The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 409: Future (3)

"You are too good to be true. I hope you are not just willing to adopt her because I have shown interest in her. If you liked the time we spent with Lydia, why didn’t you say something?" Annalise asked.

Annalise recalled how Rafael was with Lydia. He was gentle with her then and Lydia had looked intrigued by Rafael when they were by the tree and then loved him when there was candy to be shared.

Although Rafael said taking care of Lydia wouldn’t bother him because Nicolas had taken in River as his son, Annalise needed to hear more than once that Rafael was doing this for himself too.

"At that time I was trying to get you to be more open about your feelings for me. There was no time to think of adopting a child," Rafael answered. He was not doing this only for Annalise. Rafael did like Lydia, but adopting a child wasn’t something he could do when they had been at the orphanage.

He couldn’t think of adopting a child because it would only be him taking care of it then. It had crossed his mind in the past to be like Nicolas with his father and take in a child to raise, but he had to think about his time away from the manor.

Rafael didn’t want to leave the child in the manor to be raised by someone else or have to get his parents to help him. Now with Annalise, he could make something work. Annalise wouldn’t be doing a lot of travelling since her place was at the border leading her people. He wouldn’t have to worry about the child feeling alone and not loved enough.

Travis was also no longer an issue so one less person Rafael had to worry about harming a loved one was gone.

"We should make a trip back to the orphanage as soon as possible to see her and spend more time with her to see if she would want to come with us. I don’t see why not when you and I are wonderful. Our lives are exciting, but then again, what if she were to be afraid of someone from the border?" Annalise questioned, realising she would have to share this about herself.

Annalise didn’t know what the children in the orphanage might have heard about the border. Were they also told scary stories to make the border sound like it was full of monsters? Would Lydia not care about it because she was going to have a new home with parents to look after her? frёewebnoѵēl.com

Annalise feared that Lydia would not be so happy around them if she knew that Annalise was from the border. To have Lydia fear her would cut deeper than her friendship with Cara being in a strange place. She had to hope that the orphanage didn’t bother the children with stories about the border since Nicolas had deemed it a safe place for people like her.

"If she doesn’t want to come with us, I will understand. Who would want a weird mother?" Annalise asked.

"You would not be a weird mother. Only weird when it comes to your love of animals. Do not think the worst yet when we are not there to have a word with her. She was attached to you back then and I don’t think she will care where you are from as long as you don’t leave her alone. It will work out," Rafael said, squeezing Annalise’s hand to cheer her up. "You do overthink too much."

"I cannot help it. I must think of the worst outcomes so I can be prepared for them. I will not think about it until it is time for us to see Lydia. We should get her a few gifts to take when we see her but then it will seem like we are trying to buy her love," Annalise said, going back to overthinking. "Maybe one toy or a dress would be best."

Rafael looked down his right at Annalise biting her lip. He had to distract her so she would not go down a rabbit hole of stressing over this when they were not yet going to the orphanage. He already had to sometimes distract her because she still thought one of her former maid friends was no longer speaking to her.

Rafael looked around for something to distract her and found nothing so he had to settle for going for a little walk where they would be out of sight.

Rafael looked over his shoulder at Michael and the others following closely behind him and Annalise. Siena and Heidi were not far off looking around the market. "Leave us be. Watch over Siena and Heidi," he ordered the knights.

Annalise snapped out of her thoughts after hearing what Rafael said. "Where are we going?" She asked, following Rafael as he led her away from where all the other stalls were.

"Going for a walk," Rafael answered.

He didn’t know where he was taking her, but he wanted to be alone with her to clear her mind of worrying about Lydia. He did not want to continue speaking about this when there were so many people watching them and trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Rafael didn’t want it to spread around that they were planning to adopt before he could send a letter to the orphanage or they go there themselves. He wouldn’t put it past the people of Lockwood to start talking about Annalise not being able to become pregnant so they were resorting to this.

Rafael preferred when the town knew nothing about his life and he wanted it to be the same way for Annalise. It would only take one little detail about their relationship for gossip to start and everything about to be twisted so the people here had something new to speak about.

If he could, Rafael was trying to limit the foolish things Annalise had to hear. He had read in letters what Edgar’s wife had to put up with because she used to wear a mask and Rafael didn’t want much said about Annalise. He couldn’t shield her forever but for now, when she was excited to look around Lockwood, he didn’t want her to experience the bad side of this town just yet.

Annalise quietly followed Rafael thinking that he had something he was excited to show her, but as they got further away from the large crowds of people and where everything was being sold, she realised that he just wanted to be alone.

She didn’t mind this since the crowd of people still watching after she had kissed him were starting to bother her. They acted as if they had never seen a couple kiss before. Acting like a kiss was something taboo.

Annalise was already over their act like they weren’t doing scandalous things in secret. She would bet that some of the people shocked by her kiss had visited the red light district at least once or had some naughty book tucked under their bed.

Annalise looked at Rafael’s arm which seemed more muscular today as he led her to be out of sight. Nothing about his clothes or face had changed since they came to the market, but for some reason, all Annalise wanted to do was help him find a quiet spot so that she could strip him and...

Annalise’s eyes widened at the dirty thought she had. It wouldn’t be the first time she thought about how the two of them would be intimate, but this time felt dirtier, especially because they were walking by a few people as she thought about it. It was like they could hear or see what she was imagining in her mind.

"I think we’ve walked far enough," Annalise said, letting go of his hand at the same time. If she continued to hold his hand, they might end up playing out what she imagined them doing. She might shock the town even more if she didn’t control herself and wait until they were back at home.

"Are you feeling sick?" Rafael questioned, using the back of his right hand to touch her cheek. She looked flushed and with the outside not being cold like other days, he thought she might have started to catch a fever. "We can find somewhere warm."

"That’s not it," Annalise said, removing his hand from her face. Just his mere touch sent a tingly feeling throughout her body and more thoughts about him started to pour into her mind. It was odd how she suddenly wanted him right now. "I think we should go back to looking around and then head home right away."

Rafael found her behaviour to be odd all of a sudden. Why did she suddenly go from overthinking to looking embarrassed? "We are not going anywhere until you tell me what is bothering you. Why aren’t you letting me touch you?" Rafael asked, frowning as Annalise stepped to the side to avoid his touch.

Annalise sensed a misunderstanding forming and though she wanted to keep it to herself, she answered, "I have a strange urge to strip you and make love to you right now. I don’t know why- Hey!" Annalise exclaimed as she found herself being lifted by Rafael.

"We are going home, Annalise. I will bring you back to the market later."