"Your Highness, please wake up!"

  "Mmm..."

  "Your Highness! It's time to get up!" The voices of the maids trying to wake their mistress were filled with despair.

  "Let me sleep a little more. Wake me up in five minutes."

  Remesis turned onto her back. Her hand reached for the blanket to cover herself. Meanwhile, the pitiful voice reached her again and again:

  "Your Highness, the princess will be here soon. How can you continue sleeping?"

  For a person whose wife was returning home today after nearly a year's absence, Remesis's behavior was simply unthinkable. But the girl, in turn, merely continued to wave off the maids who were trying their best to lift her from the bed.

  "Your Highness, we beg you..."

  "Alright... Alright, I'm getting up."

  Finally, giving in to the pleas of the maids who just wouldn't leave her alone, Remesis Rania Ashelot was forced to wake up. She began to turn her half-asleep head, trying to figure out the situation. Continuing to yawn, the girl could already hear the noise and neighing of horses clearly coming from outside.

  "It seems she really is here."

  Remesis got up to go to the window and pull back the thick curtain. Along with the cold sunlight that entered the room, the girl saw another scene.

  Indeed, it was her spouse, who had arrived with a group of warriors. The soldiers looked very majestic as they rode along the main road to the castle. Beyond the closed gates, one could hear people loudly greeting them.

  But contrary to the general enthusiasm of the people rejoicing at the victory and safe return of their lord, Remesis merely suppressed another yawn and closed the curtain behind her.

  Today had arrived, the long-awaited day when the princess, who had been fighting barbarians on the border, finally returned home. It was an absolute victory. The last and strongest tribe of barbarians in the north had been subdued by the woman in less than a year. The final step towards establishing complete control over the Northern region had been taken. From now on, all living things in these lands were obliged to obey Asil.

  Observing the small silhouettes of the warriors visible below, Remesis could not help but notice a familiar silver head of hair. At times it was hard to believe. A whole eleven years had passed since they first came here together with the deposed crown princess.

  Remesis had turned nineteen this year, and Asil was twenty-three years old.

  And over these years, which flew by like one moment, very much had happened.

  In the end, they had achieved victory, and finally the severe cold and other harshness of the north had passed.

  The monsters had been pushed beyond the territories of residential settlements, and the barren lands had found a new master.

  The ring, created as a mockery and placed on the finger of a cursed child, had after many years acquired its true meaning.

  And they themselves, the cursed children, had changed greatly.

  "Your Highness," one of the maids who served the Princess of the North addressed her awkwardly.

  As soon as Remesis snapped out of her brief reverie, she turned to the maids.

  "Hm? What are you doing?"

  Although she hadn't given them any orders, the maids were already bustling about, preparing to make her shine.

  "Your Highness, please come here. We will try to do everything in our power to make you look as beautiful as possible!"

  Remesis just sighed, noticing the determined faces of the maids.

  "There's no need for that."

  "I-ick... Excuse me?" The maids looked a bit confused.

  "Am I not just going to meet her?" Remesis folded her arms across her chest: "It will take no more than five minutes. There's no need to go to such trouble for this."

  The dropped jaws of the maids spoke more eloquently than any words about their reaction. And this despite the fact that most of the castle's inhabitants should already be used to this. Nevertheless, the servants still found it hard to come to terms with the fact that the princess was going to meet the Great Lord of the Northern Lands... looking like this.

  Although it couldn't be said that Remesis looked completely unpresentable. After all, even a sleepy appearance and rumpled clothes could not spoil her beauty. But in any case... at least for the sake of decency, shouldn't she have tidied herself up a bit? Was it appropriate to greet one's spouse after a long separation in such a state? But the Princess Consort looked as if she couldn't care less about it.

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  "Let's go. I want to get this over with quickly and continue sleeping."

  The maids, who had been hesitating until now, came to their senses the moment Remesis headed for the door. One after another, the girls sighed sadly, for they had not managed to beautify their mistress.

  "Yes, Princess..."

  Since Remesis had overslept and gotten up too late, there really was no time left for preparation, and Remesis decided to simply go out in what she was wearing. The girl merely wrapped herself in a shawl, as it was cold outside, unlike in the castle.

  The Princess of the North walked along the corridor heading to the lower floor, and people she met along the way paid her respects. Many of them looked at the girl with admiration. Remesis responded to those people with a nod.

  Inside the magnificent Fortress Nord, contrary to people's expectations, it was quite cozy.

  It was designed so that heat would not escape beyond the castle walls, and it was always warm inside, like spring. The floors, covered with carpets, were quite soft.

  And all this was the merit of the Princess Consort, who had tried to make this place truly feel like a home where people could live, not just a military fortress. After all, as she had wanted, Remesis Rania Ashelot had become the full-fledged mistress of this castle.

