"She can talk after all?"

  The first thought that flashed through Remesis's mind quickly evaporated. Asil looked at her with fury. When the girl reached for the collar of her jacket to unbutton it, the wounded princess stopped her with a surprisingly strong grip.

  Confusion mixed with suspicion was in her eyes.

  Even after everything they had been through, Asil still treated her with distrust. However, considering how many times she had been stabbed in the back, this was not surprising. It was unlikely that such a person would easily trust a stranger.

  But the wounds still needed treatment…

  Remesis hesitated, as Asil categorically resisted being touched. Judging by the atmosphere, one might think Remesis was about to be torn apart, like the mercenaries earlier.

  The girl clearly sensed the threat and swallowed the lump. She definitely wasn't going to take any risks. Who knows what this little monster could do to her?

  In her first life, Remesis remained unharmed near Asil simply because her existence didn't cause her any problems. A quiet and submissive wife, whose presence wouldn't even be noticed. Remesis was so afraid of attracting Asil's attention that she didn't even breathe when near her.

  At times, the girl was more like a decoration than a living person. Actually, for this reason, even if people around her died, Remesis managed to survive thanks to her inconspicuousness.

  But all that was in the past.

  Since she had now decided to act radically differently, she did not yet know what the consequences might be. Asil's character was like a ticking time bomb. Remesis, having lived with her for twelve years, knew this better than anyone.

  So…

  "Alright," Remesis nodded slowly, withdrawing her hand. Asil also unclenched her fingers. "If you are against it, I won't do it."

  The girl shuddered inwardly but didn't show it. As calmly as possible, she took the medicines out of the bag and laid them out before her. From what she had brought, there were enough bandages, alcohol, and wound-healing ointment. All this was found for her by Seila, who had wondered why she needed this first-aid kit.

  "Milady, how could you get hurt during a carriage ride?"

  "Anything can happen."

  Remesis answered her mysteriously, and the maid sighed when her little mistress again spoke in strange phrases. Sometimes she just didn't try to understand the meaning of her words.

  Remembering this, Remesis lamented that she should have asked for more supplies. Although she still hoped that such dangerous situations were not imminent in the near future.

  "Then you can do it yourself," Remesis left the supplies next to her. "Your Highness, do you know how to bandage wounds?"

  Asil muttered something indefinite in response.

  Okay, suppose that was agreement.

  But a chill still ran down the girl's spine. All because Asil continued to bore into her with a gaze that held nothing benevolent. Remesis involuntarily hiccuped. It seemed like an appropriate time to leave her alone.

  "When you're done, you can just leave everything here. I'll clean it up."

  With these words, the girl intended to go to sleep. Today had been too tiring. Although Remesis had suffered very little, she was severely exhausted. She needed to regain some strength before setting off.

  Despite it being very cold, Remesis did not risk making a fire here. Barbarians patrolled these areas and could easily find them if they saw fire in the cave.

  So, although her teeth chattered from the cold, Remesis decided she would get through it.

  From her travel bag, the girl made something like a sleeping place. Remesis lay down on it and hugged herself to warm up a bit. Falling asleep in the cold was not a very safe idea, but she had no choice but to do it.

  The girl closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. Despite the less-than-comfortable conditions, it happened quite quickly. After all, this body belonged to a child, and she was very tired.

  A wave of drowsiness began to overtake Remesis's mind when the last sound she heard was a rustle nearby.

  And then she dreamed. A dream about her past life.

  The Capital of the North, Fortress Nord.

  "If you're not busy… Could we… Could we talk…?"

  Remesis hesitantly asked the question to her back when the mistress of the snowcovered territories stopped. Her torso slowly turned. A mocking smile appeared in her cold golden eyes.

  "And if I am busy?"

  Asil Nara Ashelot looked back at the frightened lady before her. She looked more like a gray mouse than the Princess of the North. Remesis Carter, now Ashelot, was very beautiful. No one could deny that.

  However, all her beauty faded in comparison to how she hunched and anxiously lowered her head. Her pale face seemed even whiter than snow. Her blue eyes, born to be like precious stones, were dull.

  Remesis trembled from head to toe, trying to find words.

  "If you're busy, then next time…"

  She turned to leave. However, Asil stopped her, suddenly quickly appearing beside her. She looked at her indifferently.

  "I didn't even give you permission to leave. It seems during my absence, you've become quite spoiled."

  Remesis shuddered and immediately shook her head.

