Ivan blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to think of a way to solve the problem he had created. The way Maria was staring at him was making him uneasy, especially since he knew that if he didn't sort this out, he wouldn't like what Alaia could do to him if Maria discovered the truth.
"W-What did you say?" Ivan asked, pretending that he didn't hear what Maria said even though he heard it loud and clear. He doubts if he's convincing enough, but he needs to do that, to give more time for his mind to analyze the situation and think of a solution.
"Ivan, from whom did you buy these turnips?" Maria patiently repeated her question without taking her eyes away from Ivan for at least a second.
Now Ivan knew that it would no longer work if he pretended that he didn't hear the question again. He needed to answer the question. He needed to say something that could shift the topic or at least lead to a different person.
"I-I bought these from a local farmer that I passed-"
"And who is that farmer?" Maria asked, growing impatient the longer Ivan took at answering her questions.
Ivan averted his eyes and pushed himself off the chair.
"He's just a local farmer. I don't know his name. Anyways, I should go now. I-"
Ivan attempted to escape but Maria didn't let him. She grabbed his arm and begged the young man. "Ivan. Please tell me the truth. Did you buy those crops from my father?"
Ivan looked back at Alicia, asking for help, but Alicia averted her eyes and continued peeling off the turnip, pretending that she didn't know anything about Maria's question. Ivan felt so helpless. He seriously doesn't know what to do. He was battling if he would just admit everything or do what Alaia wanted him to do.
Ivan closed his eyes, trying to weigh the situation. He was thinking of just apologizing to Maria and admitting that he couldn't say anything regarding that, but when Maria again begged him in that cracking voice, Ivan lost it. He heaved a long sigh and removed Maria's hand on his arm. He sat down on the chair again and ran his hands on his hair, then rubbed his chin. He took a deep breath before he finally spoke again.
"Yes. Those crops were from your father. I bought them from your father to sell them on the market." Ivan revealed, staring directly at Maria's eyes.
Maria was at a loss for words for several seconds now that Ivan finally admitted that what she had heard earlier was indeed true.
"B-But why? Why would you buy my father's crops?"
It just doesn't make sense. She couldn't see any reason as to why Ivan would buy her father's crops to sell them on the market, especially if he was having a hard time selling them.
Ivan contemplated if he would admit everything but since he had already started it, he had decided to just spill the whole story and worry about the consequences later. After all, if Maria learned about the truth, she would no longer try to escape as she would be at ease. This would maybe improve the relationship between her and Alaia. This might change everything that was going on between the two, for the better, he hopes.
"It's not my idea, Maria."
"What? Then whom?" Maria asked, brows furrowed in confusion.
"It was Your Highness's idea."
Maria had never thought that, aside from the mysterious girl and the beast being one person, there was one more revelation that would be unfolded today. She didn't know what she should say so she just shut her mouth and stared at Ivan, waiting for him to explain everything in detail.
"Your Highness asked me to buy every crop that your father will harvest."
"But why would she ask you to do that?" Maria asked, oblivious, or she just didn't want to accept the possible reason why Alaia asked Ivan to do that.
Ivan heaved a sigh and stared unamused at the younger girl, "You know the answer to your question, Maria. She wanted to help your family."
That's right. That was the first and only reason that came to her mind, but she didn't want to admit it. Her mind doesn't want to accept that she's wrong all this time.
"S-Since when?" Maria inquired, holding her breath for no reason.
"I've been doing this for six days already, including today."
Maria gasped, realizing something when she counted the days that passed. "You mean?"
Ivan slowly nodded his head and offered a sad smile at Maria, "Yeah. I have started doing this from the day that you escaped from here."
Maria was beyond speechless now as her knees trembled, causing her butt to fall into a chair. Her hand cupped her forehead, then she rested her elbow on the table. She stared at the table; eyes wide open in disbelief. Her mouth hung open as she tried to process the news.
She doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know what she should do. The person that she hates the most. The person that she cursed a lot in her mind. The person that she kept on killing in her mind. The person that she insulted 2 days ago. The person that she thought didn't really care about her or her family just did something to help her father without even having any plan of saying that to her. The person that she loathed for stealing her first kiss, though it was indeed wrong to steal someone's first kiss, still the guilt inside her chest is overflowing.
Maria closed her eyes, recalling the scenes where she stood as a villain. No wonder the beast became mad at her and ignored her presence after that argument. If she was in Alaia's position, she would also react that way or even worse than that.
Maria heard Ivan and Alicia asking her what was wrong and tapping her arms to get her attention, but Maria kept her eyes and mouth closed. She tried to think of what she should do and there was only one thing that her mind kept telling her to do: apologize, explain her side, and submit herself to the beast.
The teenage girl startled Ivan and Alicia when she suddenly stood up from her seat.
"I need to apologize." Maria blurted out, staring between the two.
"To whom?" Alicia asked, baffled at the situation.
Maria looked back at Alicia and answered the question, "I need to apologize to Your Highness."
Alarms rang on Ivan's system at the mention of Your Highness. He started panicking at the plan that Maria boldly expressed and grabbed Maria's arm before Maria even took a step out of the kitchen.
"W-Wait Maria. Y-You can't do that. I mean, yes, you can apologize to Your Highness, but please don't mention what we talked about."
Maria absentmindedly nodded her head, staring ahead of her, lost in her thoughts. She didn't understand what Ivan asked her to do. She was preoccupied with guilt and the thoughts of how she would make the beast forgive her. What can she do to be worthy of Alaia's forgiveness?
Ivan finally let go of her arm and Maria hurriedly left the kitchen to search for Alaia in all corners of the palace. She heard Ivan remind her again but Maria just ignored him.
Maria just keeps on walking until she finally reaches Alaia's room. She took a deep breath before she knocked lightly on the wooden door and uttered, "Your Highness?".
Hearing nothing as a response, Maria contemplated whether she would turn the knob to check if Alaia was there or just knock on the door again. If Alaia happened to be inside, she would surely get a scolding for not waiting for her to open the door herself, but because Maria was feeling impatient, she had decided to just push the door open and think about the consequences later.
"Your Highness?" Maria again called but failed to see the person she was searching for inside the room. She even checks if Alaia is hiding behind the door or not. Maria ran towards the window to check if Alaia was in the garden but still didn't see the girl. Feeling hopeless, Maria started opening every door in the palace, no longer knocking and just bursting the door open, calling for Your Highness and asking her where she was.
"Are you looking for Your Highness?" Alice asked when she walked past Maria and saw her being restless.
"Yes. Did you happen to see her?" Maria asked, catching up her breath.
"She's in the steam-"
That's only what Maria needed to hear and sprinted off towards the steam bath after mumbling her thanks to Alice. When she was finally in front of the door of the steam bath, she didn't pause to catch her breath and immediately pushed the door open, which fortunately wasn't locked.
"Your-" Maria called but her sentence was cut off the moment her eyes laid off Alaia. There, in the center, Alaia just stood up from the wooden bath. One of her feet was out of the wooden bath already while the other was still inside of it. Her body isn't facing Maria but her side profile. Alaia isn't wearing anything, not even her mask, because for fuck's sake she's taking a bath. Her body is glistening due to the water, making a breathtaking view.
Maria's eyes started with Alaia's feet, aiming to crawl up to Alaia's head. She caught a glimpse of Alaia's smooth legs, and the shape of Alaia's butt forced a gulp down Maria's throat. Her eyes didn't stop there and continued tracing the streaks of water and soon reached the voluptuous breasts of Alaia where her eyes burned longer than they were supposed to be. But before her eyes even reached Alaia's face, clothes were thrown into Maria's face, obscuring the view.