The other girl attempted to slap the maid, but Marivella held her hand. Marivella can't stand these women, insulting the maid.

"Let me go!" she yells at her.

"Hah. Peasants truly get along!" Insults by another woman in that group. But it startles them watching the man walking toward them.

"Are you, okay?" he asked the maid.

The girl looked up. She saw a handsome man offering his hand. She froze.

"Doctor Montfort, good morning," Marivella greeted Charles, then partly bow.

"Good morning, Marivella!" Charles replied cheerfully. Smiling wider, his gaze back toward the maid. "Let me help you," he did not give up giving a hand.

But the maid is reluctant to take his hand. She looks down on her palm but it covers them with dirt. When she still not moving, Marivella then squats on the floor to help the maid.

"How are you? Let me see your wound," she asked her once again.

"I am fine, ma'am. Do not worry about me," she replied. Shyly, the maid is avoiding looking at her on the eyes nor Charles.

"You were hurt. Let me tend your wound." She did not stop offering help. She'd witnessed how she struggled to stand on her feet.

"Oh, no! But thank you, ma'am." She refused, waving her hand. 

And then Marivella saw the cut on her palm. "Look, you also hurt your hand."

"Don't worry, mademoiselle. She is the best nurse I ever crossed, so you will be fine," Charles a.s.sured.

'Mademoiselle...' the maid thought. She wants to cry, but she regains her composure. "Oh, I am just poor. I don't have money to pay, ma'am," politely she said.

Marivella smiled and told the maid. "You need not do that."

Finally, the maid stops refusing and allowed them to help her stand on her feet.

"I can walk, Doctor Montfort, Miss Marivella," said the maid.

"Are you sure?"

The maid nodded, then Marivella said. "All right, follow me to clean your wound."

The maid followed Marivella and Charles, who accompanied them. Thus, everyone sees this, another gossip arises. Marivella just pretending she hears nothing. Which for Charles, he's been blabbering at her. She understood that he wanted to help her out.

Marivella brought the maid to her house, but she is reluctant to come inside. She stays in the garden where a bench placed under a tree.

"Can I know your name? If it is fine for you?" Charles asked her.

"Oh... um."

The maid playing her fingers and Charles find it amusing. He stares at her face closely. "Your eyes are beautiful. It reminds me of someone but—" Charles paused.

The maid averted her eyes and Charles smiled warmly. Marivella now came back and carrying a small box of medical supplies. She then began to tending her wounds.

"Can I see your foot and knees?" Marivella requested, but the maid looked at Charles.

"Oh. Well then, I have to turn around," he chuckles.

The maid lifted her skirt after. Marivella saw a few bruises on her knee. She cleans them and also put gauze to the wound. She could see that the maid still avoided meeting her gaze, but she is glancing at her frequently when she keeps looking down. But Marivella notices this...

The maid is having smooth and flawless skin. Maybe because their legs are hidden underneath the skirt, but it won't be this fair skin. Aside from, even she is covering her face and a little dirt around the skin, she has a velvet black pupil on her eyes. She could that the maid staring at her again. 

"There is something you wish to tell me?" she asked. 

"Oh. Nothing ma'am. It's just, you were beautiful."

Marivella looks up, peering at her. "I could tell you are also beautiful, especially your eyes. Anyway, why do you need to cover your face?"

"Um… I have scars on my face, that is why I am hiding it." the maid responded shyly.

"Can I see it? But if you are uncomfortable, it's okay." She smiled and waited patiently.

The maid keeps a moment of silence then replied. "I'm sorry, ma'am." No. She can't show her face.

"That's okay. Pardon if I am rude."

"Oh, don't think about that! I am grateful for your help and Doctor Montfort." she expressed.

"Hmm? Oh, do you girls finish now?" he asked. He was actually fidgeting to stay listening to girls talk, and he cannot join.

Marivella gets up and gathers the medical stuff. She puts them back in the box. "Stay for a coffee," she told the maid before she went back to the house.

"Now I remember, you haven't given me your name yet," asked Charles then sits across her.

The maid looks up and tries to meet his gaze. "I agree with Marivella. Your eyes are beautiful, mademoiselle. I could see the bright night sky under the daylight. A thousand stars sparkling beneath the magnificent canva.s.s of the twilight skyline."

Her mouth dropped open. Charles more likely to humming a play, and his voice is comparable music to her ears. Tears threaten under her eyeliner, she averted her gaze and fight the tears.

"Did I say something wrong? I am sorry if—" he asked. 

Probably he notices her teary-eyed and makes him worry if he offended her, and so she shook her head. "No, it is nothing. Don't mind me, Doctor."

"Charles... called me Charles."

She glanced at him and he's smiling handsomely. Her heart fluttering with the familiarity of its beating; It knows the feeling she has to the same man. No… to the same soul. "Carlene..."

"Carlene?"

She nodded. She feels that her cheeks flus.h.i.+ng. This is a bad idea actually, she admitted.

"It is absolutely a lovely name. I never heard of this name before. You probably not a native around here?"

"Ah... we are a traveler."

"Oh, a traveler. That is a very exciting life," he quoted.

The maid rose from the bench then bow at him. "Thank you for helping me out earlier, Doctor Charles."

"Oh, don't mention it," Charles replied.

"Please, tell the lady I am pleased meeting her and very grateful for her help of tending my wounds."

"Oh, are you living? At least, let me escort you home."

"No need, Doctor Charles. I have to go. Might my father looking for me now." She should not stay long before her ident.i.ty revealed. "Thank you very much once again." She bowed one more time, then left the place at a hasty pace.

Dumbfounded, Charles scratched his temple. The girl did not wait for Marivella, which he wanted to keep talking with her and ask more things about traveling. He is curious about how it feels to travel in far-away lands and what tales she heard.

"Where is she? Did you scare her?" Marivella asked, teases Charles.

"Hey, lady. Of course, I did not!"

Marivella giggles. But she felt this sadness all in a sudden. Strange, she has this feeling she cannot explain. She's actually curious about that girl. She is uncertain, but something is interesting about her.

She doesn't understand. But this feeling is too warm deep inside.