Evlin opened her eyes and saw a female figure staring at her with intense worry.
A middle-aged woman wearing what seemed to be some really old ravaged pieces of clothes.
She realized that she was laying on an extremely uncomfortable bed and wrapped on an old blanket full of holes. Looking around, it was possible to deduce she was in some sort of cabin.
She tried to get up but her body was still covered in immense pain due to her fall.
"... It wasn't a dream..."
"What wasn't it dear?"
Evlin took another glance at the woman and realized that she was the last person she saw before fainting.
"Sorry... It just finally hit me that I'm not home anymore... "
"... I know the feeling..."
"... ?"
"Are you... feeling any better? I'm not very good with medical aid but I did the best I could."
Evlin tried to lift the blanket to look at herself but even her arm was hurting her. The woman instead helped her and she could finally analyze the state she was. Completely covered in bandages, a few pieces of wood wrapped around her arms and legs and a new set of clothes similar to what the woman was wearing.
"Where are my clothes... ?"
"I had to cut them to treat you, they were starting to get stuck on you because of the blood. I'm sorry, were they important to you?"
"It's fine... It's just that they were something from my home so I wanted to keep them... But I guess it can't be helped..."
"How is your body... ?"
"... I feel like I got hit by a truck, then fallen into a pit, and then the pit and the truck decided to team up to use me as kick-boxing practice..."
"... ... ... I... See... "
"Sorry... I'm not making any sense am I?"
"You just received a heavy hit... I think it's a miracle you are able to talk at all..."
"Sorry, I was in a bad mood... This is a little late but you helped me right? Thank you!"
"It was nothing... I wish I could use healing magic... But sadly that was the best I could do with what I had..."
"The best you could do probably saved my life...."
"... If it doesn't hurt much to talk... Could you explain what happened to you?"
Evlin had to think hard about this. No matter how unfair her situation was, the fact of the matter was that she defied the prince. If she chose her words wrong this lady could end up selling her back to the castle.
"I got kidnapped by some weird mage and he tried to bring me to the castle to offer me to the prince. Probably wanted to get on the prince's good side or something. I tried to escape by stealing his staff but I accidentally ended up being pushed from a window. I tried to use the staff to ease my fall but... Well... You can see how well that turned out... "
"Oh, dear... Is this mage still after you?"
"Who knows... I broke his staff so he's probably really angry right now..."
Evlin tried her best to direct the blame towards the mage that summoned her. Aiding a girl that was running from some evil mage was probably less intimidating for the lady than aiding a girl running from the prince's marriage proposal. Shifting blame was a little trick she learned from living with her sister.
"How long do you think it will take for me to walk again?"
"Probably three weeks, maybe a month...?"
Three weeks? Would she be able to hide in this cabin from the prince for such a long time? The knights have seen her face and clothes. Maybe she could try to disguise herself and lay low while the healing process continues.
"I see... Could you help me cut my hair?"
"Ah... What? Is there something wrong with your hair?"
"Yeah, I've been wanting to change my look for a while and was planning to do it once I got the chance. But now I can't use my hands so... If it wouldn't be too much of a hassle."
"I can try but... I can't promise I can provide a good service."
Evlin thought about it and actually felt it would be better, the messier her hair could get and the farthest away it could look from her original style the better.
"That's fine! I'm not very good at it myself so maybe a different set of hands can give me the look I've been waiting for!"
"If you say so..."
The woman picked up a pair of scissors and started to reduce the volume of hair from Evlin's head. As she did so, the two continued their conversation.
"So you said you managed to use a magician's staff? That's impressive for someone so young."
"I don't know if "use it" is the right term... I just waved it around like a psycho hoping something would happen..."
"Psycho... ?"
"It's an expression from my hometown... It means... Er... Someone who is full of energy but lacks self-control... Who runs the risk of hurting people around it..."
"I see... But you still managed to release some energy right? You must have some kind of talent to be a great mage if you continue this path!"
"Thanks but I don't want to be a mage, I want to be a teacher! Like my mother!"
"I see... So your mother works for nobles?"
"Huh... Something like that..."
"I see... No wonder you miss home so much... Your house must be really nice..."
Evlin started to feel guilty. This nice lady was probably feeling bad about herself for living in such a simple house in comparison to what she assumed her home was like.
