'I got hardened, well, like a loaf of old bread. You can't get me wet with water now. I have been thinking for a long time about my mother and about my current life situation. If I had been told about this a year ago, I would never have believed it! Moreover, I would have been terrified, but now everything is somehow ordinary. Like it's normal, nothing special. It's kind of weird...'

'This is normal. A person tries to forget bad things, and in his memories it does not look so terrible. If you really compare, then imagine that your problems in the past are a bitter tincture. It's disgusting to drink it, but if you dilute it with water or eat something, the taste will soften. At first, there will be a nasty aftertaste in the mouth, but then it will disappear. So it is in life. These are the necessary medications that we need to take,' - Marzio thought for a while, and Anastasio continued.

'Every person is destined to drink his bitter cup. The only problem is that draining it at once will not work – it's too disgusting. Therefore, it is necessary to stretch out a little bit for the whole life. As for me, it's better to drink most of it now in my youth than to leave it for old age.

'Can a person really choose it himself?'

'Maybe, but he doesn't understand. It's some other feeling that you're almost not aware of.'

The last person with whom Marzio managed to establish friendly relations was a girl – Maddalena Esposito. This young lady had wonderful talents: she masterfully wielded a sword, mastered many fighting techniques, knew the rules and unquestioningly followed all the rules. She had moderately long turquoise-blue hair gathered in a fluffy square. Maddalena, or simply Madda, as she asked to be called in an "informal" setting, was a seemingly ordinary girl. But she had a rather strange character trait. Madda grew up in the famous Esposito family, which was famous for its ancestors – glorious heroes knights. There is a tradition in their family – to give all children knights so that they continue the path of their ancestors. As Maddalena herself said, mostly boys were born in their family for unknown reasons, but she was born in this generation. Her father did not have many children – only three sons and a daughter, so he did not hesitate to raise Madda on a par with the boys. Because of this, she blurred the clear line between male and female. Unlike her peers, she did not feel any shame when some careless young men looked at her. For example, Carla could have been hit in the jaw for such a thing. Also, she could easily change clothes in the presence of guys, and she didn't care at all. It didn't seem to make any difference to her at all. But that wasn't what made Madda stand out so much. Her almost fanatical devotion to the code of chivalry was what surprised her. She was a true example of chivalrous loyalty and determination.

She met Marzio in the bathhouse, or rather, in the dressing room. After another exhausting day, Marzio decided to clean up before going to bed. Fortunately, Lily was already asleep, and he didn't have to worry. The baths were in one of the buildings of the dormitory. As such, there was no division into male and female zones, just everyone shared the visiting schedule in turn. Since it was already late, Marzio did not expect to meet anyone there, but when he was ready and entered the waiting room, he realized that he was not alone.

'Excuse me! Marzio shouted into the thick steam that enveloped the room. At first there was no answer, but then Maddalena came out of the veil, her body was hidden by a towel'

'Oh, I'm sorry, I thought there was no one here right now,' said Marzio and was about to retreat, but Madda stopped him.

'I thought so too. Well, fine! There's enough room for two of us!' without a shadow of embarrassment, without a shred of irony or sarcasm, Madda said. Although Marzio had already heard about a girl without complexes, but still it was stupefying.

'Allow me! There are rules and they say that boys and girls do not wash together,' Marzio hoped to excuse himself with this and leave, but Madda insisted.

'Oh, come on! There's no one here anyway, and there won't be in the next few hours. Besides, technically, nothing is said about the night in the charter,'here Marzio realized that the schedule had been drawn up without night time, about which not a word was said.

'So we don't break the rules...,' Madda continued.

'Well, stop being so familiar! You also want to wash away fatigue, and I, as a knight and your comrade, should not take away your well-deserved rest,' here Marzio gave up. He didn't want to go back to the room unwashed, but he didn't want to be kept company either, but there was no choice.

'OK. Thank you for understanding!' Marzio said cheerfully, driving away embarrassment from himself and boldly headed to the sauna.

