Chapter 88 [Silas and Mela are the real Lake...]
"Miss Mela, I live right next door to you. Feel free to come to me anytime if you need anything."
Late at night, Cherge, who had just returned from outside, knocked on Mela's door.
Mela opened the door and looked at Cherge with some surprise. "I thought you would be with Lex."
After all, Lex didn't have many people he could trust, and Cherk was one of them.
Lex had already returned to the palace, and surprisingly, Cherge did not stay by his side at all times, which greatly surprised Mela.
Cherge smiled meaningfully and said, "It is precisely because His Highness trusts me that I am here in this house at this moment."
Protecting Lex is important, but protecting those he wants to protect is also part of Chern's duty.
Moreover, Lex could only truly feel at ease if he entrusted Mela's safety to Chelge.
Mela seemed oblivious to the hidden meaning in Cherk's words, nodded knowingly, and didn't ask any more questions about Lex.
When Lex suggested taking her back to the palace today, Mela thought about it and still refused.
"That's too much trouble. I'll just find a random hostel to stay in."
Putting everything else aside, Elijah and others are also in the palace, and Mela's identity is too special. Even if she enters the palace with Lex, she certainly can't move around freely. Does she have to hide in Lex's room from morning till night to avoid attracting attention?
Choosing to stay in the cabin is completely different from being forced to stay in Lex's room and unable to go out.
Mela wouldn't choose the latter.
Moreover, she wasn't alone; she had Erica and Yuriel to take care of.
"By the way, can you help me rescue Erica?" Mela looked at Lex expectantly.
Since Lex is such a useful helper, there's no need to go through the trouble of taking risks yourself if you don't use Mela.
For Lex, who has now regained his identity, taking someone away from the church without making a sound is an easy task.
“No need to put on that face. You know perfectly well I won’t refuse your request.” Lex’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“It’s a request,” Mela emphasized.
How can you shamelessly turn asking for help into a request?
As for why he deliberately made that expression...
Since it was a request, she naturally had to cater to his preferences. Mela smiled and pretended not to see Lex's gaze briefly drifting over her.
“Tonight I will have someone take her to Fernangi’s mansion in the capital. Why don’t you stay there together?”
Since Mela didn't want to go back to the palace with him, Lex pondered for a moment and made a new arrangement.
Mela thought about it and decided not to refuse Lex's offer.
The inn was bustling with people, and it was certainly not as convenient as staying at Fernando's mansion.
*
With a creak, the heavy church doors were opened.
Cherk turned around and saw Lex and Mela walking out, but surprisingly, he didn't show any surprise on his face.
He was able to greet Mela with remarkable composure, saying, "It's been a while, Miss Mela. I didn't expect to see you here."
Mela laughed. "You don't look surprised at all."
Lex is one thing, but why isn't Cherng surprised at all?
“Perhaps it’s because on the day we parted at Furhorst Manor, I had a premonition that we would meet again,” Chelge said with a nonchalant shrug. “Like unwrapping a birthday present, a surprise that’s been anticipated for so long, when you finally open it, there’s no surprise left, only pure joy.”
Reuniting with someone you know is a joyous occasion, no matter how you look at it.
However, let's leave the jokes aside for now. After all, Mela and the others are still on church territory, so it's better to leave first and talk again at a more suitable time later.
Thanks to Lex's arrangements, Mela followed him out of the church openly and without worrying about being discovered by anyone.
However, Mela boarded the carriage, while Lex and Cherk mounted their horses and followed behind.
Then, the carriage wheels rolled across the road, carrying Mela to Fenaki's mansion in the royal city.
Since it was Fernando's residence purchased when he was prime minister, it was naturally located very close to the palace, so close that Mela could stand at the gate and watch Lex and Chergo gradually disappear into the distance, and then be swallowed up by the magnificent palace.
"Miss Mela, shall we go in?" the kind-faced housekeeper asked gently.
She is the housekeeper who stayed behind here.
When Fernanki returned to Furhorst Territory, he naturally took many servants with him. Now, the mansion only has a housekeeper, a cook, a coachman, three maids, and three servants to manage all the affairs.
Just now, upon hearing that guests were coming to visit, the housekeeper felt a long-lost sense of tension.
She hasn't entertained guests at this house in a long time.
When the housekeeper saw that Mela had been escorted by Lex and Cherk, a look of shock flashed in her eyes, and at the same time, the breath she had been holding in her throat instantly relaxed.
