厨房从后面挺进李婷

Now we were standing in the middle of the corridor, and I folded my arms in displeasure, outraged by such tactless behavior. Now she was also screaming.

— What are you talking about? I asked.

Maxie clenched her teeth, clearly struggling with a strong inner desire to seriously yell at me. But she restrained herself when she saw me innocently batting my eyelashes.

She exhaled deeply.

— How could you make such a decision without consulting me? Finally, the girl said calmly.

— What\'s the solution?

— You know what I mean!

I squinted at her in bewilderment, having absolutely no idea what all the fuss was about. I haven\'t done anything wrong.

«If you\'re talking about Elsa, then I\'ve weighed everything,» she said confidently.

Maxie arched an eyebrow.

— Come on?

— I asked her about everything. The poor girl has no home and no parents. She has nowhere to go. Is it bad if we take her with us?

— Bad! — she immediately objected, — In your opinion, our trip is just a child\'s play? Is it possible to take a stranger on such an important matter!

— I just wanted to help…! — I tried to object.

— «Help»? Who asked you to do this? Or have you already forgotten what purpose we are here for?

I looked down at the floor.

Come to think of it, Maxie was right. After all, I was still their hostage, who was given temporary freedom. I didn\'t have the right to make my own decisions.

Realizing this, I realized with sadness that I had clearly hurried with my desire to do a good deed.

— Whimper… whimper…

Maxie fell into a stupor.

— Why are you crying?

— I\'m just sorry that I\'m so useless… — she wiped her eyes with her sleeve, — A kind man helped us, but I can\'t do the same for him in return. Now, I have to go back and say that everything is canceled…

Seeing the tears on Leriana\'s face, Maxie\'s whole fighting spirit disappeared somewhere in the blink of an eye. She couldn\'t believe that this unfamiliar girl they had just met turned out to be so important to her.

More precisely, she remained «unfamiliar» only for Leriana. Because Maxie was not so naive and understood everything at first glance.

Even during the journey, she sensed something was wrong, and a man who accidentally appeared in the forest saved them. Moreover, he remained almost completely unharmed, despite a bloody battle with a pack of wolves.

Maxie, who knew a little about medicine because of the specifics of her employment, sometimes healed herself after battles on her own. And therefore, it was not difficult for her to determine that all the wounds on her body turned out to be a dummy.

In other words, everything that happened was just a performance staged for one viewer. And who successfully believed it.

Now, in Leriana\'s eyes, Elsa has become an angel in the flesh—who risked her life to save strangers. And, moreover, the owner of a very tragic fate.

Leriana had no chance not to get into this heartwarming story.

But Maxie felt the worst. Because she could not destroy this illusion created around her in any way.

The girl will never believe it if Maxie admits who exactly is hiding under this guise. And if he does tell and provides proof, he will destroy his original plan. Leriana learns that they were not going to treat her illness at all, but to get rid of the cursed mark.

In that case, Maxie didn\'t know what decision she would make. And, most importantly, while completely unaware of the plans of that suddenly appeared scoundrel.

Revealing all the cards now was too dangerous.

And since she found them anyway, it\'s too late to run.

Maxie hated the idea of being with her. She didn\'t want to see this man, much less take him with her on their journey.

But how to explain this to Lerian…?

— You know, I can pay the owner of the tavern to let her live here, — the girl suggested, — Then at least she will have a roof over her head, won\'t she?

Leriana calmed down for a while and thought about her words.

«Can you really do that?» — innocently asked.

— Of course! — Maxie replied, — There is no need to force her to go with us on such a grueling journey. Moreover, she has not fully recovered yet.

Maxie mentally grinned, deciding to use her already trick. Pretending to be sick? So let him get it!

Leriana began to look a little happier.

— Even if we can\'t take her with us, I think she will be very happy when she hears this!

— By all means, — the girl agreed, — Such payment will seem quite enough to thank for our rescue.

The girl nodded.

After a short conversation, they returned to the room, after which Leriana told her the news. But Elsa clearly did not like the offer, and with each word her expression darkened more and more.

She looked down sadly.

«So,» she said in a trembling voice, «You\'ve already decided to leave me…?»

Leriana was taken aback by such an unexpected reaction. Even the most insensitive person would not be able to throw out such a harmless creature so easily.

«Not at all! — she immediately shook her head, — It\'s just that we really have a long way to go. You don\'t have to come with us.

— I\'m ready! — the girl objected, — Since fate has brought us together, then we must go this way to the end.

— B-but…! — Leriana faltered, — We just met. How can you say that…

— Even so, but I feel like we\'ve known each other all our lives.

Maxie almost choked with indignation. This twirl clearly knew how to pick up beautiful words! At this rate, the Archduke\'s good-natured daughter will really melt away.

Leriana was standing in front of the bed, and Elsa put her arm around the girl\'s waist, burying her nose in her stomach. This scene seemed to resemble a mother and child.

— Hey! — Maxie began angrily, — I told you…!

The girl tried to separate them again, but at that moment Elsa looked at Leriana with a puppy-dog look and said:

— Well, please!

— I…» she faltered uncertainly.

«…Besides, I\'ll be able to protect you on the trip. I want my skills to serve for the benefit of people.»

«Are you… are you serious?»

Elsa nodded.

«I want to be a better person with you, Lady Ashford.»

This proved to be the last straw before Leriana finally accepted it. Maxie realized that all her previous attempts had turned into a failure. No one could resist such charm.

Leriana smiled through her tears and patted her on the head, as if she had just adopted a child.

— good. I promise. From now on, we\'ll stick together.

This touching dialogue ended with another batch of hugs, which Maxie could no longer look at normally. But she was sure of one thing for sure: for the first time she happened to meet a person who could be awarded any film award without delay.

After all, not everyone could play another person so plausibly.

— The three of us will be more fun! — Leriana joyfully voiced, — Besides, with joint efforts, we will surely find Elder Ileas faster.

— «Elder Ileas»…?

«Oh, I didn\'t say. We are going to the west to find a healer who can cure my illness.»

Elsa\'s face showed excitement.

— The disease…?!

The girl nodded.

— Maxie said it was serious. But if we find the elder as soon as possible, then I\'ll be fine.

While Leriana was happily chatting out loud, Elsa turned her gaze to the Windsor heiress, and even without words realized that she had lied. There was no disease and there cannot be.

Invisible lightning flashed between them, and only the presence of one more person prevented the beginning of a bloodbath.

Elsa gave an imperceptibly icy smile.

Previously, she had never entered into this kind of fight, because she always won first. It just wasn\'t necessary. But the girl could not do as she wanted right now, and therefore had to temporarily accept.

«I\'ll only give in to you once.»

«Don\'t you dare underestimate me!»

They glared at each other angrily, and even without words exchanged mutual curses.

Leriana noticed a strange aura that appeared, but could not understand what was the matter.

The flame of revenge in her eyes subsided, and Elsa anxiously took the girl\'s hand. She said excitedly:

«Then I\'ll try to find him as soon as possible!»

— Yeah.

Of all those present, only the Archduke\'s daughter was glad that their company was replenished. The other two had only a strained smile, clearly symbolizing the general discontent.

But Elsa didn\'t care. Even if their privacy was hindered by an annoying insect, for the first time in a long time she inhaled the apple fragrance of her hair, and felt good.