Chapter 77: Chapter 25. A quiet night

Maximiliana was returning from the grocery store, having bought supplies for their further journey, when unrest began in the city at that time. The locality where they stopped was relatively small, and all sorts of rumors spread like lightning.The girl felt it when just walking down the street, people around her suddenly turned around and ran back. It's like some kind of performance is about to start here.

Interested, Maxie also decided to see what happened.

— Hey, let's go quickly! There's going to be a fight!

— Did you see?! A girl against two knights!

— Really? Where?

The conversations around only fueled everyone's interest in what was happening, and Maxie, along with the whole crowd, headed for the city square. An experienced warrior like her usually wasn't interested in watching amateur fights, but since there was no other entertainment anyway, she would have to be content with what she had.

Meanwhile, Leriana really challenged these two sturdy knights to a duel, and with going outside, her fighting spirit did not decrease at all. The men stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do next.

The lady in front of them was half the size, and looked very noble. So why would a girl from a good family suddenly behave in such an unexpected way? It was the first such case in their entire career.

Unlike her companion behind, the girl with the emerald hair seemed too fragile. One blow from a brave warrior will knock her down. Therefore, even in the eyes of the public, this fight looked inhumane.

Now that a whole crowd of people had gathered around them, the knights did not know how to get out of the situation. Even the one who was hit by the service was ready to sink through the ground, if only tomorrow his name would not appear in the headlines of local newspapers. How will his comrades look at him after this?

Therefore, the man wisely decided to retreat.

— Listen… Let's just break up? I don't want to be a part of this!

«You're good knights!» Offended my friend, and wanted to run away?

Leriana crossed her arms over her chest, and apparently was not at all afraid of this fight. The figures of men much bigger than her did not bother her at all.

The knight raised his eyebrows. He considered what was happening to be an extreme injustice. They didn't even do anything when they were already forced to answer for their words! Moreover, this lunatic attacked them first. And who else should apologize…?!

— Hey! — the second one was indignant, — My friend almost got hurt! And you still demand an apology from us?

Leriana chuckled, considering these two just cowards.

— My friend is just a harmless person! Would she attack you herself if she values human life above all else? Don't even try to mess with my brains and get away from responsibility!

The men's eyes twitched. And who else is «powdering their brains»? The girl behind her, whom Leriana was trying so hard to protect, right now visually ran her thumb along her neck. The deadly expression on her face directly said that if they dared to take even a step in her direction, they would become corpses.

The knights looked at each other excitedly.

— And what are we going to do? — the first one asked quietly.

— What else is left? We'll have to fight.

— Are you serious?!

«What do you think it would look like if we just ran away from here?» Besides, I'm not going to apologize for something I didn't do!

There was a sigh, foreshadowing the inevitable.

The men tensely took out their swords from their bosoms, preparing for the strangest battle of their lives. Leriana also got into a fighting stance, which she learned from nowhere. Elsa just put her hand on the sword, preparing to do everything quickly.

The crowd realized that the most interesting thing was about to begin, and there were cheers and hooting from everywhere. The atmosphere around heated up to the maximum degree.

Realizing that there was no turning back, the fight was about to begin. But fortunately…

Maxie made it in time.

The girl moved forward without undue haste, intending to look at what was happening with just one eye. She was interested in the conversations around her, as well as the fact that some lady was going to take part in the battle.

But Maxie almost dropped the bags from her hands when she discovered that she was Leriana.

— What the hell…?! involuntarily, a scream escaped from his mouth.

The first lady of the House of Ashford put her fists forward as if in a fighting ring, and now she did not look at all like an heiress of the aristocracy. Even an ordinary village girl wouldn't do such a thing, but here… Maxie never imagined in her life that she would ever find such a sight.

— Attack! — the Archduke's daughter challenged, — I will teach you good manners!

Maxie's jaw literally dropped.

And, even more outrageously, this scoundrel stood behind as the main victim! Is there a limit to blatant arrogance?!

— Stop it!

Maxie managed to come forward before the whole company attacked each other. Leriana was surprised by her sudden appearance, while the two knights turned white. S~eaʀᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

«Young lady! — they immediately knelt in front of her.

— What are you doing here?» Maxie asked indignantly.

— M-madam… — they looked at each other excitedly, — We apologize for the unworthy behavior! But this girl was the first to challenge us to a duel!

— What?

Maxie shifted her puzzled gaze to Leriana. Maybe she was a little hasty when she called her fragile as a precious flower…? The girl herself, meanwhile, rounded her eyes even more.

«Why do these brutes call you mistress?» «what is it?» she asked, slightly moderating her ardor.

Maxie sighed.

Being the first knights and defenders of the empire for several generations, all the other warriors respected her family very much. In particular, the Marquess of Windsor made a great contribution to the country's military victories before his retirement. And even now, when he had already renounced his title, people still revered him.

Maxie was his heir, so they treated her the same way they treated him.

But explaining it under the current circumstances was long and out of place, so she just said:

— I'll tell you later. And now I want to know what happened.

Leriana herself volunteered to retell the scene in the cafe. With her details, it looked as if the knights were scoundrels who attacked a girl in the middle of the day for no apparent reason. To restore justice, she volunteered to punish them.

The knights listened to her indignantly and interrupted her all the time.

«Young lady, that's not true! We didn't do anything! She attacked us first!»

The man who got a scratch from the knife pointed his finger directly at Elsa. Leriana was only angered even more.

— Don't you dare turn the arrows on an innocent person…!

The whole farce went on for several minutes, and Maxie even had a headache. In the end, she waved her hand to stop him.

— I understand everything. You can disperse.

