— Your Highness, please wake up!
— Mmm.
— Your Highness! It's time for you to get up! — The voices of the maids trying to wake up their mistress were desperate.
— Let me sleep a little longer. Wake me in five minutes.
Remesis rolled over onto her back. Her hand reached for the blanket to cover herself with it. Meanwhile, the pitiful voice came to her again and again:
— Your Highness, the princess will be here soon. How can you continue to sleep?
For a man whose wife was returning home today after almost a year's absence, Remesis' behaviour was simply unthinkable. But the girl, for her part, only continued to wave away the maids who were trying their best to get her out of bed.
— Your Highness, we ask you…
— Alright… All right, I'll get up.
Finally, having succumbed to the entreaties of the maids who were still reluctant to leave her alone, Remesis Rania Ashelot was forced to wake up. She began to shake her half-asleep head, trying to make sense of the situation. As she continued to yawn, the girl could already hear the noise and neighing of horses clearly coming from the street.
'Looks like she's really here.'
Remesis stood up to walk over to the window and pull back the thick curtain. Along with the cold sunlight that penetrated the room, the girl saw another picture.
Indeed, it was her consort arriving with a group of warriors. The soldiers looked very majestic as they rode along the main road to the castle. From behind the closed gates, people could be heard cheering loudly for them.
But contrary to the general enthusiasm of the people rejoicing at the victory and the safe return of their lord, Remesis only suppressed another yawn and closed the curtain behind her.
Today was the long awaited day when the princess who had fought the barbarians on the border finally returned home. It was an absolute victory. The last and strongest tribe of barbarians in the north had been conquered by a woman in less than a year. The final step to complete control of the Northern Edge had been taken. From now on, all living things in these lands were obliged to obey Asil.
Watching the small silhouettes of warriors visible below, Remesis couldn't help but notice a familiar silver top. It was hard to believe at times. It had been a full eleven years since they had first travelled here with the deposed Crown Princess.
Remesis had turned nineteen this year, and Asil was twenty-three.
And in those years, which flew by like a blink of an eye, a lot had happened.
In the end, they were victorious, and the bitter cold and other harshness of the north had finally passed.
The monsters were driven out of the residential areas, and the barren lands found a new master.
The ring, created as a mockery and placed on the finger of a cursed child, has, after many years, found its true meaning.
And they themselves, the cursed children, had changed a lot.
— Your Highness,' a maid, one of those who served the Princess of the North, addressed her awkwardly.
As soon as Remesis fell out of her little reverie, she turned to the maids.
— Hm? What are you doing?
Though she had no time to give them any orders, the maids were already bustling about, preparing to put a gloss on her.
— Your Highness, please come this way. We will do our best to make you look as beautiful as possible!
Remesis only sighed, noticing the determined faces of the maids.
— That won't be necessary.
— Eek… Excuse me? — The maids looked a little confused.
— Aren't I just going to meet her? — Remesis folded her arms across her chest: - It won't take more than five minutes. There's no need to go to all that trouble for that.
The sagging jaws of the maids spoke more eloquently than words could say about their reactions. This was despite the fact that most of the castle's inhabitants should be used to it by now. Nevertheless, the servants still had a hard time accepting the fact that the princess was going to meet the Grand Lord of the Northern Lands… like this.
Though it couldn't be said that Remesis looked somehow completely unpresentable. After all, even her sleepy appearance and wrinkled clothes couldn't spoil her beauty. But in any case… if only for the sake of decency, shouldn't she have tidied up a bit? Was it appropriate to meet her spouse after a long separation in such a state? But the Princess looked as if she didn't care.
— Let's go. I want to get this over with and go back to sleep.
The maids, who had been hesitating until then, came to their senses the moment Remesis headed for the door. One by one, the girls sighed sadly, for they had never managed to make their mistress look beautiful.
— Yes, Princess…
Since Remesis had overslept and got up too late, there was really no time to get ready, so Remesis decided to just go out in what she was wearing. The girl only wrapped herself in a shawl, as it was cold outside, unlike the castle.
The Princess of the North walked down the corridor, heading for the lower floor, and the people who met her on the way paid her homage. Many of them looked at the girl with admiration. Remesis answered those people with a nod.
Inside the magnificent Nord Castle, contrary to people's expectations, it was quite cosy.
It was designed to keep the heat from escaping outside the castle, and it was always warm, as if it were springtime. The carpeted floors were quite soft.
And all of this was a credit to the princess, who had endeavoured to make the place really feel like a home for people to live in, not just a military fortress. Eventually, as she wished, Remesis Rania Ashelot became the full mistress of this castle.
The white banners bearing the crest of Fortress Nord were flying, and it was truly a majestic sight. As they approached, the knights slowed their step. The procession was led by a young woman who was the ruler of these lands.
She was tall, and a cloak of fluffy fur was thrown over her strong, imposing shoulders. All the people who looked at her silver hair and face thought of death. But among all the people, the woman raised her amber eyes and looked ahead at only one person.
