Puberty Cinderella

They came at dawn the next day.

The polished armor, the scarlet cloak, and the feather crown of the same color, riding high on the horse, walked through the market area at a leisurely pace, attracting the attention of the citizens.

The knights rode straight into the courtyard of the Duke's house, dismounted, and knocked on the door.

Before seeing them, Ella smelled a vague smell. It couldn't be said how bad it was, but it made her feel disgusted from the bottom of her heart.The leading knight took off his helmet, judging from his frowning, he probably didn't enjoy the strange smell very much.

"Sir Farrell, welcome, welcome!" The stepmother seemed to be completely unaffected, and greeted her warmly. "You must be tired all the way from Wangcheng, right? Come, please sit here. Camilla, Vivienne, hurry up and pour tea for the lords."

"Don't bother, just ask Miss Ella to come out."

"Yes, yes. Ella!"

It had been a century since she had heard her stepmother call her by her first name directly, and Ella couldn't help but get goosebumps all over her body.She had already changed into her only unpatched skirt, carrying all her belongings, and timidly walked into the front hall.

Although she didn't dare to look directly into Sir Farrell's face, Ella saw his expression from the corner of her eye and seemed to become more unhappy.

"How do you ride a horse in a skirt?" Farrell turned to another knight beside him, "Catelyn!"

"exist!"

"Help her change into her uniform."

"Yes, sir!"

The female knight named Caitlin took off her helmet, revealing a head of short red curly hair.She held out a hand and beckoned Ella to follow her to another room to change.

"Why are you so skinny?" Caitlin said as she helped her button her cuffs. "But as long as you stay in the barracks for a while, you will become as strong as me, and you can grow a lot taller. Ah, and your hair, it can't just be loose like this."

Caitlin's smell was less pungent than the others, more like a warm sea breeze.Ella was glad to spend more time with her.

Caitlin produced a small comb and tied Ella's long hair with a ribbon.But the braid was still too long, and Ella would flip it up with a slight movement of her head, so she had to try to coil it up.

"Okay!" Kaitlyn pushed Ella to the mirror so she could see her new look. "I don't have much chance to do my hair. It doesn't look good. If only my sister was here, she's much more skillful than me..."

"No, you've done it well, and it's a job well done. Thank you, Kate . . . sir."

Caitlin let out a chuckle. "Just call me Caitlin in private. But don't talk to Farrell, he's a stubborn old man."

Back in the hall, Sir Farrell's expression seemed to relax a little when he saw Ella in a clean suit.

"It's time to talk now. Then we won't bother you, ma'am. Good-bye. Come on, Ella."

"Okay, okay..."

"Wrong!" Farrell's eyebrows furrowed again. "You should look straight ahead and say 'Yes, sir!'"

"Yes, sir."

"louder!"

Ella took a deep breath. "Yes, sir!"

Farrell nodded, put on his helmet, and led his men out.

They brought Ella a bay horse, too.She had never ridden such a tall horse, but she climbed up on her own, trying not to imagine what it would be like to fall from such a high place.

Caitlin rode up next to her and spoke to her secretly: "Have you used to ride a horse?"

"My father taught me when I was a kid."

"You ride very well. I'm from the archipelago. I haven't ridden before enlisting in the army. I've never seen a horse before."

They were walking along the road through a forest, and when the angle was right, they could see the turquoise pinnacles of the cliffs glistening in the sun when they looked up.That was the Emerald Palace, the brightest jewel in King Fora's crown.Ella was attracted, and the soldiers seemed to relax after entering the familiar territory, chatting and joking softly.

Halfway there, Farrell suddenly reined in his horse and raised a finger to signal them to be quiet.Everyone immediately stopped at the same time, silent like a cicada.

There was a faint cry from the depths of the woods, but Ella couldn't hear it clearly.

"Someone is calling for help!" As she said, Caitlin let go of the rein and turned the horse's head, intending to rush to the source of the sound.

"Wait," said Farrell, "it may be a robber's trap. I'll go with you, and the others will guard here."

"Yes, sir!"

Farrell and Caitlin dismounted, one hand resting on the hilt of their sword, and walked cautiously into the forest.The others stayed where they were, holding their breath and listening attentively to the movement in the forest.

Not long after, they returned, carrying a badly injured man on their shoulders.The man was in ragged clothes, covered in blood, and kept calling for help.There were several teeth marks on his body, and the injury to his left leg was particularly serious. Most of the belt meat was gone below the knee, exposing the thick shin bone.Ella subconsciously turned her head away.

They put the man on the ground, tied the arteries in his thighs with cloth strips, spilled some wine from the jug on the wounds, and poured some into his mouth.

Caitlin patted his face. "It's okay, you're safe."

The man finally groaned tenaciously and lost consciousness.

"Put him on the horse," said Farrell. "The village is not far from here. Let the recruits walk."

"Yes, sir."

Love dismounted, helped put the man on the horse, and helped him all the way to the nearest village, his new uniform soon stained with mud and blood.She felt more at ease this way.

As soon as he entered the village, the villagers surrounded him, hurriedly carried him into the clinic, and applied various ointments to him.After a while, several women and a group of children came, and when they saw the wounded, they burst into tears. It should be his family members.After a while, the doctor came in for an examination, shook his head, and said that the limb must be amputated immediately, and if he was lucky, he might be able to save his life.The family members cried even harder.

"Okay, there's nothing we can do here. Keep going," Farrell said.

"Sir...sir," Ella said, plucking up her courage, "if the beast that attacked him was left alone, many more people would be injured."

Farrell gave her a cool look. "This is not our jurisdiction. The most important thing is to complete the task now, which is to bring you back to the barracks to report. Let's go!"

With an order, the soldiers got on their horses one after another, and Ella hurriedly followed at the tail of the team.They hurried on and returned to the military camp in Wangcheng before noon.

Several teams came back one after another, and each team was followed by a few recruits (it is not difficult to judge from their awkward behavior and expressions).The military doctor picked up every possible place on their bodies in the tent, not a single crease, and examined them carefully; the affairs officer questioned each of them in detail about their name, place of birth, class and countless details. They asked them to press their fingerprints on the deed of sale; the instructor led them to run around the base of the city wall twice, and then sent them to chop wood, make a fire, sweep the floor and fetch water.

Ella volunteered to clean the kitchen.Contrary to the usual orderly style of the barracks, the sanitation here is really horrible. She really can't stand the piles of pots and pans placed randomly and the chimney that hasn't passed through for hundreds of years.Soon, she became familiar with the place, and exchanged cooking experience with the cook.After all, a kitchen is still a kitchen, it’s just that it’s a little bigger and there are a few more mouths to feed.

When Ella walked out of the kitchen, she was very happy even though she was covered in soot all over her body.With her hands on her hips, she looked at the fruits of her labor with satisfaction, not noticing that Farrell and Caitlin were passing by.

Caitlin watched for a long time before she could confirm that the little black man in front of her was the girl she had seen in the morning, and burst out laughing.

"Ayla? You've become 'Cinderella' now!"

Even the stern Farrell grinned.Ella scratched her head, thinking that she might never get rid of this nickname.