In reality, everything turned out to be not as Marzio imagined. Because of the steam and water, Mudda was almost invisible. The only thing he could more or less make out was her face. He hoped she'd seen it too. There was no embarrassment, just discomfort. Marzio was worried that a beautiful girl was sitting in front of him, not undressed, but that those short moments of solitude had been taken away from him. Now he just wanted to sweat well and go to bed. They were silent for a few minutes, but then Madda broke the silence.

'I'm sorry.'

'For what!?' Marzio was surprised.

'You wanted to rest alone, and I interrupted.'

'Oh, what are you...,' Marzio began to justify himself.

'You interrupted me too,' Madda continued.

'I too wanted to lie alone in... ..., and here you are. So, you apologize too.'

'Um, I'm sorry.'

'I'm sorry. We are, after all, comrades!' Madda responded cheerfully.

'Why do you take everything so seriously?' Marzio asked unexpectedly for himself.

'And how else? We are members of the order, which means we are brothers and sisters, or simply comrades! I don't understand why everyone is so surprised when I say that? As if they didn't come to the order to protect people from demons and to carry the word of God, and don't understand why.'

'What are you here for?' Marzio interrupted her monologue.

For the sake of justice! Protecting the innocent, helping brothers and sisters and in the name of the family, of course! Isn't that why you're here?'

'I'm not,' sighed Marzio.

'It was just fate that I ended up here,' then there was an awkward silence, which Marzio had already decided to break, when suddenly Madda spoke again.

'So you have such a destiny.'

'A destiny?'

'Yes. You said that your destiny brought you here, which means this is your path.'

'If it were my will...,' Marzio wanted to object to her, but Madda interrupted.

'Everything is the will of the Lord, and his ways are inscrutable. So this is your place, Brother Marzio, so you should be here.'

'You think?' he doubted.

'I'm pretty sure it is, but I can't judge for him. So be glad you're here, Marzio. Marzio thought about Madda's words for a moment, but then she continued again.'

'You were in training, weren't you?'

'Yes.'

'And this means that you want to get better and you try to. If you didn't care, then you wouldn't strain yourself so much. But it's important for you to be strong, right?'

'Of course! I have no right to tarnish the honor of my father, who vouched for me! Nor can I disgrace the name of my mother, who brought me up and gave me knowledge.'

'You see, you understand everything perfectly. I also cannot tarnish the honor of my family, but I consider it my duty to protect the lives of the innocent and save my comrades. At that moment, Marzio realized Maddalena's motives and, as he thought, understood them.'

'We must unquestioningly observe the order's charter. I understand that not in every situation and not everyone will be able to honor those rules, but in an official setting it is necessary.'

' So you only behave like this in public?'

'Are you accusing me of hypocrisy?'

'What!? No, no, I didn't mean to...'

'Okay, just understand that for me the knight's code is the second book after the Gospel. Maybe my family also plays a role here. You see, my parents live by the rules and regulations all their lives. Every day is calculated from and to, and any deviation is a crime. Perhaps I show their character trait and don't notice how I behave.'

'But why befitting parents in everything?'

'What about the rules? They must be observed, no matter what, and my family has nothing to do with it. I'm just worried that I can't communicate informally with my brothers and sisters. They are not my family to behave freely, so...' she stopped abruptly.

'Oh! Forgive me, Brother Marzio. I've said all sorts of things here. You're also tired for the day, and I brought you out to talk, I'm sorry,' here she abruptly got up and was about to leave, but Marzio stopped her.

'Wait! It doesn't bother me at all that you're talking to me.'

'You're tired and you need to rest. If the conversation relaxes you, then I'm not averse to helping you,' Maddalena stopped and thought. Marzio could only make out her contours in the pair, but that was enough.

'So you're ready to listen to me?'

'Well, I quite am. You said yourself about helping your comrades. Am I not helping you with that?' Maddalena smiled good-naturedly.

'Well, if that's the case...,' she went back to the sauna.

'Then I would be honored to talk to you,' she settled herself comfortably and continued.

'You know, there are so few people with whom you can talk heart to heart. I try to be friendly and polite with everyone, but somehow I have to talk to few people on equal terms. I feel that although they respect me, they don't consider me their own. What do you think?'

