厨房从后面挺进李婷

Eventually, when I got to the nearest town where we intended to spend the night, I placed the girl on my bed. Fortunately, the wounds were not so serious, and I did not have to spend half the night searching for a healer.

As payment for her help, I wanted to take care of her myself. She wiped all the blood from her body and made a cold compress on her own, which she put on her head.

During this whole procedure, Maxie also remained dissatisfied. Especially when I said I wasn\'t going to go to bed. In case of unforeseen complications, I was going to watch by the bed all night. This was the last straw.

— What\'s all this about? — She asked irritably, — It\'s the first time you\'ve met her! Why was it necessary to drag anyone into our room?

— It\'s not just anyone, — I calmly objected, — If it wasn\'t for her help, we would have been devoured by these wolves long ago. You need to be able to be grateful!

Maximiliana exhaled angrily, leaning on the door jamb, and watching this outrageous action.

Leriana, without a drop of doubt, dragged an unfamiliar person to them, so she also volunteered to nurse him. Although I could well entrust this matter to an experienced healer! The girl was afraid that something bad could happen in this regard.

After all, unlike Leriana, she knew perfectly well who was in front of them.

— Okay… — Maxie kept her composure with an effort of will, so as not to throw this «stranger» out right now, — You can leave her if you want to. But when she comes to her senses, she must leave immediately…!

— …Good.

Leriana agreed suspiciously quickly, after which she continued to take care of the patient. Maxie sighed again.

It seems that in the current situation, there was nothing she could do. Maxie didn\'t want to force her to do something against her will, and decided to make a concession this time. After all, she hoped to get it over with quickly.

Leaving the girl alone, Maxie quietly left and went to her room. Leriana was sitting by the bed of the victim and could not get rid of the thought that she was experiencing a strange deja vu.

But that\'s just not possible, right…? They had never met before.

Leriana held on stoically and did not fall asleep until the middle of the night, but then she still closed her eyes. She barely waited for this moment to «come to her senses» and see where she was.

Leriana fell asleep holding her hand. The girl smiled faintly in the dark.

— It looks like it worked…

***

When I woke up to the noise of a busy street outside the window, I realized that I had managed to fall asleep after all. Startled, she quickly raised her head to make sure that everything was all right with our savior.

Fortunately, the girl was still sleeping peacefully.

I exhaled with relief, checking her pulse, and making sure that her condition had not changed. At this rate, she will really come to her senses soon.

I looked at my watch and noticed that breakfast time was approaching. I was going to go down for him, but at that moment, the hand I was holding on to at night stopped me.

I shifted my gaze in surprise.

The girl, wincing from the rays of the morning sun, opened her eyes. Golden and similar to sunflower flowers. I couldn\'t tear myself away from them for a while.

— Who are you…? Where am I? a hoarse voice rang out.

— Oh! — I quickly caught myself before handing her a glass of water, — Here you go. You must be very thirsty.

I helped her sit up and take a sip.

— Thank you, dear lady.

— Y-yes, it\'s not worth it…!

Since we looked like the same age in appearance, I immediately suggested switching to «you». In the current situation, it was more convenient to communicate without unnecessary officiousness.

I was embarrassed when I put the glass aside and sat down opposite her.

— Are you feeling well? Should I call a doctor?

— It\'s all right… Maybe a little dizzy.

— Then that\'s good! — I said happily, — Very soon, you will recover.

The girl sat up in bed and looked at me with interest.

«Where did you find me?»

— You don\'t remember…? — I was surprised, — In the forest. You were wounded during the battle with the wolves.

«Ah… I seem to remember something…»

I nodded vigorously.

— Thanks to your timely help, we didn\'t suffer at all! That\'s why I decided to bring you here to thank you.

The girl was greatly touched by my words.

— It seems that you are a lady with a very kind heart.

I blushed.

— There was nothing wrong with that…! — She waved her hands, — I\'m just not used to being in debt to someone.

She smiled at my awkward remark.

«Then may I know the name of my savior?» «What is it?» she asked.

— L-Leriana Ashford… — I introduced myself embarrassedly, — Maybe you\'ve heard something about me before.

— Hmm… unfortunately, no. All my life I have been busy with my own survival, and I have not been interested in the affairs of others. But your name gave me the idea of a beautiful flower.

The girl I saved turned out to be quite sociable and did not hesitate to compliment me at the first meeting. But I didn\'t even have time to answer, because the next second, the door to the room opened without any knocking.

Maxie came in right away, barely heard the voices. Noticing that she was awake, she shifted her gaze.

— I see that you\'re all right, — she said sarcastically, — In that case, you should get out of here as soon as possible.

— Maxie! — I stared at her indignantly, — How can you behave so rudely? She\'s just come to her senses!

Maxie barely restrained herself from answering me sharply.

«She\'s been with us long enough,» the girl replied most calmly, «and she doesn\'t look too much like a dying swan. It\'s time to end this prolonged hospitality.»

— Maxi…!

I was going to argue with her, but the girl held my hand.

— She\'s right… — she sighed sadly, — It\'s time for me to leave. I must have caused you a lot of trouble.

There was such a wistful expression on her face that I couldn\'t help feeling sorry for her. How could I just kick her out like that?

