OTMAA

𝐎𝐥𝐠𝐚 : Secrets once hidden, now known

It was the early morning, around 7:00 am. I was in my room at the palace. The man I have had a crush on for the past few months was in my room. In fact, I secretly invited him over to my room once everyone was asleep every day for a few weeks. It was only today I thought we were safe enough for me to invite him during the morning, it turns out I was wrong. Katarina had spotted me with the man, whose name is Pavel. I immediately froze once I heard my door open and saw my sisters horrified and shocked face.

I felt a little guilty for distancing from her for all those weeks just to meet up with some guy, but it was love. Can't she at least let me love someone? I'm the oldest anyway, isn't it normal to love someone at my age? I said something I never expected myself to say.

"𝐂𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞!? 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮!" I spat. Katarina was shocked and so was Pavel. I felt no remorse, no pity and no regrets. At least that's what I thought. She ran out the room crying and sobbing. I heard her close her door shut from across the hall. Did I really hurt her that much? Forget it. I turn my head to look back at Pavel and smile. He nervously smiles back at me and we continue our conversation together.

After a few minutes Pavel sneaks out of my room by carefully going out of my window. I watch as he walks away from the palace and back to his own place. I let go of the window sill and stand up properly. I look towards my door, the same door Katarina ran out if a few minutes ago. I furrowed my eyebrows, I was still angry at her but for what reason? I could hear the muffled words of two voices. One seemed quiet and brittle, the older seemed more calming and angelic. I step out of my room and walk closer to Katarina's door which was closed. I was still angry and annoyed. I reached for the door knob and turned it slowly.

What I saw shocked me. Tatiana had her hand on Katarina who was sobbing in the corner of her room. Is this my fault? Tatiana looked up once she heard the door open. I smiled nervously. She frowns at me. Katarina only lifts her head up a little bit before bursting out in sobs and tears. I slowly walk over to them but turn Tatiana stood up and looked at me.

"𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬? 𝐓𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨!?" Tatiana scolded. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me, I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭!" I snap. Tatiana rolled her eyes and continued to glare at me. "𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐎𝐥𝐠𝐚, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭! 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫!" Tatiana spoke back. She continued to glare at me, I glared at her back. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞-" I suddenly got cut off by Tatiana's voice. "𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇. 𝐈 𝐃𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐈𝐓." She yelled which only got me more angry. I turned around and stormed off.

Katarina was still sobbing, which finally calmed down after a long time. Once she was calmed down Tatiana stood up and walked out of her room. She walked outside to look at the garden, which she usually did. She liked the white roses, it reminded her of something... Something calming, but how would I know what is going on in that head of her's? I wanted to apologize to Katarina. I walked towards her room and knocked on the door.

"𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧!" I heard her voice yell. I opened the door and she looked at me, her facial expression changed once she saw my face. I frown slightly and open my mouth to speak. "𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫... 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡..." I said to her. My voice was quiet yet genuine. She looked at me, her eyes were still a bit red from crying earlier. I hold out my arms to hug Katarina but she pushes me away. Rude!? "𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨, 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞..." I sigh in defeat and nod. I walk towards the door and walk out of her room without saying a word. I was annoyed she didn't accept my hug but I could understand why, she didn't have to be so rude about it though!

While walking down the halls in the palace I stumble across Maria. I looked down at her since I was way much more taller than her and way much more older than her. She looks at me with her big bright blue eyes. No wonder people always called them "Maria's saucers". They were beautiful. She speaks to me. " 𝐈 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚'𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐈𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲?" She asked in a worried tone. I huff and shake my head. "𝐍𝐨, 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐭... 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞..." I answer. Maria tilts her head a little bit and questions me. "𝐖𝐡𝐲? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫?" I felt my body tense up. Should I mention Pavel or keep him a secret? I smile nervously. "𝐈... 𝐔𝐦... 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬... 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮..." I confess. My eyes widen at what had just came out my mouth. Did I really just tell her everything!? Maria was also shocked, her eyes widened. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓!?" I immediately put a hand over Maria's mouth before shushing her and removing my hand from her mouth.

I look around and look back down at Maria. "𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧! 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬! 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲? 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝..." Maria slowly nods and looks up at me. "𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬." I smile at her words and pat her shoulder. "𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚." She smiles at me and I continue to walk around the halls in the palace.