厨房从后面挺进李婷

Obviously, it was the first time they had seen such a sight.

In their eyes, I became something like a superhero from a comic book, although in fact I was not like that at all. I slapped myself on both cheeks, trying to bring myself to my senses. Remember, you are a noble lady, and in the future you must keep yourself within limits!

Somehow calming down, she quickly brought herself back to normal before going into the house. Maxie was helping Mr. Baker bring in the firewood, while Elsa was dozing, leaning on the table.

When we went inside, she moved.

— What? — I was surprised, — Why are you…?

The former relaxed atmosphere around dissipated, and the girl quickly caught herself, as if she had not been idle at all before.

— I\'ve already done everything, — she smiled before she let me finish, — I didn\'t get enough sleep last night, so I decided to rest while there are no other things to do.

— Ah… That\'s it! — I admired, — So fast. You\'re so good!

Passing by, Maxie pointedly snorted, while Elsa put her head up for me to stroke her.

— What do you have there? Let me help you!

The girl took the baskets of berries, and together with Mrs. Baker began to wash them in the kitchen. I thought once again how lucky we were to meet her. That\'s what I understand, a responsible and grateful person!

Until the evening I played with the children in the yard, and Elsa later joined us. For dinner, the hostess of the house prepared a delicious pie, from the very sight of which involuntarily drooled.

We all sat down at the table together to celebrate the end of our stay in this house. After dinner, we were going to leave early in the morning, as soon as dawn came.

It was at this time that Mr. Baker first became interested in the purpose of our stay in this area. Maxie honestly told him that we were going to Elder Ileas.

Hearing about this, the man raised his eyebrows in surprise.

— Elder Ileas?» Why do you need it?

— This is… — she hesitantly picked up the words, — Our friend urgently needs help. And only the elder is able to heal her.

As soon as Maxie turned her gaze in my direction, everyone understood who she was talking about. Mrs. Baker covered her mouth with her hand in concern, clearly regretting that such a young girl was already seriously ill.

— Really?!

The couple exchanged glances, while Maxie barely nodded.

It seems that Mr. Baker\'s conscience finally woke up for the amount paid to him, and his wife pointedly shoved him in the side. It was a clear hint that he could not just stay away. The man sighed, intending to offer help after all.

— Show the map you are traveling on.

Maxie was surprised at first, but then pulled out a rolled-up card and handed it to him. He opened it and studied it carefully. And in the next few minutes… Suddenly he began to cross out something.

The girl was very indignant at first.

— What are you doing…?!

Mr. Baker suddenly crossed out the entire route we were following. Then, after a little thought, he began to draw a new one.

Everyone was taken aback when the man cut our path on the map almost in half in one second.

— B-but… — Maxie stammered, — How is it…

«Your map is outdated,» he remarked, «some of the towns and villages marked on it no longer exist. And the river, through which you need to raft for almost a week, dried up ten years ago.»

Maxie was confused when Mr. Baker pointed this out. After all, he was really right. Since there was almost nothing of value in the western territory of Oberon, and only commoners lived there, few people seriously took up its study. The last time, the map of this area was updated as much as fifteen years ago. A lot has changed here since then, but no one knew.

I looked curiously at our new route. It turned out that we will be able to arrive at the place in a week! This could not but please.

— Thank you very much! — I grabbed Mr. Baker\'s hand across the table and shook it, — Without your help, we would have been getting there for another month!

— It\'s not worth it… — he cleared his throat in embarrassment, — It wasn\'t difficult.

— Look! — I enthusiastically showed the map to Elsa, — We only have to drive through one city, and there, beyond the gorge, is the village of Sorus!

Elsa nodded.

— Wonderful.

Despite the fact that I shared the happy news, I did not see a shining sparkle in her eyes. Rather, the girl smiled tightly to support my good mood.

I was a little surprised, but attributed it to the fact that Elsa could just be tired after work.

Meanwhile, I was still very happy. We will meet this legendary «lord of medicine» very soon. The matter remained only for a small one… For him to accept us.

***

It\'s been a few days since the Marquis of Windsor accepted Razor as his disciple. After that, the guy moved into the wing for novice knights, and trained tirelessly.

Striving to acquire the necessary skills as soon as possible, the prince did not feel sorry for himself at all. The Marquis personally gave him lessons, after which he studied independently throughout the day.

When he grows up to the required level, he will be able to train with the others. But so far, the second prince was too inexperienced to participate in sparring with someone.

Many older comrades looked at the petite guy, who was not yet in good health, with the expected mockery. But Razor himself didn\'t care about that.

To protect his loved ones and to stop being an easy target himself, the prince was ready to spend as much effort as he wanted. He wanted his only friend, Leriana, to feel safe with him. After all, they promised each other that they would get out of here together no matter what…

So today, the guy resumed his classes from early in the morning. In proud solitude, he mastered the basic skills of swordsmanship separately from the others, and he was already doing well.

The wooden sword cut sharply through the air.

Razor got into a learned stance, and made another series of punches.

«Still wrong…» the guy sighed when his result was still very different from the example of the Marquis of Windsor.

No, he should try again.

The prince continued to swing his sword, but the noise around him greatly distracted him. From the very morning, some preparations began at the estate. The maids cleaned everything around even more than usual, while the cooks steamed over the preparation of dishes.

It seemed that an important guest was coming here today.

Razor watched the whole gathering in disbelief.

In the end, he fished out some guy from the servants and asked him:

— What\'s going on? Some kind of holiday?

The man looked at him like he was an idiot.

«Don\'t you know yet?» The young man snorted irritably, «The master\'s nephew will soon arrive at the estate for the holidays.»

— N-nephew?» The prince asked in surprise.

He didn\'t even bother to answer properly.

— Ay, that\'s it, leave me alone! Everything has to be done perfectly, and you\'re distracting me from my work!

The guy hurriedly ran away, while Razor still froze, not really thinking that such a commotion was raised because of an ordinary relative of the Marquis. Well, he will come and come… What\'s the big deal here.

So he thought, until by noon a carriage with a branded scarlet coat of arms appeared at the gates of the estate. Rodrigue Windsor and his wife were waiting for him at the front door with a joyful mood, intending to properly meet the son of the Marquis\' elder sister.

The young man came to his beloved uncle infrequently, but this time he decided to stay for the whole holidays. In honor of this, the knight even organized a luxurious festive dinner.

Razor didn\'t pay much attention to all this. The Marquis\' relatives didn\'t interest him too much, so he just continued to train in the same spirit, intending to greet this guy sometime later.

But they didn\'t give him much time to rest.

Very soon, the prince heard cheerful voices nearby, and realized that most likely, Rodrigue was showing his nephew the estate. They reached the training ground where Razor was located quite quickly.

The voices were heard literally a couple of meters away from him.

— Uncle, have you built a new playground here?

— Yes… there was not enough space, so we had to expand the territory for our warriors.

— That\'s it, — he nodded understandingly, — I see that someone is still training here.

— This is… Well… my new student.

— A student? — the nephew responded with great surprise, — Sounds interesting! It\'s very rare for you to study with someone in person. It looks like this guy is really special.

The Marquis nodded uncertainly, while Razor was tired of being discussed behind his back. He turned around abruptly, intending to meet this new guest face to face.

But at that moment, he himself seemed to be knocked off.

The second prince even rubbed his eyes several times to make sure that his eyesight did not fail him. But no… It really was him.

This guy…!

Wasn\'t he Rachel Cassius\' husband in his original visions?!