Masquerade Ball III

Laura's eyes fluttered open, facing up and seeing an unfamiliar ceiling. Her body felt heavy, and she felt something wrapped around her waist. She touched her forehead as she tried sitting up on the bed. She felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and groaned softly.

She decided not to move and stay still lying down on the bed. She looked at her surroundings and it was a place she had never seen before.

Laura didn't know what to do and was confused. She still felt tired and her eyes were struggling to stay open, and suddenly she saw from the corner of her eye a man sitting on a chair sleeping.

She suddenly felt awakened and as she tried sitting up on the bed, she felt another pain and groaned out loud.

This time making the guy wake up. He yawned out loud and turned around to see Laura awake. He took long strides towards Laura and sighed out of relief. Laura, on the other hand, was speechless upon seeing him.

She then recalled what had happened and hated herself for doing something so reckless.

'This is what I deserve.'

"You've finally woken up."

Laura looked at the guy's eyes and she couldn't help but feel at ease. She didn't know why his eyes had made her feel calm, but she knew that the guy wasn't a guy you could mess with.

"Your grace…" Erwin sighed in disappointment.

He had wanted Laura to call him through his first name and not by his title. He frowned looking at Laura and she wondered why he was making such an expression. How Laura ended up in this state was due to yesterday's events when an unknown man had charged towards Laura and had stabbed her in her abdomen.

Luckily, the knife did not hit any vital spots, but she lost a tremendous amount of blood. Laura had been unconscious for a day, which made Erwin worried. He was worried because she had a compact body frame and she had a small figure for a 15-year-old girl.

Erwin opened the door and asked a servant to call Blaine. Erwin walked back to Laura and sat on the bed. He looked at her, not wanting to leave her side.

Blaine knocked on the door and entered the room and bowed as he had noticed Laura had woken up.

Erwin asked Blaine to call the doctor while helping Laura to sit up. Laura thanked Erwin, and he replied saying it was nothing. She had wondered if Mary and Lester were worried about her.

"Were you able to contact my place?"

"I did. I told them you'll be staying in the palace for a while."

Laura had kept quiet, and she didn't know how to thank Erwin. It scared her with the thought that she'll die again and this time not being able to come back.

"What happened to the man?"

"They sentenced him to death, and the emperor wants to meet you."

"Me? A girl who just entered high society?"

He looked at her with confusion and didn't know why she didn't look happy. It was as if she didn't want to meet the emperor. He had mulled over it but couldn't think of a reason. Laura then remembered about the magical journal.

Laura remembered Septus saying that the journal would help her change her fate. Laura blamed herself for not thinking about it deeply.

"What's wrong Laura?" "It's nothing."

As Erwin was about to say something the door suddenly opened, and beside Blane there was a doctor who removed his hat before entering the room. The doctor greeted Erwin and Laura before taking another step and got his notebook out.

After the examination, the doctor closed his notebook and gave Laura a reassuring smile. He told Laura that the wound was kind of deep but not fatal, and that she was lucky that it missed the vital spots.

The wound was expected to be healed in two weeks, and the doctor had prescribed her some medicine before excusing himself to leave the room. Laura sighed out loud catching Erwin's attention.

"Do you want to eat something?" Laura shook her head, but then her stomach suddenly grumbled out loud.

She looked in another direction and hid her face as she was embarrassed. She was hungry however she did not want to be in his debt any further because she didn't want to be involved with him.

Erwin ruffled her black hair and had asked a maid to bring her some food to eat. On the other hand, Blaine had asked Erwin to have a private talk. They both went out of the room and Blaine immediately started scolded Erwin for ditching his work.

Erwin did not mind at all because he knew that Blaine would do it. He knew that he could trust his work with Blaine, and he wanted to spend some time with Laura.

Blaine couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he frustratedly sighed out loud making Erwin laugh.

"This is why liking someone is a bad thing."

"Why? Haven't you fallen in love with somebody? I remembered that you liked a girl na-"

"Stop right there young master. That's the past, and it's not meant to be talked about."

"So... what news do you have?"

Laura looked out the window and was in a daze. She was still embarrassed for not recognizing the duke. How could she make such a simple mistake? She thought she fully knew the people in the noble family.

She got a pillow and buried her face and muffled random words out. She wanted to scream out loud, but she couldn't. It would destroy her reputation and she wouldn't know what to do if Erwin had seen her in such a state.

The door opened and Erwin came in as he carried a tray filled with food and placed it on the table. Laura had forgotten that she was wounded and took taking a step, forgetting about her injuries.

Suddenly she lost her balance as she felt her legs give up on her, dropping her to the ground.

"Stupid wound."

She mumbled softly as she tried getting up but she couldn't stand up since she would feel pain in her abdomen every time she moved. Erwin carried her up and Laura screamed out loud as he carried her to the chair.

Laura used her arms to hit Erwin, telling him to let her down, but Erwin found her asking him to put her down very adorable. She did not even notice her face blushing, and she continued to struggle until he placed her on the chair.

"What was that for?"

"A princess carry."

"I know what it is, but you didn't have to do it."

"With the state, you are in right now? I don't think so."

Laura kept quiet, not wanting to agree with him. She wouldn't be able to move if he wasn't there, and she was starving.

Erwin sat across Laura and looked at her, savoring the food. He couldn't stop looking at the girl and thanked the ones above for allowing him to be able to meetsuch an interesting girl.

Erwin had noticed that she could act kind, cold, and gentle. He felt as if it was fate as they wouldn't have met if he hadn't asked for directions in the first place.

Laura was enjoying her food until she felt a stare and realized Erwin was looking at her the entire time. She suddenly choked on her food and quickly went to drink a cup of water. She then wiped her mouth and gave him a glare.

"Isn't there a saying that it's rude to stare at a girl?"

"I've never heard of that. Mind telling me what that means?"

"You can't trick me."

Erwin leaned his arms on the table, slowly going towards Laura's face. Laura froze and didn't know what he was doing. Is he going to kiss her? She wondered and shut her eyes tightly. Erwin got a napkin out secretly and wiped the sauce off her mouth.

He then noticed Laura had closed her eyes and laughed. Upon hearing his laugh, Laura opened her eyes and realized nothing had happened. Erwin who was still laughing covered his mouth with his hand and looked at Laura's blushing face.

It seems like what Laura had thought wasn't gonna happen. He was just going to wipe something off her face and she had thought that he was going to kiss her.

"You thought it was a kiss didn't you?"

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't."

Laura embarrassingly shoved a piece of meat to shut her own mouth. She couldn't stop screaming internally feeling more than embarrassed and called herself stupid. Why did she even think about that?

Erwin couldn't help but have a liking to this girl.

'What's not to like?' He thought. 'She was cute and interesting.'

The more he looked at her, the more he had wished to spend more time with her. However, a knock came from a door indicating that it was time for Erwin to leave.

Erwin told Laura to take her time to recover and that he'll be sending a letter to the Alvarado estate to pick her up the next day. He fixed his suit and headed out the door and with a hope to see her soon. Laura felt relieved that he had finally left her alone.

She wouldn't know what to do if he had stayed in the room longer. She placed her fork and knife gently on an empty plate and wanted to know what was happening. She knew that Erwin did not say everything and understood why.

A guy like him wouldn't share information that the royal family would only know. She wondered what event would happen next and wished not to see him again.