— Damn it! — A swear word escaped Katrina Eloen Daehsin's lips.
It was a frivolous and indecent act that didn't suit her beautiful face of a noble lady of high society.
Liana only stared at her without saying a word.
The time of late evening had come. After the family dinner was over, everyone who sat at the long table in the duchy's dining room dispersed to their chambers to prepare for bed and go to sleep. Katrina had been quiet throughout dinner, only occasionally casting discreet glances in the direction of her returning sister. However, after she and her wife returned to their own quarters, the Duke's eldest daughter threw a tantrum.
Of course, from Katrina's perspective, her younger sister's sudden arrival was resentful.
It had been a long time since they were children. Wasn't it long past time to put all those unresolved issues and grudges in the past? Liana couldn't understand why her wife needed to make such a scene. However, Katrina still came here to vent her anger after what had happened.
The successor of the astrological order had a tired look. She had spent the entire day travelling today, and even now she couldn't rest in peace as her wife continued to make noise.
— Damn thing.
Swearing, Katrina sat in front of the dressing table as she tidied up her hair. Since she was so angry that she couldn't stand the presence of outsiders, she didn't even want to see the maids, so she was preparing herself for bed by herself tonight. From the outside, Katrina was the embodiment of an angel, but the speeches that spewed from her mouth were not angelic.
As various unflattering things reached her ears, Liana Daehsin furrowed her brows.
Before going to bed, she was going to deal with the last of the documents left for the day. Even while visiting her consort's family, the woman had never forgotten her primary duties, which had obviously become even more numerous now compared to her youth. However, her wife's scolding was now preventing her from concentrating on her work.
Katrina continued to spew curses for a long time, to which no one responded, and then coughed to clear her throat.
Before long, Katrina said some rather unexpected words:
— Anyway, my dear, did you see how arrogant that brat was acting at dinner tonight?
— ...What?
— I'm talking about that damned bitch. Has she ever dared to even look us in the eye before? But now she's not ashamed to sit at the same table with us. It's a blatant insult...
Liana's heart instantly turned cold.
In the few years of their married life together, she had learnt her wife's character well. Liana knew very well that Katrina would never dare to speak in such a tone about high-ranking aristocrats. Moreover, even the lower nobles had never received such a barrage of insults from her mouth.
After all, being a noble lady, Katrina had always known how important her face and reputation were, and that such foul invectives were completely unacceptable to maintain her ideal image created in high society. The eldest daughter of the Duke, known as the beautiful flower of the Carter family.
But the reason why Katrina now continued to sling mud at Remesis as much as she wanted was because she was a cursed child. In society, disdain for that kind of person was seen as something natural. So, at the moment, the young woman did not care at all about her reputation, or how badly she might look in front of her wife. After all, it was only about that damned brat.
— I'd been pretending she didn't exist all this time, but she must have completely forgotten her place. Should I remind her of that? — Katrina ominously muttered that.
On the other hand, the Duke's successor had already told her to take it easy. Before they sat down to dinner together tonight, Michel had warned Katrina that Remesis' stay here should go least problematic. Except it had angered her in no small part.
Katrina, who as a child had always listened to her older brother and taken his opinion as her own, now for the first time could not agree with him. It seemed to her that her brother was being overly cautious with this filthy wench. However...
'Brother is blessed by the stars, he should know exactly what he's doing, and what will benefit our family...'
Still. It still seemed terribly unfair to her. How would she be able to remain calm when this trashy person would walk right in front of her with such a smug face?
Liana Daehsin looked at her spouse boiling with anger with a grim face when her own patience was also already running low. Finally, she slammed down the account book she had been reading until now.
— Don't you think you've already reached the age where you should become more sensible? — The tone of the woman's voice turned cold.
Katrina suddenly looked at her with a confused face.
— My dear, what do you mean by that? — She hesitated and asked again.
— Even if you didn't get along in adolescence, but haven't things changed now? — Liana opened her mouth calmly, ''Princess Rania is no longer a person from the past that you could freely disregard. Did you really think that by insulting the princess of the north, you would be able to get away with it without repercussions?
Katrina, with an angry face, only clenched her hands into fists tightly.
— Honey, don't tell me you're trying to protect that bitch! — she angrily exclaimed.
— It's not like that at all. I just want to warn you to be more careful. Don't forget that our families are connected now. And I won't tolerate any shadows on the Daehsin family because of your reckless actions.
When Liana was seriously reprimanding her, Katrina had no choice but to reconcile herself to it and tightly close her lips. In any case, no matter how angry she was, the girl could not speak out against her wife, who never threw her words around in vain.
— I'm sorry. Perhaps I've been a little over-excited today..... — she muttered in an apologetic tone soon after.
Liana Daehsin sighed quietly.