'It's simple, Madda. You amaze people, in a good way. They consider you the standard of chivalry and integrity. Because of this, you become immediately above them in status, and they cannot consider you as their own. You're popular.'

'Popular? In what sense?'

'Well, you are making progress in your studies, giving an example to follow. You observe all the rules of etiquette ...,' here Marzio hesitated for a second, but still said.

'Not bad-looking, and therefore you are considered one of the most outstanding students of the academy.'

'Is that so? I didn't really notice it... Tell me what to do.'

'Me? Well, I'm a bad adviser here, but it seems to me that you need to be less formal and be, um... simple.'

'Simple?'

'Yes! And then people will come to you.'

'Ha, it's that simple... Okay, maybe it's worth a try,' here she thought again, and then glibly said

'Listen, you've told me a lot about me here, but tell me about yourself, I'm also interested!'

'About me?'

'Yes! It's just that when you first arrived, they said about you that you were a rich bastard who had been bought a place. But then I heard about how you served as an ordinary soldier and that you are not from Veneto, but from Bologna.'

'That's it!' Marzio even laughed.

'And you believed that?'

'I don't pay attention to gossip, but I would like to hear your opinion.'

'Well...'

Marzio told her his story, and after that night he and Maddalena became friends. They still talked a lot during their studies, and spent all their free time, when it was possible. Behind all this formal strictness was a kind, strong and understanding girl with her own principles. Marzio was sometimes surprised by her military rigor, but this did not interfere with good relations. So involuntarily, Marzio was able to get himself a few friends at the academy, and from that moment life became a little more pleasant. In addition, studying also brought its advantages, so Marzio with some enthusiasm integrated into the overall process.

One of the interesting subjects was "demonology", where they were told about the types and subspecies of demons, about their habits, the degree of danger, etc. There were several classes where they dissected the bodies of killed mutants and explained their anatomy. It's not a pleasant sight. A couple of people even fainted and emptied their stomachs. There were also medical lessons, where Marzio was able to use all his knowledge given by his mother. He was dealt with separately, since no one succeeded in this business. There were many other lessons related to natural science and applied sciences. Marzio repeatedly used his knowledge and thereby freed up time from classes, which he used for additional lessons in other disciplines. In particular, he did not attend medical classes. The venerable physician of Venice taught there, who studied with Marzio separately in the laboratory at the academy, and sometimes he invited Marzio to his hospital. Marzio had a good relationship with him: the old man was sincerely passionate about his business and admired Marzio's skills in every possible way, repeatedly being interested in his mother, about whom Marzio preferred not to spread much. He spent his free time from practicing medicine on Chiera Ricci's lessons. They studied either on the island of the order in the library or in the fresh air, or Chiera invited him to the Ricci family palace, which was located next to the Maghera fort between the royal island, where the ruler's castle was located in the west and the military shipyard in the southeast. Ricci's residence occupied a fairly large area: it had its own garden, its own pier by the canal just opposite the ancient fort, a large library and many other beautiful buildings behind strong walls. By special order of the master, Chiera studied individually with Marzio for unknown reasons. Chiera herself seemed pretty to Marzio: the girl was not bad-looking, very smart, but at the same time good-natured, cheerful and kind. A positive and cheerful person – this is how Marzio described Chiera.

They usually practiced for several hours with short breaks. They read texts in German together, studied grammar, and also Marzio tried to talk on arbitrary topics with Chiera. She also gave him books in German, which he read at home, and then retold their contents to her. It didn't work out very well initially, but Marzio remembered how little Lily was digging over the books, and then he was going and making all his efforts. Chiera did not give Marzio painfully difficult texts, but started with easy ones. Sometimes during breaks they drank tea and just chatted in Italian. From such simple conversations, Marzio realized that Chiera is much smarter than it seems at first glance. This is not just a noble maiden, but a real specialist in languages. Sometimes, she talked so interestingly about the peculiarities of various forms of speech that Marzio involuntarily listened.

