The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 219: [Bonus - ] Sign (1)

"Annalise, we are leaving."

"I’m coming," Annalise answered, running to where Rafael stood so she could join him to take the small walk back to the house they were staying in. "Would you like something to drink or eat when we return?"

"No. We will be heading out to the orphanage right now and coming back in time before dinner. I will get you something to eat during our time in the orphanage," said Rafael.

"I am not hungry right now. I ate all of my breakfast and a few fruits from the garden. They were sweet," Annalise said, licking her bottom lip where the sweetness of the berries she found remained. She kept a few in the pocket of her dress to eat later. "Did you enjoy your time inside?"

"Yes. I always enjoy coming to visit Wendy. She is like a sister to my father since they were in the same orphanage for a few years until Wendy was taken in by a family," Rafael answered.

Annalise looked at the home Wendy resided in. She would have never guessed that the lady was once an orphan.

"You’ll be attending Wendy’s ball so I have brought a dress for you to wear. Consider it your last gift from me right now," Rafael said, leaving out the fact he would be taking Siena as his partner since it needed to be revealed at the right time.

"Are you trying to toy with me?" Annalise asked, unable to forget how confused she was with how quickly he was moving on from liking her. "I feel like you are playing some game with me."

Rafael looked down at Annalise and asked, "And what game would that be?"

"I do not know. That is why I am asking you. It feels like you are doing something to make me upset and take back everything I said about you being hurt in the future. I just don’t know what it is right now. I don’t like being played with so whatever you are doing, please stop," Annalise requested.

Rafael smiled, entertained by how she was acting right now. "Were you not the same one who wanted Logan to respect your wishes to stop courting you? You told me to stop so I did. Now it seems to be bothering you, but I don’t see how a woman who doesn’t have feelings for me would be worried about me moving on."

"That’s it," Annalise said, realising what he was doing. "It won’t work. This won’t make me miss you and suddenly have feelings for you."

"What won’t work Annalise?" Rafael asked, acting oblivious. It seemed to be working for him. She didn’t bat an eye after Logan said he would stop trying to court her. "Maybe it is time for you to stop being so stubborn and try to understand why you are so bothered right now."

"I am not bothered," Annalise replied. "I am confused by you acting strangely."

Annalise picked up her pace to get closer to Beatrice and River. She hoped to ride with the two of them if they were going to take two carriages again. Rafael had gone back to being annoying.

’When did he stop?’ Annalise questioned in her head. He was always this big space of annoying.

"Annalise, for the ball tomorrow night, how would you like to get dressed with me? We can do each other’s hair and pick up what jewellery to wear," Beatrice said, looking back at the two. It would be like getting her daughter ready for a ball. She longed to experience a moment like this.

"Is it alright for me to attend the ball dressed up when I am only a maid?" Annalise asked as they were bound to receive strange looks. She already brought a dress that was the best out of all the ones she owned in case she was to join Rafael at the ball.

The dress wouldn’t be pretty like the ones the women attending picked out to wear, but it was good enough for other guests to not laugh at how Rafael’s maid was dressed. It was all thanks to Cara who took money from her and went out to buy a dress that was not expensive. If she didn’t spill anything on it, she could give it to Cara since she liked it or sell it.

"Of course, it will be fine. I’ve already told Wendy that you will be with us and if anyone attending has an issue with it, we shall just ignore them. We can do a quick shopping trip after we finish with the orphanage so we can get whatever you need. It’s been a little while since I went shopping with anyone," Beatrice said, excited to do it today.

With her brother in town and wanting to avoid listening to questions about when Rafael was going to get married from women with daughters of age, Beatrice stayed at home. It was fun to be in her garden or spend time with River, but she wanted to let her guard down and have fun with someone.

She was in luck to have Annalise around and then Rafael’s feelings for her helped to view Annalise like her daughter already. As long as Rafael’s foolish decision to make Annalise jealous did not somehow make Annalise slip through his fingers, this would be good practice as a mother-in-law for when the two would get married.

Annalise couldn’t find it in her to say no when Beatrice was so excited. Beatrice might be the key to ending the war since who could ever say no to her? If Beatrice were to stand before her and cry, telling her to marry Rafael on the spot, Annalise wouldn’t know if she would have the power to look away and say no.

How did River survive this? Did he ever say no to his wife? If he did, River was much stronger than Annalise thought. Then there was Rafael who could look right in his mother’s eyes and say no to her.

"I would love to join you," Annalise replied.

Her getting dressed up to attend a ball didn’t seem like a good idea since she doubted everyone would like that a maid was all dressed up like she was truly a guest, but they knew the people here so Annalise was going to trust that there would be no issue.

Beatrice once again became distracted with talking to River so Annalise was left feeling awkward next to Rafael. It was like she couldn’t talk to him as she normally did because there was something strange between them. Annalise didn’t know how it was possible, but Rafael seemed more like a normal employer than the annoying knight she was used to.

She knew not to be fooled by the way he was acting and started to doubt that Rafael had gotten over his feelings for her. He had to be up to something because of how odd it felt to be around him.

"Are we taking two carriages?" River asked the moment they returned home.

"We can share one. I will get the knights to move off with their horses," Rafael replied, going ahead to speak to Logan before he joined them.

Annalise stared at him as he walked away. If she had bet that Rafael would have made them go in two carriages so he could avoid his mother asking any questions, she would have lost her money.