The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 31: Almost caught (1)

Gloria hunched over, trying to catch her breath after Annalise released the necklace. "Y-You’re crazy," she said, stepping back to get away from Annalise. Annalise had a right to be angry, but not to attack her. It was Connor who had tried to harm Annalise, not her.

"No. I am in a foul mood and you are one of two people who have placed me in it. Luckily for you, there are other things I must deal with, but I will keep my eyes on you," said Annalise, stepping away from Gloria she could do something more.

"I am going to tell-"

Annalise’s soft laughter interrupted Gloria. "Go ahead. Are you forgetting your role in what happened? Besides, how quickly could you get away from me to tell anyone? You need your tongue to speak and your fingers to write, for you to tell anyone. They are quite easy to remove. So I’ve heard," she added with a smile.

Gloria felt like a monster was standing before her. She had a harmless role in what Connor had planned. If she had known Annalise was this crazy, she wouldn’t have helped Connor. How could Mavis hire such a person? Annalise needed to be sent out of this home right now, but Gloria worried about what Annalise would do if she complained.

’I overdid it, didn’t I?’ Annalise realised as Gloria trembled as though she would faint at any second.

"I’m kidding," Annalise said so Gloria wouldn’t shit herself. "I wanted to scare you a bit so you know how I felt. Do you honestly think I could harm you, Gloria? I am a simple maid. Let’s not play any more tricks on each other in the future."

Annalise turned around to continue her walk back to her room. It was some kind of a miracle that she had not killed anyone in this house yet. It was better at home where people knew the outcome of trying to hurt her so they never played foolish games. The games she played were far different compared to what the maids were used to and even men like Connor.

Annalise desperately tried to blend in and understand what the people here were like as she gathered information, and then she would be on her way, but there was always someone to tempt her to forget her plans and just kill them. She understood now why Thomas made her give him her favorite knife.

While Annalise enjoyed a quiet walk back to her room to clear her thoughts of trying to harm anyone, Rafael returned to the grand hall where everyone here, besides Delilah, was completely unaware that he had almost beaten the life out of Connor.

"Rafael," Delilah said, trying to keep up with where he was going. She had been waiting for when he would return to the hall and by some luck, he was back already. Rafael was meant to be her escort tonight and it should not be ruined by what happened between his maid and knight.

Delilah longed for this moment too much to let another second go by without Rafael by her side.

Rafael stopped to look at Delilah who seemed worried for some reason. She had reached out to grab his shirt and for a second, she hesitated to tell him something. "Annalise is going back to her room," he said.

Delilah wanted to tell him that she had not rushed to catch up to him to hear about a maid. A maid that Rafael so causally addressed by her name. There were so many servants here, how was Rafael able to remember a new maid when he had just returned? She hoped it was because Annalise was his mother’s maid for now.

Her mind went back to Beatrice mentioning something had happened between Rafael and Annalise.

She had forgotten to ask one of the maids what had happened.

"It is good you gave her the time off to rest. I wish I could say that I never expected Connor to do something like this, but he has always been a flirt who hated rejection. He needs to be properly punished for what he has done. Will he still be under your command?" Delilah asked.

"No," Rafael replied as the moment Connor decided to harass one of his servants, he was no longer one of the Callahan knights. They were to protect others, not use their strength to overpower a woman. Once again, his mind went back to Annalise getting the best of Connor. Her story sounded reasonable, but he had a strange feeling about it.

Rafael sighed, mentally scolding himself for trying to place how Annalise had protected herself so well. What mattered at the moment was that she was not harmed.

Delilah’s shoulders drop as silence fell over her and Rafael. She was hoping he would give more of a response so they could enjoy a conversation.

"Would you like something to drink?" Delilah asked, hoping something strong could get him to relax and enjoy his time with her. She wished Rafael would have asked her to join him tonight and it wasn’t her mother’s doing. Then he would be excited to be near her.

"No," Rafael replied. He wasn’t much of a drinker because he liked to be aware of his surroundings. "Do you want something to drink?" He asked as he could see her excitement slowly disappearing as he wasn’t the best escort.

Though he had no feelings for Delilah, he did accept to be her escort. The least he could do was see to it she had a good time.

"Um," Delilah said, looking around at the trays the maids moved around with. "Just water for now," she decided.

"Excuse me," Rafael said as he needed to stop a passing maid to ask for water.

A smile returned to Delilah’s lips now that Rafael was getting water for her. She looked around the room to see if anyone was noticing that he was getting something for her, and just as she had hoped, she spotted a small group of young ladies she was familiar with watching her. Some smiled while others judged her.

Delilah did not mind since she was used to some of them disliking how close she was to Rafael. It only made sense that she and Rafael would end up together since their families were always close. She only needed to stop forcing him to be near her and act normal until he realised that what he needed was always right next to him.

Delilah was savoring the moment until her mind wandered back to Annalise. Annalise did not seem to have an interest in Rafael, but Rafael might slowly become interested in Annalise. Her mother warned her that she could never stop her husband from sneaking around with other women. Men always wanted more than they should have.

’Rafael is a gentleman’ she knew, which was why she loved him so much. Others were after his wealth and good name, but Delilah truly loved him. It was hard to think of sharing him if she were to have him in the future. ’I must be close to Annalise to have her under my thumb.’

"Rafael," Delilah smiled as he was returning to her side with a glass of water in his hands. Before he could reach her, Logan grabbed his arm and whispered something. Rafael looked at her apologetically, and she knew that he was going to leave her side again.