Chapter 21. The north wind never ceases

It had been three days since Remesis had been on duty. And Hannes Reitli, who had been skeptical of the idea from the beginning, was surprised. Early in the morning, the commander of Fortress Nord delivered a letter to the princess's office stating the Temple's agreement to support the northern region.

Within a week, about half a million thalers and several hundred thousand sekels were to be delivered to the northern castle. It was not a small sum, to say the least. For a run-down residence like Castle North, these funds would be enough to feed the people for several years. Especially since there weren't many servants.

Furthermore, this amount would also allow for the initial repairs of the castle and the purchase of new weapons and ammunition. Currently, the guardsmen had to use old swords that had long since become dull. The gunpowder stocks for the cannons on the outer walls were also almost out. A little more, and they might have found themselves in a very dire situation indeed.

So such an unexpected solution to a serious problem naturally shocked the commander. In recent years, this was the first time the temple had made an alliance with any house. Much less with the North.

No matter how much the knight pondered, he could not understand what could have happened during their brief meeting with the head of the Temple… It was nothing but sorcery.

— Your Highness,» the knight said awkwardly, «May I ask what you did?

— Heh-heh. I just had a heart-to-heart talk with His Eminence.

— «A heart-to-heart?» — The man interjected.

— I told His Eminence about our situation, and out of the goodness of his heart, he volunteered to help us. It turns out that there are still good priests in the temple.

The knight fell silent and stared at her in surprise. Remesis, for her part, was not going to continue the explanation. Even if it looked suspicious, there was no other option. After all, couldn't she really be telling the truth?

The girl herself hadn't expected the answer to come so soon. She had expected the priest to take at least a few weeks to think about it. But he agreed almost immediately. He seemed genuinely frightened. Remesis grinned.

«In five years, the Temple will fall,» she whispered in the ear of the head of the religious community then.

A confrontation that had been going on for decades obviously couldn't be forever. Sooner or later, one side would prevail. And in Remesis' past life, that victory had been on the side of the astrological order. The Temple, in turn, suffered a crushing defeat.

All these years, the faithful had been like an annoying stain to Khalias Daehsin, who wanted to establish his faction's sole influence over Nadal. And the day came when his patience came to an end. It was not difficult for the Astrological Order to trample the Temple, unsupported as if it were some insect. The Emperor received a denunciation, which claimed that the followers of the religious community were in secret collusion with the enemy empire.

The proof was letters allegedly intercepted from secret correspondence between the chief episkopos and the head of the cultural department of a neighboring country. A lie that could have easily been exposed by a simple investigation. But the Emperor didn't even bother to look into it.

That's what Halias was counting on. No one cared about a long-forgotten and unnecessary religion. The temple was accused of treason and sentenced to dissolution. Overnight, hundreds of priests and priestesses found themselves on the streets. And the Holy Father was executed as the main culprit.

The news spread like thunder throughout the empire.

Remesis, who spent all her days in her room, didn't have many ways to get information from the outside world. But even this could not pass her ears. This story immediately struck her as suspicious. Perhaps because she already had her own preconceptions about the astrological order.

Remesis used this information as a decisive argument for the Holy Father. And to back up her words with more than just idle chatter, she provided confidential data on the activities of the temple, which after the «exposure» was made publicly available. It was easy to read about it in the newspaper.

When the Holy Father first heard about it, he was shocked. What was even more incredible was that this information was in the possession of a little girl who could in no way have gotten it from the outside. Which meant she was either seeing the future or living a second life… It wasn't easy to believe. But the worst part was simply accepting such a fate. The very thought of total annihilation made the priest inordinately terrified. Not without hesitation, he decided to take the risk and make an agreement with the Princess of the North.

The material support provided by the temple would be enough to at least not starve to death for the next few years. Remesis, for her part, was going to reciprocate and support the temple when the time came. In five years, the northern region would gain enough influence that the emperor couldn't disregard their words. So it was quite a mutually beneficial cooperation.

