682 Blossoming Change

"I'll show you some other time. Perhaps somewhere more private. There could be eyes watching."

Yes, that's right! This was my secret weapon.

'From what I've seen, there are people who knew my identity in the past. People like Aurora and Jane. There could be others.'

"We have to be careful in this phase of ours. We can't mess things up."

"O-oh, yeah. You're right. My bad..." Maria laughed a little, but I could tell that I just made things worse.

All of my effort at lightening the mood had just gone down the drain. A certain thought popped into my head, asking why exactly I cared so much.

I hadn't always been so conscious in the past, had I?

'I think it's pretty obvious to me already...' My thoughts trailed as I stared at Maria.

Things were different between us now. That much was certain.