One Last Time: One More Time

Alone

Lance immediately lets her go, trying to cover his embarrassment as he places his arm across his face. He was never good with talking to women, especially receiving compliments from them.

"Are you blushing?" Maria teased, actually finding his mannerisms adorable.

"Of course not! I would never blush by the compliments of an indecent woman like you!" Lance immediately looks away as closes his eyes, trying to give Maria a little bit of privacy.

"Indecent?"

Maria didn't notice before but now that she takes a closer look at herself, she noticed that she wasn't wearing anything underneath the blanket except for her underwear. "Did you see?!"

"No, of course not! I asked my nurse to take off your clothes, you had a very bad fever, and that heavy dress you were wearing wasn't helping," Lance still kept his eyes closed. Not wanting to invade the privacy of the brunette. "But the light coming from the window ... I can see ... and I am a gentleman, so I have to tell you-"

He knew he wasn't making sense and he was only hoping that Maria was smart enough to understand him.

"I see ... thank you," Maria was as well lost of words. She wanted to thank him for taking care of her and also ask for forgiveness because she had ruined his night. "I am sorry about last night ... I ruined your night didn't I?"

"Don't worry about that, actually I hate going to those events ... I am just going out of compromise and because it is interesting to know what others have found," this time Lance turned his chair as he was tired of having his eyes closed. He preferred to give his back to Maria.

"Is there a particular reason why?" The brunette asked as she eyed the room with the hope of finding her dress somewhere so she could change.

"The event is hosted by the Dietrich family ... And I hate them," Lance wasn't one to talk about his past. But seeing that Maria had opened up to him yesterday, it only felt right for him to do the same.

"Years ago, my brother had a secret relationship with their oldest daughter ... and when they found out they sent the rest of the military police to hang him ... They told my family it was because he was found to be conspiring against the king ... But of course, I never believed them."

Listening to the last name was all it took for Maria to remember her and the day that changed her life forever.

"My parents once sent the Military Police to kill the man I was dating ... They said that he conspired against the king, of course, that was a lie."

"My brother would never do that," Lance said again, more to himself than to her. "He was a good soldier and ... I know that."

"I am sorry to hear that," that was all Maria could mutter. Silence surrounded them, it was a bit awkward because Maria couldn't see Lance's face and she couldn't even guess what he was feeling.

"Anyways, you shouldn't feel bad ... because ... I threw your dress in the trash by the way," Lance interrupted the silence.

"You what?!"

Unconsciously, Lance turns around, his eyes laid on the silhouette of the brunette. The sunlight shaped the curves of her body and he couldn't help but remember the scars on her.

Maria felt his eyes on her and she felt ashamed. She knew that Lance was pitying her and she hated the look that he was portraying.

"Please, don't look at me like that-"

"Oh yeah sorry!" Lance turns his chair back again, unaware of the feelings of the ex-tavern dancer. "Anyways, I did it for two reasons, one just to avoid any pathogens from spreading and two, to stop you from wearing that heavy dress in the summer ... you could get a heat stroke again."