厨房从后面挺进李婷

Soon leaving the capital, their journey continued all the way into the evening. Eventually the carriage came upon a country manor and approached it from somewhere in the rear.

At the sight of the place the Marquis\'s daughter involuntarily opened her mouth and almost fell off her horse. Because the mansion looked more like not an ordinary house, but a real «lodge». I wonder if all the aristocrats of Azeroth live on such a wide footing?

The giant snow-white mansion looked like a palace on a smaller scale. Elegant like some kind of museum. And there was an air of tranquility and serenity about it that made it look like a paradise. Maxie herself envied such luxury.

Meanwhile, Cassius\'s carriage pulled up not at the main gate, but from somewhere to the side. Lurking from afar, Maxie watched in astonishment as she drove over the fence to the west side of the estate.

The girl\'s mouth dropped open.

«What the hell is she doing…?!»

Rachel was doing some very strange things that Maxie in no way expected her to do. As the first face of the empire, she could break into any house even without permission. But then suddenly she sneaks in…

What was happening alarmed Maxie more and more.

At last, having waited until the coachman and his cart had come a good distance away, she began to climb up the cart herself. During this process she made various conjectures in her head.

Who knows, maybe it really is cheating? Although Maxie herself did not believe in it too much, but for another reason she simply could not find: why else would she sneak in here so secretly? Surely she was up to something suspicious…!

Determined to get to the truth by all means, the girl made one last dash and jumped to the ground. But barely had time to shake off her hands, when at the same moment…

— What are you doing here?

Maxie turned around abruptly when an icy voice came from right behind her.

Dumbfounded, she stared at Rachel Cassius, who had folded her arms across her chest and appeared to have been waiting for her the entire time.

Maxie cleared her throat awkwardly.

— Ahem… How long have you known about all this?

— Since the beginning.

She looked around excitedly.

— Ah… Mmm… What beautiful roses grow here, don\'t you think?

— …

— Cassius?

— Do you want me to help you or can you do it yourself? — Rachel asked.

Maxie was offended.

— Oh, you shouldn\'t have! — If you hadn\'t been so suspicious, I wouldn\'t have followed you!

But Rachel didn\'t seem to be listening to her.

— Who gave you permission to leave the palace? — she asked bluntly.

— Maxie hesitated, feeling that if she took one false step to the left, she would be shot.

Since she had no excuse for her presumptuous act, Rachel spoke up:

— You\'re right, the roses are beautiful.

— Wha…?

— I just like the red ones better than the white ones.

Maxie got very excited when she realized what she was getting at.

— Look…! But I\'m here now anyway. What\'s the point of going through all this right now?

— Yes,» said Rachel, «I think I\'ll decorate your grave with these roses.

They could bicker for as long as they liked, until Rachel felt the presence of someone nearby. The guards were making their daily rounds of the manor and if they were spotted right there, it would be bad.

Rachel exhaled angrily as she realized that she couldn\'t keep wasting time on this girl. She could only hope that her frivolity wouldn\'t put Leriana in danger. She was all alone in the palace, after all.

What a…! The girl regretted hiring Maxi a thousand times over. She was of no use at all.

Leaving the Marquis\'s daughter in the same place, Rachel began to go up the fire escape. Maxie was taken aback, but immediately rushed to follow.

— Hey, wait for me…!

Along the way, Rachel peered through every window, trying to find whoever the watch commander had reported to her. Doing it this way was the only way to find out for sure. After all, if she reported directly and through the front door: the master of the house would never reveal the truth to her.

Rachel hoped that she was simply mistaken, and there was no one in the manor.

Meanwhile, what was happening seemed increasingly strange to Maxie.

— This doesn\'t sound like a visit from the Queen,» she called uncertainly from below. It sounds more like thieves…» «Shut up,» she muttered.

— Shut up,» she growled.

— Shut up,» she growled. «But it\'s true…! — We\'re climbing the wall in someone else\'s house. Any fool would know what we\'re doing.

— …

— Did you hear me? — I asked her again, just in case.

— One more word out of you, and I\'ll throw you off.

They were already on the third floor by then, and a quick descent downstairs would obviously not end with a simple bruise. So Maxie, after all, had to keep her complaints to herself.

They went upstairs for a while longer, until Rachel heard a familiar voice. She became alarmed and peered through the last of the windows on her way up.

In the rich chambers, a young man was standing with his back to them, talking about something with another. Rachel recognized the paltry imperial worm immediately, but the other interlocutor was hard to see from behind the curtains.

For a couple of seconds she stared intensely at the outlines of the figures, until the man did make his way deep into the room and Rachel was able to make out his face. At the same moment, her legs buckled on the stairs.

Maxie looked at her in surprise.

— What are you doing? Did you see a ghost?

Though the girl doubted that even something like that could scare her. Since Rachel didn\'t say anything, the Marquis\'s daughter decided to take a look for herself. Quietly she moved to the ledge behind the window and looked, too.

Both the crown prince and this man were unknown to Maxie, and so she had no idea what was going on. More precisely, she had only met Philip Blanche once and did not remember his face.