Marzio came to one of the classes very tired. It was a tough day, and the young man was completely exhausted. The lesson was scheduled for the evening in the library of the citadel of the Order. In addition to the vast hall, there was a beautiful veranda next to the library, on which, if the weather allowed, they studied. Tonight it was cloudy, a light breeze was blowing. When Marzio met Chiera, he found that she was also in a bad mood. Fatigue was visible on the girl's eternally cheerful face.

The lesson began according to the standard: a greeting in German, then a small dialogue about what happened during the day. Before that, they decided to go to the veranda, where they had a view of the garden inside the island, and the wind was blowing so pleasantly. They sat in chairs opposite each other at a wooden coffee table pushed close to the stone railing. With an accent, but quickly enough, Marzio answered Chiere. Then came the homework check - Marzio had to read a small book in German and retell it to her. The book was about a little prince who lived on his planet with rose, about how she got to earth, apparently before the second coming, how he met the pilot, how he tamed the fox. The story touched Marzio, although he did not understand everything about it because of his German, but even that was enough to admire it. Marzio cheerfully recounted the essence to Chiera, and they proceeded to the next task. Chiera gave another book to Marzio, and he began to read and translate the text aloud.

Falter entfernt brautkleid - The moth takes off the wedding dress

Die ging gestern Hochzeit - The wedding took place yesterday

Schnaps im Kopf du holde Braut - Schnapps in the head you are a beautiful bride

Steck Bratwurst in dein Sauerkraut - Schnapps in the head you are a beautiful bride

Es ist Hochzeitsnacht - It's the wedding night

'Let's call it a day?' Chiera suggested. Marzio immediately agreed, because something was not set, and he was dead tired.

'I see you're tired today too,' Marzio decided to notice.

'Oh, is it so obvious?'

'You're surprisingly pale and sluggish.'

'Eh, it was a difficult day ....' sighed Chiera and sprawled in a chair.

'I was an interpriter at the court all day today.'

'Have you been working with diplomats?'

'Yes. Today we've received ambassadors from Mauritania, Spain and Turkey. I had to work all day.'

'I see. You're working hard, I see. Is that what your father is asking you to do?'

'No, I volunteered. I really like different languages, and talking for two at once is a pleasure. True, it takes too much effort, but that's life. Isn't that right with you?'

'From me? Not that...'

'Didn't you dream of becoming a knight?'

'Me? No. The circumstances were such that I had no other choice. If I had my way, I would have stayed in Forli with my mother instead of all this...'

'That's how it is... I thought you wanted this. Here I have been studying languages and other sciences since early childhood, I have been living it. Now it's a part of me and my whole life.'

'You're lucky, Chiera, that you've found your way. For me, everything turned out a little differently. To be honest, I prefer not to swing a sword, but to study the artifacts of the ancients.'

'Oh! Really?!' Chiera visibly cheered up.

'That's very good. You know, few people show such an interest in the past. Usually, all this is limited only to weapons, but you are not only interested in them?'

'No, of course not! I am very interested in different mechanisms that are not related to murder. But most of all I am fascinated by medicine. My mother was a healer, and she learned a lot of her knowledge from ancient science.'

'Your mother must have been a wise woman.'

'Yes ...' here Marzio involuntarily fell into memories. Chiera was afraid that she had touched on a painful topic and tried to defuse the situation.

'Tell me this, how did you live before you've joined the order?'

'"Before all this?" Well...,' Marzio thought.

'Life was quite ordinary, but only in appearance. We studied a lot with my mother, she taught me everything she knew. I helped her around the house, and when I grew up I started working in the shop of our friend the merchant. In my free time, I tried to learn something new, so I often bothered my mother about it. We lived in a house in the suburb of Forli, my mother earned a living working in her shop. She was a local herbalist. They often went to her for help with headaches and other ailments. She helped a lot of people...'

'Wow. I didn't know you lived such a life. You know, I don't really socialize much with commoners and middle-class people. Usually they are only rich or just influential people. I've always wondered how the common people live. However, I have heard a lot about their illiteracy and brusqueness. I didn't think that in such an environment a person who is so eager for education would grow up.'

