"Ooooohh..." Maria said, looking down and holding her head. Her expression looked a bit silly. "Heheh... I'm such a mean woman, Chris."
"Ms. Maria? Are you sure you're alright?" Chris asked, feeling even more concerned about the sudden change in Maria's behavior.
"I'm looking at you right now. You're just so cute. And so nice." Maria said with a smile, reaching out and caressing Chris's cheek. She then lowered her eyes and gently pulled her hand away. "And I am not."
"What? You're a very nice woman. Did something happen?"
Maria chuckled sadly and leaned back. She laughed sadly a little.
"The thing is, Chris... I deceived you."
"Huh?"
"Well..." Maria said with an awkward chuckle. "I am not Royal Advisor."
"Mmm?" Chris felt confused. "But wait... then who are you?"
"Hehe... here's a hint, handsome." Maria said, raising her finger in a silly way. "I am mother of one of the girls you met right after entering this dimension."
"One of the girls I met?" Chris asked.
He started thinking: "Hmm... the first girls I met were... and Maria... she... she kinda reminds me of... Gasp!"
Chris pulled back a little with wide eyes. "Y... You are... P-Princess Alicia's Mom, right?"
"That's right. If you ask me questions, I'll answer them all." Maria said with a drunken smile.
"J-Just give me a minute." Chris said. He was breathing heavily as he thought to himself: "I-Is it really her?!... A Queen Acorn?! I mean, yeah, she was having a grace that I only saw people from very high society having. But... I can't believe... it's really her?!"
"Hey, are you alright there, cutie? I can call a waiter so he could bring you some water." Maria said.
"I... I'm fine." Chris said as his breath was now stable again. "S-So, your Majesty, it's re-"
Maria laughed a bit. "Oh come on, silly. Just keep calling me 'Ms. Maria' for now. This is one of my names. But when we'll be in a more official setting, it's better for you if you don't forget my title."
"Well, okay, got it." Chris said. "Sorry if I seem to be rude. I'm just worried about you, Ms. Maria. I'd like to ask - what happened to you? Why you suddenly acting like you're drunk? We only ordered a lemonade, didn't we?"
Maria chuckled sadly. "To be honest, this glass I drank... it was meant for you."
"For me? What do you-"
"I gave waiter a special... ingredient. He was supposed to put it in your drink." Maria said. "But looks like... it ended up in mine."
"Wait, you wanted to make me drunk? W-Why?" Chris asked, feeling worried for himself.
"Shhhhhhhhh." Maria said, gently grabbing Chris arm with one hand and stroking it with the other. "The drink was simply meant to make you more... 'talkative', so you would give me truthful answers for sure."
"W-Why would you need that?" Chris asked, still worried.
"The thing is - I wasn't sure if you were truly the nice boy, or an evil planner wearing a facade of a nice boy. What I said about my interest in getting to know you after watching the interview - it was true." Maria said with a weak sad smile. "My kingdom has problems with criminals, mostly with Suppression Squad. I wanted to find out if you truly were the who you said you were. And... there were some personal questions I wanted to ask you. So I came up with this plan. I'm sorry, Chris. But I just... wanted to make sure..."
"I see." Chris said. He smiled a bit. "Don't worry, Ms. Maria. I'm not angry."
"Hm? Really?" Maria raised an eyebrow.
"Of course. You did what you thought was right." Chris said.
"Thanks for understanding, Chris." Maria said with a warm smile.
Chris then scratched his head. "Oh, by the way, what were the personal questions you wanted to ask me? Maybe I could answer them without, you know, getting drunk."
"Oh, yeah." Maria said. Even while looking drunk, her face managed to get more serious. "The questions are about... your time at the Suppression Squad's base."
"Alright. Well, you can ask me anything about it, Ms. Maria." Chris said.
Maria nodded. "Thank you. First of all, how was Alicia doing? Did she look fine when you met her?"
"Oh, she did. Not gonna lie, there was some negative vibe when I only saw your daughter, but I was too excited to pay attention to it back then. Her hair is messy, which I do not judge, but for the rest, she keeps herself very clean." Chris answered.
"Alright." Maria nodded. "Next one - how was she acting around you?"
"Princess Alicia was very nice and polite. Looks like you've taught her very well." Chris said with a slight smile. "To be honest, we weren't having too much talk - I've only been on their base for a couple of days, after all. I remember her mentioning that she and you are... distant. Which, to be honest, made me wonder what happened between you two."