— Let\'s wait a bit, — I suggested, — Let\'s give her time to recover.

— What is there to wait for…! — Maxie was indignant, — You are not a nurse to look after every wounded person. Let her deal with her own problems.

— But…!

— No one forced her to rush into battle. There\'s nothing to feel responsible for.

I didn\'t understand why Maxie turned out to be so categorically opposed to this girl. They\'re even strangers. So why do I directly feel the lightning flying between them…?

But even after Maxie\'s words, I couldn\'t decide to say goodbye to her so easily. After all, I saved a good man, not some villain.

Therefore, ignoring the obvious dissatisfaction with her, I still decided to ask her in more detail. I have to know what happened.

— What\'s your name?

The girl froze briefly before introducing herself:

— Rey… Rey Elsa.

— Elsa, so, — I smiled, — Nice to meet you. What were you doing in that forest?

— I was just passing by, and I saw that someone needed help. My conscience wouldn\'t let me stay away.

Maxie, hearing this, smiled skeptically. «Passing by…?» Come on? Maybe, to be more precise, she was watching?

But Leriana took her word for it, and was touched that she met such a decent person. Risk your own life to save some strangers. Isn\'t that worthy of a noble hero?

— I don\'t even know how to thank you…! Is there anything I can do to help your family?

— I have no family, — «Elsa» sighed sadly, — It so happened that I was left all alone.

Leriana was struck right in the heart.

— How so? What happened?

— My father was a fisherman in a small village, but during one of the trips to the sea, he was swept away by a wave… My mother became seriously ill, and to help her, I had to work from an early age.

Leriana\'s eyes filled with tears from such a sad story. Maxie pointedly rolled her eyes, listening to this nonsense.

— And who did you have to work with?

— I carved the figures out of wood to sell them at the market. But, unfortunately, this was not enough, and the mother died soon after…

To make it more convincing, a couple of tears dripped from Elsa\'s eyes. Leriana, who was distinguished by a sentimental nature, could not restrain herself and sympathetically patted her on the shoulder.

But Maxie didn\'t believe her at all.

— «Carved figures»? Definitely not people? — I decided to clarify just in case.

— Maxie! — Leriana was indignant once again, — Don\'t you see what a bright person is in front of us? Stop accusing her unnecessarily.

— Everything is quite logical, — said Maxie, — This girl alone dealt with a pack of wolves. And after that, do you still believe that she\'s a harmless villager?

— Well… — at first she didn\'t have anything to say.

But Elsa had already prepared an answer.

«It so happened…» she began with an unbearable weight of guilt, «that I had to go down a bad path. Crafts didn\'t bring a lot of money, and in order to survive, I had to become a mercenary.

— Really?!

— I wanted to get money for my mother\'s treatment, — Elsa closed her eyes, on which tears appeared, — But she died anyway. After that, I tried to leave many times, but I was threatened, and… in the end, I began to work against my own will.

Maxie realized late that she had made the wrong move, and this answer only played into the hands of the brat. After hearing such heartbreaking details of an already tragic story, Leriana finally felt sorry for her.

— But actually… Every time I killed someone, I felt so guilty! — Elsa sobbed, — I\'ve always dreamed of leaving to start a new life. But I will never be cleansed of these sins.

Leriana hugged her to calm her down somehow. Although in fact, she was the one who worried the most here.

Maxie\'s eye twitched in annoyance.

Only Leriana could believe in this performance of one actor, which was being played out right now. Because of the long life in the golden cage, the girl had no life experience at all, and she believed anyone. Even a dishonest trader in the market will not be difficult to breed it.

But if this were really the case, then it would not be difficult for Maxi to quickly deal with a fraudster or other similar offender. Now the situation was much more complicated.

What to do with someone she couldn\'t defeat so easily…? Especially when Leriana didn\'t doubt her story at all.

Maxie was going to separate them on different sides in order to drive this scoundrel out of the room after, but at that moment Leriana suddenly said:

— I will help you get on the right path!

— what? — there were two surprised questions.

Despite the fact that she herself was not in the best position, Leriana simply could not close her eyes to this story. This innocent man, who was forced to get his hands dirty with blood, definitely needed someone\'s support.

— Your life is not over yet! — the girl sincerely voiced, — With my help, you can start all over again. Your parents will be proud of you in heaven!

Elsa\'s eyes first opened wide in surprise, after which tears appeared on them.

— But I don\'t deserve it! — She sobbed, — Your kindness is not worthy of someone like me…!

— Who said that? I promise to help you start a new life!

As a result, everything turned out completely differently than Maxie had originally planned. No, it turned out even worse.

The girl clenched her fists in rage. She had a nasty feeling that she was powerless in this situation.

Leriana hugged Elsa again, hugging her to calm her and give her rays of hope for a bright future. She willingly did the same in response.

The two were hugging touchingly, and it seemed that at first glance this scene was completely harmless.

But…

As soon as Leriana turned away for just a second and lost her vigilance, the cute angel behind her turned into a monster in the blink of an eye.

This aura alone made an ordinary person uncomfortable.

Even Maxie involuntarily shuddered when the pupils turned to her flashed scarlet.

The look Elsa gave her from behind Leriana\'s back was quite readable. It seemed that at the same time she silently said: «Die!»