  "N-no, that's not true! It's not true!"

  "Not true?" The Mistress of the North looked at her tense face. "Then say what you want to say."

  "…"

  They stood alone in the empty corridor. All the servants and knights instantly retreated, as a conversation was starting between the married couple. A very rare conversation, it must be said.

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  Despite Remesis and Asil being married for many years, they almost never saw each other. Everyone in the castle knew they had no relationship. Asil traveled around the northern territories or was at war. Only occasionally did she return to the castle to settle property matters.

  But even then, a meeting between them seemed unthinkable.

  If Asil returned to their domain, she never visited Remesis. The latter also avoided her. Being a married couple, they lived like strangers. However, this was the first time Remesis had dared to seek her out herself.

  It wasn't easy.

  Asil had just returned from a prolonged war. She had managed to forcefully subdue all the major barbarian tribes in the North, and they had sworn allegiance to her. While the power of the northern army grew, Asil was less and less at home. She was busy preparing for what everyone expected.

  But for the first time in a long while, the woman finally appeared in the castle. Although the war ended a month ago, she herself had only just returned. Remesis, who had been preparing for this conversation for months, managed to "catch" her in the corridor.

  They hadn't seen each other for quite some time. The eyes of the golden wolf, which always seemed frightening to Remesis, now looked particularly aloof. The girl swallowed. Although she had long prepared for this conversation, she was afraid to start it. Asil's figure loomed over her, covering her with its shadow.

  Remesis was only slightly shorter than her. How did she manage that? Perhaps because of the bulky armor?

  In any case, the girl spoke hesitantly, afraid of exhausting her patience.

  "Divorce… Can we get a divorce?"

  "…"

  The silence that fell in the corridor was frightening.

  "What?"

  Asil looked at her, frowning.

  "I… I do almost nothing. I am useless to you," Remesis muttered. "So… I… I… I would like to return to the capital."

  This was true. Having the title of Princess of the North, she had no responsibilities.

  Remesis was completely ignorant in managing the castle and running household affairs. In fact, she lived here as a parasite, doing nothing.

  This was the main reason why divorce seemed a logical solution.

  However, for the girl, it was just an excuse to escape. Remesis absolutely did not want to be the mistress of the northern castle. But she was too scared to propose a divorce until now. Only now had she managed to muster her will.

  Especially since chaos was soon to engulf the empire due to a coup d'état. Remesis wanted to settle down and live in a safer and quieter place.

  This was a reasonable reason. For Asil, there was no point in keeping a wife on her territory for whom she had no feelings anyway. However, in response to her bold words, the woman smirked coldly.

  "So, divorce? Do you really want to divorce me?"

  "Y-yes…"

  After all, this was initially just a marriage arranged by their parents. They were forced into it. So why not break it off now that they were adults?

  Remesis thought it was perfectly obvious. But…

  "That won't happen."

  Remesis's eyes widened.

  "Wh-what?"

  "I said, there will be no divorce," she repeated quietly.

  "W-why?"

  The girl's throat went dry. She stared at her in confusion.

  "There's nowhere left to run now. You want an easy life, returning to the capital? Well, that won't happen."

  "…"

  Remesis fell silent, feeling shock deep in her consciousness. She lowered her eyes, but Asil forced her to look up again. Her fingers closed around her chin like an iron clamp. Her eyes stung with tears. Remesis restrained herself from crying in her presence.

  "You will leave the North only if you die," Asil whispered. "Do you agree to that?"

  The princess fixed her gaze on her wife. She found the beautiful face of the Duke's youngest daughter disgusting, causing her expression to harden.

  Remesis trembled finely. Simply being near this woman made it hard to breathe. The girl dug her nails into her palm to somehow calm down.

  "Do you understand me?" Asil asked quietly.

  Remesis nodded with difficulty.

  Asil, satisfied with the answer, released her. She looked down at her.

  "Just behave as usual. Be a good girl. You want to live, don't you?"

  "…"

  Remesis's legs went weak, and she found the strength to shake her head like a puppet in agreement.

  Asil turned around, about to leave. At that moment, Remesis muttered weakly:

  "I don't understand why you need me… Doesn't Your Highness already have Gardenia?"

  Asil froze a few meters away from her. Her eyes, more beastly than human, blazed furiously. Remesis realized too late that she had said too much. She was about to fall to her knees and beg for forgiveness, but Asil beat her to it.

