Chapter 88: Chapter 36. Goddess and Demon

After the elder's harsh statement, Maxie was ready to grab her head. It was clearly not what she expected when she came here.As her father had said, there was only one possible way in this world to break the bond between an ordinary person and the Cassius family. Either Leriana or Rachel had to die.

But of course, Maxie didn't even consider this option.

The last thing she wanted was for something bad to happen to Leriana. And even more so, I couldn't even imagine defeating Rachel Cassius on my own. No matter how much I wanted to admit it, but the difference between them remained too big.

In other words, the idea with the fastest way flew right away.

In the second alleged development of events, Maxie also did not believe too much. Cassius could have rid them of this contract on her own, if she wanted to. But that's not going to happen either.

As Elder Ileas explained when she tried to ask him about it, the mark of the Blood Camellia had a very symbolic meaning for the Cassians. In other words, for the members of this family, it was like getting married. And considering that the Cassias themselves were rare monogamists, they never parted with their halves.

If Rachel breaks this connection between them, then in fact it will mean the final termination of the relationship between them. And once she decided to take such a step, she will definitely not back down.

Realizing all this, Maxie was in prostration for a while.

She knew perfectly well that if Leriana had this mark, they would not be able to return to Windsor Manor. The Marquis made it clear clearly and clearly that he was not going to save the life of the «bait» for the Cassians. And if he finds out that nothing has worked out, he will simply order to get rid of her.

On the other hand… Let Leriana go home. If Maxie does this, she will literally betray her father. He would never forgive her for such a knife in the back.

Let Rachel Cassius take Leriana…? The girl did not even consider this option. To hell with it.

In other words, Maxie was at an impasse in an instant.

And what to do…?!

He and the elder had been hanging out on the street for half an hour, and it seemed increasingly suspicious for those who stayed at home. But surely Maxie couldn't just come back and say that everything was canceled?

As soon as Cassius finds out that Maxie has nothing left to keep Leriana next to him, he will immediately begin to act. This could not be allowed.

—S-sir…! — Maxie turned to the old man in despair, — In that case, can you let us stay with you for a while?

— What?! — he was taken aback.

— Do you understand… That man is now chasing Leriana. It is extremely dangerous for her to show herself in crowded places.

— «Stalking»? Do you mean a member of the Cassius family?

— Hmm… it so happened that the relationship between them did not work out, and now she wants revenge.

For reasons of the healer's own safety, Maxie decided not to reveal the truth to him. After all, if Cassius finds out that someone besides her has revealed her identity, then obviously he will not sit idly by. And minus one more innocent life they definitely didn't need.

In addition, Cassia's disguise turned out to be so good that even the famous healer could not recognize her. Or at least he hasn't shown it yet. If everything goes smoothly, then these two will not even guess about each other.

The most important thing in the current situation was to delay time.

As Maxie realized, Rachel's cover wasn't going to last forever. Sooner or later, she just won't have the strength to support him. And then she will really either drive herself to death, or she will be forced to leave. Actually, deep down, Maxie was not against both options.

In the meantime, this hut remained the only safe place where Cassius would not dare to do anything.

But will Elder Ileas agree to this…?

— Please! — the girl pleaded, — In return, you can put any conditions.

Lloyd Ileas fell into a stupor.

His granddaughter's life, however, is really interesting. We can say that by contacting Kassia, she even «surpassed» her mother, who married an ordinary person. And what should he do now? Is it worth protecting this unreasonable child who has already made so many mistakes?

Lloyd didn't have any special parental instinct. Even in the upbringing of his daughter, he relied more not on feelings, but on the goal of raising a worthy heiress. And now, such a «miracle» has fallen on his head…

Was it a sign from above to correct your previous mistakes?

For the sake of Emily's memory, he couldn't refuse her only child at such a moment.

«Okay…» he eventually resigned himself, «you can stay here for a while.»

Maxie was overjoyed that she didn't have to persuade him for a long time.

— But you understand that I can't do it just like that. As I understand it, your friend does not suspect anything about this contract? Then what…

However, the girl already had an answer prepared.

— Tell them that we have to stay with you because the treatment takes time.

The old man was surprised.

— That is…?

«For Leriana's sake, lie just once.»

***

When I found out that the treatment would not take just one day, but would take time, I was taken aback.

I thought that with such an experienced person everything would be quick and easy! But it turned out not.

However, thanks to this, my premature imprisonment at the Windsor Estate was postponed. And not to say that I was somehow particularly upset about it. In addition, Elder Ileas also turned out to be a man of a broad soul!

When he said that he would need several procedures for treatment, he immediately offered to move in with him. Because it would be too difficult and costly to climb the mountain every time.

