The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 231: Dresses, drama, and tears (1)

After washing Rafael’s hair, Annalise returned to her bedroom and only came out when it was time for dinner. She turned down the offer to eat with the Callahans and ate with the servants so she could avoid Rafael for a short moment.

Rafael taking Siena to the ball puzzled her long after she had finished washing his hair. If this was some game to make her jealous, he was taking it too far by asking another woman to be his partner. This was strange for Rafael since she didn’t think he would stoop so low to take another woman to the ball just to make her jealous.

Unless there was some truth to him toying with her. What else was she to think when he was taking another woman to the ball after admitting to still having feelings for her?

Annalise tried not to think about it so much since it should not bother her. She didn’t need to think so much about what Rafael was doing since she rejected him over and over again.

She checked on Rafael to see if he needed her after dinner and when he didn’t, she went straight to bed.

The next day, Beatrice was as Rafael said by preparing for the ball hours before it was meant to start.

"My cheeks hurt," Annalise said, rubbing her cheeks to help with the pain from smiling so much.

Beatrice was excited to get dressed for the ball, but Annalise wasn’t. To not ruin Beatrice’s excitement, Annalise smiled and nodded her head at everything Beatrice said. She learned a lot about dresses that she didn’t need to know in the last two days.

Annalise pleaded with Rafael to save her and let her go with him and the knights, but he refused and laughed as he walked away.

Less than an hour to when the ball would start, Annalise sat on a chair with Beatrice standing behind her, brushing her hair to help her get dressed for the ball. She was thankful for Beatrice’s help since she didn’t know the first time to do to get ready for a ball.

Annalise tapped her fingers on her knees as she watched through the mirror how Beatrice tried to find the right style for her. Annalise doubted there was anyone else in the town helping their maid to get dressed for the ball. It was meant to be the other way around with Annalise helping Beatrice to get dressed.

"I am going to pin your hair at the back and let down some at the front to frame your face. The ball is lovely, but in a room with so many people, it sometimes gets too hot. It would be a tragedy if your hair got mixed with sweat. This will help to show off your slender neck. I can see you getting asked for a lot of dances tonight," said Beatrice.

Beatrice wanted Rafael and Annalise together, but she wouldn’t mind if her hard work paid off and Annalise would have men left and right wanting to dance with her. There were a few women who kept boasting about having a daughter who she wanted Annalise to shine brighter than.

She would turn around Rafael’s plans and make him the jealous one. A little jealousy could push Rafael to stop playing games and have better ways to make Annalise fall for him.

"I am sorry to disappoint you, but I will be turning them down. They will only want to dance with me because they mistake me for a Callahan. I would rather not deal with their reaction to learning that I am only a maid," Annalise replied.

She had no time with people who only cared for status and titles. Most of the men at the ball wouldn’t be her type anyway and she wasn’t their type once you got past her looks. Annalise would not be the kind of woman who liked to sit at home and have children.

"Hold this," Beatrice said, placing the pins with pearls at the end of them in Annalise’s hands. "Tonight, you are one of us. I won’t stand by and let anyone look down on you. If someone troubles you, come to me and I will take care of them. I’ve had my fair share of dealing with drama at balls to know how to get through it."

"How about I flip someone if they bother me too much? I will do it where no one else would see," said Annalise. She had been itching to flip someone, but there was no luck in her life for her to get the chance.

"Sure," Beatrice laughed at Annalise’s joke. "I wouldn’t mind if it is my son you need to flip over. It might help him to snap out of something."

"I can finish my hair. You won’t have time to get dressed before the time you want to depart," Annalise said, looking at Beatrice’s hair which was still braided. freewёbnoνel.com

"We will be on time. You have no idea how skilled I am at doing my hair fast and it turns out perfect. I will do my hair while you put on your shoes. As long as we help each other, we will be ready on time. The men are lucky to only need to brush their hair and put on their suits. I envy how it is so simple for them sometimes," Beatrice said, taking another pin from Annalise’s hand.

Annalise sat comfortably, allowing Beatrice to do as she wanted. She looked at her reflection in the mirror at her hair being perfectly pinned up. She pinned her hair up sometimes, but it was never like this. She could easily be mistaken for a proper lady with how Beatrice was dolling her up.

Her mother would be excited to see her finally dressing like a young lady by wearing a nice dress and not having a sword by her side.

Annalise was glad her hair was being pinned up so she wouldn’t have to hear anyone question it or deal with young women upset to see her with the Callahans, trying to insult her. She wanted a peaceful night and she should have it since Rafael would be away from her with Siena.

It was still hard to believe that Rafael was going to the ball with Siena. Annalise wasn’t certain if she had missed something or if this was Rafael’s attempt to make her jealous.

Was it when she stayed in the garden and he went inside that he spoke to Siena about taking her to the ball? Annalise wanted to ask Beatrice but figured it wasn’t her place to ask.

Beatrice placed the last of the pins in Annalise’s hair and gave the little bun she made a small tap to see if it would stay in place and it did. "You must make haste by putting on your shoes. I can hardly wait to see the entire look. I have something for you when you are finished."

Annalise stood up so Beatrice would have the chair to start doing her hair. Beatrice also needed to put on her shoes and jewellery then they would be ready to go downstairs to the carriage and head to the ball which was not held in Wendy’s home.

Annalise wondered how Rafael knew what size dress to have made for her and how he was able to get it adjusted to fit her perfectly. She looked at it and thought it would be too small when Beatrice first bought it for her.

Rafael already left to pick up Siena so he would not see the dress until the ball. Annalise was grateful that she did not need to travel with him to watch the strange union between the two. She didn’t understand why she was the only one finding it odd that Rafael was going with Siena.

Annalise concluded that he was going with Siena to make her jealous, but what she couldn’t figure out was why Beatrice was acting normal. They had a good conversation about her not liking Rafael, but Annalise knew Beatrice had not lost hope and right now, she should be questioning Rafael’s sudden interest in Siena.

Annalise finished putting on the black shoes Beatrice bought for her and stepped out of the closet for Beatrice to see how they looked on her feet.

Beatrice sprung around in her seat when Annalise returned. "You are dressed perfectly for a ball, but there is one thing you are missing to complete the look. Another gift to go with the blue dress from Rafael. My stubborn son asked that I give this to you since he had to leave before we would be ready. It would have been better for him to do this, but I am more than happy to put it on for you."

Annalise tried to peep inside the small box that was on Beatrice’s bed when she came in. She was curious about it but thought it might have been keeping the earrings Beatrice planned on wearing tonight. It was too small for anything other than earrings.

"There are too gifts-"

"There is no such thing as too many gifts. He wanted to make sure you were prepared for the ball as much as I did. Please accept it since it might have taken some time and money to find someone to make this for him" Beatrice said, going behind Annalise to put on the necklace which was the last gift. Well, the last gift that she knew about. "Take a look."

Annalise walked to the mirror to get a good look at the necklace. She was surprised to see that instead of a jewel to flaunt, there was a small sword made of metal. Annalise agreed with Beatrice that it must have taken him some time to find someone to make the shape of a sword with so little metal.

It was the work of a great craftsman since it was so detailed.

"I don’t get it, but I am sure it means something to you," Beatrice said, going back to finish her hair.

"It does," Annalise replied, tapping the sword with a finger.