— Hmmm… I think I\'ve seen him somewhere…

While Maxie tried to remember the identity of the handsome blond, Rachel\'s behavior alarmed her much more. The girl hadn\'t blinked an eye when she cut through the imperial palace, but now she could barely keep her balance. What had surprised her so much?

But Maxie didn\'t have time to ask about it because she almost gave them away herself. Slipping on the ledge, there was a corresponding sound that drew the attention of those in the room.

They had to retreat at once.

— Hey, Cassius! — She hissed, «We\'ve got to get out of here!

— …

— Do you hear me?!

Rachel finally shuddered, as if she\'d come out of her frostbitten state. She didn\'t say a word, and with a sickening feeling in her heart, she realized that she would soon have to do the inevitable.

To make the hardest decision of her life.

***

— Ah… This nightmare is finally over…

The crown prince lay in a hot bath of rose petals and enjoyed the process. For the first time in two years he was finally able to wash properly. And the sensation of it was incomparable to anything else.

It was as if the bad dream he had been in all this time was finally gone.

He ran a hand through his hair, which was smooth and shiny again. His body reeked of expensive perfume, and his new clothes had just arrived today. Isn\'t that what you could call heaven?

As soon as Philip finished his treatment and was about to leave, as in the old days, a row of maids lined up in front of him. One of the girls tried to help him put on his robe, but the prince shook her hands off roughly.

— What are you doing? — How dare you touch me?

In a moment the maid was frightened and lowered her gaze to the floor.

— I beg your pardon…! I just wanted to…

He snorted.

— Remember from now on that you have no right to do anything without my permission,» Philip grumbled, «The first time was a mistake, the second time a pattern. Do you understand?

— Y-yes, sir! — the maids answered in unison.

After his bath Philip settled on the couch while one of the maids did his hair, another took instructions for his next meal and several others prepared a costly new suit.

Philip was in such a good mood for the first time in a while, and felt completely in charge of the situation.

Until there was a knock at the door of his chambers.

— Your Highness, I come in.

The master of the manor, with whom the crown prince was already accustomed, appeared on the threshold. Upon witnessing the scene, he smiled.

— You seem to be having a good time,» he remarked.

Philip opened his eyes lazily as they massaged his back.

— I\'m just getting back to my old ways,» the lad said, «Your servants should be grateful that I allow them to serve me.

— Ah, you are right, Your Highness,» he replied without irony, «It is indeed a great honor.

The master patiently waited until the crown prince had finished his procedures and could speak to him. At this time all the servants left the room.

Dressed in a scarlet velvet robe, the prince oozed luxury and glamor. The lad threw his leg over his leg, seated himself opposite his interlocutor.

Philip spoke first.

— Well? — He challenged, «When do we attack the Imperial palace?

— All in good time, Your Highness.

— Time?! I have none! How long must I remain the deposed crown prince?

— Your Highness, before you attack the enemy, you must first knock the ground out from under him.

— What are you talking about?

— I\'m talking about the Duke of Cassius.

Philip is indignant.

— Why should I want him? — I want to destroy that scum, not her father!

— \'Your Highness,\' interrupted the other nonchalantly, \'Without the Duke\'s influence, the power of the Cassius family will fall considerably. And that is the main support of the current imperial power.

But the crown prince did not listen to him.

— How long will I have to wait for this?! I don\'t want to wait that long!

— Your Highness, you should show…

— I said I want to end it as soon as possible! You said that you would obey my orders without question.

— …

There was silence in the room for a few seconds.

The lord of the manor said nothing for a while, but you could see with the naked eye that he began to lose patience. Clasping his hands in a lock, he said coldly:

— Your Highness, please calm your temper.

— Wha…?!

— You should remember that I\'m helping you, not the other way around.

— I…!

— I can also take it back at any time.

Philip faltered, realizing that his interlocutor was being completely serious. Meanwhile, the man grinned:

— Your Highness, if we want to succeed, we must work together, don\'t you think so?

— But…

— If I don\'t destroy the Duke, I won\'t need you either.

A chill ran through the crown prince\'s body at his words.

— Do you understand?

— I…» the boy swallowed.

— Good,» the man smiled as if he hadn\'t already done so, «I take it we can come to some sort of arrangement after all?

— Ahem…

Phillip couldn\'t understand why, but he was more afraid of this man — than the entire Cassius family put together. The aura that emanated from him, though seemingly friendly, was actually terrifying. The crown prince had never imagined that this man\'s true nature would turn out to be so.

This was a case where he had better not argue unnecessarily.

When there was another pause between them, just at that moment there was a noise outside the window. Both of them immediately tensed up.

The landlord instantly went over to the place to check it out.

But as he pulled back the curtains and opened the windows, he saw nothing suspicious downstairs. It seemed as if he had just imagined someone else\'s presence.

— What\'s down there? — Philip asked excitedly.

— Don\'t worry, Your Highness. Everything is under control.

The man sighed and was about to leave when he noticed a shoe print on the ledge. The sight made him chuckle.