Remesis stood in the farthest part of the castle courtyard, where all the servants had run out to greet the army returning from a military campaign, and shivered from the cold.
Asil Nara Asheloth, clad in steel helmet and armour, stopped her horse. If an enemy saw such an opponent on the battlefield, the sight of him would definitely frighten him. But Remesis didn't even raise an eyebrow. Her face still showed her displeasure at having to get up so early today.
Just a moment ago, the expression on the woman's face, which had looked cold and aloof, brightened.
— Wife!
Princess Severa got off her horse. Removing her helmet, she handed it to the knight beside her.
Asil spread her arms, a gesture clearly calculated to make Remesis rush to her with a joyous embrace. But the princess did not move, keeping her arms crossed over her chest. Asil herself, however, was not at all embarrassed. When there was no response from the other side, the princess herself approached her and embraced her in a tight hug.
— My wife… have you been waiting for me for a long time?
At this question, the servants standing nearby turned pale and coughed. The most truthful answer to this question was that the princess really deigned to leave the castle only when the procession was already passing through the main gate. Moreover, she had even overslept, and had not bothered in the least to greet her consort in a manner more befitting the occasion. Instead, Remesis still stood in her nightclothes, covered only by her shawl.
— No. I wasn't expecting you at all,' she replied reluctantly.
At such a straightforward answer from the princess, the people around her turned pale. To say something like that in the face of the northern devil himself... Anyone would have thought that Remesis was simply a fearless man who did not fear for his life in the slightest. But hearing her disgruntled grumbling, Asil only laughed.
— Don't say that. I know that deep down you were still worried.
— It's nothing like that.
— My wife is so sweet. Even making that face, you can't hide your true feelings.
'What? When have I ever done that? I always only tell the truth.'
Remesis sighed quietly, furrowing her eyebrows.
Only this man could turn her words inside out so skilfully. The girl had no choice but to accept it.
— We should go back to the castle. Everyone must be tired after the journey.
Remesis nimbly slipped out of Asil's arms like flowing water and quickly made her way towards the squad of guardsmen.
The girl personally thanked each of the soldiers and praised them for their work. She also handed them the gratuities and gifts Remesis had prepared in advance, for these men had bravely risked their lives on the battlefield to bring greatness to the north.
Flowers bloomed on the faces of the guardsmen, simply because they were grateful for the princess' special treatment of simple warriors like them. While any other aristocrat would not do such a thing.
After that, having fulfilled her primary duties as mistress of the castle, Remesis could finally go back to her own place with a clear conscience. Honestly, she wanted to go back to her bed and continue sleeping.
But her plans were disrupted by one person. In an instant, the man beside Remesis had gone from a dangerous northern wolf to a harmless puppy who wagged his tail in front of her.
— You gave a reward to the Guardsmen. What about me? — The tone that came out of the princess' mouth was resentful and did not match her imposing image at all.
The question made Remesis raise an eyebrow.
She had hoped that things would have changed at least a little during this year. But in the end it had remained the same. Remesis stood in the shadow of her huge body. Still, at times like this, she had the impression that what she saw before her was not a grown woman, but still the child with whom they had once travelled north together. No, that child was definitely not that cunning.
— Didn't you expand your own territory thanks to this war and profit from it? Why do you still want a reward from me? — Remesis found it unreasonable that in such a situation, Asil still demanded some additional reward from her.
— But I only went there because you asked me to. Otherwise, would I have agreed to part with my wife for a whole year? — The princess clung to her like a beast in need of affection, but Remesis remained cold. Well, there was some truth in that. At Remesis' request during these years, the princess was constantly on military campaigns, which sometimes dragged on for quite a long time.
But in the end it was all done not only for her sake, but for their common good. To fulfil their plan of revenge, strengthening the North's position was simply necessary. So Remesis didn't see this as any kind of 'sacrifice' on Asil's part.
— Don't be ridiculous. What 'parting of the ways' are we talking about? — Remesis rolled her eyes in response to her next rant. She then turned around and headed back to the castle.
— Wife, I'm starving. You'll keep me company at dinner, won't you? — Asil suddenly found herself walking beside her. She tried to put her arm round her, but Remesis dodged away as usual.
— Are you still a child who can't eat on her own? — Remesis asked with irritation.
— Such things are not age appropriate. I just want to eat with my wife. You can't refuse the heroine who brought victory to the north, can you?
Remesis snorted, for not only had this woman grown and changed a lot in appearance over the years, but she had also learnt to speak beautifully. Thus, despite Remesis' displeasure, they still walked hand in hand all the way to the castle. Just then, after a brief lull, it snowed again and the snow fell thickly.
This was the eleventh winter Remesis Carter, the Duke's youngest daughter, had spent in Fortress Nord.
There were still six months to go before the girl died at the hands of Asil in her previous life.