  White banners with the coat of arms of Fortress Nord fluttered, and it was truly a majestic sight. As they approached, the knights slowed their pace. 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 draped 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 forward at only one person.

  Remesis stood in the farthest part of the inner courtyard of the castle, where all the servants had run out to greet the army returning from the military campaign, and she shivered from the cold.

  Asil Nara Ashelot, clad in a steel helmet and armor, stopped her horse. If an enemy were to see such an opponent on the battlefield, their appearance would certainly frighten them. But Remesis didn't bat an eye. Her face still showed displeasure at having had to get up so early today.

  Just a moment ago, the woman's expression, which had looked cold and aloof, brightened.

  "Wife!"

  The Princess of the North dismounted from her horse. Removing her helmet, she handed it to a knight beside her.

  Asil spread her arms — a gesture clearly intended for Remesis to rush into joyful embrace. But the Princess Consort didn't move, continuing to keep her arms folded across her chest. However, this didn't faze Asil in the slightest. When no reciprocal action came from that side, the princess herself approached her and embraced her tightly.

  "My wife... have you been waiting for me long?"

  At this question, the servants standing nearby paled and coughed. The most truthful answer to this question was that the Princess Consort had only deigned to leave the castle when the procession was already passing through the main gates. Moreover, she had even overslept, and at that, hadn't bothered at all to greet her spouse in a manner more befitting the occasion. Instead, Remesis still stood in her nightclothes, merely covered by a shawl.

  "No. I wasn't waiting for you at all," the girl replied reluctantly.

  Hearing such a blunt answer from the Princess Consort, those around them sharply paled. Saying something like that to the face of the Northern Devil himself... Anyone would think that Remesis was simply a fearless person who had no fear for her life at all. But Asil, hearing her discontented grumbling, only laughed.

  "Don't say that. I know that deep down you were still worried."

  "Nothing of the sort."

  "My wife is so cute. Even making that face, you can't hide your true feelings."

  "What? When did I ever do that? I always speak only the truth."

  Remesis sighed quietly, furrowing her brows.

  Only this person knew how to so artfully twist her words inside out. The girl had no choice but to accept it.

  "We should return to the castle. Everyone must be tired after the journey."

  Remesis deftly slipped out of Asil's arms like flowing water and quickly headed towards the detachment of guards.

  The girl personally thanked each of the soldiers and praised them for their work. She also handed them monetary rewards and gifts that Remesis had prepared in advance, for these people had bravely risked their lives on the battlefield to bring greatness to the north.

  Flowers bloomed on the faces of the guards — simply because they were grateful for the princess's special treatment of such simple warriors as themselves. While any other aristocrat would not have acted in such a manner.

  After this, having fulfilled her primary duties as the mistress of the castle, Remesis could finally, with a clear conscience, return to herself. Honestly, she wanted to go back to her bed and continue sleeping.

  But her plans were disrupted by one person. In an instant, from a dangerous northern wolf, the person next to Remesis turned into a harmless puppy wagging its tail before her.

  "You gave a reward to the guards. What about me?" The tone that came from the princess's lips was offended and did not at all match her imposing image.

  At this question, Remesis raised an eyebrow.

  She had hoped that this year the situation might change at least a little. But in the end, everything remained the same. Remesis stood in the shadow of her huge body. Nevertheless, at such moments, she got the impression that she was seeing before her not an adult woman, but still that child with whom they had once arrived in the north together. No, that child was definitely not so cunning.

  "Didn't you expand your own territory through this war and benefit from it? Why do you still want to receive a reward from me?" Remesis found it unreasonable that in such a situation Asil still demanded some additional compensation from her.

  "But I went there only because you asked me to. Otherwise, would I have agreed to be separated from my wife for a whole year?" the princess fawned over her like an animal demanding affection, but Remesis remained cold. Well, there was some truth in that. At Remesis's request in these years, the princess had constantly been on military campaigns, which sometimes dragged on for quite a long time.

  But in the end, all this was done not only for her but also for their common good. To carry out their plan of revenge, strengthening the North's position was simply necessary. So Remesis didn't see any "sacrifice" on Asil's part in this.

  "Don't be ridiculous. What 'separation' are you talking about?" Remesis rolled her eyes in response to her another grand statement. Then she turned and headed back into the castle.

  "Wife, I'm starving. You'll keep me company at lunch, won't you?" Asil unexpectedly found herself walking beside her. She tried to put her arm around her, but Remesis as usual dodged to the side.

  "Are you still a child who can't eat on their 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, because over the years this woman had not only grown up and changed greatly in appearance, but had also learned to speak beautifully. Thus, despite Remesis's displeasure, they still walked hand in hand all the way to the castle. Just at that time, after a brief lull, heavy snowfall began again and snow fell thickly.

  This was already the eleventh winter that Remesis Carter, the youngest daughter of the Duke, had spent in Fortress Nord.

  There were still six months left until the girl's death at Asil's hands in her previous life.