After several minutes of walking, the three protagonists entered the house; Erwin, who had lost consciousness after the terrible battle with Rudolf, had not yet woken up, and was thus placed on the small sofa to be treated.

"Go ahead and sit on the chair, Elaine" – Ron said in the meantime, pointing to the chair placed right next to the sofa on which Erwin was resting; Elaine was still hesiting for a moment, as she was still scared of the possibility that Rudolf might appear at any moment, looking nervously around her.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that bastard won't show up so soon..." said Ron, trying to reassure the girl; the young elf, seeing the conviction and determination in the eyes of the middle-aged man, felt somewhat relieved, and then went and sat down in the chair.

"Good, now wait for me here..." Ron immediately went to the basement located between the part dedicated to the inn and their home, staying there for a few seconds; after which, he returned with two small glass vials, containing a strange golden yellow liquid, which gave off a faint light; Ron threw one glass towards the girl, who caught it without too many problems, apart from feeling a pang coming from that hole still in her belly, half patched up by Ron with his fire magic.

"Drink it, your wounds will disappear in a few moments..."

The girl, upon hearing those words, had some doubts: She wasn't sure if that potion could have such an effect, and come to think of it, she wasn't even sure that Ron could possess a potion with such incredible effects, given that, in her mind, a potion like that was too expensive for a man who lived in that old and shaky inn; yet, it was enough to look at Ron's eyes to understand that he wasn't lying at all at that moment.

The girl therefore opened the ampoule, and without hesitation, swallowed that strange yellow concoction that tasted of earth, iron and spoiled meat; the terrible taste and smell of that liquid made the girl gag, and she initially regretted swallowing something that disgusting. But a few moments later, her body was suddenly enveloped in a golden light: the pain in her abdomen that had been accompanying her for several minutes suddenly disappeared, and with the pain, that terrible wound also disappeared, leaving room for a small vertical scar on the belly; her energy was also slightly restored, leaving the girl completely stunned.

[What kind of potion is this?!] The girl wondered, still not believing in her eyes; looking at Ron, in that moment, many things went through her head: it was already strange enough that a formidable man like Ron lived in a poor village forgotten by everyone; furthermore, she knew many top-level wizards scattered throughout the kingdom, and she thought that a man of that enormous power must necessarily be famous, believing that it was impossible for him to remain anonymous.

"What did I tell you?" said Ron meanwhile, who in the meantime helped Erwin to drink the same potion, and the same thing happened: all his wounds and his fractures healed within a few moments;

"Mhh... huh? Where am I...." Erwin said, completely lost, feeling a strange unpleasant taste in his mouth;

"You're at home, you idiot..."

" ...What happened? I don't remember anything" Erwin asked, still confused by the situation and why he was on top of the couch; he tried to think about what he remembered, but as soon as he saw Elaine sitting in the chair next to him out of the corner of his eye, all his memories began to resurface: from the life-or-death fight with Rudolf, up to his late "victory" achieved at the last moment.

He also remembered when Ron came to save him, then... everything turned black. At the same time, he also remembered the order that Ron gave him shortly before leaving the management of the inn to Erwin, that is, that he must not go near the woods for any reason.

[Oh-Oh...] Erwin thought, who at that moment began to sweat coldly, expecting some punch on his head or some punishment; but when he looked at Ron, he didn't notice any hint of anger, on the contrary, he seemed happy, although his face was still the same, emotionless.

"S-Sorry Ron, I didn't listen to you..." said the boy, who didn't want to risk anything anyway;

"Well, not that I expected anything different from you..." Ron said, snorting, although in truth, he was happy to see how strong Erwin had become. - "But don't think you can get away with it, I'll think about your punishment later" said Ron, suddenly hitting him on the back of the head.

"Ouch!" The boy exclaimed, clutching his head in pain;

"Anyway... you did good against that guy; Well done."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

When Erwin heard those words, the son of Artemisius almost had tears in his eyes; since they had known each other, that is, since Erwin was 5 years old, Ron had been strict with him, and although Ron himself saw his progress in martial arts, he had never given him a compliment that could be called such, making fun of him or not considering his improvements at all, at least as far as he showed.

" Eh..ehehehe..."

Erwin began to laugh, too happy at that moment. Ron, however, as soon as he saw that smile on the boy's face, felt somewhat uncomfortable, hitting the boy on the back of the head in the same place again, giving him a bump.

"Don't think in the slightest that I will forget what you did tonight..."

Elaine remained to watch that scene from the sidelines: watching them, in a certain sense, was beautiful but also sad, since in their behavior she saw a little of her relationship with her father.

