When Jeremy Seybel came to, he realized he was in his room.
"My lord, are you feeling alright?"
The first thing he saw was the face of an elderly man in a white coat, resembling a doctor. Only then did the baron's son remember that he had lost consciousness.
"Excuse me... How long was I unconscious?"
"You slept for four days."
Jeremy sat up in bed and surveyed the room with slight unease. To his relief, apart from a couple of servants standing impassively opposite his bed, there was no one else here. The guy sighed.
"My lord, are you really alright?"
"Well, at least the fact that I'm not in a dungeon is encouraging."
Ignoring the general weakness in his body, Jeremy replied to the doctor that he wasn't experiencing any other ailments.
Hearing the sound of a door opening, the doctor perked up.
"You're here?"
Thinking it was probably some servant of the princess, Jeremy turned his head. And then his eyes widened in shock. The one who entered through the door was Selina herself, not her subordinate at all.
"Why is she here?!"
While Jeremy stared at her in amazement, the Northern Duchess gestured for all present to leave the room. Including the doctor. As soon as that happened, the baron's son's heart involuntarily clenched. He realized that the real ordeal was about to begin for him.
Jeremy wanted to hit himself on the head.
"And why am I such an idiot?"
No matter how you looked at it — his own fiancée had caught him red-handed during an unsuccessful escape attempt. No, he hadn't just failed to escape, he had nearly died. Falling for some secretary's trick... In other words, Rufus's thinking abilities and those of the previous owner of this body weren't much different.
And now Jeremy Seybel was going to pay for his own stupidity.
Honestly, he was surprised to wake up in his own bed. Given the harsh laws of the North, for such an offense, the guy should have been executed already. But perhaps they were going to torture him first...?
Jeremy swallowed as the princess slowly turned towards him. The woman's face looked as hard as a block of ice.
"So, you've woken up."
Unlike the calm voice he now heard, the tone of this voice frightened him.
"Oh, this must be the end for me."
Jeremy thought that in such a case, there was no point in wasting time on empty pleas and he should just get straight to the extreme measures.
"What a pity I made such a mistake. I shouldn't have trusted just anyone..."
Thinking this, Jeremy dropped to his knees. It seemed to him that this would make a greater impression than begging for mercy while standing.
"Your Highness, it's my fault!.."
He humbly lowered his head, though he had little hope that his sincere repentance would soften the sentence in any way. A short pause hung in the air.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"....."
"Your Highness, I..." he stammered, not knowing how to find the right words.
Then Selina's voice sounded above his head.
"Get up."
"But now..." he babbled, "Now I must tell you something very important..."
"Alright. But first, get up."
Jeremy raised his head in confusion and stared at her. The princess's face remained just as impenetrable.
"How is this possible?"
He had expected Selina de Lun to be so angry that she would want to deal with him immediately. However, to his surprise, she was behaving as usual.
Although the baron's son was bewildered, he then remembered that he hadn't yet achieved his goal.
"It's too early to let my guard down. Perhaps the worst is yet to come..."
Jeremy's primary task was to beg the princess for forgiveness. Instead of getting up, he remained on his knees and declared:
"Your Highness, all this happened because of me! It's my fault, so please, forgive me..."
Before the guy could finish speaking, the ice witch had already nodded her head. "Alright."
"Huh?"
Jeremy thought he had misheard something.
"Excuse me?"
"I said I accept your apology."
While Jeremy was in a daze, the princess of the north continued speaking imperturbably:
"It seems you're feeling better. Tomorrow a tailor will come to take your measurements for your wedding suit. Keep that in mind and prepare."
Jeremy opened and closed his mouth. He couldn't believe that in such a situation, the duchess could still so casually talk about their wedding. And this despite what had happened.
"Wait..." his throat went dry, "Won't I be punished?"
Selina de Lun's impassive face frowned slightly.
"Why should you be punished?" she asked.
"But... I mean... I... I..." he stammered, trying to form whole words, "I tried to escape..."
Selina's expression remained unruffled.
"You didn't escape."
"What?"
"As long as you are on my territory, it's not considered escaping," the woman said slowly.
Jeremy stared blankly at her.
"Does she mean that as long as I'm in the North, it can't be called escaping...?"
Nevertheless, judging by her words, that was exactly it. Jeremy's face fell.
"But I left the palace without your permission..." the guy muttered, "Besides... Oscar. He..."
Based on the secretary's words, he and the Northern Duchess had known each other since childhood. It was quite likely that he had been the only person close to her over these years. However, because of his escape attempt, Oscar had also suffered. Selina probably couldn't just ignore that.
However...
"He's no more."
The bluish-purple eyes, framed by white lashes, remained cold.
"What?"
Jeremy's heart began to race.
"The one who betrayed me was Oscar. He disobeyed my order and was punished for it," as soon as these words left Selina's lips, the guy's spine went cold.
"A person who doesn't follow my orders is useless to me. In turn, your only order is to prepare for the wedding. As long as you don't disobey that, I don't care about anything else."
"..."
"You'd better remember right away that I hate useless people."
The realization that this woman had without hesitation killed the person most trusted by her, just for making one single mistake, made Jeremy shudder. There truly wasn't a drop of humanity in her heart. Could it be said that this time he was simply lucky?
Only because he hadn't managed to leave the Northern Duchess's lands was the baron's son spared. Otherwise... Jeremy caught himself not wanting to even think about the possible consequences of his rash act.
"I'll go."
As soon as the figure of the princess in silver attire turned her back to him, Jeremy dared to speak. His lips parted:
"Your Highness, forgive me..."
Seeing her turn and look at him with her bluish-purple eyes, the guy began to hesitate.
"You addressed me, didn't you? Then speak. I can't stand being kept waiting."
Jeremy was nervous, but nevertheless, this icy tone spurred him to determination.
"Why did you choose me as your spouse?" the guy's voice trembled.
This question had been bothering him for a long time. But Jeremy had never had the courage to ask it. Now the words simply escaped his mouth.
Indeed, why had the Northern Duchess chosen him? No matter how you looked at it, there was nothing special about the baron's youngest son. Even during the selection process, he hadn't shown any outstanding qualities that might have attracted the princess's attention. Therefore, he genuinely couldn't understand the reason.
Selina de Lun looked at him in silence for a while. Her answer, which Jeremy hadn't expected at all, completely stunned him:
"Because you make little noise."
Jeremy's face twisted in surprise.
"Excuse me...?"
"Everyone who participated in the selection before you got on my nerves in every possible way," she explained calmly, "Songs, poems, tricks, and other ways to attract my attention. It was all terribly annoying. And what I value most in the world is peace."
"..."
Watching the figure leaving the room with an indifferent gaze, the guy was still on his knees.
Jeremy felt a knot in his stomach.
He couldn't believe that of all possible options, he would hear this one.
"No... Are you kidding?"
The baron's heir couldn't believe that his brief hesitation at that moment had completely changed his fate. In the end, it happened not because of his red hair, charming character, or any other hypothetical personal qualities.
"I just... kept silent."