Going Back Home part 3

"Our young lady was really awesome!"

"You are right! I still can't believe that she executed mostly the monsters with her bare hands."

"And to think she killed the strongest monster that our young duke had difficulty in fighting within seconds. She was really amazing!"

"Now I'm afraid to make our young lady mad."

"Yeah, you are right man!" Erella heard the knights talking to each other outside the carriage. They were traveling again with a new carriage that they bought on the nearby village that they passed when she woke up after an hour of sleep.

"From now on, I will devote myself to milady!" A knight declared. Then everybody agreed on what he said.

Erella's face turned red because she felt embarrassed hearing those praises coming from the knights. Max saw it thought that she was feeling unwell.

"Are you sure you are okay Erella?" Max asked worriedly. Then he held her both cheeks while putting his forehead to her forehead checking her if she was having a fever. Erella's eyes turned wide and her red face became redder. Max's face was near her face and it almost looked like he was about to kiss her. Erella's mind panicked and her heartbeat race like there's no tomorrow.

'Oh, my gee! His handsome face is too near! My heart can't take it!' Her inner voice screamed. Then all of a sudden she pushed him. Max was bewildered.

"I----I'm fine Max! N--Nothing is wrong with me. I--I was just exhausted earlier because my body is not used to using power."She stuttered explaining to him. Max didn't answer her. He was hurt by the sudden push Erella did. His head drooped down feeling dejected. Erella felt guilty. She still wanted to look away from him because she was embarrassed Max would hear her heartbeat. But Max didn't give her a chance. He became more dispirited. She sighed then held Max's cheeks to make him look at her.

"I'm sorry for pushing you, Max. I was just embarrassed because your face was too near to my face that it felt like you were about to kiss me." Erella explained straightly. It took a while before Max understood what she said. All of a sudden, Max's cheeks turned bright red.

"I---I----I was just... N---Not kiss...."Max couldn't explain properly what he wanted to say because of the embarrassment he felt. Erella chuckled at Max's reaction then all of a sudden kissed him on the right cheek.

POOF! Max looked like a volcano that had erupted. He felt more embarrassed so he shyly covered his face. Erella just chuckled at him.

They arrived at the Astley's estate almost eight oçlock in the evening. Supposedly they will arrive at four in the afternoon but because of the sudden monster attack, they arrived late. Erella's stepmother and stepsister were already waiting in front of the gate together with a few servants. When Erella saw the servants, she raised her left eyebrow at her stepmother and stepsisters.

'Damn these three witches. They can really hire servants but they chose not to do to make me suffer.' She murmured then glared at them. But the three of them just ignored her. They went to the duke right away and greeted him with a forced smile.

"We greet your grace the young duke." They greeted Max at the same time while bowing their heads and holding their dress up. They were all tense up. They didn't dare to put their heads up not until the young duke will tell them.

Erella was wondering why her stepmother and stepsisters were scared of Max.

'Weird. If they are facing Aunt Camille, it's normal to have their reaction now. But Max?! Duh! My Max is not scary at all.' Erella thought with a furrowed eyebrows.

She didn't know that there were rumors of how terrifying the young duke was in the empire. That he killed mercilessly anyone who will disrespect and not satisfy his desire. The famous story was about one notorious guild who was obliterated because they disrespected him. And recently, they said he killed mercilessly all the bandits in that famous forest. But actually, those rumors weren't true at all because Maxwell never killed anyone. The fights that he had were always knocking down his enemies not killing them.

But even though the people didn't know about the rumors. They will still feel scared facing him because of his stern and solemn face. And there's always a dark aura surrounding him. It seemed like they will face death whenever they meet him. So he seemed like a rabbit in a tiger's fur. He's harmless but because of his looks, everyone was scared of him. But only Erella didn't feel that way. For her, Max was the most handsome man in the whole world when she met him for the first time!

"You can raise your heads."He told them coldly. The three straighten their back instantly after Max said it.

"I'm home mother and sisters."Erella courteously informed them.

"Yes, my dear. We are glad that you are back in one piece." Paisley who is Erella's stepmother told her. She gave Erella an awkward smile and awkwardly hugged her. Graciella and Audrey didn't say anything so their mother gave them a warning look. They hurriedly went to Erella.

"Y---Yes! Yes! Mother is right! We are really glad that you went back home our dear little sister." They said in unison and hugged Erella too. They flinched when they felt something ominous radiating from Max. The three of them suddenly felt a chill on their body. They were very scared. They wanted to run away but their legs won't let them. They felt like their legs turned into jelly.

He knew that Erella's stepmother and stepsisters were not fond of her. They mistreated her when her biological father passed away. Thinking about it, Max wanted to put them in jail right away but he was worried maybe Erella will feel sad if he will do that. He could see that Erella valued her family despite being mistreated by them. But Max thought wrong. She will never value those three witches who treated her like a slave. If given a chance, she wanted to make them do what they did to her in past ten times. She was just controlling herself because she didn't want Max to learn how she really felt about those three witches.

Max gently held Erella's hand and gently looked at her. He wanted to comfort her. Then he promised himself that he will not let these people hurt Erella again. Erella just smiled at Max then invited him inside the estate. The three ladies, who were left behind were stunned when they saw how gentle Max was to Erella. Then all of a sudden, Paisley smiled evilly. She had an evil idea of taking away the young duke from Erella. And let one of her daughters be engaged with the young duke. The two girls were just looking at each other confusingly. They didn't know why their mother smiled.

"Don't worry girls. I will make sure that one of you will get the young duke, not Erella." Paisley murmured while grinning evilly. Then she invited her daughters to follow the young duke and Erella.