The Knight's Mysterious Maid
Chapter 132: Feelings (2)

Chapter 132: Feelings (2)

"What? Oh right," Annalise replied, realising he had told her to come inside. "I am sorry for not returning before you were finished with dinner. Getting dressed took more time than it should have."

"Why would you need to return before I was finished eating? Did you plan to feed me the rest of my food?" Rafael asked.

"No, but I am to be by your side-"

"Then will you stand beside me as I bathe? Shall we change that to be one of your duties tomorrow?" Rafael inquired, turning to face her as he put on his shirt.

"You are the one who said that you do not need maids around while you bathe. I am only following your orders. If I need to be there tomorrow, then I will," Annalise answered.

The edges of his lips curled as he expected such an answer from her. Of course, she would be so bold to stand beside him while he bathed, but refuse to look his way when he was without a shirt. Was this really the same young woman who exclaimed that it was only a penis when he first arrived?

He inspected her appearance. The dress suited her, but she looked uncomfortable and her hair was pinned up for the first time since he met her.

"Why did you pin up your hair? I said you should get dressed like everyone else, but you did not need to go this far," Rafael said.

Annalise touched her hair to feel if it was still in place. "I thought it would be better if I pinned it up while I was by your side so I gave it a good brush and pinned it up. For tonight, it might be better this way."

"It would have been better if you let it down your hair. It suits you that way," Rafael said, turning away from her to get the gold coins he placed at the side of his bed.

’Where was this opinion when I was fighting to pin up my hair?’ Annalise wondered, wishing she had heard this earlier so she would have left her hair as it was or just tied it up into a ponytail.

"What time would you like to leave? I can inform the coachman while you wait," Annalise offered.

The servants were leaving right now in the passing carriages that took them to the market for a small fare. The road to the market would be busy so it was better for Rafael to leave later than everyone else. Especially when he wished to avoid running into others so early.

"I’ve already told Edwin the time we will be leaving. We will leave after all the servants are gone and I will stay behind a bit longer so that I will not be bothered by anyone so early. Did you have plans to meet with someone?" Rafael asked, sitting down on his bed since they had to wait a little longer. "Are you not comfortable?"

Annalise held her breath and smiled. She had to get out of this dress and find another one belonging to her that might be suited for tonight. Still, she didn’t need Rafael knowing that the dress was becoming tighter the more she moved. Rather than being concerned for herself, she was concerned about how small Beatrice was.

"I am fine," Annalise replied, letting out the air that she held in a moment ago.

Rafael tried not to let his eyes linger on her chest, but he could clearly see how the dress fitted it. He bit his tongue to refrain from commenting on it, but he could not hold back when she was clearly uncomfortable. "You are not fine. If that dress is tight for you, then take another. There must be one that can fit you," he said.

"I am really fine," Annalise replied once more. Once she got used to the dress, it would not bother her. She only needed to tear a bit of the front whenever she would get a moment alone and it would suit her. "I cannot take any more of your mother’s dresses."

"My father spoils her with plenty. She wouldn’t notice if a few were missing. The next time she comes to visit, she will bring a few more to leave behind here so she can spend the night. You will faint if you keep that dress on. Take it off," Rafael said as he was not going anywhere with her when she was on the verge of passing out.

She looked pretty in the dress, but the forced smile as she pretended not to look like she was not suffering ruined her appearance. He had not decided to go to the festival just for her to walk around trying to breathe.

The only reason he decided to go was because of her. Annalise stayed behind for the first festival while most of the other servants attended it. The only way for her to go and enjoy herself to see what other treats were made, was for her to accompany him. Otherwise, he had a feeling she would stay behind.

For her to be slowly dying in the middle of him having to deal with the people who would approach him since he was finally attending the festival since he was a child, was hardly fair.

Annalise remained in her place since she did not intend to get another one of Beatrice’s dresses. She only needed to tear the one that she had now and if she needed to change in the end, she would get one of her dresses. There was one that was not losing its colour.

Rafael stood up from his bed since Annalise chose to be defiant and not leave to change the dress. She left him with no choice but to force her to get out of it. "You have brought this on yourself, Annalise," he said, grabbing her arm to pull her close to him before she could back away.

Annalise could hit him as much as she liked for touching her without permission, but he had to make her change her mind about wearing this dress.

"You are too stubborn," Rafael whispered in her ear as his right hand found its way behind her and his fingers grabbed a handful of the cloth. "You can hit me as much as you like after."

"What are you doing?" Annalise asked, raising her hand to hit him for holding her so closely and touching her back. She gasped when his hand tugged on the back of her dress and a ripping sound was heard as his hand moved down.

Her hand stayed in the air, not yet hitting his body as she stood stunned by the fact Rafael had ripped the dress.

"Oh," her mouth fell open as her mind screamed freedom. Now that the dress had loosened, she realised just how much it had been hurting her.

Without thinking, she rested her head on his chest to catch her breath and finally relax. There was a wonderful sensation throughout her body now that the dress did not hug her.

Rafael gripped the piece of dress he tore. It was hell not to react to his fingers accidentally touching the warmth of her exposed back. He had not anticipated this feeling that ran through his body when he thought of tearing her dress.

Her head rested against him and their close bodies allowed him to feel her warmth.

"Fuck," he cursed.

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