The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 241: Alone (1)

Annalise had to give compliments to the women in the room for dancing all night long in uncomfortable shoes. Annalise occasionally lifted one foot to ease the pain of standing around for hours.

Beatrice and River didn’t dance since Annalise had met with them again. River was not fond of dancing or as Beatrice whispered to Annalise, he was worried that he was not good at it even though he had long learned to do it to impress Beatrice.

Beatrice was approached by a lot of women during the night with some asking about Annalise, but Beatrice would be quick to talk about something else to avoid revealing that Annalise was a maid. Annalise didn’t mind if it was revealed that she wasn’t a relative of the Callahans or anyone important since it would stop the fools from approaching her for a dance.

It was like there was a contest among men to see who she would accept for a dance after sending five away. A game of who was her type of man.

The only reason Annalise did not mind when a few men came to her was because of a certain commander looking bothered by it. Rafael and Siena stuck close to Beatrice and River so each time Annalise was approached by a man Rafael saw it.

"My feet are getting tired. I think it is time for us to leave. River, do you mind getting our carriage ready while I say goodbye to Wendy? I cannot go without saying goodbye to her," Beatrice said, looking around the room for Wendy. She was tired and all she wanted to do now was head home to lay with her husband.

"Stay here. I will tell Wendy we are leaving and get the carriage ready. Do not move," River said and then left to find Wendy.

"I love the man, but sometimes he thinks I am a child," Beatrice said, fanning herself with her hands. "Annalise, we can go outside to get some air. It is becoming too hot here. Will you be taking Siena home, Rafael?"

"I will be taking a ride home with Lady Everett so Rafael doesn’t need to make a long trip. It was good to see you tonight, Lady Beatrice. I hope we get to see each other soon," said Siena. freewёbnoνel.com

"I want to take my family to town tomorrow for us to do some shopping. Join us so I can learn more about you. There is much I want to learn about since we are from the same town," Beatrice said with a smile. She wanted to find out who Siena was the daughter of in White Town since it might be someone she knew in the past.

Beatrice didn’t have a good reputation in that town because she left a wealthy man for a man no one knew of and Siena might have heard a few things about her. Siena must also know Travis. Beatrice was certain of it because of the way her husband and son were acting. They liked to keep her in the dark but she was smart to piece everything together.

"I would love to join you," Siena replied, looking at Annalise to see if she would be okay with this. Siena tried not to smile when she noticed Annalise grimacing and moving her left foot in a circle to stretch it. "I must find Lady Everett now to tell her that I am ready. Thank you for escorting me tonight," Siena said to Rafael.

Siena was glad Annalise convinced her to stay since she enjoyed the ball. Rafael being by her side stopped men from coming to her so she got to stand around, watching others and listening to what was being said. She was also able to speak to Rafael about things she saw Travis doing and warned him to keep Annalise and Beatrice safe.

Despite the fact there was no chance for her and Rafael to be closer and bond through all of this, Siena didn’t mind how the night was ending. She did force herself to like a man she didn’t know and now that she knew there was no hope for the two of them, she could quit trying to learn about Rafael and look around at the potential men she could court.

"Oh, sorry," Siena apologised after bumping into someone with a hard body. She looked up at the man dressed in armour before her. "You are a Callahan knight."

"I am. This was my mistake since I should have looked where I was going. I nearly knocked over a beautiful woman and it is the woman he is here with," Logan said, feeling like he was in for a scolding. He looked ahead at where Rafael stood and found him distracted by his mother and Annalise. "We should keep this between us that I bumped into you."

"Okay," Siena replied, not seeing why she would tell anyone that a knight bumped into her. "Excuse me."

Logan stepped to the side to let her pass him. How was it that Rafael got to have Annalise and still take another woman to a ball? When he saw Annalise run off he thought that might be a chance for him to go after her and cheer her up, but before he could follow her, Rafael was already following her. It looked like Annalise wasn’t bothered by Rafael and the woman anymore.

Whatever was happening between the two of them, he hoped that Rafael didn’t suddenly become the type of man to toy with women since Logan had stopped trying to get her to like him and was hoping for the best for the two.

"We’re leaving," Rafael said when Logan came to his side.

Logan nodded his head and gave the three knights a look as he pointed to the door. Two of them walked ahead of the Callahans to create a path while Logan stayed to walk behind with the other knight.

"Did you enjoy the ball, mother?" Rafael asked. He walked holding his mother’s hand since his father was not around.

"I did. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed being around so many people. The only thing I am saddened by was not getting my dance with Annalise. You will have to owe me a dance in the future," Beatrice said, plotting something that would give her hope for Annalise and Rafael one day.

Annalise forgot about the dance since she was focused on trying to get off her shoes without anyone noticing. It was odd that Beatrice didn’t ask for them to dance when she spoke of nothing but dancing the entire time Annalise stood beside her.

It couldn’t have been that Beatrice didn’t want them to dance together in front of so many people to be questioned about what they were doing when all the other women were only dancing with men. It had to be that Beatrice was plotting something.

When Beatrice mentioned being owed a dance, Annalise thought it meant Beatrice was going to find a way for her to dance with Rafael tonight. The fact that her guess was wrong scared her. Especially with how Beatrice was smiling. If Beatrice had seen the two of them kissing in the darkness of the garden, Annalise knew that she would wake up to a wedding tomorrow.

"You are back already," Beatrice said, letting go of Rafael’s hand to hold River’s hand. "There are two carriages. Rafael might be lonely riding alone so Annalise, I ask that you join him."

"I will," Annalise answered. She wondered if Beatrice ever put any thought into becoming a matchmaker. The way she used every chance there was to get her and Rafael alone should not go to waste.

"Ride with my parents," Rafael ordered the knights. He was more concerned with their safety than his own and Annalise was good at protecting herself.

Logan and the other knights followed River and Beatrice to their carriage to escort them back home.

"I think we should have one knight ride with us," Annalise suggested as it was dangerous for her to be alone with the man beside her. "Perhaps Logan-"

"We will ride alone, Annalise. Come with me," Rafael said, offering his hand to help her down the steps.

There were people around them heading to their carriages, but he paid no attention to them since he had waited long enough to spend time with Annalise.