"Actually my house is not that nice, to be honest... After my father left, me and my family were in a very dire situation for a long time and we had to go through a lot of trouble before we could sustain ourselves without him... Plus, it's true that I wanna go back, but it's not because my house is amazing or anything... I just miss my mother and sister and want to continue my studies so I can fulfill my dream!"
"I see... You want to hurry and start working to help your mother... Such a kind daughter..."
"Thanks... !"
The guilt was crushing Evlin on the inside.
Her house was honestly Evlin's favorite place in the world. She loved her bed, her room, her computer, she even had a library.
Even if it wasn't the house of a "noble" it definitely was much better then where this nice woman was living right now.
And while the story about her father leaving was true, her family never even came close to be in a dire situation thanks to the support of her uncles and aunts. "Mother, wherever you are, please forgive me for lying! I swear I didn't grow up to be a bad girl!!" is what Evlin was thinking to herself.
"Done!"
The woman had finished cutting Evlin's hair while she was in the middle of drowning in her sense of self-guilt.
"Just one second, I'll pick a basket to clean this up."
Evlin started to touch her own head to try and get a sensation of what her current visual probably looked like.
There were no mirrors in the cabin so she couldn't get a clear idea but she assumed from what her hands were feeling that she was one or two steps away from being completely bald.
That wasn't a big problem for her to be honest. Evlin was most of the time so focused on her studies that she barely ever paid attention to her hair at all. For her, hair was just something that she had to deal with whenever it started to get inconvenient.
She asked her mother plenty of times if she could shave her head but both her mother and sister always objected to the idea. "There is no student who would not prefer a woman with beautiful hair as their teacher!", is what her sister would say, to which Evlin would always respond" The hell does my hair have to do with the way I would teach...?" each time.
After cleaning the pieces of hair scattered around the bed, Evlin finally remembered something important that she has been forgetting up until now.
"Oh yeah, I never asked for your name did I?"
"My name is Dalla, nice to meet you! Hehe!"
"Nice to meet you Dalla, my name is Evlin. Thank you for saving my life."
"No problem! Are you hungry?"
She was starving, probably due to the fact that using the magic staff drained a bit of her energy, but decided to contain herself. She didn't want to sound like a spoiled child abusing of so much kindness.
"I am a bit honestly..."
Or so she said, but before she could finish her line her stomach made a huge noise like someone who had not eaten for weeks.
"A bit huh...?"
"... Maybe more than that... "
Her face was covered in red from one ear to another. As she imagined, there weren't many options on what she could eat but Dalla still brought a few pieces of bread, probably the same ones she was carrying before.
"Are you a baker?"
"Ah no... I didn't make this... This is my payment..."
Her payment. And she was giving it to this girl that just lied to her face not too long ago. This girl who just acted like she was looking down on that simple house which was being used to take care of her. This girl that was using this amazing woman's house as a place to hide from the prince, probably putting her life in danger in the process.
As if that wasn't enough, Dalla even managed to squeeze in one last punch to the face in Evlin's feelings.
"It's probably not as good as what your mother normally gives you, but I hope you can enjoy it!"
Evlin started to cry and tried to pounce on Dalla in an attempt to hug her, but midway through she was stopped due to the pain in her body and almost fell on the floor.
"Ouch!!"
"Evlin please try not to move!!"
"Yes..."
"Try to get some sleep after you finish eating. You will need to rest as much as possible during the next couple of days."
"Ok..."
"Well it's getting late now, I'll prepare myself to sleep as well."
Evlin finished her bread that had barely managed to satisfy her hunger and took a look at where Dalla was going to sleep, a very stiff chair in the middle of the "kitchen". Could it be that the bed Evlin was using was the only bed in the house? Just how much of an angel that woman was planning to be like?
"Hey, Dalla...?"
"Yes, Evlin?"
"I'm still a little scared from being kidnapped by that evil mage... Do you mind if we sleep together?"
Evlin tried her best to show the biggest puppy-dog eyes that she could, her special trick whenever she needed her mother to do a favor for her. She had faced many dangers that day but stealing the bed from that poor saint could probably fill her with enough guilt to actually kill her for good.
"Of course dear, but the bed is not that big so it might be a little tight."
"I don't mind... it makes me feel safe."
The two then proceeded to shared the space on that bed that was in no way big enough for two people and tried their best to sleep that night.
Before falling asleep, Evlin kept thinking about how Dalla had mentioned that she might have a talent for magic while wondering about ways on how to repay her for all her kindness.
"I wonder how much a mage earns..."