"No matter how you look at it, this situation is quite comical."
When a commoner suddenly knocked me to the floor, I took it as something funny.
And even her ferocious expression seemed terribly funny to me at that moment. With each period of time we spent together, the girl reminded me more and more of a child.
Her actions were clumsy because of the bandages, and her eyes widened when she saw me laughing.
It was because I remembered my past life.
The last creature that behaved like this to me was my dog. In a previous life, my family had a pet. He was a big golden retriever. The problem is that this dog was also very strong. And every time I came home, he attacked me and knocked me down.
So, the current situation vividly reminded me of this.
"Ah, I hope Chucky is doing well now."
Watching the commoner's face, which continued to remain extremely indignant, I compared her even more to my dog. I couldn't help but laugh.
— Why are you laughing?
The princess's face continued to darken, but Camilla couldn't control her laughter. She thought that she would not be able to stop unless the end of the world happened, which would bring her to her senses.
Kaena, in turn, thought that this woman was crazy. Fortunately, she didn't realize that right now the duke's daughter was comparing her to a dog.
"Why can she still smile when she's in this situation?"
The princess blinked slowly, trying to comprehend the situation when the woman beneath her didn't look the least bit alarmed.
"Maybe she's not fully aware of the threat...?"
Since this girl continued to act extremely cavalier towards her, Kaena thought that maybe she should be taught a lesson. However, at the moment when Kaena was about to take some action, she suddenly realized that she was unable to do so.
The face of the woman smiling at her was as beautiful as a flower. The princess felt very strange. She couldn't even really explain it to herself. As if hypnotized, Kaena could only stare at her absently.
This went on until the door of the room suddenly burst open.
"Oh."
I think I completely forgot that we weren't alone in the house.
My father and brother were standing on the threshold. Their jaws dropped when they saw this scene. Needless to say, my own smile slowly faded from my face.
— ...
The silence in the room became more and more disturbing. After which, the Duke de Walt could not stand it. Clenching his fists, the man screamed at the whole mansion:
— Camille de Walt, how dare you...!
I swallowed. Damn it.
Well aware that my family inheritance was at stake, I reacted quickly. Taking advantage of the commoner's momentary confusion, I got out from under her and knelt down in front of my father. Next, I forced the girl next to me to do the same.
When I forced her to kneel, the commoner's face showed anger and bewilderment at the same time.
"Don't be afraid," I whispered in a barely audible whisper, "I'll protect you."
— ...
After looking at me even more surprised, she finally gave up and did not resist.
At first surprised by my actions, the Duke soon immediately demanded:
— Immediately explain what's going on here! Who is this woman? What were you doing?
— I... I... — I stammered, desperately trying to find the right words.
Victor de Walt frowned.
— Speak more clearly. I can't hear anything.
Unfortunately, the Duke had great insight. Besides, he was much more experienced and older than me. I haven't learned how to lie well enough to fool him yet. Therefore, in order not to aggravate the situation, I preferred to just tell the truth.
I took a deep breath.
— Oh, Father, this is the commoner I saved yesterday afternoon...
When I said those words, they both stared at me in surprise.
— what?
I hastened to add details to my story:
— Yesterday, during an afternoon walk, I found this girl on our territory. She was fleeing from robbers and accidentally came to us...
Hearing this ridiculous excuse, my older brother laughed coldly.
— "Accidentally hit"? Are you kidding?! Do you even know how many people are guarding our house? It's impossible!
Judging by the Duke's expression, he was thinking the same thing.
Victor de Walt was a reasonable and extremely cautious man. He would never allow an outsider to enter his territory.
The Duchy of de Walt was guarded around the clock. There were only a few ways to get here unnoticed, and even those were too risky. Therefore, I had to put a lot of effort into explaining the situation.
Especially without inadvertently revealing that this happened during my illegal collection of frosty mushrooms...
— Where exactly did you say you found her? — The Duke inquired.
— Uh... In the garden.
— What? — the man raised his eyebrows in surprise.
— I was admiring the blooming hydrangeas in our greenhouse, — I quickly realized, — And when I bent down to smell the flower, I accidentally found this girl.
— So you found this commoner in the bushes...?
— yes.
— ...
Anyone who would have listened to me at that moment would have thought that I was talking nonsense. But it just so happened that this was the excuse that came to my mind at the time.
The Duke de Walt looked at the commoner with a skeptical look. In his opinion, this woman was very suspicious. Poor clothes, and stained with blood. Her features were not distinguished by nobility and rather suited a criminal. For a moment, the Duke focused his attention on her eyes.
The girl looked at him too.
Involuntarily, something inside the duke turned cold.
Her golden irises seemed vaguely familiar to him... More precisely, the duke had heard rumors that in the entire empire, only the crown Princess possessed the gaze of a predator. But the man did not attach much importance to this thought. Thank the gods that the crazy heiress was already dead.
There must have just been another person in the empire with similar eyes.
Sensing my father's rapidly growing displeasure, I hurried to assure him:
— Father, I promise that this girl won't give you any trouble! She will be in my room all the time!
— Who is she? — The Duke stubbornly repeated his question.
— She is... Uh-uh...
— You don't even know about her background and you're going to leave this person in my house? — The head of the family snorted.
I pursed my lips.
At the same time, Yufil did not even consider this situation worthy of discussion. Seeing no need to disassemble anything, he only immediately demanded:
— Our house is not a passageway for anyone to hang around here! Father, throw her out!
— I just saved her! She didn't even have time to recover!
— I don't care! If you care so much about this girl, then you can roll with her! No one's holding you back.
— This is my house too! — I said, — What right do you have to kick me out?
— I am my father's successor! — Yufil spoke arrogantly, — And you... you...
Most likely, this should have been followed by some kind of swearing, but in the presence of his father, the guy did not dare to resort to rude expressions.
Meanwhile, listening to our squabble over a commoner, the Duke tiredly rubbed the bridge of his nose. He seemed to be losing his patience.
— Shut up!
After these words, Yufil and I shut up at the same time. And then they fell silent and turned away from each other.
There was a pause in the room.
— I'll decide what to do with her. And you two... Don't interfere.
The guy was outraged, and I felt a fleeting hope.
While the Duke was thinking about what to do with us next, there was a sudden crash in the room.
I turned around in surprise, realizing that it had happened very close to me.
«!!!»
Suddenly, the commoner lost consciousness.