The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 457: Little girl (2)

"Father, are you in a rush to go somewhere?" Annalise asked, taking a step back to give Phillip space to pass by her and Rafael.

Phillip tried to settle down his eagerness now that Annalise was here. He didn’t know if it would be time for them to leave soon and then she would want to speak to the others inside about her engagement.

Phillip cleared his throat and said, "I am not going anywhere. I prepared breakfast this morning so I had to be quick with opening the door."

"Did you cook all of it? It’s been a long time since I got to enjoy just your cooking. I should have come earlier so you could show me again how to prepare breakfast," Annalise said as she walked through the front door, still holding onto Rafael’s hand as she led him in.

Phillip was momentarily speechless to hear that Annalise wanted to be shown how to cook. Normally, they would just have her help them with cutting up vegetables or meat and then they would take it from there.

Did her sudden interest in cooking have something to do with the man beside her? Was she looking to cook all his meals?

Phillip hoped that it wouldn’t be that Annalise would be the one to do all the cooking while Rafael just got to come home and eat. Annalise was raised in a household where both her parents cooked. As busy as Phillip used to be defending the land when he had time, he would come home to cook to give Celine a break.

Celeste had also cooked for them to give the two of them a break. It wasn’t one person doing the job of cooking, cleaning, and whatever else needed to be done.

Annalise should be spoiled sometimes and considering she was yet to know how to properly adjust the flavour of food to make it edible, Phillip didn’t think she should be doing a lot of cooking.

If needed, Phillip would travel to cook for Annalise each morning and night. Rafael could eat if there was something left over.

"I should expect good things today since you plan to learn how to cook. I think you only enjoyed it when you were in the kitchen with your father and me because we let you use the knife. I am happy for the two of you," Celine said, getting up from her seat.

She could no longer wait for Annalise and Rafael to announce the good news. She had to hug them and that was exactly what Celine did when she reached the couple. Rafael was already her son-in-law in her eyes, but now she could truly claim him to be.

"Thank you, mother. Please don’t squeeze us to kill us before we get married," Annalise muttered as it felt like a snake had wrapped around them. "Have you been training with father again?"

"To torture myself? Certainly not," Celine said, letting go of the two before she could hurt them. "That strength came from the excitement of my daughter getting engaged. Show me," Celine said, holding up Annalise’s hand to see the ring. "It is lovely. You made a good choice, Rafael."

"I want to see," Giselle said, joining Celine in crowding around Annalise and Rafael. "It is lovely," she agreed. She would have given anything to see how Rafael proposed to Annalise.

Giselle could hardly wait to see all the broken hearts when she let it be known that Rafael was now engaged and to her friend. She wanted to purposely cross paths with Delilah who last she heard still believed she would marry him because her father was trying to mend his relationship with River.

"I hope you will invite us all to see your wedding dress be made," Giselle said, excited to witness the planning for Annalise’s wedding. Since she wasn’t getting married, she had to enjoy Annalise’s and pretend that it was her in a way. "He must be sad," Giselle whispered, thinking of Thomas.

Giselle made up her mind to go see him and distract him from all the celebration that would come from Annalise’s engagement. He said he had let go of his feelings, but Giselle knew better. It had taken her some time to get over her feelings for Rafael or what she thought she felt for him.

Looking at the relationship Annalise and Rafael had, Giselle realised that she might not have loved Rafael. Perhaps she only liked him. She loved competing with the other women and trying to get the man they wanted. There were still some things she felt seeing how Rafael treated Annalise, but she didn’t want him. She wanted someone else to treat her the same.

Rafael got out of the way to let the women speak with Annalise. His presence was forgotten as they focused on the ring and congratulating Annalise.

"What is happening?" Heidi asked, rushing to join the circle around Annalise as soon as she entered the dining room.

"Annalise is engaged," Siena informed Hiedi. Siena shared the same happiness for Annalise getting engaged as the others. She was glad it all worked out and Travis had not ruined the couple. She would have hated to steal Annalise’s happy ending.

"How did it happen?" Heidi asked, excited to hear the story. "You should have seen how the knights were acting yesterday. I should have known this was the reason behind their strange behaviour. They didn’t want to talk about you or Rafael. Tell us the story of how he proposed to you."

"I will say it later," Annalise whispered as she couldn’t share that she sparred against Rafael when her father was around. "Do you mind if I get to enjoy breakfast first? I had a bit of food left over from last night but it is not enough. I’d be happy to answer all of your questions afterwards."

"Right. We shouldn’t let the food your father prepared go cold. There is plenty of time for us to talk about proposals and planning a wedding. Your father is eager to go off to spend some time with you. You shouldn’t keep him waiting," Celine said, laughing at how Phillip gestured for her not to say anything. "If you are not busy Rafael, I would like for us to talk. Nothing to scare you."

"I am free to stay," Rafael answered, seeing no issue in staying here with Celine while he waited for Annalise to return. There was so much he had to learn about Celine and she would have good advice for where to get what they needed to put into their home.

"Good. With Annalise busy, I will find someone to take you girls around if you don’t want to be cooped up here with me today. I can get Ezra or Thomas. Or maybe you wish to see the knights again," Celine teased the group.

Celine joined Phillip in getting extra plates for Annalise and Rafael.

"Congratulations, Annalise. I must look around for a gift today," said Siena.

"Thank you," Annalise replied, taking a seat beside Siena. "It is still dawning on me that I am officially engaged. I was a bit startled this morning when I saw the ring on my finger. It all came back to me soon after."

"With a little bit of time, you will get used to the change that is happening. There is something I must share with you later," Siena said, choosing to wait because she didn’t want to steal Annalise’s moment with her news. It wasn’t as grand to speak of now.