Chapter 43

Gilles wanted to know what future she was referring to. She had said that she would like to travel to different places, but Gilles felt that she wanted something more, although she had not said that it was related to him. Gilles did not ask anymore, as he did not want to intrude on Jeanne's privacy. Soon they arrived at the camp and the soldiers who were with Jeanne and Gilles went to do what they had to do. Some soldiers were around a fire and saw Jeanne arriving. "Did she really bury all the French and English soldiers together?" one of the soldiers whispered to his colleagues who were around the fire with him. "By the time she took, I believe she buried all the soldiers," said the soldier next to the one who had made the comment, showing admiration for what Jeanne had done, even though he did not agree with it and had not helped her at the time. "I think you can tell by the state she's in," one of the soldiers said, giving a low laugh. Jeanne was all dirty with sweat, dirt, and the blood of the soldiers.

Silent steps approached these soldiers, who did not realize that someone was approaching while mocking Jeanne. "Did any of you see her guard?" one of the soldiers asked, curious about Rémy and where he might be since he was not with Jeanne.

"Maybe he died somewhere out there?" said one of the soldiers, giving a small laugh. "Shit, what are you talking about? You're crazy to die. You know better than anyone that that 'monster' won't be killed by anyone," said the soldier who had just spoken, looking around to see if Rémy was around. He was relieved not to see him nearby, but as he looked behind the soldier who had spoken ill of Rémy, he froze. In the darkness, two deep blue eyes and red hair stood out for their crimson color.

The soldier felt all the hairs on his body stand on end and his throat went dry. He started to stutter, unable to formulate a single word in the face of the intense fear that took hold of him when he looked into the deep, blue eyes, and the crimson hair, which seemed to emerge from the depths of the darkness. One of the soldiers, a little worried, asked his war companion who was standing and unable to speak, "Hey man, are you okay?" The soldier followed his companion's gaze and at the same time was frozen, unable to say a word. The other soldiers around the fire noticed the tension in the air and also followed the gaze of the two, becoming paralyzed as if they had lost their souls.

The soldier who had said that Rémy had died was confused and asked, "Are you guys crazy? Why are you looking behind me with those faces, as if you had seen death?" He immediately regretted looking behind himself because as soon as he did, he too was paralyzed. The reason for their fear was Rémy, whose blue eyes seemed even more striking in the darkness. He stared fixedly at the soldier who had spoken about him and Jeanne.

Rémy intervened in a serious and imposing manner, "You know, it's very ugly to talk behind other people's backs. If you want to say something about me or Jeanne, you can say it to our face, without being afraid." The paralyzed soldier could only nod slightly, petrified by the fear that Rémy would kill him right there. Rémy left a clear warning before walking away, not caring what the other soldiers would think of him, "Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to do my thing. Have a good night. I hope you don't make that mistake again."

With Rémy's departure, the tension dissipated. He walked towards his tent, where Jeanne had already removed her battle armor. "I'm back," said Rémy. For some unknown reason, he felt a surge of emotion as he spoke those words. "Good evening, Rémy. Are you okay?" asked Jeanne, who had just finished putting away her armor and approached him. She looked at the unprotected parts of Rémy's armor and asked, "Hey, what are you doing? You know I can't be hurt, right?" Rémy flicked Jeanne's forehead, as she was standing close to him, scrutinizing the unprotected parts of his armor. "Well, it's no big deal. I can still look, right?" replied Jeanne, taking Rémy's head in her hands and kissing his forehead. "At least you had time to take a bath," she commented after the kiss. "Yes, I did. I see you weren't as lucky as I was," said Rémy, wiping the dirt off Jeanne's face with his hand. "I hope today was a good day," he added, looking into Jeanne's eyes, which seemed sad. "Yes, we managed to take some fortifications, but we lost soldiers," answered Jeanne, starting to remove Rémy's armor. With his help, it came off easily.

Despite her words suggesting that she was insensitive, Rémy knew that Jeanne was deeply affected by what had just happened. He understood perfectly well, since he himself would not be happy if his soldiers died following his orders. With a gentle touch to her blonde hair, Rémy commented, "Your hair is full of blood, we need to wash it." However, he noticed that Jeanne's hair was not as blonde as it used to be. They were stained with soil and blood from the soldiers, silent witnesses to the horrors that had just occurred.

Jeanne seemed drowsy when she said, "I'll wash it tomorrow, I don't want to go out now. I'm sleepy..." She slowly and carefully leaned on Rémy's shoulder, who gently picked her up in his arms. He felt the weight of her exhaustion and sorrow as he carried her to a place where she could rest. As they walked, he couldn't help but think about what she had faced and how he could help her deal with it all. For now, he knew that the most important thing was to be there for her, to comfort and support her in her pain.

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