厨房从后面挺进李婷

— Maybe that\'s it already? I asked wearily.

— Of course not! If a black bear discovers prey, it pursues it to the end.

— But in my opinion he has long been behind…

— I told you not to turn around!

I sighed, and didn\'t argue with her. Probably, Maxie really understood all this much better than me. After all, her father had taken her hunting with him since childhood. It\'s better to listen to her now.

Although I really felt that I couldn\'t do it anymore. Leriana had weak lungs from birth.

While I was just rushing forward by inertia, I did not immediately notice the cliff in front of me. And when I noticed, it was too late. Slipping on the mud, I quickly fell down.

Damn it!

Having managed to grab onto some ledge, I screamed in fear:

— Get me out!

Maxie turned very pale and immediately rushed to my aid.

— Don\'t move! I am now…

But it was too late. The ledge crumbled into small stones and I still fell.

— Ah!

Maxie didn\'t have time to catch me.

— Leriana! — she screamed, but through the strong wind during the fall, I barely heard her.

While I was flying into the unknown, I managed to reproach myself a hundred times.

And why didn\'t I even manage to look at my feet? I could only hope that some branch would catch me during the fall and I wouldn\'t die.

And why am I always so unlucky…?!

Maxie saw that the girl with the emerald hair quickly disappeared into the mist of the ravine. She was definitely not ready for such a situation. Any ordinary person would have suffered fatally from such an outcome.

Despite all the risk and the fragile soil on the slope, Maxie began to climb down to save her.

***

Philippe Blanche promptly returned to the hunting camp, accompanied by Griselda. Under the surprised looks of others, he immediately began to search everything around.

The Crown Prince searched every tent of the nobles, but there was no one even close to Leriana in it. He turned to the maid in anger.

«Well, where is she?» — the guy asked with a challenge, — You said that Lerian is in this camp.

«I-it\'s true! — The girl hastened to assure, — She should be here. I do not know where she went…

The Crown Prince exhaled angrily.

Since the pendant provided by Zelda was bothering him, he decided to check everything again. The guards of the aristocrats of Oberon were unable to resist him.

Having turned the Marquis of Windsor\'s tent upside down, the guy miraculously did not find Razor, who, with his miniature physique, managed to get into the trunk. Holding his breath, he waited for him to come out.

Disappointed to make sure that Leriana was not here, Philip left a couple of minutes later. Zelda tried even harder to find him, and was amazed that this cunning girl disappeared so in time.

But there was no way she could have found out about it…! So why?!

After an hour of continuous searching, when the whole camp was on its ears, Philip again turned to the maid. This time, his patience had completely run out.

«You pathetic brat! — How dare you deceive me?!»

Zelda turned white as snow and fell to her knees in front of him.

«Your Highness, I swear it\'s not a lie! — shuddering, the girl declared, — Please wait a little longer! I\'m sure…

— That\'s enough! — interrupted the other, — I\'ve already spent enough time. Or are you saying Leriana just vanished into thin air?

The maid bent so low that her forehead touched the ground.

«Y-Your Highness, there\'s clearly something wrong here! I\'m sure they helped her…!»

Despite the pitiful appearance of that one, it only made Philip angrier. Because of some made-up story, this maid forced him to go back and search everything here. Not only did he waste so much time, it would also make him look like the Crown Prince in a bad light.

Maybe this pendant is also a well-made fake?

Philip pulled the Ashford family heirloom out of his pocket and looked at it again. Really. It could not be that such a value was in the hands of a simple servant. She just tricked him!

The guy threw the pendant at the maid in disgust. She trembled.

— I\'ve had enough! — He was indignant, — You dared to mislead the Crown Prince of Azeroth. You\'re lucky I\'m not executing you!

Considering how many people were looking at them, it really wouldn\'t have the best effect on his image. In the end, the bloodshed clearly did not fit into the image of the «sun of the empire». Therefore, despite all the anger, Philip was forced to suppress his emotions.

«If you catch my eye again, I won\'t be so merciful.»

With a contemptuous toss of these words, the prince turned his horse around and set off back. But despite the fact that he was gone, Zelda could not get up from the ground for a long time.

She was filled with resentment and anger.

It took the girl several weeks to identify Leriana Ashford\'s weaknesses. Thanks to relentless surveillance and the ability to hide unnoticed at the right moment, she managed to find out about the connection of this scoundrel with the Crown Prince. The name of this man slipped through several times during their joint conversations with the second prisoner.

