The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 436: Grandmother’s help (1)

"Oww, woman! Are you trying to kill me?" Phillip asked, on the brink of getting up from Celine’s lap after she slapped his aching back. She was making him more wounded than when he came inside to get her help.

"That was for fighting with Rafael when you were to be helping the knights settle in. Dinner is late because I had to go outside and now your back is hurting you. Stay still so I can try to help you feel better. I’m tempted to slap it around," Celine said, but she returned to massaging the sore spot.

It was what he deserved for fighting when they were to be settling in. His sore back would have him inside for a day or two and out of Annalise’s way. It was a welcome blessing in Celine’s eyes.

Annalise stood off to the side with Rafael, watching as her father tried to hold in his tears after her mother smacked him. He didn’t want to show weakness, but he failed since he was lying on Celine’s lap with his shirt off while she tended to his body.

Other than Rafael, there weren’t any knights inside to see her father like this.

Annalise already knew that this was going to lead to her father wanting to have a rematch with Rafael. That was not going to happen anytime soon. She couldn’t have her father take up all of Rafael’s time and then she needed to try squeezing in to be with Rafael.

"Did you enjoy your time sparring with my father? I heard that you look like you were having fun," Annalise said to Rafael. Siena and Giselle returned inside with the full story of what they saw.

"I did. I see why it was so hard for the guards at the border to keep up with him. They might have underestimated him because of his age, but my father always said that an old warrior is an experienced one you shouldn’t mess with. There’s a reason why they’ve lived longer than many of your peers who fell at war," Rafael replied.

He had to give it to Phillip for letting him experience such an entertaining fight. It was truly a great shame that Phillip injured his back and now the fight was over, but it allowed Rafael to come inside to see Annalise.

Rafael thought of being rebellious and sneaking inside to spend the night with Annalise since Phillip was too injured to keep Annalise’s room guarded, but he would continue to play by Phillip’s rules. He had a proposal soon to come that he didn’t want to be ruined because Phillip was angry with him.

"Why didn’t you come outside to see us? Are you sick?" Rafael asked, touching her face with the back of his right hand. A few of the knights had caught a cold and were resting after receiving some medicine.

They had to act quickly so the cold wouldn’t spread to anyone or become so serious that it could take lives.

"No. I saved myself the trouble of being asked to pick who won the fight. I had a talk with my mother about Lydia and also a talk about why I would need to leave again. Before she knew about Lydia, she asked that I stay to start taking over from my father. After Lydia, I will come back here to start looking over how much we will need to build a new manor," said Annalise.

Rafael knew that he and Annalise had to spend time away from each other at some point, but he hadn’t thought it would be this trip. They had already made plans to go somewhere alone for Annalise to see more of the kingdom and planning to adopt Lydia was sending them on a trip toward the orphanage

"I want to stick to our plan of spending time with her and seeing if she would want to come home with us. We’ll also need time to buy what she needs and we haven’t thought of who she will go to live with when we separate," Annalise said, looking up at Rafael.

"She can come here with you. I will visit the border as much as possible while preparing our new home. When my mother hears about Lydia, she will be on the next trip back here. I hope you are ready for what’s to come when our mothers meet," Rafael said as he envisioned they would both be hyper. Excited to be grandmothers.

"I am not ready for it, but it will be good to have Beatrice here. And River," Annalise added because he was not to be forgotten. "My father will be too busy to travel, but my mother is interested in going to your manor one day. Then it won’t always be you coming here. On some trips, I can leave Lydia with you unless you are scared."

"I am not scared. I will need something to keep her busy while I put together everything needed for the new town. Something to play with," Rafael said, making plans in his head.

There weren’t any toys for a young child at his manor or anything outside for Lydia to have fun with. Then there were all the weapons he had on display. A lot had to change before Lydia could visit the manor so it was the best idea that she stayed here in the home Celine hated to see weapons lying around.

"There is plenty of space around the manor for her to find a way to have fun. A good tree has many ways for a child to use it to play. I’d already started to teach her to climb when we were at the orphanage. I’m afraid I don’t have any toys that are not sharp that I can pass on to her," Annalise said, regretting she didn’t have at least one doll.

"Nothing sharp? What kind of toys did your parents let you play with?" Rafael questioned, a bit concerned about Annalise’s childhood. Was she wielding swords when she was younger?

"I had toys every little girl like me should have. I will end it there. Again, I am getting ahead of myself when it is not certain she will be coming with us. Let’s focus on the moment and worry about the orphanage later. When everyone goes to sleep after dinner, please come here. I have somewhere to take you so we could be alone," said Annalise.

"Your father doesn’t want us-"

"To share a bed. That I am aware of. We won’t stay out all night long. I will let you go back to the warmth of your bed, but I want to spend time together before the hectic morning. I will be taking Heidi, Siena, and Giselle around to meet with some of my friends. Take them to see my grandmother who is surprisingly out of sight," Annalise said, suspicious of Celeste not coming to see them.

’Is she using nature to spy on us again?’ Annalise wondered. She needed to have a good talk with Celeste about not spying on someone.

Annalise had to take a trip to her grandmother’s house to see what was keeping her so busy. By now Celeste would have rushed to them. Was she waiting for Annalise and Rafael to visit her?

"I was going to wait for after dinner, but the soup will not be finished soon. Do you want to take a walk to my grandmother’s home?" Annalise asked, thinking it was the best way to pass the time before the soup would be served.

Walking to Celeste’s home was better than watching her mother try to fix her father’s back.

"Then we should leave quickly before your father notices," Rafael said, keeping his eyes on Phillip who laid with his eyes closed.

Annalise chuckled because Rafael had a lot to learn. "He’s watching when you think he isn’t, but lucky for us, he’s in my mother’s hands. I bet your armour that she will hit him where his back aches if he tries to get up."

Annalise walked off first to lead the way out of the house. She heard Rafael following behind her and surprisingly her father didn’t call out to her. He was doing well at leaving her and Rafael to spend time together.

After giving the girls a tour tomorrow, she would surprise her father by spending time alone with him like in the old days. To show that she never forgot about him and enjoyed when they were together.

Phillip needed a good reminder that he would always be her father and they would have crazy days together which would end with her mother greeting them at the door with her hands on her hips, but then welcoming them inside for something to eat.

Rafael held Annalise’s hand after they made it out of the door. While Annalise would show her friends around her home, he would use this time to explore to find the best place to propose to her. Tomorrow night, Annalise would be answering if she would be marrying him.

Rafael longed to see her reaction to how he planned to propose.