  An icy voice slowly uttered:

  "Be quiet. One more word about this…"

  Remesis shuddered and immediately bowed her head.

  "I… I apologize!"

  Asil frowned.

  She had already slightly opened her mouth, but then changed her mind and stepped forward without hesitation. The woman's long strides carried her further and further away. Until, finally, the silhouette of the northern devil completely disappeared from sight in a matter of seconds.

  Remesis should have been glad it was over. But… The sight of her spouse's retreating back instilled anxiety in her.

  The girl remained standing in the same place and nearly fell from helplessness. With this conversation, she had tried to prevent the inevitable, but as it turned out, there was no other way.

  "One way or another, I'll have to kill her to save myself…" Remesis muttered under her breath, having received the offer from the Emperor a few weeks ago.

  The last chance for salvation, which she did not intend to miss.

  Shuh!

  Remesis woke up in a cold sweat.

  The first thing she saw was Asil. The girl with disheveled black hair and an emaciated face was already awake, watching her from the other corner of the cave.

  Her heart was still pounding as Remesis sat up and touched her forehead. Why did she feel more tired than rested after sleeping?

  "Hmm…"

  Unexpectedly, she dreamed of her last conversation with Asil from her past life. Just a few days after this, she died…

  Before her was still the expressionless face of the beautiful woman. It was undeniable that the cursed princess made a strong impression. Remesis had never met another person like her. The habits of a wild beast and an aristocratic appearance were incredibly combined in her.

  When she calmed down a bit, she shifted her gaze to the small dark creature watching her. Could she have been doing this all night?

  The imposing silhouette of the woman who could cover her with her shadow was gone. Instead, before Remesis sat a child with whom they had fled from the mercenaries together yesterday. For a moment, the girl even thought that everything happening was not reality, but just a dream.

  The unfulfilled regrets from her previous life, which overtook her before death.

  But no. The next moment, the girl shuddered from the cold as the northern wind blew in her face. This was definitely not a dream.

  Remesis sighed.

  Despite so many events having occurred since the beginning of her second life, sometimes she really couldn't come to terms with it.

  "I really have returned to the past…"

  Waking up, the first thing she did was rummage through her bag. Remesis had eaten almost nothing yesterday. The girl felt her stomach about to twist with hunger.

  Fortunately, this time there were more provisions than she had brought with her.

  Enough for the two of them.

  Remesis took out some stale but edible bread and broke off a piece. One piece she kept for herself, and the other she held out to Asil.

  The girl silently looked at it. The hunger emanating from her gaze at the sight of food quickly turned into wariness. She looked at the bread offered to her with undisguised suspicion.

  Remesis immediately understood her obvious thoughts and reassured her:

  "It's not poisoned."

  As proof, she bit off a fairly large piece of her portion in front of her. Then chewed and swallowed.

  "…"

  Surprise flickered in the princess's eyes. But it immediately dissipated behind her usual stony mask.

  "Isn't that still enough…?"

  Remesis didn't insist and simply placed the bread next to her. She sat down nearby and began to eat. Fortunately, there was also enough water for the near future.

  She noticed that there were fewer bandages in her supplies. It seemed Asil had used them after all. But how effective it was, Remesis couldn't judge. After all, as yesterday, Asil was unlikely to allow her to touch her.

  Involuntarily, her gaze continued to slide over the child who now so little resembled the woman from her dream.

  Remesis focused her attention on her thin figure and especially on her face. Apparently, the girl had been starving for so long that her cheeks had become sunken. Despite the small size of her clothes, even they barely stayed on her. The sleeves of her ugly gray jacket were rolled up twice on her thin wrists.

  Asil was twelve years old. Like Michel. But unlike Remesis's older brother, who looked very good for his age, Asil, on the contrary, looked much younger. In such living conditions, this was not surprising.

  The princess lagged behind her peers in both height and weight. And yet she managed to remain so strong… Remesis could not understand this phenomenon. At such moments, the thought crept into her head that she really was the devil.

  Well, in any case, even the devil needs food, the girl thought. Asil was already very thin. What if she fainted from weakness, and then what would they do? Remesis definitely couldn't carry her on her back for long…

  But Asil didn't trust her and didn't want to take food from her hands. That was the problem.

  And while the girl was thinking about how to persuade her to eat, she suddenly heard a crunch.

  She stared in surprise at the opposite side of the cave, where her eyes beheld an unimaginable sight. Asil, still not taking her silent gaze off her, was very quickly shoving bread into her mouth.