[Dad...] thought the girl dejectedly, looking at her toes.

"Anyway..." - said Ron, approaching the girl and interrupting her thoughts. - "You two need to wash up immediately. You stink and you're filling my house with your awful smell, plus your clothes are rags. I assume you're hungry, right? We'll talk after you've cleaned up and had something to eat."

-------

Elaine took her time washing herself; after having washed every corner of her body carefully, she decided to spend some time inside the tub, being pampered by the heat coming from the water.

"Now that I think about it, it's been a long time since I relaxed like this..." said the girl, starting to play with the water; After all those weeks of running away, she didn't think she could finally relax so soon.

But as she enjoyed her well-deserved bath, she remembered her true goal.

"Yeah, it's not over yet, I'm not safe here..." the girl said, getting out of the tub and wrapping herself in the towel Ron had given her. She knew that the longer she stayed still, the higher the chances were of someone catching her by surprise and capturing her. Although nearly an hour had passed since Rudolf had left the village with his tail between his legs, she knew her "brother" would reach the kingdom of Lorien in about two days. She realized she had no time to waste and needed to make the most of this extra time that had fallen into her lap by pure chance.

After drying herself and changing into some clothes that Ron kept in the basement, the girl finally came down to the living room. She stood before Erwin and Ron, who were anxiously waiting for her. When Erwin saw the clean, decently dressed girl, he realized just how much beauty had been hidden beneath the dirty, filthy robe she had been wearing.

[P-Pretty...] Thought the boy, who was almost enchanted by such beauty.The young elf noticed the boy's looks, and annoyed, she threw an ugly look at the boy, who, intimidated, looked away from the girl, turning his gaze away.

[T-There was no reason to look at me so badly...] Erwin thought, slightly annoyed by the way he had been taunted, without practically saying anything stupid or wrong.

"Come on Elaine, sit here and eat...." said Ron in the meantime, who despite having noticed that strange situation, had no interest in the type of games he considered "for children"... On the contrary, he was amazed at the fact that Erwin was completely speechless for the first time.

The moment Elaine's eyes fell on the plate, her belly began to rumble loudly, embarrassing her slightly, with her face turning purple.

"Excuse me..." The girl sat down in front of the plate, which held a simple chicken broth with what looked like some type of pasta in it. The smell was so inviting that she began to devour the dish at an incredible speed. It had been a long time since she had eaten anything that could be called a proper meal. She had become accustomed to eating from animal carcasses, or on the worst days, drinking her own urine and eating grass. The dish reminded her a bit of her mother's cooking, which wasn't heavy but was uniquely delicate. After finishing the meal and drinking some water, the girl was finally ready to talk.

"Thank you for the food... Mr. Ron..." the girl said, bowing her head slightly.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Do you feel ready to talk, Elaine?" Ron asked without hesitation, thus shifting his attention to the main topic.

"Yes, I'm ready." - the girl replied decisively – "What do you want to know?"

"Everything :who you are, what happened to you, and why that prick was chasing you."

"..."

Elaine let out a deep sigh. Honestly, if it were up to her, she wouldn't have said anything, keeping everything to herself. However, she had a vague feeling that Ron and Erwin could be trusted, even though Ron had been ready to "sell" her to Rudolf for the sake of the village.

"Well...First of all, my name is Elaine... Elaine Blueheaven, and I am the 5th child of Arvedui Blueheaven, King of Lorien and the elves."

"So you are... the princess of Lorien?!" Ron exclaimed, surprised by what he had heard: sure, to force soldiers to chase a little girl all the way here, Elaine had to be an important person, but he never would have expected that the the girl in front of him was a "Princess", and that the elves themselves would turn against the "main" family, going so far as to persecute their princess.

[What's going on in that kingdom?! If they trying to capture the princess, then it means that Arvedui is...] thought Ron, who however seemed to have half an idea about what was happening, even though he didn't want to believe it.

[An... Elf?!] Erwin thought instead, who had in fact never left Hakvill, without ever seeing the other races present on Earthland; he had heard of elves, dwarves and orcs, but seeing one in the flesh still shocked him, and now he understood why although the two were similar, some parts of them were so different, like the ears.

" Exactly..." - the girl replied to Ron, looking towards the ceiling, assuming a melancholy expression - "Or at least, I was..."

" I thought so..." said Ron, seeing his hunch come true – "You've been the victim of a coup d'etat, right?"

" Yes..." the girl said, confirming what Ron said – "It's exactly as you say...The Blueheaven family has fallen."

END OF THE PART 1.