The whole plan had popped into Remesis's mind very quickly, and now she was pleased with herself as she looked at the tempting financial sums listed in the contract. The girl signed her copy of the agreement and gave it to the knight to send to the temple.

Hannes, looking at the satisfied face of the princess, only shook his head. «Looks like it's really useless to ask…» However, this news definitely pleased him as well. It's always nice to know that you'll have something to eat tomorrow. The knight received all the necessary orders from Remesis before leaving the office.

After Remesis took a break from work matters, she and Asil resumed classes. Remesis gave the princess a few more assignments, which the girl set about solving. Remezis was a very meticulous teacher and explained all the grammatical rules to Asil in an ingratiating manner. Fortunately, she didn't have to put much effort into it. The princess was an able student.

Waiting for Asil to finish with her exercises, Remesis returned to her desk and continued going through the reports.

Scratch scratch scratch…

The princess sniffled, putting the tip of her quill in her mouth as she thought about writing some speech constructions. She wrote a few words, then stopped and looked at Remesis. Then wrote a few more word combinations and glanced at the girl again. Asil had indulged in this silent contemplation throughout the class, and it was so obvious that Remesis couldn't help but notice it. She had long since gotten used to it, however, and simply pretended to be fully immersed in her work.

They didn't leave the office until the sky outside the window turned the scarlet color of sunset. Only then did Remesis finally show her nose outside, and Asil wiggled behind her. They ate dinner, after which they began to prepare for bed as usual. It was getting dark very early in the north, so the girl saw no need to stay up late and waste candles. Instead, she preferred to get up early.

In the bathroom, they washed their faces, brushed their teeth, and Remesis applied essential oil to her hair. It was unclear where it had come from, but the girl had found it among the supplies she had left behind. At any rate, she decided not to let it go to waste and did the grooming routine every night.

They went to bed, and sometimes, when Asil had insomnia, Remesis would read her bedtime stories. Really, Remesis couldn't understand how that was possible. After a full day's work, the girl could barely find the energy to get to bed. But the princess still had plenty of energy.

In any case, today was just such a day.

Remesis had found a single children's book in the library of the northern castle. There weren't many books left. The library, as well as the rest of the castle, had been looted years ago. So the girl used what she had.

Remesis sat in bed with a book, with Asil crouched next to her. She peered over her shoulder.

— So,» the girl said aloud, flipping through the table of contents, «today I will be reading the tale of The Prince and the Seven Dwarfs…

— It was,» Asil cut her off.

— Then about «The Nightingale and the Bandit.»

— It was.

— Uh… «Audrey in the Land of Oranges.»

— It was.

The princess kept gibbering the same word as Remesis read out the names of the fairy tales. Finally, upon reaching the last line of content, she gave up.

— So I've already read the whole thing? So quickly? — she was stunned. The book wasn't that thick.

So what to do? This book contained all the most popular fairy tales of the empire, and Remesis didn't know any others. The girl came to a standstill.

— Well… — Remesis coughed awkwardly, — Then I'll ask Hannes to find something in the city tomorrow. And tonight we'll just go to bed.

— No, no!

— Hmm?

— I don't want to… I don't want to sleep…» she muttered unhappily.

Remesis sighed. Asil's drooping face made her think that she really needed a story tonight. Trying to remember what else to tell her child before bedtime, Remesis suddenly thought of this.

— Your Highness, do you know the Legend of the Three Brothers? — She asked.

The princess shook her head.

Remesis decided to tell it. Though this story could hardly be called a children's story. The Legend of the Three Brothers was also the legend of the founding of the Astrological Order. Anyway, it wasn't a very entertaining read. It doesn't really matter what you fall asleep to anyway, does it? This will do.

Remesis coughed before beginning her narrative.

— Well, this story happened centuries ago…

It was said that five hundred years ago, the Nadal Empire was just one of the weaker countries. An insignificant state, forced to pay tribute to the strong and grovel before its allies. This state of affairs remained for a very long time, until one day, one of the major military republics wanted to absorb Nadal. This was a turning point in the fate of the state — whether Nadal would then become a slave empire, or whether it would be able to defend its independence.