But it is obvious that absolutely no one liked this outcome.

— I haven't received an apology from them yet!

— Madam, these impudent women have disgraced us in front of people! How we can…

— Stop! — the girl said again, — You won't solve anything by fighting in the middle of the street. This conflict was settled from the very beginning.

— But…! — the men were indignant, — Madam, we cannot allow some commoners to easily humiliate the honor of knights! Let's at least have a trial!

Maxie exhaled wearily.

— These are… — she froze angrily on the last word, glancing at Elsa, — My acquaintances.

— what? — they were very surprised, — Madam, do you want to say that these are your friends?

Maxie had to agree, despite the fact that she didn't even think of Elsa as such. But since this was the fastest way to resolve the situation, then we had to resort to it.

Hearing that these two were friends of the daughter of the first knight of the empire, the men involuntarily had to retreat. They certainly didn't want a conflict with such an influential person. They put the weapon back in their bosom.

— Did you get it? Leriana stuck her chest out importantly.

They looked at each other uncertainly.

— And-sorry…

Contrary to past opinion, in order to smooth out the conflict, the knight had to make a concession and barely utter it.

«You should be apologizing to her, not me!» — the girl demanded, — Look at what you have brought her to. She's shaking all over!

The latter was hard to believe, especially when Elsa was looking at them so arrogantly from behind her back. But under the pressure of Leriana, he had to give up.

The man apologized again, but this time to Elsa. Finally «knocking out» this recognition after some effort, Leriana stood victoriously.

At that moment, Maxie immediately grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along.

«Come on,» she demanded, «stop hanging around here!»

***

Back at the tavern, Maxie assumed that all the troubles for that day were over. But as it turned out, the main one was still waiting ahead.

Because Leriana suddenly announced that she would sleep with Elsa that night. According to her, the girl was so scared that she would not be able to sleep alone. In response to this, Maxie was ready to tear and throw.

Isn't that too much already? How much longer will she continue to use her position…?!

Tomorrow they will have to set off, but will Maxie be able to close her eyes for even a second, knowing that anything can happen during this time? The girl did not trust Leriana's new friend at all.

That's why, she immediately stated:

— no! And once again, no!

Leriana was taken aback by such a categorical answer, and tried to argue. After all, she didn't see anything wrong with it. They will only spend the night in the same room, but not in bed!

Moreover, when these ignorant knights suddenly turned on her, Elsa was shocked. At such a moment, the girl needed support in order not to get psychological trauma.

When Maxie heard all this, she barely restrained herself.

Apparently, Leriana completely forgot that in front of her was not a child at all, but quite an adult. Who knew perfectly well where to put pressure to arouse the girl's sympathy. And in this state, she just couldn't refuse.

Right now, Leriana was being skillfully manipulated, and only she did not know about it. Deep down, Maxie was afraid of how far this could go.

She tried to protect the girl from this, but she stubbornly stood her ground.

«Just one night,» Leriana promised, «I just want to make sure that Elsa can survive this.»

Maxie's eye twitched.

«Survive» what…? Even without the knights' excuses, it immediately became clear to her who was really to blame for this conflict. And, most irritatingly of all, it was she who managed to get completely dry out of the water.

Maxie looked at the girl across from her with concern.

Leriana was naive. Even too much. And this is what in the end result can most harm her. But until she knows it herself, she will continue to believe anyone.

Should Maxie let her learn from her mistakes…? Even if it was dangerous.

After all, sooner or later, the Archduke's daughter will have to get acquainted with the harsh reality. And seeing everything with your own eyes will be much more effective than trying to convey the same thing through explanations.

While Maxie was thinking about it, Leriana took her prolonged silence as a sign of agreement. No wonder there is such a saying.

Before the girl changed her mind, she quickly said:

— I promise, everything will be fine! Goodnight!

The next second, the door slammed right in her face, and Maxie didn't even have time to say anything. Finally, with a heavy sigh, she lowered her hand.

She hoped that just once she closed her eyes to it, she would not regret it in the future. She turned around slowly, heading for her room.

Leriana, meanwhile, began to lay the bedclothes on the floor. Elsa watched her actions in bewilderment.

— What are you doing?

— Ah, you can go to bed! I'm not bothering you.

— No… I mean, why are you laying on the floor.

Laying out the mattress, the girl froze in surprise for a second.

«Well… because there's no sofa or anything like that anymore.»

— …

Elsa didn't say anything. Apparently, Leriana did not even consider the option in which they could sleep in the same bed. It upset her a little.

By this time, it was already deep into the night, and having completed all the preparations, Leriana was going to go to bed.

— Don't be afraid! — she smiled, — While I'm here, you won't have a single nightmare.

Elsa nodded.

— Thank you…

Today she really had to try to make herself look as pathetic as possible. Even an abandoned kitten on the street was nothing compared to her. In this regard, it was not difficult to persuade Leriana to stay with her that night.

Leriana fell asleep almost immediately, as soon as her head touched the pillow. Elsa chuckled when she saw the painfully familiar sight. In just a couple of minutes, she twisted and stirred the bed so that all her last preparations for half an hour were in vain.

Sighing, Elsa came closer, and took it for granted. I put the girl on the bed and covered her with a blanket, lay down next to her. Out of habit, Leriana immediately hugged her as her pillow.

Elsa chuckled softly, looking at her innocent sleeping face. In the morning, you can lie that the girl had a sleepwalking attack, and she accidentally mixed up the beds…

And now, Elsa just wanted to enjoy this moment.

After kissing the girl on the top of her head, she also closed her eyes and fell asleep. For the first time in a long time, she didn't have nightmares.