Chapter 7: Pain [2]: Poison
"Tiana, come here," called out the 35-year-old maid dressed in the usual black and white apron with white gloves in hand. She addressed a younger maid named Tiana, who was 17.
Tiana Lif Rosers, the only daughter of the Rosers family, had been appointed as Princess Emilia's new maid. Working for her was a dream come true, as she held Emilia in high regard - she was her role model.
Tiana, brushing aside her long brown hair, hurried towards the head maid.
"Yes, ma'am?" she asked, a bright smile on her face.
"Here, take this to the princess," the maid said, handing over a tray with tea and a few desserts.
"This…"
Tiana looked at the items, feeling confused. She lifted her gaze and asked, "Her Highness, Princess Emilia, will have this today?"
That was because Emilia never touched cakes - or so she had heard. Today marked the eleventh day of her work here, and during all these eleven days, she had never seen any maid take cakes to Princess Emilia's quarters, nor had she ever delivered any.
"Of course not! It's for Princess Anatalia," the head maid said, smiling after initially having a frowned face at the mention of Emilia.
"Uh... alright. I will deliver it," Tiana replied, feeling confused about why she was given the task of delivering this to Anatalia's quarters.
She had her maids, and they should be doing the task. Nevertheless, she didn't object and simply obeyed what the headmaid had said.
Gently pulling the tray and then pushing it, she left the kitchen and headed straight towards the main hallway that led to Princess Anatalia's room.
As Tiana strolled calmly down the hallway, she spotted Avan standing right in front of the King's Office.
The moment she saw him, she subtly fixed her hair, and her cheeks turned a bit red, but she continued walking forward.
As she approached Avan, she noticed no signs of him noticing her, or perhaps he was pretending not to.
'Is that how you will play?' she thought to herself before deciding to ignore him as well.
With composure, she passed in front of Avan, pretending not to have seen him at all.
Avan, surprised, calls out to her, "Miss Tiana."
Upon hearing Avan, Tiana pauses and turns back.
"Ah, greetings Sir Avan," she says with a slight nod, maintaining a formal demeanor.
"I am rather in a hurry to deliver this to Princess Anatalia's room. Do pardon me," she adds as she turns back, about to walk away.
Avan stared at her with wide-opened eyes, finding her behavior quite unusual.
"Tia... why are you being formal?" Avan asked, grabbing her left wrist after leaving his position in a hurry.
"Ah, call me Tiana again, and you will see how much more formal I can be," Tiana retorted, puffing her cheeks as she playfully stamped his left leg with her shoes.
"Eek."
"My bad, my bad," Avan said, scratching his head like a fool.
"Hmph," Tiana huffed, turning her head, and began walking away.
"Wait, I'm sorry. Please forgive me," Avan pleaded, suddenly clapping his hands once.
"We will talk about that later. The tea will get cold, and I might get scolded by the head maid. Wait a bit," Tiana replied, hurrying away.
"No, you wait. Princess Anatalia is here," Avan said, pointing at the door behind him.
"Eh? In his majesty's office?" Tiana asked, surprised.
"Yes," Avan nodded his head, confirming the truth.
"Phew, you saved me, Avan. I would have gone all the way, waited, and come back here, only to have the tea get cold."
"Thanks a lot," she said, moving closer to Avan and giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek before walking towards the door.
Avan, flabbergasted by what just happened, had his face turn as red as a tomato, his eyes left wide open in astonishment.
As for Tiana, her face was even redder than before.
Her inner thoughts were racing, berating herself for the impulsive action:
'What did you do, Tia!? You kissed him! Keee!' she thought, clenching the handle of the pulley quite hard, almost applying enough force to potentially break it.
*knock knock*
"Forgive me, Your Highness, this is Maid Tiana. I have brought some snacks for Her Highness, Princess Anatalia," Tiana raised her voice, making the announcement before calming herself.
Avan was jolted awake from his daydream, where he held hands with Tiana and slept in her knees under a sunset. He quickly moved close to the door, as if resuming his duties.
"Come in," a cold and husky voice escaped the room, giving permission to enter.
Avan promptly pushed the door open, allowing the pulley to enter first, followed by Tiana, who pushed it further into the room.
He then took the responsibility of closing the door as he stood outside, daydreaming once more about spending his life with Tiana - after all, they were lovers even before working in the palace.
Avan was once again lost in his daydream, imagining a world full of flowers with butterflies fluttering around. In this dream, he saw Tiana standing, and he walked closer to her.
"Tia... will you marry me?" he asked, kneeling in front of her.
Tia, taken by surprise, replied, "O-of course, Avan..."
She extended her hand forward as the knight in his imagination pulled out a Crystal Ring and gently placed it on her ring finger.
Both of them blushed under the warm sunlight in this beautiful dream world.
Avan moved closer to Tiana, grabbing her hand, just about to kiss her when all of a sudden, his vivid imagination got shattered by a shattering noise from inside the room.
"Kyaa!" The loud cry followed the noise.
Surprised and concerned, Avan pushed the door open to check what was happening, and what he saw inside left his eyes wide open in both surprise and tension.
Princess Anatalia was sitting on the king's lap, her dress stained with tea, and blood dripping down from her nose and mouth.
The shattered tea cup lay on the ground, a clear sign of the recent mishap.
Tiana stood a little behind the desk, near the pulley, her hands covering her mouth in shock as she stared at the princess, who was still coughing and her mouth covered with blood.
"Angel!" the king called out, deeply surprised and concerned.
"P…"
"Poison..." Anatalia uttered as she swung her left hand, throwing another cup meant for the king to drink, shattering it on the ground.
"Poison?" the king repeated, his gaze fixed on Tiana, who stood trembling at a distance.
"S-"
"Sister's maid..." were the last words that escaped Anatalia's mouth before she fainted.
In that intense moment, the king's stare only intensified, and his voice roared, "CALL THE DOCTOR!"