Milk (upper)

  The door to Maria's bedroom was open, and Gabriel was already standing beside the bed. If Amun remembered correctly, Gabriel should have been resting in the room closest to the front gate downstairs at night. When Amun rushed up the stairs, he didn't see Gabriel at all, which meant that Maria had just let out a cry for help, and before Amun could even get up from the stairs, Gabriel was already upstairs. This speed was truly astonishing, almost as if he had teleported.

  Gabriel's sword had been unsheathed, with a faint silver glow surrounding it that was not bright but had a piercing effect on the eyes. However, her expression was somewhat strange, with a hint of surprise, and the tip of the sword pointed at a fluffy little animal in front of the bed.

  "Amun, how did this cat get in?" Gabriel didn't turn his head, knowing Amun was already at the door, and asked in a low voice.

  Isn't that Schr?dinger? Ammon recognized the cat sleeping soundly at Maria's feet, which was raised by the old madman and was lazy, gluttonous, fat, dirty, with gray and white fur always covered in furnace ash, even the white fur looked like gray fur, sleeping all day long. The old madman had even given this cat a name called Schr?dinger. How did it end up in Maria's room?

  "No, I don't know how it got in either." Ah Mon replied honestly.

  Gabriel just casually asked, and then thought that even she herself didn't notice the cat sneaking in, so asking this little miner was pointless. At this time, Maria said with a hint of apology: "Sorry, I woke you all up, I didn't know this cat was sleeping here, almost stepped on it just now, scared me to death... Lord Gabriel, don't hurt it, it's just sleeping."

  Gabriel sheathed his sword: "Don't call me sir, from now on, just Gabriel will do. As you ordered, I won't harm this cat... And don't say sorry, it's not suitable, protecting you is my sacred duty... Armon, take the cat away and make sure it doesn't disturb Maria's rest again."

  Amon responded with a grunt, lowered his head and walked forward to pick up Xue Dingyuan. This lazy cat can really sleep, making such a big commotion, but when Amon picked him up, he still hadn't woken up. When Amon lowered his head, he saw Maria's feet, she wasn't wearing shoes, her slender and fair ankles were exposed under her nightgown, her toenails were pink, looking so cute.

  Amon's heart was pounding inexplicably, and he immediately tried to control his breathing, making it calm down, and his heartbeat also became even. This is one of the most profound techniques in the mining skills of Duketown, which requires controlling one's physical reactions in a very calm state to ensure that every excavation of the mine core is successful. Amon's training was far stricter than others in the town, largely due to his years of experience bathing in the icy cold spring.

  Even Gabriel couldn't find any flaws in this, the child was indeed a bit flustered when he rushed upstairs at first, but it's normal, and after seeing Lady Maria was fine, he immediately calmed down.

  On the surface, it seemed so, but in Ahmon's heart, he was quite unpeaceful. Maria only wore a nightgown, and when he crouched down, he saw her feet, and when he stood up, he still lowered his head, his line of sight just right to see her tender chest. The neckline of the nightgown wasn't low, but from this angle, you could also see a small piece of skin exposed below her neck.

  What's even more deadly is that the line of sight seems to be able to penetrate through the nightgown, and see something else through imagination. Maria's nightgown was neither thin nor thick, very soft and close-fitting, slightly loose, it was a comfortable material. A girl of her age had already developed, you could see the arc-shaped bulge on her chest under the nightgown, as if it were the most beautiful curve in the world, and at the top of the arc there was also a pair of slight protrusions, were they her breasts?

  Ah Mon felt himself burning up, not just his face, but a scorching sensation throughout his body, as if he had just walked out of that icy cold spring. This scorching feeling made him feel ashamed, and he quickly hugged Xue Ding'an and retreated three steps back before turning around and walking away.

  As Amun stepped out the door, he took a deep breath and his face turned bright red all at once, even his earlobes were red. When Gabriel rushed into Maria's room, he lit a candle as quickly as possible, but the light was not very bright, and it was even darker on the stairs, so no one could see Amun's expression.

  Downstairs, Ah Meng was shocked and even took a cold breath. In the large hall downstairs, six armored warriors were already standing. The two in front held shields and battle axes, while the two behind them held shields and javelins. On either side stood two men holding long swords, silent but exuding an aura of sharpness that hit Ah Meng's face. Xue Dingyuan seemed to sense something too, letting out a dissatisfied meow from within Ah Meng's embrace, rubbing his head against him before curling up into a ball.

  "What happened?" The six warriors in the hall did not speak, and a warrior standing at the gate of the hall with a long sword hanging from his waist looked like a squad leader or something, asked Amun.

  "It's nothing, just a cat. Lady Maria almost stepped on it and ordered us not to harm the animal, so I'm taking it away." Armon replied as he walked through the six soldiers, carrying the cat towards the outside of the courtyard.

  As he reached the entrance of the courtyard, he was shocked again. At the gate, two fully armed soldiers stood guard on either side. Looking around at the four corners of the courtyard, each one had a soldier standing with their weapon at the ready. Amun knew that these soldiers were Lord Dick's personal bodyguards who had been brought to town, and they were also the ones who escorted Fayol to his house to retrieve the Tears of the Gods that day.

