"Come in." Alaia softly responded to the person that knocked on the door of her room. She saw Alicia from the reflection of the mirror, carrying a tray.
"I've brought your dinner, Your Highness."
"Thank you." Alaia uttered and gestured for Alicia to just put it down on a small wooden table.
"Call me if you need anything, Your Highness." Alicia bowed her head and was about to leave the room, but Alaia stopped her.
"Alicia." Alaia called. She couldn't look straight in the eyes of Alicia. Alaia looked like she wanted to say something but was having a hard time expressing herself. It was too obvious. Alicia would surely find her cute if not for what happened earlier. She was also confused as to why Alaia's reaction was like that. She expected her to panic but not to be furious. Still, who is she to judge her master?
Alaia pondered on her thoughts for several seconds before she gave up and shifted from sitting on her bed.
"Never mind. You can leave now." Alaia said, sounding so defeated and lost.
"If you wanted to ask about Maria, she already had dinner. I've brought her some food too."
"You brought her some food?" Alaia asked, lifting her chin to look at her servant. Alaia was confused because Maria always eats with them and so is she, since she started wearing her white mask instead of her beast mask.
"Maria is not feeling good. She actually doesn't want to eat, I just forced her."
Alaia looked down in guilt upon hearing the news. Even though Alicia never blamed her, she knew that it was all her fault. She knew that she was the reason why Maria wasn't feeling well.
Alaia looked down on her lap, eyes looking so dejected. "She's probably mad at me."
"No, Your Highness." Alicia waited for Alaia to look up before she finished what she wanted to say.
"I'm sure that Maria wasn't mad at you, Your Highness, but she's sad." Alicia's lips stretched into a sad smile, then she excused herself and left Alaia alone again.
Alaia couldn't have been more guilty after her conversation with Alicia. She couldn't stop thinking about Maria after that argument. It took her hours to calm herself and analyze the situation. When she realized that she was wrong and that Maria really didn't mean to do that, she couldn't bring herself to get out of her room and apologize to Maria for what she said. She doesn't know what she should say and how she should apologize. Even though Alicia assured her that Maria wasn't mad at her, she still couldn't stop overthinking things. What if Maria was mad or at least irritated at her? She didn't know how she would react if she ever saw Maria looking at her with hatred in her eyes. She badly wanted to rewind that moment and just accept Maria's apology. After all, Maria really didn't mean to do that.
The next day, she had to leave again early in the morning with Leo, but she made a mental note that when she got home, she would apologize to Maria. She will forget her worries for a moment and just do it. She wouldn't think about how Maria would react or what Maria would possibly say for now and just do it.
The whole time she was out of her place, she was restless and couldn't stop thinking about Maria. She felt bad for Leo because he had to do almost everything, but he never complained. When it's finally time for them to go, they encountered problems, so they couldn't leave at the usual time. Which is why they arrived later than dinner time. When she could finally see the door of her medium-sized palace, she wanted to just run to the door and search for Maria in every corner, just like what Maria did to her. But she stopped herself from doing that and tried to fucking calm herself. She tried to be normal. She tried to look and act normal even though she was so close to losing her sanity.
Alaia was excited but at the same time nervous. She actually is more nervous than excited. She doesn't know what will happen. She wasn't sure if Maria would be willing to talk to her. How could she even get Maria to talk to her? What if Maria is with everyone? What is the best set of words that she should say to be alone with Maria? And if she really managed to say something decent, how sure is she that Maria would agree? What is she going to do?
Alaia shook her head to get rid of those negative thoughts. She knew that she shouldn't think about those things because that would only make her more nervous, and the possibility of her screwing up would be at its highest peak. She should just do what she can do for now and then think about her worries later.
Alaia went straight to Maria's room, silently praying that she was there. On her way there, when she turned a corner, she saw Alice supporting and helping someone to walk. Alice's hand was wrapped around the girl's waist, while the girl's hand was on Alice's shoulder. The girl's head was bent down, and her messy hair was covering her whole face. Alice's eyes widened in surprise when they landed on Alaia. Her voice also sounded nervous when she called her. Alaia squinted her eyes, trying to determine who that girl was in Alice's arms. She almost ran toward Alice when she finally realized who it was.
"What happened to her?" Alaia asked, panicking. She tilted her head a little bit to look at Maria's face, then pushed the strands of Maria's hair that was on her face and saw that she had her eyes closed. She even looks like she's already sleeping. Her cheeks were rosy, and she was reeking of alcohol.
Alice apologetically smiled at Alaia and tightened her hold on Maria's arm that was on her shoulders.