'It's not surprising. I don't remember exactly where I read it, but the thought sounds like this: a negative environment generates rejection to it and a desire to change.'

'Aah, I thought it depended on the blood.'

'Not necessarily. My mother was a commoner, but it was thanks to her that I got my knowledge.'

'You need to find your business and understand what place you occupy in this world.'

'That's for sure. But I haven't made up my mind yet.'

' What are the options?'

'I would probably like to become a scientist. To engage in various sciences, to study the artifacts of the ancients. I am especially interested in medicine and perhaps if I am trained, I will become a professional in this field.'

'Do you really want to devote yourself to this? Chiera's eyes lit up.'

'Yes, why?'

'Nothing. It's just very unusual to see such enthusiasm. I have seen a lot of knights and children of nobles who only wanted to be the strongest, the richest and so on and so forth. I didn't find anything that attracted them to the sciences. To be honest, initially I had a different opinion about you, but now it has changed for the better,' Marzio was taken aback.

'Wait, so you thought I was just another rich son?'

'Yes, she answered innocently, with a kind smile.'

'That's really news...'

'Don't be offended, Marzio! You don't know how the upper society works yet, so you have no idea about those people. I just made a general conclusion.'

'Are they all as vicious as you say?'

'Not all of them. There is...,' here Chiera hesitated slightly, which was not like her.

'A certain stratum of people who are similar to you and me. These people are smarter than most.'

' Who are these people?' Marzio asked with interest. Chiera closed up for a moment.

'You will find out in the future. If you really want to devote yourself to science, then you will get to know these people yourself.'

'How difficult everything is ...,' added Marzio.

'I have no idea what the future holds for me at all. How can you judge here?'

'Ha-ha!...,' Chiera laughed good-naturedly.

'And you have a touch of the philosopher in you. You will definitely have to read the works of the great German classics, you will like them. You know, I just remembered:

I wandered through the forest...

in the wilderness of it

I didn't expect to find it

I'm nothing and honest.

I have noticed a flower

In the shade of the branches.

In a beautiful hour,

It caused another plant blanches.

I stretched out my hand,

But the flower just said:

"Is it meant to be dead

And it's all that is left is to dread?"

I took the little buddy

With its body and roots

To the garden with fruits

There was cool and some muddy

I took it to place

With beauty and grace

It's been blooming again

With no suffer or pain.

'It's beautiful,' Marzio said almost in a whisper of admiration. Now the feeling associated with Chiera began to clear up more clearly in his chest. He had long ago realized that this girl's mind was as beautiful as her appearance.

'You know, Marzio,' Chiera suddenly broke the silence.

'There is a beautiful place here, shall we take a look?'

'Em... Okay, where is it?'

'It's nearby. This is Maghera Fort.'

'The fort? But it's abandoned!'

'Not really.'

They left the order's library and went to Maghera Fort. On the way, Chiera said that these remnants of the fort are used as a park. This was the case even before the second coming, so that place had long lost its purpose.

As it turned out, it was quite easy to get there: you just had to cross a small bridge that led to a group of star-shaped islands. If it were not for the clear geometric boundaries, it would be hard to believe that it was once a military port. Marzio and Chiera walked along a path strewn with rubble, past overgrown foundations. There was a beautiful garden around, in which apple trees grew.

'Once upon a time, this fort was a part of the defence of ancient Venice, told Chiera.

'As you know, the ancient city was located on islands in the bay, but, unfortunately, during the war, well, or the second coming, the city was flooded. Now there are only a couple of islands left of it, and all the heritage of generations now rests under water' At these words, Chiera became sad.

'Are you sad?'

'Yes. I am very sorry that so much valuable heritage of culture and science has gone irrevocably. This fort is just a small part of that great past' Marzio was imbued with her words, he felt sad himself. He remembered the ancient ruins where he went with the diggers and the artefacts of his mother. He thought that the past was taking up too much space in his life.

'But that's not what I wanted to show you,' Chiera continued.

They went right through the entire inner island and approached its opposite part. There was a view of the canal, along which small boats sailed, there was a stunning view of the citadel of the Hospitallers, and also on the right, you could see part of the Ricci residence.