Maria turned her gaze to the side and sighed.
"You know what's ironic, Chris? What happened between me and Alicia... it's the same that could happen between you and your Mom if you weren't lucky and met evil version of Sonic instead of a nice one."
"What do you mean?" Chris asked.
"I have a lot of work to do. Like, really lot. Meetings, negotiations, projects that should be kept an eye on... Alicia used to be a quiet kid. I remember how she was only 6 years old. She would try to ask me to stay with her longer or at least take her with me. And... eh... Because of my time schedule, I couldn't do any of that."
Chris was listening silently. The drink seemed to be still working on Maria very well.
"While knowing I couldn't be with her much, I wanted Alicia to at least have a good life in the castle and be prepared for her duty of the future Queen. I hired the teacher who taught her basic martial skills, so she could protect herself. I made sure that my servants always serve Alicia with good dishes, teach her, keep her company and do anything she says."
Chris perked up a bit.
"It's... almost like how my life was before I met Sonic."
"However, it seems that Alicia wasn't very grateful. Just like you weren't." Maria said.
"Wait, what?" Chris raised an eyrbrow.
"You heard me. You mentioned how your parents spent most of the time away from you back when you were younger. But now that you've grown up, you must realize that they cared about you. You've been living in a very comfortable place, with your grandfather and two nice servants that served you and kept you company. Your parents worked hard, and thanks to their hard work, you had a life without hardships. But still..."
She frowned in a silly way. "You chose to abandon your parents in order to go after Sonic."
"Hey, I-" Chris tried to retort.
"From what you said, it seems you were spending much more time with Tails, Amy and Cream than you did with Sonic." Maria continued calmly. "But you were quick to leave them behind the moment Sonic appeared."
"It's not... it's not..." Chris said, unable to finish the sentence.
"Am I wrong?" Maria raised an eyebrow. "And, to be honest with you... even though you and my daughter are on different sides of barricades, you both are not as different as you may think."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Everything was ruined the moment after Anti-Sonic came."
There was some venom in her voice when she mentioned evil blue hedgehog's name.
"Seems like he managed to come across Alicia and start contacting her without my servants knowing about it. Alicia started leaving the castle with this guy every night, which we didn't know about for a very long time. She no longer paid much attention to servants and wasn't even talking to me whenever I came back." Maria said, looking at the floor. "But one day, she and Anti-Sonic did their first bank robbery. Alicia was detected by cameras and the news spread."
Maria crossed her arms. "I can remember... that proud smile on Alicia's face when I entered. She seemed to be happy that I... paid attention to her. I confronted her about her actions and... said she can't stay in the castle and call herself my daughter a Princess if she acts like this. And then she left. She really left. With this blue evil hedgehog."
She hiccupped. "I haven't seen Alicia in person since then. Only on some news whenever she caused another crime as a member of Suppression Squad."
The both were silent for a minute or two.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Ms. Maria." Chris said in a sympathetic tone.
"Just like you, she met her Sonic and left after him. The only difference is that you, Chris, were lucky to meet Sonic who was a nice guy. I really think that... if there was Anti-Sonic back then in your pool instead... you would have ended up becoming a criminal, like my daughter did." Maria said with a sigh. "You both really should learn to be grateful."
Chris frowned as he thought: "I... I guess she... does have a point. But the thing is - I am grateful to my parents, but... to be honest, I saw these kinds of rich kids who only cared about their parents when they brought them a nice toys or some very tasty dishes. I was... I was afraid of turning into them if I started enjoying this life. I never really wanted just nice food, toys, etc. I wouldn't mind living a more humble life. I just... wanted Mom and Dad. Wanted to... see their smiles more often, wanted to be able to hug them and see how they're happy about me achieving new and new results."
He sighed. "And... maybe... maybe that's what Alicia wanted. She didn't want a Queen who would give her anything she wants. She wanted... Mom."
Chris turned to the TV screen. "But... I don't think I should be the one judging or telling Queen what to do. She is a Queen, she's older than me, and... she does have points about me. I guess I'm too obsessed with Sonic, aren't I?"
Maria looked at the screen too and her look softened. Chris soon felt arms wrap around him and turned, only to receive a sudden kiss on his nose.
"Sorry for ruining the mood. Maybe I can fix this?" Maria whispered softly, her face was close to Chris's. The boy could feel her warm breath.
What happened next?
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