And so, as time progressed, the question Jared had asked her slowly turned the other way around.
Maria began to feel it… her inadequacy.
"Am I disturbing him?"
That question kept bothering her.
So many things had happened and now, she had, for the first time, asked him to his face.
In all honesty, she expected her heart to be shattered.
Even though she had trained very hard, Jared surprised her in the Royal Court. It was clear that he had reached another height that she couldn't comprehend.
Would someone like him really not find her bothersome?
However, upon hearing his unexpected answer… Maria was shocked, to say the least.
"… I'm interested in you…"
Maria's cheeks reddened even more.
'How does he not get embarrassed? He really said that with a straight face!'
She couldn't deny that those words made her happy, though.
Even if she hadn't quite measured up to his abilities, she knew that her abilities had vastly improved from the time they had been together at Ainzlark.