  Dick's adult bodyguards were stationed in the Temple of Horus near the courtyard, either hearing the noise or receiving Gabriel's special message, and they came so quickly, silently and quietly deploying their defenses and combat formations, but without Gabriel's instructions, they couldn't go upstairs to Maria's room.

  Amon thought to himself, if he could hurry over so quickly, then he should be able to do it too. The answer was yes! But what about wearing armor and carrying a weapon? Amon didn't have any experience with that. He thought for a moment, but if he were carrying a large hammer, it would also be possible. What puzzled him was that this courtyard seemed quiet and unguarded, yet the defenses were actually so tight. How did Xue Dingyi manage to sneak into Maria's room?

  Not to mention that with Gabriel's warrior around, it's almost impossible for a cat to sneak in and sleep by Maria's bedside!

  He was just puzzled, Ah Meng didn't think much, walked out of the yard and put the cat on the ground, heavily patted its buttocks and whispered: "Xue Dingyan, hurry back home, it's a bit dangerous here, can't come again!"

  Xue Dingyan woke up, very dissatisfied, and shouted loudly. He stretched his limbs, shook off the fur, and ran away in a puff of smoke, heading towards Lao Fengzi's house. Only then did Ah Meng let out a sigh of relief.

  Back in the hall, Gabriel had already walked down the stairs and ordered the warriors to disperse. However, he stood there and asked Armon a question: "Your skills are quite impressive, your reaction is extremely agile, not inferior to that of a low-ranking warrior. Have you learned martial arts?"

  "Sir, are you asking me? I don't understand what 'body technique' means, but I have learned the mining skills passed down through generations in Duoke Town. You should already know what happened."

  Gabriel didn't ask any more questions and returned to his room, and everything was calm again. But in Armand's heart, it was hard to calm down, every time he closed his eyes, he seemed to see Maria's feet, and then his line of sight moved up with her body standing up, stopping at her chest, how tender and white the skin was, perhaps due to fright or the stimulation of the night air, the fine hairs were also slightly erected... And there was the tempting curve under the nightgown, two points protruding on the curve...

  As he thought about it, his body couldn't help but react. Amun was still a kid, but not that young either, and this reaction made him very uneasy and even annoyed. He was wondering what the lovely chest under those pajamas would look like, and what it would feel like if he put his hand in through the neckline. Then he suddenly felt a chill, thinking that his thoughts were an unforgivable offense.

  He inexplicably wanted to go to the cold spring in the Black Fire Forest for a bath, and thought to himself that he was being absurd, perhaps it was because of the frequent bathing in that strange cold spring. Every time he came out of the cold spring and sat on the shore to rest, his body would feel warm and cozy, and he would have this reaction, feeling so comfortable that he almost wanted to sigh contentedly, but his mood wasn't as messy as it was now.

  But Ah Mon can't go tonight, he has to sleep on the wooden board under the stairs, and of course, he didn't sleep well that night.

  The next day at lunchtime, Armon stood by, still a bit disheveled in his emotions, but carefully collecting himself and not daring to show any unusual behavior. What was unbearable was that Maria was still staring at him, he could feel her gaze, and just then heard Maria say softly: "Yesterday's cat, you didn't hurt it, did you?"

  Amun: "No, no, as you ordered, sir, I let it go."

  Maria: "Thanks, Armon, for yesterday."

  "Sir, you don't have to thank me," Ahmon replied hastily. "As your attendant, it's my duty to do so. It's my fault that your rest was disturbed." As he spoke, he finally lifted his gaze and met Maria's eyes. Perhaps it was to muster up courage or to defy himself, but after seeing her like that yesterday, why couldn't he look into her eyes today?

  Maria was apparently somewhat surprised, not expecting the young man to lift his gaze towards her, which made her a bit uncomfortable. Her instincts wanted to dodge, but she remembered Gabriel's entrustment, so she continued to look at him, unable to conceal a hint of awkwardness.

  "How can there be such a lazy cat, it doesn't even wake up like that?"

  "It's called Xue Dingnie, and it's indeed lazy enough. It's a cat raised by the town's old madman."

  "What's the name of that cat? And who is Old Crazy?"

  "He is the oldest person in our town and also my friend..."

  The two of them spoke while constantly looking into each other's eyes, as if they were mutually challenging each other, and neither of them seemed willing to back down first. They both had a bit of a childish temper. She was beautiful, and I liked watching her like this. - Armon thought to himself.

  It was Maria who finally looked away, but it didn't seem like she was evading the question. Instead, she lowered her head to eat again and stopped asking Amun questions. She ate less today than yesterday, and when Amun met her gaze, he could see a hint of unease deep in her eyes. She seemed uncomfortable, enduring some kind of pain, but trying her best to remain calm.

  Amon wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he couldn't ask. He could only answer Maria's questions and couldn't take the initiative to ask Maria questions.