“Come on. You have to try this. There is no better tasting food than the ones that were obtained freely. Here, have a bite” Maria tried to refuse the apple being given to her on principle. It was something she had not paid for and should have no right to be accepted. If she did, then she would be becoming an accomplice to the crime.

But her mind reminded Maria that she had already stolen a knife and her stomach reminded Maria that it existed as well. Maria felt the pain from hunger pangs assault her and she quietly accepted the offering.

And as much as she hated her actions, the apple did taste sweeter than normal apples. Her hunger highlighted even the slightest taste of the apple and Maria found herself devouring it.

She was so busy enjoying the fruit and that was what lost track of the kid. She looked around for him once she finished, only to find him gone.

Her heart stopped for a second as soon as the fact registered in her mind. How could she have been that careless? To lose the kid because of her carelessness was not something Maria had thought she would have to consider.

Thankfully, Maria had enough foresight to have bugged the kid before she left. This fact just slipped her mind as she panicked at not finding the kid in front of her. She tracked the kid down, right into another antique shop.

She could see the kid moving around and observing and was sure that he was swiping things left and right from the collection. However, he was so clean at it that Maria was not able to see how despite her observation.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” The shopkeeper’s voice came from behind Maria and it startled her enough to let out a sound. And it also caused the kid to look right in her direction.

The annoyance had spotted Maria and seemed to be giving her a cheeky wave in return. Maria could not help but feel her blood boil at the cheeky action.

“Ma’am?” The shopkeeper asked again but with a hesitant tone. He had caught on to Maria’s bad mood as well but he likely felt confused about the issue.

That was unless he was not following Maria’s line of sight and could not see the kid in front of them.

“I’m just here to retrieve my ‘younger brother’. The endearment felt forced and Maria felt odd forcing it out as well. She never had a sibling before, nor someone else to call by a title but she had heard how it felt to have one.

And if having a sibling was half as annoying as Maria felt at that moment then she was glad she never had any, to begin with. Not that she wished no one to have one. She just didn’t think she would adjust to one well enough this late in life.

“Sister. Are you here to pick me up? Look at what I found. Can we buy it?” Alester asked with a mischievous look in his eyes. His hands held an entirely useless but pretty pendant. Maria could not feel any magic from it which just made her opinion of the pendant much worse.

She could also see the confused, yet the gleaming face of the shopkeeper looking from her to the teen and then back to her. Her eyes sparkled at seeing an opportunity in front of her and Maria had a feeling that she was about to offer her input at any time.

Maria tried to stall her out by giving out an uninterested look. Would the shopkeeper go away if it looked like Maria was not going to buy the pendant?

“It’s an excellent choice for a young master. Why do you ask? It’s because of the magical properties this pendent has. Word has it, it can grant eternal life and youth to the wearer. And also – hey, where are you going?” The shopkeeper boasted about the pendent, unaware that his targets could sense magic.

And apparently, that had been the last straw. Maria had not even expected him to react, much less to leave the shop over this. But there seemed to be something that had struck the teen as wrong and it seemed to be enough to make him leave the store.

“On second thought, I don’t think I like that pendant anymore. You can keep it lady and next time, don’t lie to the customers like that. Someone might be desperate enough to buy it” the shopkeeper frowned at the attitude but she had no face left after being called out.

Maria tried not to look at the embarrassed lady but it was tough to break the habit. The poor thing looked used to such confrontations.

“We all have such days. Would ‘you’ like to buy something?” The shopkeeper asked with a tired but practiced smile and Maria’s heart went out to her.

She had not deserved such treatment.

“Sorry but my brother has our money. Our parents are conservatives” Maria felt bad to be using such an old-fashioned excuse. She was not hinting at a gender thing but rather a status thing.

Since both she and the teen looked so different there were only a few common denominators to be drawn and the most common one in the noble family of a second marriage.

“My condolences. It looks like one cannot run away from things plaguing them even if they have money to meet their needs” and the sad thing was, the shopkeeper did look sorry for Maria. There was sadness and pity in her eyes that made Maria’s face break out into goosebumps.

Since she had no such sob story, her consciousness could not help but feel guilty at the reaction she got.

“Yeah, a pity. And also, I should be going. I was not supposed to let my brother out of my sight” Maria suddenly remembered and she dashed out after the kid.

The teen had dupped Maria not once but twice now. Why had she decided to trust him? What if he was trying to trick her all along as she had feared.

“YOU. STAY PUT!” Maria grabbed the teen by the arm as soon as she saw him on the street. It was then, that she saw a startled expression for the first time on the teen’s face. He looked shocked to have been grabbed like that.

“Stop disappearing on me like that. Just what were you trying to pull here?” Maria asked as she watched the teen recover from the near fright she had just given him. It served him right for trying to trick Maria and then disappearing on her like that.