Chapter 43: Chapter 42. Silence is worth its weight in gold
When Jeremy Seibel ca to his senses, he realized that he was in his room.
"My Lord, are you feeling well?"
The first thing he saw was the face of an elderly man in a white lab coat who looked like a doctor. Only then did the baron's son rember that he had fainted.
— I'm sorry... How long had I been unconscious?
— You've been asleep for four days.
Jeremy got up from the bed and looked around the room with slight concern. To his relief, apart from a couple of servants standing blankly in front of his bed, there was no one else here. The guy sighed.
— My Lord, are you really okay?
"Well, at least the fact that I'm not in the dungeon is already encouraging."
Ignoring the general weakness in his body, Jeremy replied to the doctor that he was not experiencing any other ailnts.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, the doctor perked up.
— Are you here?
Thinking that it was probably so kind of 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?!"
As Jeremy stared at her in amazent, the northern Duchess motioned for everyone present to leave the room. Including the doctor. As soon as this happened, the baron's son's heart involuntarily tightened. He realized that the real test 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 look at it, his own fiancee caught him red-handed during an unsuccessful escape attempt. No, he not only couldn't escape, but he almost died. Having fallen for the bait of so secretary... In other words, the thinking abilities of Rufus and the previous owner of this body were not too different.
And now Jeremy Seibel had to pay for his own stupidity.
To be honest, he was surprised to wake up in his own bed. Given the harsh laws of the North, the guy should have already been executed for such an offense. But maybe they're going to torture him before that...?
Jeremy swallowed as the princess slowly turned in his direction. The woman's face looked as hard as a block of ice.
— So you're awake.
Unlike the calm voice he just heard, the intonation of this voice scared him.
"Oh, I must be finished."
Jeremy thought that in this case, he did not need to waste ti on empty persuasion and imdiately go to extre asures.
"What a pity that I made such a mistake. You shouldn't have trusted just anyone..."
Thinking about this, Jeremy knelt down. It seed to him that this would make a greater impression than if he begged for rcy standing on his feet.
— Your Highness, it's my fault!..
He humbly lowered his head, although he had little hope that his sincere repentance would sohow soften the sentence. There was a short pause.
??.....??
— Your Highness, I... — he stamred, not knowing how to find the right words.
Then Selina's voice ca over his head.
— Get up.
— But now... — he babbled, — Now I have to tell you sothing very important...
— good. But first, stand up.
Jeremy raised his head in confusion and stared at her. The princess's face remained just as unreadable.
"How co?"
He expected Selina de Loon to be so angry that she would want to get even with him imdiately. However, to his surprise, she behaved as usual.
Although the baron's son was confused, he rembered that so far he had not managed to achieve his goal.
"It's too early to let your guard down. Perhaps the worst is yet to co..."
Jeremy's first priority was to beg the princess's forgiveness. Instead of getting up, he continued to kneel and stated:
— Your Highness, all this happened because of ! It's my fault, so please forgive ...
Even before the guy could finish, the ice witch had already nodded her head.
— good.
"Eh?"
It seed to Jeremy that he had heard sothing wrong.
— Excuse ?
— I said I accept your apologies.
While Jeremy was in a daze, the princess of the north calmly continued to speak:
— It looks like you're feeling better. The tailor will co tomorrow to take asurents for your wedding costu. Keep this in mind and prepare yourself.
Jeremy opened and closed his mouth. He couldn't believe that in a situation like this, the duchess could still talk about their wedding so easily. And this is despite what happened.
— Wait... — his throat went dry, — Won't I be punished?
Selina de Loon's impassive face frowned slightly.
— Why should you be punished? — she asked.
— But of course... I...I... — he stamred, trying to get the whole words out, — I was trying to escape...
Selina's expression remained unperturbed.
— You didn't run away.
— what?
— As long as you're in my territory, it's not considered an escape, — the woman said slowly.
Jeremy stared at her blankly.
"Is she trying to say that as long as I'm in the North, it can't be called an escape...?"
Nevertheless, judging by her words, it was exactly like that. Jeremy's face fell.
— I left the palace without your permission... — the guy muttered. — Oscar... He...
According to the secretary, he and the Northern Duchess had known each other since childhood. It is likely that he was the only person close to her during these years. However, because of his escape attempt, Oscar also suffered. Selina probably couldn't just ignore it.
However...
— He's gone.
The bluish-purple eyes, frad by white eyelashes, remained cold.
— what?
Jeremy's heart began to race.
— The one who betrayed
was Oscar. He disobeyed my order and was punished for it, — as soon as these words left Selina's lips, the guy's back turned cold.
— A person who doesn't follow my orders is useless to . In turn, the only order for you is to prepare for the wedding. As long as you don't disobey him, I don't care about anything else.
— ...
— You better rember right away that I hate useless people.
The realization that this woman had not hesitated to kill the man she most trusted just because he had made a single mistake made Jeremy shudder. There really wasn't a shred of humanity in her heart. Is it possible to say that this ti he was just lucky?
It was only because he did not have ti to leave the lands of the northern duchess that the baron's son was spared his life. Otherwise... Jeremy found himself thinking that he didn't even want to think about the possible consequences of his rash act.
— I'll go.
As soon as the silver-robed princess's figure turned her back on him, Jeremy dared to speak. His lips parted:
— Your Highness, I'm sorry...
Seeing how she turned and looked at him with her bluish-purple eyes, the guy began to hesitate.
— You ca to , didn't you? Then tell . I can't stand being kept waiting.
Jeremy was nervous, but nevertheless, this icy tone spurred him to resolve.
— Why did you choose
as your spouse? — The guy's voice wavered.
This question had been bothering him for a long ti. But Jeremy still didn't have the courage to ask it. Now the words ca out of his mouth by themselves.
Indeed, why did the northern Duchess choose him? No matter how you looked at it, there was nothing special about the baron's youngest son. Even during the selection process, he didn't show any outstanding qualities that could attract the princess' attention. Therefore, he sincerely could not understand the reason.
Selina de Loon stared at him in silence for a while. Jeremy was completely taken aback by her response, which he hadn't expected at all:
— Because you don't make much noise.
Jeremy's face twisted in surprise.
— I'm sorry...?
— Everyone who participated in the selection before you got on my nerves in every possible way, — she explained calmly, — Songs, poems, magic tricks and other ways to attract my attention. It was all terribly annoying. And I value peace more than anything in the world.
— ...
Watching the figure leave the room with an impassive gaze, the guy was still on his knees.
Jeremy felt a cramp in his stomach.
He couldn't believe that of all the possible options, he would hear this one.
"no... Are you kidding?"
The baron's heir could not believe that his brief confusion at that mont had completely changed his fate. After all, it wasn't because of his red hair, charming personality, or other hypothetical personality traits.
"I was... just silent."
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