Asher, having recovered from his surprise, composed himself and looked at Rowena, his brows knitted in curiosity. "What do you mean you've been wary of Rebecca for years?" he asked, his tone steady, belying the intrigue swirling in his mind.
He had always assumed Rebecca maintained a friendly facade towards Rowena, especially considering she was expecting Rowena to marry her son, Oberon.
Because of this reason he thought Rowena might actually be blind to what kind of person Rebecca really was. The fact that Rowena never said or did anything about Rebecca confused him. Was she pretending all this time?
Rowena sighed, her gaze once again lost in the vast expanse of the kingdom through the window, "Long before we got married, people assumed that I was destined to wed Oberon," she began, her voice barely above a whisper, like a gentle breeze rustling the parchments on her desk, "The whispers started already the moment I was born, and they grew louder with each passing year."
A look of revulsion crossed her features as Rowena revealed, "I didn't like these whispers even as a child since Oberon always seemed repulsive to me. And the older I got, the more unpleasant rumors I heard about him, some of which I also found out to be true."
Asher couldn't help but inwardly scoff. That vile son of a bitch was already one, even as a child, and he felt even more satisfied seeing that Rowena shared the same feeling.
"And he..." Rowena paused, as if searching for the right words, her hand absentmindedly caressing the windows, "was not the man I wanted to share my life with. But as I matured, I realized my wants did not matter and the weight of my duty to this kingdom as the only child of my parents. But that did not make the prospect any more bearable as I thought my marriage with him was inevitable."
Asher's expression hardened, his hands tightening subtly around hers, "Did you ask your father about this? To quell these rumors?"
Rowena nodded, her eyes meeting his, "Yes, I did. Several times, in fact. But strangely, my father always maintained silence on the matter of my marriage other than saying that I shouldn't worry about such things. It was... strange, to say the least, and at that time, I thought he was chiding me for shying away from my responsibilities."
As she said this, Rowena couldn't help but feel that her father's words were true in a way.
She never got married to Oberon, and her father himself made Asher her husband. He made it seem like he was waiting for Asher to wake up, which just seemed absurd for a man who operated on certainty. Everyone at that time had told him Asher would never wake up.
And if somehow he knew Asher might wake up one day, why didn't he squash the whispers?
As Asher listened to Rowena, a strange feeling washed over him.
In the world of nobility, where alliances were forged, and marriages were arranged often before children could even walk, Rowena's situation was certainly an anomaly.
The cunning old king had been evasive about his only daughter's marital affairs. That was suspicious, to say the least. Did he already decide at that time he was going to let Rowena get married to him?
Asher was finding it hard to wrap his head around it and filed this oddity away in the back of his mind, storing it for later deliberation.
"Rebecca... she was always overly friendly during those times," Rowena sighed, her eyes briefly flicking towards the black emblem of House Drake displayed proudly on the study wall, "She'd corner me at every opportunity, endlessly boasting about Oberon's achievements. If I am to be honest, it was grating even if she was quite 'nice' to me. Sometimes I found her equally obnoxious as Oberon himself, but since she is the princess consort and my aunt in a way, I couldn't tell her off."
"But despite all that," Rowena continued, "I must admit her strength was commendable. She even made huge contributions to our house. Because of all that, my father would publicly applaud her at times, making her feel even more confident about herself and her son."
Asher's smirk grew wider. He could imagine how Rebecca's head swelled with such recognition. She must have thought she was untouchable, invincible, floating high on the cloud of self-importance. The thought of it filled him with scorn, but it also tickled his sense of humor.
"What made you wary of Rebecca?" Asher asked, his eyes flickering with a steely curiosity.
Rowena's eyes shot up as she answered, "It all changed when my father made the announcement... about you."
Asher, recalling the memory from this body's past, nodded, his gaze steady on her. He remembered how the younger Rowena had questioned her father's decision, her eyes brimming with confusion and apprehension. It hadn't mattered to him then - he was merely a spectator, observing the drama from a detached standpoint.
But now, as Rowena voiced her past concerns, Asher found himself inexplicably affected.
For some odd reason, he couldn't disregard the memory. It lingered at the edge of his consciousness, a faint reminder of a forgotten past even if he felt it didn't matter if she didn't want to marry him at that time since the present was obviously different.
She continued, her gaze meeting his with an undeniable gravity, "I remember that day. I was shocked, to say the least," Her gaze hardened as she added, "But Oberon and Rebecca... they began to change. Their true nature started to show even if they didn't want to. Oberon began hovering around me even more, thinking that I would grow to like him and then change my father's mind," Rowena added, a glimmer of disgust crossing her face.
"What about Rebecca? She openly reacted against it?" Asher asked, his interest spiking.
