— Be careful, young master, my lady.
Geraldine, the butler, and the other servants stood at the entrance to the manor to bid farewell to the ducal successor and the princess before they left for the imperial palace.
— You will take care of the household while father and I are away, ' Michel said.
— Please don't worry. Thanks to your instructions, everything will be fine.
— Good, — the young man nodded satisfactorily, — But if anything happens, please write me a letter.
Geraldine nodded back at him, and at that moment, Remesis turned to the Duke's successor.
— Brother, we must hurry, it will soon be noon, ' she reminded him.
— Yes, of course.
As the farewell before departure came to an end, brother and sister made their way to the carriage.
— Let's go, ' the heir to the duchy commanded as soon as they were seated in the carriage.
— Yes, young lord.
The coachman pulled the reins, and the carriage slowly began to move forward. Remesis nodded goodbye from the window to Seyla, who came out to see them off with the rest of the staff. The maid kept waving until the carriage disappeared from sight. As the horses picked up speed, beautiful scenery flashed by outside the window. Michelle kept a steady eye on the road, while her thoughts were rapidly taking the Princess of the North far away from this place.
Although this decision was unplanned, or to be more precise, sudden, Remesis had no hesitation about her choice. Above all, it was necessary in order to deal with whatever was keeping her in suspense once and for all. She suspected that there might be much more behind the history of the Imperial family than met the eye. The girl had first become interested in it as soon as she had first visited the palace twelve years ago. Even then, some of the things she saw seemed strange to her.
'What is the emperor really trying to hide? And what does Asil have to do with it?'
To find the answers to these questions, Remesis had already made attempts at one time or another that ultimately yielded no results.
When the princess had tried to find out something from the maester of the northern castle, who had previously worked as a tutor in the imperial palace for many years, the latter had always avoided her questions related to the imperial family. Obviously, the old man didn't want to bring up the topic. And that only increased the girl's suspicions on the matter. In the end, she came to the conclusion that she had to deal with it on her own.
And how else could it be done except by visiting the imperial palace in person? Thus, the princess of the north came to this decision, which caused quite a bit of surprise from those around her.
Meanwhile, Remesis couldn't help but notice that the duke's eldest son occasionally cast wary glances in her direction. Although he seemed to do it discreetly, the girl could still feel a pair of brown eyes begin to penetrate her as soon as she looked away.
Well, apparently Michel Carter couldn't help but feel suspicious as to why Remesis had suddenly expressed a desire to go on this trip with him. You could literally read the question on his face, 'What is this girl up to? ' And the moment Remesis caught another glimpse of him looking at her, she turned to him first and smiled radiantly.
'.....'
Michel immediately hurriedly looked away, pretending to consider the scenery outside the window, but it was too late.
— Brother, I'm sure it will be great. Let's enjoy the trip together.
The Duke's successor flinched and tried to give her a strained smile. To tell the truth, it didn't come out well.
— Yes, I'm looking forward to it too.
After exchanging fake pleasantries with her older brother, Remesis smiled contentedly, still having no idea what awaited them in the palace.
***
They were already about halfway to the imperial palace. Since the Carter Manor was not that far from the capital, the entire journey should take them no more than a day. And during this time, they made one small stop to give the carriage and horses a break.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Remesis left the carriage to meet Hannes, who, along with the others, was taking part in guarding the carriage. They stepped aside so that no one could overhear them.
— Still no reply from the lord? — The girl asked excitedly.
In answer to her question, the knight shook his head negatively.
— What about the previous letter?
Hannes Wrightly sighed sullenly.
— Both of the letters I sent, unfortunately, still went unanswered...
After listening to the fortress commander's brief report, the expression on the princess of the north's face became even more gloomy. She couldn't understand what could have happened.
— Good... I understand, ' Remesis hesitated, then sighed disappointedly.
— Your Highness, don't worry about it too much! — The knight immediately tried to cheer her up, - It is possible that the princess is too busy right now, and she hasn't had time to familiarise herself with the letters yet... I'm sure we'll get an answer as soon as possible!
Remesis smiled faintly at him.
— Yes, I hope so too.
From the growing excitement, Remesis unconsciously bit her lip. What was happening did indeed seem somewhat strange to her. In all this time, Hannes Reitli had sent several messages to the northern fortress, which included reports of an attack on Remesis on the way, and that she was going to attend a banquet at the imperial palace. However, since that very first letter, sent over a week ago, they still hadn't received a single reply.
