The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 212: Stalked (2)

The next day, Annalise stood in front of the large standing mirror in the room she was to call her own for the next few days. She was still in disbelief that she had a room that was more than triple in size of the room she used at the manor and that she had a bathroom to herself.

She knew this had to be the continuation of Rafael giving her gifts since there was no need for him to want her to be right next to him. This house was smaller which meant if he needed her, it wouldn’t be long for her to get to him. It wasn’t like he ever needed something from her in the middle of the night.

This was simply an excuse to have her near and Ananlise was not going to complain about it since she had never spent time in a room like this. Rafael’s bedroom back at the manor was far larger, but for her, this room she stood in was big.

Annalise tied her hair up with an extra ribbon she had since Rafael did not return the one that she liked to use. She didn’t know what she was meant to do today since she wasn’t informed of where Rafael and his parents had to go today, so she tied her hair up to be out of the way in case she could be moving around a lot.

Annalise served Rafael his breakfast and ate her breakfast afterwards. Now she was waiting around for Rafael to get dressed so she could follow him.

Annalise looked at her appearance in the mirror one more time and then walked to the door. She exited her room and went over to Rafael’s door to knock on it to see if he was ready for wherever he intended to go.

It was a short wait before Rafael exited his room in casual clothes. Normally, he would be heading to the training grounds so he would be without a shirt to bear with the hot sun.

"My eyes are up here, but I must admit that I enjoy it when you stare at me," Rafael said, highly amused by her gaze on his chest.

"I am not used to you dressed like this after breakfast. You normally take off your shirt and head to the yard to make the knights cry. Your mother must be happy that you are finally taking a break. What do you need me to do?" Annalise asked, looking up at his face to meet his eyes.

"We’ll be visiting a family friend right now. We will be walking there since it is right next to us. My parents must be waiting for us. Did you sleep well? You didn’t come to me last night," said Rafael, slightly disappointed she didn’t visit to request her room be changed.

"I slept as I always did. I have never visited anyone around that time. I wouldn’t want to disturb their sleep. Please lead the way as I am unfamiliar with this home. I will try to get used to where you need to go and where everything is son. I am sorry about your breakfast not being on time. I had difficulty finding the kitchen," Annalise apologised.

"I expected you to be a little late because of having to find your way. You will soon have time to look around. You must have spoken to a few of the servants when you went to get breakfast this morning. How was it?" Rafael asked, leading Annalise to meet with his parents so they could walk to the house beside them together.

"I’ve learned that it is only ladies who have the grace to keep their maids nearby. The servants spoke to me as if I was a member of your family at first. So quick to try pleasing me until I said that I am your maid. Where my room is must have confused them. I won’t be surprised if gossip starts that I am your mistress. I have gotten used to it," Annalise answered.

No matter where they went, it would always be assumed. Annalise wasn’t bothered by it since she wouldn’t be here for long to hear their opinions. She wasn’t going to switch the room she liked just to stop anyone from talking. They would just turn around to say that Rafael had grown bored of her and placed her where she belonged.

"It is not the norm for me to travel with a maid so it is part of why they might be confused. It shall soon pass. My mother will not allow their assumption to run for long. She is better at stopping gossip than I am. She is able to seek out where it starts," Rafael said.

Annalise and Rafael walked downstairs to meet with Beatrice and River. Then the four of them walked over to the house beside their own, accompanied by some of the knights who looked around for danger as they walked, while others remained to make sure no one walked inside the home.

Annalise watched Beatrice and River laugh at something that was a secret amongst themselves. The two seemed more carefree now that they were out of town and here where there weren’t others passing by to see them. She didn’t see how anyone could hate the two or hate their relationship when they were so in love with each other.

Beatrice was a kind woman and Annalise wished nothing would ever happen to her. Not from the women in town who liked to speak nasty things to tear down each other or from her brother.

"It looks like she has guests over already. She didn’t inform me that anyone would be here. I hope she has not invited some of her friends for our first day here," Beatrice said, inspecting the carriage she was not familiar with.

It was not here when she last came to visit. The coachman leaning on the carriage seemed to be waiting for whoever was instead to come out.

"Beatrice! I have been waiting by the window since breakfast to see when you would come over. I was just about to change my shoes and go over there to get all of you. Why does it look like you two are getting younger?" Wendy Hester, a long-time friend of Beatrice and River, questioned as she walked out the front door.

Beatrice palmed her cheeks, feeling like Wendy was seeing wrong since she saw a few signs of her getting older this morning. "Oh, Wendy. You flatter me too much. It is you who holds the secret to looking so young," Beatrice said, greeting Wendy with a hug. "We came in a little late so we were behind time with coming over. Do you have a guest or did you splurge on a new carriage?"

"You know I don’t waste money on an extra carriage when it is only me here. Lady Everett has a young lady staying with her. The young lady came to visit me this morning, unaware that I would be having you over. I needed the company while I waited for you so I offered her a drink. River," Wendy greeted him with a hug since they were close.

Just like River, she came from an orphanage and was taken in by a couple who were unable to have a child.

"Rafael, did you finally bring your future wife for me to meet?" Wendy asked, moving on to Rafael and the young woman she was curious about when she looked out the window and saw her walking with Rafael. She hoped Rafael would take a liking to the young lady inside, but seeing him already with another was better.

Annalise left it to Rafael to explain that she was only his maid. She looked ahead at the door where someone else came into view and frowned when she saw that it was the same woman from the competition. It couldn’t be a coincidence that she was showing up in front of Rafael again.

Rafael wasn’t pleased to see the young woman whose name he couldn’t remember. "Why are you here?" He questioned, getting the sense that there was a ploy to have her near him.