— I hope you really understood me.
After a while, when the atmosphere in their chambers had lightened up a bit, Katrina quietly stood up from behind the dressing table and silently approached her wife from behind. She hugged her from the back and rested her head on her shoulder. Even if Liana wanted to remove her hand, she couldn't do so now, and only continued to be focused on her work. At this time, Katrina's voice came from next to her ear:
— By the way, dear, I heard that you two came together today...
Upon hearing this, Liana felt a slight thrill, but didn't show it. Instead, keeping a nonchalant expression on her face, she asked:
— How do you know about this?
— My maid saw you two leaving the same carriage together from the window. She reported it to me later.
Well, since there were already witnesses to what had happened, there was no point in Liana denying the obvious. Anyway, she wasn't going to hide it from the start.
— Yes, we really did come together, ' the woman didn't prevaricate and just told the story straight out.
Katrina frowned and slightly strengthened the grip with which she was hugging her wife.
— Darling, I don't want to pressure you in any way... I just want to know why you accompanied the damned one?
The young head hesitated for a moment before answering. This was the one time when telling the truth was the most advantageous.
— Princess Rania was assassinated on her way here, ' she said slowly, 'All her knights were killed and the princess was left alone and unaccompanied. We happened to be travelling on the same road at the same time. So I decided to help her get to the mansion.
— What? Was she attacked? — The Duke's eldest daughter unconsciously perked up her ears as soon as she heard that.
— Yes. I managed to get to the princess' rescue just before one of the mercenaries tried to kill her...
Actually, it wasn't too surprising that the Princess of the North, known as a bloodthirsty killer who had crossed many people's paths, had quite a few enemies. It was possible that some of them actually dared enough to even attempt to attack her wife. And yet, attacks on nobles didn't happen every day. So such incidents always caused a storm of discussion. Liana thought that Katrina would be at least a little surprised after hearing what she had heard. But instead...
— Darling, if someone was really trying to kill that brat, why did you prevent him?
— ...What?
— You could have just left it like that, ' she continued coldly, 'If she was gone, I would have slept well tonight. But because my wife is so soft-hearted, I will now have to endure this annoying creature all these days...''
After saying those words, Liana was stunned, unable to find anything to say. She raised her head for the first time and looked at her wife, whose head was resting on her shoulder and whose arms were gently wrapped around her neck.
In Liana's eyes, the girl was a different person now. The hatred that was reflected in her gaze, as well as that cold expression on her face..... It gave the impression that right now she wasn't talking about her own little sister at all.
Katrina Eloen Carter was often called the beautiful flower of the duchy. Due to her outstanding appearance and high origin, she was very popular in high society. Katrina was the daughter that many said most resembled the late Grand Duchess.
Perhaps this really was not an exaggeration, because the girl was actually quite good looking. Her appearance stood out even among other noble ladies. Long eyelashes, a beautiful face. Light blonde hair, soft and long, blended well with her clear skin.
Only, would all these people continue to sing praises about her if they heard those ominous words that so casually flew from her lips now?
Even the arm that was gently wrapped around her neck reminded Liana more of a cold snake at this moment.
'The Carter family's beautiful flower.'
Liana Daehsin faintly chuckled at her own thoughts.
Could she have known that the true identity of the woman she would bond with would be like this?
***
Princess Severa surrounded herself with documents and account books, ordering the servants to serve breakfast directly to her room. The time at work flew by unnoticed. She preferred to exercise during her short rest, though. The room was silent, only the squeak of her pen as she signed documents could be heard...
~Knock, knock~
There were several jerky knocks on the door. Asil raised her head and looked at the doorway. No one in the entire castle had any reason to disturb her, so she immediately guessed who her visitor was. Nevertheless, for the sake of caution, the woman answered as if it were a servant.
— Come in.
The door opened with a slight creak and the one she had expected to see stood before Asil.
— Madam, we managed to find out what you asked.
The leader of the squad that was secretly carrying out the orders of the Mistress of the North bowed low before her.
— Please take a look.
The knight stepped closer and held out his report to her. Asil liked people who knew how to do their job silently and without too many questions.
— Hm.
The princess took the report in her hands and ran her eyes over a few sheets. She only hastily assessed the general state of affairs, but she had already managed to pay attention to several interesting details.
For a moment, the woman couldn't contain her laughter.
She flipped through the pages faster and faster. She came across some curious things that were definitely worth her attention.
Asil Nara Asheloth raised her head in satisfaction, finally taking her eyes off the papers the servant had brought her. A sly light danced in her golden eyes.
— Oh, wife, I wonder what game you are playing.
The corners of the woman's mouth curved into a sarcastic grin.
***
Chapter 25 is already available on Boosty: https://boosty.to/meredit