And Zelda immediately guessed that it was not for nothing.

In the end, she decided to take a chance and test the affection of these two. At the very least, Zelda could just say she was wrong. But no. When she saw the Crown Prince\'s gaze at the pendant, she immediately realized that her guess was correct. Philippe Blanche was even more interested in saving this girl than if it was his own brother.

However, all this turned out to be useless.

She couldn\'t believe that her carefully constructed plan had turned into such a disaster. Taking advantage of the Crown Prince\'s power, the maid wanted to increase her position in the house, and finally get rid of that annoying aristocrat. In that case, he and the young lady would be together again as before.

Moreover, if the girl was under the protection of such a person, the Marquess of Windsor would not be able to punish her. In this house, knowing about her connections, no one would dare to look at her as an empty place. Even Maxi has to soften her character.

But…

In the end, she lost.

When Zelda stood up, she clutched the pendant in her hand with hatred. With such difficulty, she managed to steal it, and all in vain. Moreover, it belonged to that trash. Even in her thoughts, the girl refused to call her by her full, so hateful name.

Barely restraining herself from the impulse to throw and trample him, Zelda walked aimlessly forward.

It was too unbearable for her to be here right now. I just wanted to get as far away as possible.

While she was taking a breath and somehow trying to recover, the maid did not immediately notice when she moved far away from the camp. By that time it was already late enough, and the participants should soon return from hunting.

Griselda decided to go back.

Sighing, she was about to turn around in the opposite direction until she felt someone\'s presence next to her. Despite the darkened sky, it was not difficult to see that some person had been watching her for a long time.

The maid recoiled abruptly.

— Who\'s here?! «What is it?» she asked excitedly.

For a long time she was not answered, and the girl even thought that she had imagined it until she heard footsteps. Someone was slowly approaching her.

Zelda was scared when she realized that she really wasn\'t alone here. But who would want an ordinary servant like her? Maybe it\'s a mistake?

She really thought so, until the unknown man stood right in front of her.

The whole figure was covered with a cloak, so the girl could not see his face.

— Give it back.

A surprisingly feminine voice rang out from under the hood, after which she stretched out her hand.

Zelda didn\'t quite understand what he was talking about.

— Who are you? «What do you want?» she asked cautiously.

There was no answer to the question, instead the stranger repeated in a demanding tone:

— Give it back. Otherwise, I\'ll take this pendant along with your hand.

The maid was stunned with indignation.

They met just a couple of seconds ago, but this ignoramus already dared to order her. Moreover, for some reason she demanded a family pendant.

Apparently, it was some kind of mercenary attacking defenseless people in the wasteland. I saw her expensive jewelry and have been chasing her ever since. Even had the audacity to directly demand it.

But Zelda wasn\'t easy either.

«How dare you! — She breathed indignantly, — I\'ll call the guards to capture you!

— Try it. If you manage to live up to this moment.

At first, the stranger\'s threats did not frighten her so much, until she drew a sword hidden in a sheath in her bosom. It was already stained with blood.

Zelda realized that this was not a joke.

Already really worried, the maid screamed:

— Hey, what are you doing?! Put it away immediately…!

«Last warning,» a woman\'s voice cut her off coldly, «I\'m not going to waste time on you.»

Griselda hesitated. If she doesn\'t return this piece of jewelry back to the Marquis\'s office, she may get a big one. But on the other hand… right in front of her, the killer was threatening her with a sword.

Still, the punishment, even the most cruel, seemed not so terrible compared to the loss of life.

Deciding to follow the mercenary\'s lead, Zelda gave her the emerald pendant with a trembling hand.

She glanced at it briefly and hid it under her cloak.

— That\'s it! I did what you wanted! — She exclaimed, — Now let me go!

Having thrown these words, Griselda was about to take off from her place in order to escape from here as soon as possible. But I didn\'t have time.

«Ugh…!»

Having got the pendant, the stranger cut her throat in the blink of an eye. The maid, choking on her own blood, and eyes full of horror, fell to the ground.

The killer coolly looked at the corpse lying in front of her feet. Casually pushed him with the toe of her boot, like some kind of garbage. Warm blood dripped from the tip of the sword.

There was only contempt in the girl\'s voice.

«…You should have thought twice before crossing my puppy\'s path.»