Rowena took in a sharp breath as she said with a cold glint in her eyes, "Surprisingly, no. Instead, she played it safe and incited even more elders and people to openly protest against this marriage. It was obvious after seeing some of the officials getting promoted fast while some were getting their coffers bigger. Even those who I thought were my supporters suddenly switched sides, thinking that I wouldn't become the queen since my father's announcement seemed like a joke and that he was testing people's sentiments about Oberon."
Asher scoffed and said, "Despite being the princess consort, it seems like she doesn't mind doing underhanded tricks. I always knew she was incorrigible."
Rowena nodded as she sighed and looked at him, not feeling surprised. She knew how Rebecca had been hostile with him since he woke up for obvious reasons and even went to the great extent of challenging each other through a bet in the Tower of Hell.
No senior member in their right mind would challenge any junior, and Rowena remembered how this caused her worry and even still does.
However, Rowena wasn't done and said, "But that was something I expected from her and not really the reason why I became wary of her…"
Asher furrowed his brows and asked, "What do you mean?"
Rowena's eyes shimmered with the memories of a time long past. She divulged to Asher, something that had been locked within her heart for years, "My mother," Rowena began, her voice rich with reverence and a lingering sadness, "She held nothing but disdain for Rebecca and Oberon. She did her best to shield me from their influence." The corners of her lips curled upwards in a wistful smile, recollections dancing in her gaze as though she could still see her mother's determined visage, "She was the only one who actively sought to quell the whispers about Oberon and I."
A pang of longing washed over Rowena, making her gaze grow distant as she spoke, "Whenever those rumors reached my ears, she'd reassure me that she wouldn't let me be wedded to Oberon, that she'd find me someone better, someone deserving."
Asher watched her, his icy gaze becoming glazed as she painted an image of her mother.
"The kind of woman," Rowena continued, a touch of pride echoing in her voice, "who never hesitated to confront Rebecca, keeping her in check. That's why even Rebecca avoided coming upon her after realizing that my mother was someone who cared more about her loved ones rather than her own image or the strength and wealth of her House."
As she reminisced, Asher found himself drawn into her narrative, experiencing an echo of her loss. His mind flickered with his own memories of a past life - a mother lost to time, her love and sacrifice shaping him into who he was today.
A stab of old grief twisted in his chest, a ghost of a wound he had thought healed. For a fleeting second, he looked at Rowena with a newfound understanding, a shared familiarity of the pain that lingered after losing a mother.
Yet, he quickly reeled his emotions back, the habitual coldness creeping back, "Your mother sounds like someone I would've liked to meet," he conceded, gently rubbing Rowena's hand as a soothing gesture.
Her response came as a soft smile, her gaze tender. "She would have loved to meet you, Ash. Whenever she had the time, she used to care for your needs personally. She pitied you...wondering why you had to live like that," Rowena couldn't help but imagine how much her mother would have liked Asher.
The revelation caught him off guard. He couldn't fathom a noblewoman lowering herself to personally take care of him, especially during his soulless years.
He kept his skepticism to himself though, opting to wait until his memories returned. For all he knew, most of them didn't hesitate to use the chance to torture him for either their own sadistic pleasure or using him as an outlet to vent their frustrations and anger upon.
The pain, anger, and resentment welled up in his soul during all those years was something that was still clawing at him to this day.
Asher softly smiled at her, "You were lucky to have such a mother, Rona. But…then what happened?" Asher knew Rowena's mother died around the time she was 10 or so.
"I remember... the quest, it was an expedition... here in our own world," Her voice, usually so steady, wavered ever so slightly, like a leaf quivering on the edge of falling.
"The details of the quest... they were kept from the public to prevent the quest from getting sabotaged by any moles. Even I still don't know the complete details. The ones who knew anything about it were my father and the ones who took part in the quest," she confessed, a note of bitterness creeping into her voice, "And so, the nature of the mission still remains a mystery... the people know nothing of what kind of quest my mother took part in. What they know is just a cover."
Asher had a blinking expression as he wondered if her mother really didn't die from the werewolves ambushing her. Or that was the story he knew.
She breathed out a heavy sigh, her breath fogging the cool air momentarily, "But I remember... a group of ten were chosen for the quest. The strongest in the kingdom. Rebecca was one of them despite my mother's protest since my father insisted that no risks can be taken on a quest where strength mattered most," she revealed, her voice betraying an undercurrent of suspicion.
Asher felt a sudden jolt of surprise at this revelation. This was a part of the story he had never heard before. He also wondered what kind of quest it was for all of them to make it a big deal.
Rowena's voice suddenly dropped to a chilly tone, "Everyone who went on that expedition... they all died. All except Rebecca…" she said, her crimson eyes gleaming with a combination of grief, suspicion, and cold deep-seated anger.