Truth… In his hut, the «lord of medicine» offered to live only to me. Since the space was too small, it definitely wouldn't be able to accommodate four people at once. Based on this, a room was vacated for me next to the kitchen, which turned out to be the same size as the elder's.

When Elsa and Maxie asked where they would stay, the old man only said:

— Well… you can build yourself a booth in the yard. I don't mind.

Such a statement, of course, stunned both. Elsa even intended to arrange a war with the healer, calling a whole stream of obscene expressions behind her back. But Elder Ileas safely ignored all this.

His special attitude towards Leriana turned out to be noticeable almost immediately. At least he didn't kick her out on the street, and even allowed her to use some of his things.

But why all of a sudden…?!

Maxie was even more perplexed, because the old man knew for sure that Leriana was not ill with anything. So, she didn't need a separate appeal either. But he did it anyway.

Meanwhile, the proposal to «build a booth» turned out to be no joke. Despite the availability of a more convenient option in the form of a hotel nearby, both did not want to give in to each other. Therefore… On the same day, they actually started building in the backyard.

More precisely, only Maxi took it seriously. Elsa decided to use a more proven option for her, and just stay in Leriana's room every night. Because she was always reliably knocked out, and she definitely wouldn't have noticed anything. Maxie immediately guessed about her plans, and that made her even more angry.

However, after a couple of days, Elder Ileas exiled them both to the forest for firewood. Leriana stayed in the hut and watched his affairs with interest.

The old man had just finished another «treatment» of Leriana, which included a half-hour sitting of the girl with her eyes closed. During this time, he allegedly performed some kind of magical ritual over her.

After that, the man began to do the rest of his business, which included working on some scientific books. In such a small house, the elder had a whole library.

— And why are you writing this? Leriana asked with interest.

He frowned, sitting at his desk.

— What do you mean?

— Well… You don't go out anyway. If you die, then these books will be buried with you.

The old man chuckled.

— Stupid. It's a common thing to pass on your knowledge to descendants.

— Hmm… well, it doesn't look like you have them.

Leriana made a completely harmless remark in her eyes, but the elder was indignant. This girl didn't watch her tongue at all…!

— Who said that «descendants» must necessarily be children? These are just people interested in medicine!

— Ah… so you don't have a lot of them either.

Leriana blinked innocently, while Lloyd Ileas could barely contain himself. Since he became the «lord of medicine», no one has dared to make such rude remarks to him.

His granddaughter turned out to be not only a useless person without abilities, but also such an ignoramus! That's another «happiness» fell to the lot. However, deep down, he still realized that somehow he could not be cruel to her. Leriana was too much like Emily.

So that the girl would not suffer from idleness, the elder told her to clean up the hut. At that time, he went away on business to gather medicinal herbs in the nearest forest.

— Don't touch anything in my room, — he immediately warned, — If something breaks or falls… This evening you will definitely stay without dinner!

— Hmm… okay.

Ileas looked at her suspiciously, but Leriana really looked like she understood everything. In the end, he sighed and went outside.

As the old man ordered, I quickly cleaned up the house. Fortunately, it didn't take much time and effort, since the territory was really small. And my acquired skills as a maid have not gone away.

After the only task assigned to me, I did not know what to do, because Elsa and Maxie did not return for a long time. And despite the ban, I decided to study the elder's office, where there was at least something interesting.

My attention was attracted by a long bookshelf, which occupied almost half of the space. There was a lot of unusual literature on it. And books on medicine for the most part.

I began to look through them slowly until I finally came across her.

Hmm, is this a children's fairy tale? But what is she doing among the elder's books?

The title «Goddess and Demon» was printed in bold on the cover. And perhaps this was the only thing from the whole book that I could make out at all.

In addition to the beautiful illustrations, the text inside turned out to be completely incomprehensible to me. Most likely, it was a very ancient book, and this language has not been used for a long time. Familiar words were encountered only occasionally.

However, not even outdated hieroglyphs caught my attention. Considering that it was a children's fairy tale, it probably told a sweet love story between mythological creatures. More precisely, gods and demons.

While flipping through the pages, the book seemed completely harmless. All the pictures on it were kind and bright. Except for the last one…

I was a little surprised when I opened it.

As before, it depicted a beautiful goddess with emerald hair and a red-eyed demon. But instead of a happy epilogue, there was something completely different.

The goddess stuck a knife into her lover's heart. But in that place, instead of blood, an unknown scarlet plant bloomed. His dark vine wrapped around the demon's body like a cage.

I involuntarily shuddered and even dropped the book from my hands.

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