And during this difficult period for the country, the then Emperor, Rowen Netari Asheloth, was choosing which of his sons would lead the army and go to war. There were three princes in the empire: the eldest Selim, the middle Amon, and the youngest Kizar. Since the fate of the country depended on this decision, the emperor could not decide for a long time who could take on this burden.

At the same time, a mysterious man appeared in the state, who, according to his own assurances, could predict the future. This man asked for an audience with the ruler, and the latter, interested in his abilities, invited him. At that time, the emperor did not disdain any means to gain any advantage over the enemy.

But as soon as the emperor found out that the weirdo was divining by the stars, he laughed at him. «Nonsense! How can I trust the fate of my people to some dots in the sky?» While everyone else was advising the emperor to make the elder prince the commander-in-chief, he suddenly nominated the younger prince. According to his argument, Prince Kizar had been gifted with a lucky star and was destined to win the victory and bring greatness to the empire.

But the emperor only twisted his temple. His youngest son had only recently turned sixteen years old. Compared to his older brothers who already had combat experience, he had not participated in anything other than field training. How would such an inexperienced boy be able to win such a large-scale war? In other words, the emperor did not take the stranger's words seriously and simply kicked him out.

As a result, the eldest prince went to war. However, not even a month later, the young man died. The middle prince went after him. But even the middle prince suffered a sad fate. Only the youngest prince remained. It was hard for the Emperor to say goodbye to his last remaining son, but in the end he let him go.

Kizar went off to war and disappeared. There was no news of him for about six months. Then everyone assumed he was dead too. The emperor went mad with grief. All his sons were dead, and the empire was now completely doomed. What could be worse? From one day to the next, Rowen Netari Ashelot waited for his enemies to come for his head. But…

Suddenly, news began to break one after another. It turned out that the hard war with the enemy empire had come to an end. And it had been won by those who were definitely not expected to win.

The youngest prince returned to the empire as a hero who had managed to put an end to years of oppression of his homeland. Kizar was dubbed the warrior blessed by an unknown power, as he had not received a single serious injury during the war. It was as if the heavens themselves were protecting him. Only then did the emperor realize and ordered to find that man again.

He came to the palace, and the emperor invited him to his service. So the mysterious sage from nowhere became a trusted aide to the ruling family. There came an era that was dubbed the dawn of the Nadal Empire. During his lifetime, this man founded an astrological order and more and more people joined his teachings.

His name was Vissarion Dehsin.

Until the end of his life, the emperor consulted him on all matters and relied on his horoscopes. He even ranked the Dehsin family as one of the three great families, which previously only included the founders of the empire. People truly believed that it was the lucky star that the youngest prince was gifted with that brought greatness to their empire. Starting with the imperial family, all the nobles began to order horoscopes for their children. And so it has continued to this day.

When Remesis heard this legend back in her past life, she was puzzled. The first thought that ran through her mind then was: wasn't… Wasn't it just a mere coincidence?

Could it be that the junior prince was indeed a capable warrior and an outstanding strategist, and all his achievements were simply written off to the merit of the stars? However, the emperor of that time didn't seem to think much about it when he gave permission for the development of this pseudo-cult in his country.

After all, it was like that in all times. People have always wanted to believe in something. First it was a temple and a god, then there was a fashion for astrology. People were much more willing to believe in some higher power than they were to recognize human merit. That's what always frustrated Remesis the most.

Asil: Sop. Sop.

It turned out that the princess was so engrossed in retelling the legend that she had even forgotten the time. She only came to her senses when Asil was already asleep beside her. The sleeping face of the princess gave away complete serenity.

The girl smiled involuntarily at the sight when her own eyes were already closing from fatigue. She yawned and laid down on a nearby pillow. Asil wrapped her arm around her in her sleep.

It was night in Castle North, and the north wind outside the window did not abate.

***

Chapter 29 is already available on Boosty: https://boosty.to/meredit