8 You are Sixteen Years Old?

"KYAAAAAA!!!!!" Erella shouted in surprise and some of her mana went out of control causing a light destructive wave that threw the person who blindfolded her. She turned around to look who she sent flying away. She saw the young Duke groaning in pain while holding his behind.

'OH EM GEE! I'm dead!' She nervously bit her lips. She looked around to see if there were people around. When she saw no one, she sighed a great relief. Only the two of them were in the garden. Staying in Von Heinlein's estate for a day, she uncovered how well love the young duke by all the people in the estate. Especially the Marchioness his aunt. When a messenger from the academy delivered a message to the young duke yesterday, he accidentally fell on the young duke and it caused his arm to have a small scratch. At that moment, the atmosphere of the room turned dark. Then she saw the bloody stare of all the servants and the Marchioness gave the messenger. It was like they wanted to tear the messenger's body into tiny pieces. Then when the messenger was going back to the academy, she heard he had an unfortunate accident. She felt goosebumps and thought.

'Sun of a gun! These people are insane! Surely, they were the ones who did that! Thank goodness I didn't fight them just to escape.' Erella's thought was on the mark! The servants of the von Heinlein Duchy did the accident for the unfortunate messenger.

"Arghhh" Maxwell groaned. Erella snapped back to present when she heard the young duke groaned. She immediately ran towards him and worriedly supported him.

"Oh, Your Grace! I---I--I'm sorry. Where did you get hurt? Do you have a scratch? A wound? Or maybe you broke some of your bones?" Erella asked anxiously and checked him if he has any wounds or broken bones. Maxwell chuckled at her reaction.

"Don't worry Lady Astley I have no wounds or broken bones. I just hurt my behind from the fall. I should be the one to say sorry to you for surprising you. I covered your eyes because I saw something with a sharp spike behind the bushes, and I'm afraid maybe it will poke your eyes." He said apologetically.

"Oh, you see the hedgehog. ------She said when she realized what he was talking about. Then her eyes went wide. She immediately grabbed his hands and checked. -------Are you sure Your Grace? You didn't get hurt?" She asked while keeping on flipping Maxwell's hand upward and backward.

"Yes."He answered shortly and gave her a soft bright smile. Erella forgot her worries. She gazed at him in awe. Then after a short while, she covered her eyes.

'Holy molly! He's blindingly handsome!' Erella's mind was screaming. Maxwell suddenly got worried when he saw Erella was covering her eyes.

"Did the hedgehog's spike still poke your eyes?" Maxwell asked worriedly while holding her cheeks and checking her eyes.

"No spikes poke into my eyes, your grace. My eyes are fine so don't worry." She said blushing.

'But my heart will probably explode if you will not let me go.' Erella was sobbing internally. Maxwell just let her go when he was sure her eyes were fine. Erella sighed in relief.

'Thank goodness you let me go. I thought I will have a heart attack.' She thought then look at him.

"Thank you for worrying about me Your Grace." Erella thank him. He nodded to her then he fidgetted.

"Just call me Max," Maxwell said shyly. Erella didn't respond right away. Max suddenly felt anxious. He really liked Erella because she was the first kid who was not scared of him. He's fond of little kids but every time he encountered them, they always run away when they see him. He was not sure why. As far as he remembered, he has never done anything that will make the kids scared. So he really felt sad when kids do that all the time.

"Is she not comfortable calling me only by my name because of our statuses?' Max thought.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAA! A shy Max is too CUTE!" Erella's inner conscious screamed.

"Don't worry about our stat------------- Erella cut her off.

"Max, you can call me Erella too." She said smiling. Suddenly, a warm dazzling smile crossed Max's lips. Erella closed her eyes so she could protect them from the dazzling smile Max showed. She just opened her eyes when Max talked.

"I almost forgot, my Aunt wants to have tea with us."He informed.

"Okay, let's go." She said happily. She flinched when Max held her hand.

'OH EM GEE! Is this a sign that he is romantically interested in me?' She thought excitedly. She was really on cloud nine when she met the Marchioness.

"My Lady." She said and bent down a little to give the Marchioness a bow. The Marchioness nodded her head and told her to sit down. Erella's mouth gape open. The desserts in front of her were the sweets she liked in her past life. She couldn't eat them because she had no money to buy them. She looked at the Marchioness as if asking permission to eat them. Marchioness Camille chuckled at the adorable kid in front of her.

"Go on dear, you can eat whatever you want here at this table."She gave her permission to Erella. Erella happily accepted the offer and took a slice of tiramisu, eclair, and a piece of chocolate lava cake. She ate them delightedly. Maxwell and Marchioness Camille looked at her with one's heart content. It was the first time for them to have someone in front of them eating happily. Usually, people are afraid of them, or if not they were just trying to suck up to them.

'It's not bad to have a little girl here.' Marchioness Camille thought then looked at her nephew who was so happy to watch Erella eating. Sometimes he offered her some of the desserts. She looked like a chipmunk with her cheeks full of dessert. For the first time, Marchioness Camille liked someone other than her dead husband and nephew.

'Max and Erella would be a lovely couple in the future.' She believed. Then she became excited at what she thought. She wanted to pair these two kids immediately so no one will take this adorable girl from them. But before pairing these two, she needed to know the important thing.

"Dear Erella, how old are you at this moment?" She asked. Erella stopped eating and looked at the Marchioness.

"I'm sixteen years old," She answered straightly then tilted her head in confusion why did the Marchioness ask her age. Max who was wiping her cheek, suddenly froze.

"You----You-- You are sixteen years old?!"Maxwell asked dumbfoundedly.