Unexpectedly, Mela's background was so impressive. Fortunately, she did not slack off, but instead gathered everyone together, gave them a few words of advice, and urged them to make full preparations for welcoming the guests.
Otherwise, if such a distinguished guest were to suffer any injustice due to their negligence, the housekeeper would be certain that they would have to pack their things and leave the next day, and no nobleman would ever want them working in their residence again.
Thinking of this, the housekeeper's smile became even more kind, and she would occasionally urge Mela to say a few words in an attempt to find out her preferences.
When Mela showed signs of fatigue, she immediately stopped and quietly led Mela to the room that had been arranged for her.
To Mela's surprise, her room was on the third floor, while Erica and Yuriel were assigned to the second floor.
Are you dissatisfied with this arrangement?
Seeing the surprised expression on Mela's face, the housekeeper couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
In her opinion, since the three guests were friends, it would be best to arrange their rooms together.
But the people sent by Chernobog said that it was essential to separate Mela's room from the other two.
Although the housekeeper didn't understand the intention behind it, she just needed to do as she was told.
So, Mela moved to the third floor by herself.
“I have no complaints, this arrangement is quite good,” Mela said.
She had just thought about it. Erica and Yuriel were as close as mother and daughter. They lived on the second floor, which not only made it convenient for Yuriel to take care of Erica, but also made it convenient for the two of them to have private conversations.
There are some things that, in front of Mela, an outsider, might be awkward for both of them to say.
Since Mela had no objection, the housekeeper swallowed back the words, "Actually, I could have rearranged them to be next to your room."
"By the way, for dinner, would you like to dine at the restaurant, or would you like us to bring it to your room?"
The housekeeper, who had already turned to leave, remembered this and quickly turned back to ask.
"Take it to the room," Mela decided without hesitation.
The three of them were just guests of this house, and there was no need for them to go to the dining room to eat when the host was not there.
So later that evening, the housekeeper came with a maid to deliver the meal and to tell Mela that her two friends had arrived.
"...Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, the young lady impatiently opened the carriage door and jumped down, almost startling Hans."
The housekeeper vividly recounted the events to Mela.
Fearing that Mela might not know who Hans was, she quickly added, "By the way, Hans is the coachman who brought you here."
“It’s him.” Mela nodded. “He’s really gone through a lot. He just brought me here and then rushed off to the outskirts of the city without stopping.”
"It's nothing, just a matter of making a couple more trips," the housekeeper said.
"He's been getting paid for all these years without ever doing any work for his master. He's already been treated too well."
Mela smiled but didn't say anything.
Seeing this, the housekeeper shut her mouth and waited quietly for Mela to finish her dinner before leaving with the maid and the dishes that needed washing.
After they left, Silas flew down from the cabinet and explained for Yuriel: "She was so anxious when she heard the news that Erica was unconscious that she couldn't help but jump off the carriage."
Let alone Yuriel, even Silas's first reaction upon hearing this was: Is Mela alright? I need to go see her right away!
When Silas saw Mela standing in front of him with a beaming smile, his heart, which had been pounding in his throat, finally settled back into place.
Fortunately, Mela is alright.
Mela was not only unharmed, but also in a good mood, she hugged Silas, sat down in a chair, and gently stroked its feathers.
After a while, Silas, feeling drowsy from being petted by Mela, spread its wings and nestled into Mela's arms, suddenly letting out a sigh:
"After being out for so long, I'm starting to miss the Dark Forest."
Silas missed the frogs that croaked at him, the wildflowers that grew freely in the bushes, and the moon he could see from the window of the cabin.
Including the perch it hadn't stepped on in a long time.
Looking back now, it's been almost three months since it and Mela left the cabin.
The initial excitement has been replaced, and Silas is now extremely melancholy.
After all, in its heart, the cabin was already its home. Being away from home for too long, it was inevitable that it would feel homesick.
“Soon, once everything is completely over, I’ll take you back to the cabin,” Mela assured Silas.
"Will we come out again in the future?" Silas asked hesitantly.
"We should visit Lex from time to time, otherwise it's too pitiful for him to be left here all alone."
Chelgo is Lex's knight, Fernandez is Lex's prime minister, but Silas and Mela are Lex's family.
At least that's what Silas thought.
“No,” Mela laughed and shook her head, correcting Silas, “When Lex marries the Queen and has children of their own, those will be his real family.”
That said, Lex is eighteen now, so perhaps the future Mela was talking about will come soon.
"Hmm..." Silas was a little listless for a moment, and it couldn't imagine Lex being with another woman.
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