After she heard his confession, Anna was silent for a while, a serious look on her face.
Seeing this, Max became even more nervous. He didn't want the fact that he liked Flavia to affect his budding relationship with Anna. However, what could he say now?
'Well, she already knows about Lilly, Belen and others, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.' Thinking this, he felt a little better.
Seeing that he grew nervous because she wasn't saying anything, Anna felt sweet in her heart because this showed that to him, her opinion mattered.
She curled her lips into a smile and giggled, "Hehe, I had already guessed this."
"You did?" Seeing that she didn't seem to mind it, Max took a breath of relief.
"Yeah. Given how much of a playboy you are, it would be a miracle if you weren't attracted to an outstanding lady like Flavia." Anna teasingly remarked.
Hearing her words, Max scratched his nose and smiled wryly, but didn't say anything in response. Even if he wanted, what was he supposed to say? Say that she was wrong?
Seeing his reaction, Anna let out a sigh inwardly and thought, 'Why am not feeling any anger or sadness about this?'
Shaking her head, she pushed these thoughts aside and then continued to tell him how she became friends with Flavia.
Max sighed in relief after finding out that Anna and Flavia were now friends and Anna seemed to like her.
Even after they were done talking, they continued to lie there, embracing each other.
Growl~
Suddenly, Max's stomach growled. He was hungry because he didn't have lunch in the afternoon because little Scarlet, after having the beast blood essence, was full of energy and didn't want to stop mid-way and because Max also wanted to return as soon as possible, they didn't stop mid-way for the lunch.
"You must be hungry after traveling all day, right? Let me prepare dinner for you." Anna said and reluctantly got out of his embrace.
…
After an hour later, both Anna and Max were sitting across the small wooden table and were having their dinner.
Anna glanced at him and teasingly asked, "How is it? It must be bland for your taste after Elvin delicacies for days, right?"
"Nope." Max shook his head. Taking another bite of a piece of meat, he spoke with an intoxicated expression, "Although the Elvin food was pretty delicious, I like your cooking more. Ah… you don't know how much I missed your taste."
Hearing him praise his cooking, Anna felt happy. However, when she heard his last sentence, her expression froze.
She looked at Max stiffly. But seeing that he didn't seem to notice just what he had spoken and was immersed in enjoying his food, she thought she was reading too much into his words and mumbled under her breath, 'That's right. No way he meant t-that since we haven't done it yet.'
"Done what?" Max's voice suddenly sounded in her ears.
"Huh?" Anna's brain short-circuited when she realised, she had unconsciously blurted out what she was thinking, and he had heard it.
Flustered and embarrassed, she hurriedly shook her head, "N-Nothing. I was t-thinking about something e-else."
"Oh? It's alright. Let's eat before the food gets cold." Max calmly nodded.
Seeing that he didn't pay much attention to what she said, Anna sighed in relief and started eating after her nerves relaxed.
A playful smile played on Max's lips. Unlike what she thought, he had used 'your taste' instead of 'your food's taste' on purpose to rile up her emotions so her imagination would run wild and she wouldn't be as passive as she is now about their relationship.
After a while, they finished having dinner.
Max glanced at Anna, who was still silent. Just as he was about to say something, someone knocked on the door.
Knock! Knock!
"Hello, Anna. It's me." A soft, feminine voice travelled inside the room.
"It's Flavia." Anna's face brightened, and she hurriedly went to open the door.
Even without Anna telling him, Max had already identified her as Flavia. He also stood up and walked toward the door to greet her.
Whoosh!
Anna opened the door and saw Flavia. She wore academy's white uniform and a veil that covered her scarred face.
"You are late today." Anna said with a smile.
'Mm?' Flavia raised her delicate brows. She was surprised to see her in such a cheerful mood. Suddenly, she thought of something and her eyes flickered in pleasant surprise.
"It seems sir Max has returned." She gently said.
Anna pouted slightly, "Tsk, I was going to surprise you."
"You should've controlled your expressions, then." Max slowly walked over, chuckling.
Thump!
Flavia's heart thumped loudly when her eyes fell on Max. However, she quickly calmed down and lightly bowed in greeting, "Hello, sir Max. You've finally returned."
Max smiled and extended his hand toward her. As if on instinct, Flavia also extended her hand, which Max gently grasped by her fingers and kissed the back of her palm.
"Hello, miss Flavia. I seem to recall asking you to call me just Max." He smiled at her.
Anna raised a brow. Feelings of annoyance and displeasure creeped over her heart as she watched the interaction between them.
'A-Am I feeling jealous of her right now?' Realization struck Anna, which left her flabbergasted. She had thought that she would be alright with their relationship since she was quite fond of Flavia and because even though she knew she loved Max, she didn't know if she wanted to become his woman.
She shook her head. She didn't want to feel jealous of Flavia at all.
"Mm." Flavia nodded and then asked, "So, …Max, did you find your friend?"
"Yes. We did." Max nodded and then gestured her to enter the room, "Let's talk inside, shall we?"
Flavia hesitated a little and glanced at Anna, who had sorted out her emotions by now. She grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, "What are you hesitating for? Come inside."
