Ara holds her breath because if she continues smelling Prince Chahaya's scent, she may lose herself. Her face is blushing and her heart starts beating again. Unfortunately, it is now beating so hard and fast that she is genuinely terrified that the prince may be able to hear it.
As Prince Chahaya is getting closer and closer, Ara closes her eyes. She does not know what to expect. Or maybe she does have some expectation but she just refuses to admit it.
After the longest couple of seconds, nothing happens. Ara opens her eyes to see Prince Chahaya laughing silently.
"Did you think I was going to kiss you?"
Ara stays quiet. Her face is getting very red as blood rushes to her head.
"Don't forget your place. You are just a lowly servant and I am second-in-line to the throne," he said.
What he said is a hundred percent true but it really hurts Ara's feeling and pride. She can feel her eyes getting warm and her throat choked. So she pushes through Prince Chahaya who is standing in front of her.
From the corner of her eyes, she can see that the second prince is holdiing the sapphire necklace.
'I suppose he was only trying to get the necklace. I was the idiot for thinking he was trying to do anything with me,' thought Ara.
Ara is reaching the door knob when she kicked the bucket of water by accident. The dirty brown-colored water spilled all over the study room floor.
Ara freezes. She cannot leave the room because now her tears have spilled over, wetting her face. Another reason for not leaving is that she just made a complete mess which is her responsibility to clean for.
But she cannot really stay in the room because Prince Chahaya will see her ugly crying face. That is unacceptable for her pride.
Her shoulder starts to shake as she sobs quietly. But Prince Chahaya is no fool. He realizes that the girl is crying.
'Was I being too much?' he thought.
Something inside him pushes him forward, wanting to hug and comfort the poor maid. But her ego stops him. He also freezes where he is standing, not knowing what to do.
"What are you doing? Are you not going to clean up this mess?" Instead, he scolded her.
Ara does not answer. She bends down and starts mopping the floor with the only piece of cloth she has. She squeezes the water from the cloth back to the bucket. The water is brown in color, turning her pale hands dirty.
Prince Chahaya turns his face away from the sight because his heart aches watching Ara's desparate attempt.
He sighs and gives in to his feelings. He walks toward Ara and grabs the dirty cloth from her. He throws it into the bucket and pulls Ara up.
That is when he notices the brooch that Ara is wearing. He stares at it as if he remembers it from somewhere. Though he cannot figure out where or when he saw the brooch.
He did not say anything to Ara though. He picks out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wipes Ara's face before proceeding to cleaning up her hand. Though he is taking care of Ara, the words "I am sorry" cannot come out from his mouth.
"Did you have lunch?" he asked.
Ara shakes her head, being completely embarrassed by her display of weakness.
"Stay here. I will grab something for you to eat."
Prince Chahaya gave her the handkerchief before leaving her in the dark room alone.
She has stopped crying but now feeling weird about the whole situation. She asked herself the same question that Bunga and the other maids asked. 'What is it with me that I got into so much trouble with the royal family?'
She lets out a long breath while staring at the silk handkerchief that is now dirty with dust and wet. The silk is pearl color and embroiderred with a letter C in Italic style.
'C for Chahaya.' she thought to herself.
"What have I done?" she burried her face with her two hands as she drops herself to the sofa.