The Knight's Mysterious Maid-Chapter 483: House filled with love (2)

Rafael looked up from the vegetables he was cutting after hearing Lydia’s laughter once more. He had never been so tempted to break down a wall so he could see what Annalise was doing with Lydia to have her laughing so much.

He already had the meat stewing and was about to throw in the vegetables. He had some time before he would put on the pot with rice. This was a typical meal he made often with the knights when they travelled as they always had plenty of rice and could hunt for meat to throw into a stew.

A few big pots of stew would keep the knights fed for the night and warm them up on cold winter nights.

They were in luck to have a few vegetables left over during their trip here to be used tonight.

Rafael moved quickly to drop the vegetables into the pot with the meat so he could join Annalise and Lydia for a moment.

Now that he had time to spare, the house went quiet.

Of course, they would pick the time when he was not busy to stop playing. After washing his hands, Rafael exited the kitchen to find the two. It wasn’t only Lydia who needed to be kept an eye on as Annalise was hellbent on proving that she could do everything she did before she was pregnant without hurting herself.

"Annalise!" Rafael called, looking around for the two. "Lydia," he called, knowing he had a better chance of her answering him.

"Here," Lydia answered.

Rafael followed her voice to the drawing room and found the two sitting on the floor. "What are you doing down there?"

"She wants to take a break," Lydia answered, continuing to watch Annalise. They were running around and then Annalise asked to sit. Lydia thought Annalise was hurt so she sat down with her on the floor. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

"I see. Are you tired?" Rafael asked, tilting his head to get a better look at Annalise since her head was down and he could not see her face.

"I am not. I only needed to stop for a moment. Something smells good. You weren’t lying about knowing how to cook," Annalise said, taking the conversation away from her wanting a break. She thought she was energetic but Lydia proved that she wasn’t filled with energy that could compete with a child.

"I need to put on a pot of rice to eat with the stew. It’s what the knights and I eat for weeks since it is just throwing everything into a pot and then cooking rice at the side. I can join you for a moment. Take over if you want," Rafael said, going around the chair in between them to join in on sitting on the floor. "If you are tired Annalise, go rest for a moment."

"I am not that tired. I would like to see you run around with her and try to keep up without needing to catch your breath every second. That’s a new way to train the knights. I am just going to rest right here," Annalise said, lying back on the floor.

There was a rug that helped her to not lay on the cold hard floor.

Lydia looked to Rafael for what to do now that Annalise needed to rest.

"You should also rest before you play again. I have apples in the kitchen. Do you want a few slices and bring some for Annalise?" Rafael asked so they could leave Annalise alone to give her a proper break.

Annalise was moving around all day and only had four hours of sleep. Should she fall asleep now, they should leave her until it was time for the food to be served.

Lydia stood up so she could help get fruits for Annalise. She looked at Rafael’s hand, considering if she should hold it as they walked or if they had done it enough. She looked away, placing her hand behind her back.

Rafael looked at Annalise lying on the floor one last time and then stood up to take Lydia to the kitchen. He looked down beside him and was surprised that she didn’t reach for his hand because it was what she always did.

"Am I scary?" Rafael asked. She was quick to play with Annalise, but sometimes it felt like she had to ease her way close to him. He welcomed her drawing close to him since he wanted to get to know her and become a father to her.

Sometimes his height and build intrigued children while it scared them other times especially if he was wearing his armour.

"No," Lydia answered. How could he be scary? "You’re nice," she said, her hands moving from behind her to be at her side. She liked him because he was tall and he was nice to her. He also took care of Annalise so she liked him even more. "Am I scary?" She asked.

Lydia had been called a ghost once before because the children said she was too quiet. She was trying to speak more so she wouldn’t scare Annalise and Rafael.

"You are not scary. You are quite cute and harmless looking," Rafael said, but he regretted his words as Lydia somewhat looked up at him with a glare. "You do not want to be called cute? Or was it harmless that offended you?"

"I am not cute," Lydia pouted.

Rafael tried not to laugh because she ended up being more cute in his eyes. To further tease Lydia, he said, "It is because you are small that many would think that you are cute."

"I don’t want to be small," Lydia whined, wanting to grow faster now. "I am not cute!"

"Then what are you?" Rafael asked, making a detour to the dining room to get a chair for Lydia.

"I am...Lydia," she decided in the end. She was anything but cute. "I am like Annalise," she said, finding that to be the best answer.

"And Annalise is not cute?" Rafael asked, curious to know how she saw Annalise. "Annalise is cute in my eyes."

Lydia shook her head. "No." Annalise was beautiful and not afraid of anything. A bird was cute.

"I guess we’ll have to disagree on that. If you ask Annalise, she’ll say that you are cute. Would you tell her no?"

"No," Lydia replied, stopping at the entrance of the kitchen since there was a fire and Annalise said she shouldn’t be in the kitchen when there was a fire. ’There is a fire. Annalise said not to come when there is a fire."

Rafael placed the chair for Lydia to stand on by the counter and then went back to the entrance to get her. "You can hold my hand and walk with me away from the fire," he said, offering his hand for her to hold. "You can always hold my hand."

Lydia looked at the fire and then at Rafael’s hand. It had to be fine since he was here. If something were to happen, she would yell to wake Annalise.

Lydia held onto Rafael’s hand and walked with him away from the fire. She touched her belly as the food smelled good and she wanted to give it a taste.

"You can hand me the apples from the basket for me to cut and I will put them on a plate for you. When you are finished, would you like to help me put plates on the table?" Rafael asked, giving her something to do while Annalise was resting.

Lydia nodded her head. She couldn’t cook but she would be good at helping with the table.

"We’ll have to be quiet to not wake Annalise," Rafael said, pushing the basket of apples toward Lydia as she got up on the chair.

"Another secret,’ Lydia whispered.