'I have to show you something intimate, something that I haven't shown anyone.'

Walking along the path, Marzio noticed that there was not a single living soul in the area.

'Just keep it between us, okay?' I wouldn't want anyone to know what we were doing here.

'And what are we going to do here?' Marzio asked awkwardly. He had misgivings.

'Now I'll show you everything ...,' Chiera answered shortly, leaving the path and going deeper into the bushes.

'Chiera, where are you going?'

'Follow me! I don't want anyone to see us.'

Marzio obediently followed her through the bushes. He had a strange feeling from the incomprehensible and ambivalent formulations of Chiera.

'It's our secret, by the way. No one must know! I haven't shown it to anyone until now.'

Marzio, full of vague doubts, obediently followed Chiera. Soon they came to the shore of one of the tributaries inside the fort. Here the trees grew so that it was impossible to see this place from any angle. The perfect hiding place. Marzio was already preparing for anything, but then he saw:

'Look how big and beautiful they are!' Chiera exclaimed.

Then Marzio finally saw what she was talking about. It was a flock of ducks that was quietly swimming in the river. When the ducks saw Chiera, they immediately raised a hubbub, and several more birds immediately rushed to her from other tributaries.

'Just look at how cute they are!' cheerfully said Chiera, holding one duck in her hands.

'Yes, you fattened them up!' Marzio said when he saw their fatness.

'Ha-ha! Well, I'm feeding them a little here and taking care of them. At that moment, she took out an inconspicuous bag from her bosom, the contents of which she began to throw to the birds.'

'This is my hiding place... ,' she continued.

'I have been walking here since childhood when I had free time. No one sees, does not interfere, and fresh air and water allow you to gather your thoughts. And then I started feeding ducks on this island. Once there was a more well-kept garden, and I remember swans swimming here. Have you seen the swans? Do you know how beautiful they are?'

'I saw it once, but only briefly. You've made a nice place for yourself here.'

'That's for sure. Just don't tell anyone we've been here.'

'Okay, I won't. Are you afraid that then they will look for you here?'

'No, it's not that. It's just that my position obliges me to be a decent and obedient daughter. There are some things that should not be done, and there are things that are completely forbidden. The code of noble young ladies, but this also applies to young men.'

'And how do ducks affect these rules? Are nobles forbidden to feed animals in a pond?'

'It's not about the ducks. It's nothing, but the fact that you and I are here together makes me think.' Marzio frowned.

'This is some kind of vulgar speculation. This would only occur to a dishonest person or a hidden vulgar,' Chiera laughed.

'You will tell it to those people who will catch us here. People always tend to choose the worst option out of all possible,' Marzio sat down next to Chiera and began stroking a contented duck that crawled under his arm.

'I read about trust somewhere. Something like that parable about the boy and the wolves. If a person has never lied before, then they tend to believe him.'

'It's called a credit of trust in another way. Do you know what a loan is?'

'Yes.'

'Well, that's it. However, in some topics, people stubbornly do not want to believe in the truth. You tell them it, you sincerely assure them, but they don't seem to hear.'

'Have you encountered this before?'

'I still encounter it to this day. This manifests itself in many things. The fact is that if there is no direct evidence, then it is difficult to convince a person, so I want to find such arguments against which it would be stupid to argue.'

'And how?'

'It's still difficult. You know, it's very uncomfortable to live in an environment where everyone expects you to behave like a decent girl.'

'Wouldn't you like that?'

'Not really... You see, I'm not against manners, chaste behaviour and other things, but when you are a bargaining chip for the affairs of your house, it's not really good. I almost got married a couple of times.'

'Really? Whom?'

'You don't know them anyway. Simply put, there was one guy from a very rich and noble family who was staring at me.'

'And what?'

'Nothing. He was a complete cretin. I told my father and uncle about it, and they immediately rejected all offers.'

'But it ended well.'

'For me, yes. I don't complain about my family at all. They are good, and I love them as they love me, but other girls are not as lucky as me. It seems to me that this is unfair.'

