wife as possible. Being an ordinary child, she was of course terribly frightened. Who in their right mind would want to stay near such a person?
Remesis abandoned the wounded Asil and fled. But… In the end, after a few hours, she came back anyway.
All because Remesis realized that she couldn't survive in this place alone. It was only by some miracle that she was lucky not to encounter any monsters or other dangers on her way. It just so happened that Asil was the only one she could be safe with.
So Remesis simply hid behind her like a human shield.
She kept her distance from her, not daring to come any closer, and as soon as there was a threat, she would run away. She would return as soon as Asil had dealt with the danger, and continue to follow her onward.
In essence, that was how she managed to survive the journey. Just following Asil as her shadow. They didn't communicate or help each other in any way.
At this rate, it took them several months to reach the northern capital, Fortress Nord. Their journey took so long because of Asil's illness. The princess had been injured after a fight with the mercenaries, and on top of that it was very cold. Asil came down with a fever that took two weeks to recover from.
All she could do was make it to the nearest cave and then just fainted. Remesis, who was following her, could do nothing to help her. How could an eight year old have medical knowledge? And even if she did, Remesis still wouldn't risk going near her.
As a result, the girl huddled in a corner of the cave, in constant fear of being found by predators or barbarians. The dry rations she had taken with her from home quickly ran out, and Remesis starved for a long time.
Asil had been unconscious for a long time. Her body had grown cold and her eyelashes were covered in frost. Remesis had already thought she was dead. But to her great surprise, the princess's body was able to overcome the disease on its own. After two weeks, she was even able to go out hunting. Then their hunger was over, and Remesis tasted the meat of wild animals for the first time.
Besides meat, there was no other food in the north. Because of the cold climate, no plants grew here. Therefore, overcoming her own disgust, the girl ate ineptly roasted meat without salt. Asil could even eat raw carcasses. She didn't know how to cook, so it was enough for her to simply skin the meat before eating it.
Those days were truly horrible. Remesis didn't even want to remember them.
That was why, this time, the girl was determined to do things differently.
Asil was indifferent to his wife's existence, and Remesis feared her. Such was their relationship, which did not change even when they grew up and started living in the castle. Even though Remesis had no warm feelings for her spouse, Asil was still her only secret weapon.
In order to get revenge and gain Asil's support in the future, she had to build a trusting relationship with her. That was her priority at the moment.
It took them about an hour to reach the cave. It was also cold inside the stone shelter, but at least there was no snow here. Remesis helped her to sit down, and then began pulling out the medicines she had taken from the manor.
She wasn't a doctor, of course, but she had read a few books on medicine nonetheless. Even unprofessionally, the girl could treat wounds. Remesis froze in indecision before voicing her request to the princess.
— Your Highness… Can you take off your outer clothing? I'm going to bandage the wound.
Asil remained silent as usual. Remesis took that as agreement and reached for the buttons on her bloody jacket. It was only at that moment that Asil intercepted her hand. Her golden eyes watched her with a probing look. For the first time, she spoke hoarsely:
— Don't touch… Don't touch me…