Remesis couldn't understand what could be the reason for this delay. Was Asil really that busy with her duties? So much so that she was not even able to read and reply to her letter? A vague sense of unease over this never left the girl, and yet in the end she really decided not to worry about it too much. It was possible that Hannes was right, and they would indeed receive a reply soon.
— Sister, what are you doing there? It's time for us to depart.
At that moment, her hearing was reached by the voice of Michel, who had called out to her while in the carriage. The short break had come to an end and they were going to continue their journey to the capital again. The girl pressed her lips together and bade farewell to Hannes, who bowed to her before turning back to the other soldiers.
— Yes, I'm on my way now.
As a result, for the rest of the journey, Remezis was once again immersed in uneasy thoughts, which this time was due to the prolonged lack of response from the princess. However, Michel broke the silence at one point, bringing her back to reality.
— Sister, ' he called out to her, 'We are almost there.
The distant imperial palace was getting closer before Remesis realised it. Though the girl found herself a little flustered by this, she instead responded calmly:
— Ah, really? Good.
Looking out the window, Remesis saw a long procession of carriages stretching from the palace gates. 'It's been so long since I've been here.' Remesis hadn't been to the Imperial Palace in years, not since she had visited it once as a child after receiving a summons from the Imperial Palace. And as the years passed, this place was still the same as it was in her memory. Although it was a building that held not the fondest of memories for Remesis, the Imperial Palace was extremely grand and beautiful, as expected of a place where the ruler of this empire resided.
— Sister, ' Michel called out to her again.
— Yes? ' the girl belatedly replied, switching her attention from the scenery outside the window to her brother.
— It's time for us to go out.
— Ah, of course.
At that moment the carriage, which had been slowing down and travelling slowly before, stopped. Soon, the door opened.
The Duke's successor was the first to step out of the carriage and extended his hand to her. Remesis stared at his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then grabbed it. 'No, this guy has definitely been switched somewhere.' — this suspicion resumed in her mind with renewed vigour.
Either the girl was now really dealing with a clone of her brother, or. her new status was putting even more pressure on the Duke's successor than she had originally realised. It was hard to imagine how much effort it was costing the guy to keep restraining himself throughout this entire period of time.
In any case, none of that mattered all that much now. Remesis finally made it to the imperial palace.
— By His Majesty's grace, the Carter family's successor is assigned the residence 'Venus Palace' in the western part of the Imperial City.
At the entrance before the gates of the imperial palace, a servant stood at the entrance to read out the edicts with the imperial seal. Each of the guests arriving at the banquet was assigned an area for temporary accommodation according to their position in high society. Food and clothing were also provided according to the status of the guest.
Normally, such things were always distributed in advance, at the same time as the list of invited guests was drawn up, and there was no problem with it. But this time, the unexpected arrival of the princess of the north really caused a commotion. The servant, who had in no way expected to see the mistress of the northern castle here, was even speechless for a while.
''What should we do? — The servant's face turned deathly pale, ''Due to the fact that all the other palaces have been distributed to the guests in advance, there is currently only one vacant castle, the smallest one located in the corner of the Imperial City. This is a disaster. The North will never forgive us for such an insult!'
Remesis looked at the servant with an expression of bewilderment, not even realising that right now the poor man was on the verge of going to the afterlife.
— What's the matter? Is there a problem with that? — The tone of her voice was somewhat cold.
The servant was clearly nervous, but he tried his best to suppress the feeling.
— No, it's not like that at all... — he whispered.
The servant clenched his fists, trying to think of a solution to this difficult problem as quickly as possible. And at that moment a thought came into his head, which seemed to him like an epiphany.
He remembered that there was another palace within the Imperial City, located in the central part, and which had not yet been reserved by anyone in advance. This seemed like the best way out of this situation. Except for one small catch.....
But then again, wasn't it still better than putting the princess of the north to live in a small palace in the outskirts? Although this decision was not agreed upon with anyone, but at this moment, the servant volunteered to take all the responsibility.
No matter what happens, there was no way they should offend these northern barbarians who were currently holding the entire empire in fear.
— Of course, there's no problem with that, ' the servant hurriedly recovered himself and put on a polite smile once again, 'We will happily escort the princess of the north to her palace!