'And what is fair? Marzio asked automatically. Chiera just laughed.'

'You really are a bit of a philosopher. The fact is that I consider it necessary that girls from noble families decide their own fate. Unfortunately, not every girl can afford such liberty and not everyone is lucky with a family. Only I still have a vague idea how to do it.'

'I understand you a little. Marzio interrupted her.'

'Of course, it's hard for me to imagine what girls feel when their fate is controlled by others. But it also seems to me that this is unacceptable. We have many ladies studying in the order, and I have seen a lot of women who were their own mistresses.'

'You've probably only seen the knights of the order. Chiera added here.'

'It's completely different there than in noble families or even among ordinary people. I'm talking about the secular society.'

'But even so, I believe that any person is the master of his own destiny.'

'Don't you believe in fate?'

'No. It seems to me that there are many things that cannot be predicted. You choose your own destiny, following certain, though unknown to you, conditions that bring you closer to it. You just choose which one,' Chiera paused for a moment. Now she didn't look like herself: she was usually so cheerful, cheerful, but now she was thoughtful and sad.

'It's nice to find an alike-minded person. "Oh,", she finally said. Something jumped in Marzio's chest.

'Still, it's not for nothing that I decided to talk to you. Thank you for listening.'

'Oh, really! It's right that you decided to talk it out. It is quite difficult to keep all your thoughts in yourself. You always seemed so cheerful...'

'And am I not like that?' Chiera interrupted him.

'Weeeel....'

'Everyone has their skeletons in the closet, but otherwise, I'm happy and enjoying life. Remember, Marzio: if a person does not have his own idea, for which he is happy, then it's bad, but if he only thinks about it, then it's even worse. I have it, but I also like to study languages – this is my hobby.'

'I see.'

All this time, the ducks were curling under their feet, quacking and catching the food that Chiera threw.

'And don't you also have someone to talk to heart-to-heart? - Chiera suddenly asked.'

'Not that...' here Marzio start thinking. But in fact, there wasn't.'

'It's bad if so. Don't you have any friends at the academy?'

'Yes, there are a few ...' Marzio chuckled, remembering them.'

'But somehow it didn't come to talking.'

'I see ...' here Chiera stood up and solemnly pronounced.

'Then I will become your personal psychologist!'

'Who?' asked Marzio in bewilderment.

'A psychologist! You will tell me all your problems, and I will make a diagnosis.'

'Why?'

'How's why? To treat you! Mental illnesses are the same diseases, so spit it out! Chiera was visibly fired up by this idea.'

'Spit out what?' Marzio still didn't understand.

'Whatever you want! What are you worried about, what are you worried about?'

'Worried? ...' Marzio thought.

'I don't even know... You asked so unexpectedly.'

'Okay, then I'll start: did you have a relationship with a girl

'What!? Marzio exclaimed.'

'Have you ever been in love with someone or are you in love now?'

'What are you talking about... So, wait, I'm not worried about this issue.'

'No, or yes,' Chiera repeated dryly.

'No!' said Marzio sharply. Chiera began to embarrass him.

'Okay. Then tell me: have you ever been in a relationship?'

'I'm telling you - no! Chiera, let's not talk about this topic.'

'Oh, sorry, I'm embarrassing you.'

'A little.'

'I'm sorry, I put the question a little incorrectly. And what about Lily?'

'Lily? She just sat on my neck. I pulled her out of that caravan by accident. I couldn't leave the child to the mercy of fate. I have to play the role of a father now.'

'You're kind, Marzio.'

'Me? Well, not that...'

'Okay, I'm sorry. I see you're already tired of talking,' it was partly so. Marzio hadn't stopped yawning in the last few minutes. Besides, the sun was setting.

'Let's go home because it's late,' Chiera suggested.

'Come on.'

'We just need to disperse quietly so that we won't be noticed.'

They dispersed without attracting attention. Marzio returned to his room, where Eva was playing with Lily. The child immediately attacked Marzio, telling her what fun had happened to her during the day. The young man only had enough strength to thank Eva, have dinner and put the child to bed. After that, he fell into a sound sleep with a calm soul.