"We're taste-testing wines and she chipped in. We, of course, refused but she insisted that she really wanted to help, so we ended up allowing her. While we were busy discussing a few things, we didn't know that she'd been secretly drinking wine. When we noticed her, she had almost emptied one bottle already and had her head buried in her arms."
Alaia straightened her body and then heaved an exasperated sigh, looking so disappointed at Alice.
"Even if she insisted, you should still have refused. She just turned 18."
Alice lightly lowered her head in guilt. "We're very sorry, Your Highness. We won't let it happen again."
Alaia just heaved a long sigh. "Let me carry her to her room instead."
Alice slipped Maria's arm off her shoulder and was about to pass her on Alaia, but Maria suddenly stood on her own.
"I can walk on my own." Maria uttered and tucked her messy hair behind her ears without sparing Alaia a glance.
Maria started walking, having a hard time standing straight and walking like a zombie. Maria tripped on her feet and Alice immediately ran towards her to help her stand up.
"Maria!" Alice called and helped Maria get back on her feet. "What are you even saying that you can walk on your own? Don't be stubborn."
Maria didn't say anything and just let Alice support her again.
"Your Highness." Alice worriedly called, which brought Alaia into reality.
Alaia offered a sad smile to Alice, then uttered, "Just bring her to her room already."
She probably hates me so much that she doesn't want me to hold her.
Despite getting that reaction from Maria, Alaia still couldn't let Maria go like that. She needs to make sure that Maria is okay. She wanted to make sure that Maria would get a nice long sleep tonight.
Alice heaved a relieved sigh when she had finally put down Maria on the bed. She stretched her neck from left to right before she faced her master once again.
"Your Highness, I'll leave now. Please take care of Maria." Alice stated, and swiftly left the room.
Upon hearing that, her nervousness came back to her as she tried to stop Alice from leaving but was too slow at doing that. She didn't even get to say anything and ended up just watching Alice as she closes the door.
Alaia gulped down as she stared at Maria, messily lying down on the bed. She walked towards the bed and then sat on the edge. She stared at Maria for several seconds, mourning what she said yesterday and thinking about what she should do now. Because Maria is in this state, she couldn't apologize for what she did.
Alaia noticed that Maria wasn't comfortable with what she was wearing. She's sweating a lot and reeking of alcohol.
Should I change her clothes for her?
Alaia's cheeks turned bright red at the thought. There's no way she can do that. There's no way she can look at Maria's body without any malice.
Alaia cleared her throat and shook Maria's shoulders to wake her up, but Maria still didn't open her eyes or at least hum to let her know that she was awake. Alaia ran her hands on her messy hair in frustration. She snapped her head back at Maria when she heard her groan and attempted to untie the strings that were keeping her dress. Alaia again attempted to wake her up, but Maria still didn't budge.
Losing her patience, Alaia untied the ties herself and watched as the dress loosened up. Slowly and carefully, she helped Maria sit up and nervously pulled the dress off of Maria's shoulder, but a hand stopped her from doing it before the dress fully slipped out of Maria's shoulders. She looked up and saw Maria widely awake and staring at her judgingly.
"What are you doing?" Maria asked, no longer sounding like she was drunk.
Alaia panicked and immediately moved away from Maria while waving her hands in the air.
"I-It's not like what you're thinking. I-I just want to change your clothes because I noticed that-"
Maria pulled Alaia's arm and pinned her down on the bed. Alaia caught her breath in her throat and her mouth suddenly went dry as Maria positioned herself on top of her.
"You wanted to strip me?"
Alaia's eyes widened at the question. "N-No. It's not like that."
Maria ignored what Alaia said and tilted her face in amusement, "I thought you didn't like me."
Alaia shook her head.
"So, you really don't like me?" Maria asked, sounding so disappointed.
"No. No. That's not it."
"Then what?" Maria asked again, staring at Alaia's bare face. She couldn't think straight anymore. She doesn't even know what she's doing. Let's all blame alcohol again.
Alaia looked down, biting her lip hard. She contemplated if she would finally confess her feelings for several seconds. And when she was finally ready, she took a deep breath and met Maria's darkened orbs.
"I like you. I like you a lot." Alaia finally confessed, grateful that she didn't stumble on any words and managed to say them while looking directly at Maria's eyes.
The corners of Maria's lips arched up as her eyes twinkled in happiness at what she heard. She looked down at Alaia's lips for a brief moment then returned her gaze to Alaia's eyes again.
"Then show me how much you like me." Maria uttered in a husky voice before she lowered her face until their lips met for the second time, allowing Alaia to taste the wine that stole her innocence.